Renaissance People

Michelangelo Buonarroti

(1475-1564) Painter and sculpture in Rome. Painted the Sistine Chapel for Pope Julius II. Sculpted the statue of David.

Teresa of Avila

(1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun and one of the principal saints of the Roman Catholic Church; she reformed the Carmelite order. Her fervor for the Catholic Church proved inspiring for many people during the Reformation period.

Elizabeth I

(1533-1603) Queen of England and Ireland between 1558 and 1603. She was an absolute monarch and is considered to be one of the most successful rulers of all time.

Edward VI

(1547-1553) King Henry VIII's only son. Sickly, and became King at 9 years old. Since he wasn't capable of governing his country the Protestant church was soon brought in through his advisors Cromwell and Cranmer.

Francis Bacon

(1561-1626) English politician, writer. Formalized the empirical method. Novum Organum. Inductive reasoning.

Raphael Santi

1483 - 1520; contemporary/rival of Michelangelo whom he respected highly; famous for his portraits, religious works (especially of the Virgin Mary), "The School of Athens", & fresco's in the Vatican Palace

Pieter Bruegel

1525- 1569. He was a Renaissance painter and printmaker from the Netherlands. He is best known for his landscapes and peasant scenes.

Francois Rabelais

A French Humanist, monk, physician, Greek scholar, and author. (1494-1553)

Martin Luther

A German monk who started the Protestant Reformation in 1517 by nailing the 95 Theses to the Church of Wittenberg.

Anabaptists

A Protestant sect that believed only adults could make a free choice regarding religion; they also advocated pacifism, separation of church and state, and democratic church organization.

Robert Boyle

An English physicist and chemist, this man discovered the nature of elements and compounds and the basis of modern chemistry.

Baldassare Castiglione

An Italian diplomat; In 1528 he published what was probably the most famous book of the Renaissance-"The Book of the Courtier"

Issac Newton

British scientist who defined the laws of motion, discovered gravity, experimented with optics, invented differential calculus and wrote "Principia"

Tycho Brahe

Carefully recorded accurate movements of the planets over a course of 20 years; influenced by Copernicus

Medici family: Cosimo and Lorenzo

Cosimo was the wealthiest European of his time, was the dictator of Florence for 30 years. Lorenzo was Cosimo's grandson and came to power five years after Cosimo died, was known as Lorenzo the Great, ruled as a dictator but kept the appearance of having an elected government.

Desiderius Erasmus

Dutch (northern) humanist scholar who studied early Christian as well as classical culture (both). He criticized the Church.

Anton van Leeuwenhoek

Dutch pioneer microscopist who was among the first to recognize cells in animals and who gave the first accurate descriptions of microbes and spermatozoa and blood corpuscles (1632-1723)

Henry VIII

English king who created the Church of England after the Pope refused to annul his marriage (divorce with Church approval)

William Harvey

English physician and scientist who described the circulation of the blood

William Shakespeare

English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)

Sir Thomas More

English statesman who opposed Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and was imprisoned and beheaded, invented Utopia

John Wycliffe

English theologian whose objections to Roman Catholic doctrine anticipated the Protestant Reformation (1328-1384)

Jan van Eyck

Flemish painter who was a founder of the Flemish school of painting and who pioneered modern techniques of oil painting (1390-1441)

Filippo Brunelleschi

Florentine architect who was the first great architect of the Italian Renaissance; built first dome over Cathedral of Florence

Donatello

Florentine sculptor famous for his lifelike sculptures (1386-1466)

John Calvin

French humanist whose theological writings profoundly influenced religious thoughts of Europeans. Developed Calvinism at Geneva. Wrote Institutes of Christian Religion

Ambroise Pare

French physician who developed improved treatment to prevent infection

Johannes Kepler

German astronomer who first stated laws of planetary motion (1571-1630)

Johann Gutenberg

German printer who was the first in Europe to print using movable type and the first to use a press (1400-1468).

Pico della Mirandola

Humanist man of letters in Florence, late 1400s. Seeking other sources of truth besides Christian scriptures. At Academy of Florence wrote 900 theses drawn from ancient sages, On the Dignity of Man.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Italian Renaissance writer, described government in the way it actually worked (ruthless). He wrote The Prince (the end justifies the mean).

Galileo Galilei

Italian astronomer and mathematician who was the first to use a telescope to study the stars

Francesco Petrarch

Italian author and humanist; a major literary figure of the Renaissance.

Giorgio Vasari

Italian painter and art historian (1511-1574) who wrote the "Lives of the Artist"

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian painter and sculptor and engineer and scientist and architect

Pope Paul III

Italian pope who excommunicated Henry VIII, instituted the order of the Jesuits, appointed many reform-minded cardinals, and initiated the Council of Trent.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish astronomer who produced a workable model of the solar system with the sun in the center (1473-1543)

Mary Tudor

Queen who succeeded Edward VI and attempted to return Catholicism to England by persecuting Protestants.

Francis de Sales

Scholar and noble who became bishop of Calvinist Geneva; his firm belief in the compassion of God and God's unconditional love made him a powerful but gentle spiritual leader who drew many to Catholicism

Anne Boleyn

She was Henry VIII's second wife and was called "Anne of 1000 Days". She was beheaded and was the mother of Elizabeth I.

Ulrich Zwingli

Swiss theologian whose sermons began the Reformation in Switzerland (1484-1531)

Rene Descartes

This French mathematical genius said that one should apply logic and try to answer problems with mathematical equations

Charles V

This was the Holy Roman Emperor that called for the Diet of Worms. He was a supporter of Catholicism and tried to crush the Reformation by use of the Counter-Reformation

Pope Leo X

This was the pope that used the sale of indulgences to rebuild a basilica and he was also the pope who challenged Martin Luther

Andreas Vesalius

a Flemish surgeon who is considered the father of modern anatomy (1514-1564)

Albrecht Durer

a leading German painter and engraver of the Renaissance (1471-1528)

Leon Alberti

an accomplished humanist scholar who was a noted architect and builder in Florence.

Peter Paul Rubens

is the most famous Baroque artist who studied Michelangelo in Italy and took that Renaissance style to the next level of drama, motion, color, religion and animation, which is portrayed in his paintings

Thomas Cranmer

replaced Wolsey and convinced Henry in 1533 that he could divorce Catherine by breaking away from Rome