Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the Renaissance - People in the News

Wrote a commentary about Aristotle that was then translated into Latin for popular distribution. Repopularized Aristotle.

Averroes

Wrote the Canon of Medicine, which became a useful tool for scholars of medicine. Set the standards for medicine at the time. Had a great influence on future medical developments.

Avicenna

Another major Italian writer. Also one of the first humanists. Also wrote in the Italian vernacular. Decameron.

Boccaccio

Discovered the heliocentric theory of the universe, which said that Earth revolves around the sun rather than vice versa. Contributed to the scientific revolution of the Renaissance.

Copernicus

One of the major Italian writers that ushered in the Renaissance. Wrote the entire Divine Comedy in the Italian vernacular, rather than Latin.

Dante Alighieri

Considered to be the first Christian emperor. Influenced the destiny of Christianity.

Emperor Constantine

Discovers a naturally occurring numerical sequence. Brings Arabic numbers into the western world.

Fibonacci

de facto ruler of the Florentine republic. Respected by almost everyone. His wealth and devotion to the arts helped usher in the Renaissance.

Lorenzo de Medici

Astronomer. Helped popularized the heliocentric theory and was eventually excommunicated for going against the beliefs of the Catholic Church.

Galileo

Created the printing press and moveable type. Increased knowledge and religious beliefs, because more books, especially Bibles, could now be printed.

Gutenberg

Creates paintings that are representative of the Renaissance. The Ambassadors, portrait of Thomas More, Allegory of the Old and New Testaments.

Hans Holbein

Great Italian painter, scholar, and more. Quintessential Renaissance man. Created the Vitruvian man, which expressed accurate human body proportions.

Leonardo da Vinci

Philosopher and astronomer. Created the code of Jewish law (Mishnah Torah), which recognized the importance of devotion to God.

Maimonides

Started the Protestant Reformation. Believed that the Bible is the sole authority of God, not the people/priests. Translates Bible into the vernacular for more popular distribution.

Martin Luther

Another major Italian writer. Also one of the first humanists. Also wrote in the Italian vernacular. Sonnets.

Petrarch

Great Italian painter and architect. Paints The School of Athens and a portrait of Castiglione.

Raphael

Created the first monastic library. Contained classical literature and gave people a place to read. Growth of knowledge.

Saint Benedict

Helped develop the empirical scientific method. Believed that people learn by scientific exploration. Contributed to scientific revolution of the Renaissance.

Sir Francis Bacon

Part of the Counterreformation. Establishes the Jesuit order, which is Catholic scholars who are devoted to the Pope helping to spread Catholicism around the world.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Another great Aristotelian scholar. Used Aristotelian logic to figure out what it means to exist in God's world. Connected Aristotelian philosophy with Christianity.

St. Thomas Aquinas