4.1 - 4.5 — The Renaissance and Reformation

Francesco Petrarch

(1304-1374) lived in Florence and was an early Renaissance humanist, poet, and scholar. He assembled a library of Greek and Roman manuscripts gathered from monasteries and churches, helping to preserve these classic works for future generations.

Niccolo Machiavelli

(1469-1527) was born in Florence. He was a Renaissance political philosopher, statesman, and writer. His most famous work was a guide for rulers on how to gain and keep power. "The Prince" was realistic about political power. He argued that the end justified the means in politics. The term "Machiavellian" is still used today to describe deceitful politics.

Albrecht Dürer

(1471-1528) was born in Nuremberg, Germany. A painter, draftsman, and writer, his greatest artistic impact was in engraving. He traveled to Italy, studied the Italian masters, and helped spread Renaissance ideas to Northern Europe. Many of his famous works such as "The Apocalypse", and "Adam and Eve", had religious themes.

Nicolaus Copernicus

(1473-1543) was a Polish astronomer who concluded that the sun is the center of the universe around which Earth and the other planets revolve. This contradicted the religious and scientific belief that Earth was the center of the universe. Although he did not suffer immediate challenges from the Church, his most important work did not appear in print until after his death.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

(1475-1564) was an Italian painter also known for his sculpture, engineering, architecture, and poems. His famous marble statue, "David", shows the influence of Ancient Greek traditions on Renaissance artists. He painted biblically themed ceiling murals for the Sistine Chapel in Rome. As an architect, he designed the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, later a model for the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.

Baldassare Castiglione

(1478-1529) was an Italian courtier, diplomat, and writer. His handbook, "The Book of the Courtier", was widely read for its advice on the manners, skills, learning, and virtues that court members should display. He described an ideal courtier as well-mannered, well-educated, and multitalented.

Sir Thomas More

(1478-1535) was born in London. He became a lawyer, scholar, writer, and member of British parliament during the reign of Henry VIII. He wrote "Utopia", describing an ideal society. The word utopian came to mean idealistic or visionary. In 1521, he was knighted.

Raphael

(1483-1520) was a Renaissance painter who blended Christian and classical styles. His famous paintings include one of the "Madonna", the mother of Jesus, and "School of Athens", showing an imaginary gathering of great thinkers, scientists, and artists including Michelangelo, Leonardo, and himself.

Martin Luther

(1483-1546) was a German monk and theologian who was the catalyst of the Protestant Reformation. Trained to become a lawyer, he changed his path, joined a strict order of Roman Catholic monks, and studied theology. Seeking to reform abuses within the Church, he challenged Church teachings with his 95 Theses. This led to his excommunication and the development of Lutheranism, the first of several Protestant sects.

Thomas Cranmer

(1489-1556) was a Catholic theologian who strongly supported reform. When Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church, he became England's first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury. He distributed English language Bibles to parish churches and, later, developed the "Book of Common Prayer". He also acted as an adviser to both Henry VIII and his son, Edward VI.

Henry VIII

(1491-1547) was the second Tudor king of England. Well-educated and athletic, he was initially a favorite of the English people. He lost much of that popularity with his constant involvement in wars. His desire for a male heir was the catalyst for his eventual break with the Roman Catholic Church and the formation of the Church of English.

Ignatius of Loyola

(1491-1556) went from an early career as a Spanish nobleman soldier to become a theologian and an influential participant in the Catholic Reformation. While recovering from leg surgery, he read a book on the lives of the saints and decided that serving God was holy chivalry. From that time until his death, he studied, preached, and did missionary work as founder of the Society of Jesus, and order of religious men who came to be known as Jesuits.

Charles V

(1500-1558) was the Holy Roman emperor during the time of Martin Luther's reformation efforts. His immense empire included large areas of Europe. A staunch Catholic, he rejected Luther's doctrines. The Protestant upheaval, along with political pressures, led him to voluntarily give up his throne. He divided the empire between his son and his brother. He entered a Catholic monastery where he remained until his death.

John Calvin

(1509-1564) was a French theologian and lawyer. Influenced by the humanist philosophy of Erasmus, he became involved with the Protestant movement while a student at the University of Paris. He later moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he set up a theocracy and wrote "Institutes of the Christian Religion". His interpretation of Christian doctrine is called Calvinism.

Mary Tudor

(1516-1558) was the first queen to rule England in her own right. The daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, Mary was a staunch Catholic who failed to turn back the tide of the Protestant Reformation in England. Her vigorous persecution of Protestants earned her the nickname "Bloody Mary".

Tycho Brahe

(1546-1601) was a Danish astronomer who produced the most accurate measurements and locations of the stars before the use of the telescope. His observation that a new star has appeared in an existing constellation challenged the belief that the stars were fixed and forever unchanging.

Francis Bacon

(1561-1626) was a distinguished English philosopher, statesman, and lawyer. A man of many talents, he promoted rational though. He was held in high regard by philosophers and scientists in Europe as well as England.

William Shakespeare

(1564-1616) born in England, became a famous poet and playwright during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Between 1590 and 1613, he wrote 37 plays that are still performed around the world. He invented words and phrases still used today. Like other Renaissance writers, he took a humanist approach to his characters.

Galileo

(1564-1642) was an Italian astronomer and mathematician whose discoveries using a telescope supported the heliocentric universe theories of Copernicus. His discoveries challenged established scientific and religious thinking. He was an important contributor to the development of the scientific method used by modern scientists.

Johannes Kepler

(1571-1630) was a German astronomer whose discoveries expanded on Copernicus's heliocentric universe. His research showed that the planets move in a particular orbit around the sun. His achievements included a correct description of how vision occurs, as well as how a telescope uses light.

Rene Descartes

(1596-1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. He was one of the first to abandon traditional methods of thought based on Aristotle's teachings. Instead, he promoted a new science based on observation and experiments. For this, he has been called the father of modern philosophy.

Robert Boyle

(1627-1691) was one of the leading minds of the late 1600s. An English-Irish philosopher and writer, he focused on chemistry, physics, and natural history. His work with pressurized air led to the development of Boyle's Law, which describes the relationship between pressure and the volume of gas. He was one of the founders of the Royal Society of London.

Issac Newton

(1642-1727) was one of the most important figures of the Scientific Revolution. An English mathematician and physicist, Newton's three laws of motion form the basic principles of modern physics and led to the formulation of the universal law of gravity. His 1687 book, "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy", is considered one of the most important works in the history of modern science.

Johanne Gutenberg

(C.1400-1468) was born in Germany. He became a goldsmith, printer, and publisher. His pioneering invention of a printing press with moveable type changed the world. Around 1455, he printed the first complete edition of the Christian Bible using his press.

Erasmus

(C.1466-1536) was a Dutch priest, writer, and scholar who promoted humanism. He wrote texts on various subjects and produced a new Greek edition of the Christian Bible. He also called for a translation of the Bible into the vernacular, or everyday language, to help spread learning, ideas, and education. He also wanted to reform the Church corruption.

Compromise

An agreement in which each side makes concessions; an acceptable middle ground

Calculus

A branch of mathematics in which calculations are made using special symbolic notations, developed by Isaac Newton

Wittenberg

A city in northern Germany, where Luther drew up his 95 Theses

Florence

A city in the Tuscany region of northern Italy that was the center of the Italian Renaissance

Council of Trent

A group of Catholic leaders that met between 1545 and 1563 to respond to Protestant challenges and direct the future of the Catholic Church

Patron

A person who provides financial support for the arts

Flanders

A region that included parts of present-day northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands; was an important industrial and financial center of Northern Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Sect

A subgroup of a major religious group

Humanism

An intellectual movement at the heart of the Renaissance that focused on education and the classics (focused more on people rather than religion)

Hypothesis

An unproved theory accepted for the purposes of explaining certain facts or to provide a basis for further investigation.

Engraving

Art form in which an artist etches a design on a metal plate with acid and then uses the plate to make multiple prints

Perspective

Artistic technique used to give paintings and drawings a three-dimensional effect

Diet

Assembly or legislature

Heliocentric

Based on the belief that the sun is the center of the universe

Predestination

Calvinist belief that God long ago determined who would gain salvation

Scientific method

Careful, step-by-step process used to confirm findings and to prove or disprove a hypothesis

Vernacular

Everyday language of ordinary people (ex. English)

Gravity

Force that pulls objects in Earth's sphere to the center of Earth

Theocracy

Government run by religious leaders

Leonardo da Vinci

His interests included botany, anatomy, optics, music, architecture, and engineering. His sketches for flying machines and undersea boats resembled the later inventions of airplanes and submarines. His paintings, such as the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper", remain famous today.

Utopian

Idealistic or visionary, usually used to describe a perfect society

Indulgence

In the Roman Catholic Church, pardon for sis committed during a person's lifetime

Elizabeth

Queen Mary. Shifting politics made her ear years quite hazardous. She used her experiences to become a shrewd and powerful monarch. Under her reign, England became an important European power. England prospered both economically, and culturally. Her balanced handling of the English religious conflicts earned her the nickname Good Queen Bess.

Canonize

Recognize a person as a saint

St. Teresa of Avila

Renown as the author of several books on spiritual matters. She was a key influence during the Catholic Reformation. As a Carmelite nun, she dedicated herself to a simple religious life built on quiet reflection. She dedicated most of her life to the reform of the Carmelite order, founding many convents throughout Spain.

Ghetto

Separate section of a city where members of a minority group are forced to live

Humanities

Study of subjects such as grammar, rhetoric, poetry, and history that were taught in Ancient Greece and Rome

Geneva

Swiss city-state that became a Calvinist theocracy in the 1500s; today a major city in Switzerland