Important People from the Renaissance,
Reformation, Age of Discovery, and the
Enlightenment
William Shakespeare
• William Shakespeare
•
•
was born in April of
1564 in Stratford-uponAvon, England.
Shakespeare was one
of the worlds greatest
writers and playwrights.
Two of his most famous
plays are Romeo and
Juliet and Hamlet.
Leonardo da Vinci
• Leonardo da Vinci was
•
•
•
born on April 15, 1452,
in the small Tuscan
town of Vinci.
Leonardo was a
scientist, artist, inventor,
and engineer.
Leonardo was the
original “Renaissance
man.”
He was great at
Michelangelo
• Michelangelo was born
March 6, 1475 in
Tuscany, Italy.
• Michelangelo was one
of the great artists of
the Renaissance.
• His most famous work
in the painting of the
Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Johann Gutenberg
• Johann Gutenberg was
born in Germany in
1398.
• Gutenberg invented the
printing press in Europe
in the 1450’s.
• The first book he
printed was the Bible.
Martin Luther
• Martin Luther was born
•
•
November 10, 1483 in
Germany.
Martin Luther protested
against the Catholic
Church by nailing a list
of 95 complaints to a
door of a church.
Luther is credited with
starting the
Reformation.
John Calvin
• John Calvin was born
•
•
July 10, 1509 in France.
Calvin was an important
Christian thinker during
the Reformation.
Calvin began a new
system of Christian
thinking called
Calvinism.
Galileo
• Galileo was Pisa, Italy
•
•
in 1564.
Galileo used
instruments to observe
nature.
He was able to prove
that the earth moves
around the sun by using
a telescope.
Christopher Columbus
• Columbus was born in
Genoa, Italy in 1451.
• In 1492, Columbus to
led the first expedition
to cross the Atlantic
Ocean, discovering the
New World for Europe.
Ferdinand Magellan
•Ferdinand Magellan
was born in Portugal
in 1481.
•Magellan led the first
crew to sail all the
way around the
world.
Isaac Newton
•Isaac Newton was
born on December
25, 1642.
•Isaac Newton was a
scientist and
mathematician.
•Newton studied the
laws of motion and
gravity.
Prince Henry the Navigator
• Prince Henry was born
•
•
in Portugal in 1394.
Prince Henry opened a
navigation school and
sent many voyages
from England to Africa.
He was nicknamed “the
Navigator” because he
was responsible for
sending so many
voyages.
King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella
•The King and Queen of Spain financed the
voyages of Columbus to the “New World.”
Henry VIII
• King Henry VIII was
born on June 28, 1491
in England.
• Henry is famous for his
six wives and starting
his own church of
England when the pope
forbid him to divorce his
wife.
Queen Elizabeth I
• Queen Elizabeth I was
•
•
born in England in
1533.
She is recognized as
the best queen England
ever had.
Here reign saw many
accomplishments
including
Shakespeare’s plays
and Drake’s
explorations.
Francisco Pizarro
•Francisco Pizarro
was born in Spain in
1475.
•Pizarro was an
Italian explorer and
conqueror of the
Incas.
Hernando Cortes
•Hernando Cortes
•
was born December
2, 1485 in Spain.
Cortes was the
conquistador who
conquered the
Aztecs and Mexico
for Spain.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
•Jean-Jacques
Rousseau was born
on June 28, 1712 in
Switzerland.
•Rousseau was a
philosopher who
said that man was
essentially good by
nature.
Voltaire
•Voltarie was born
November 21, 1694
in Paris, France.
•Voltaire was the
greatest French
author and
philosopher.
John Locke
• John Locke war born
August 29, 1632 in
England.
• Locke was the father of
liberal philosophy.
• His ideas helped lead to
the American
Revolution.
Nicolaus Copernicus
•Nicolaus Copernicus
was born February 19,
1473 in Poland.
•Copernicus was the first
astronomer who said
the earth moved around
the sun.