The document summarizes key aspects and events of the Renaissance period from the 1350s to 1700. It discusses how the opening of the Silk Road by Mongols, and the travels of Marco Polo exposed Europeans to Chinese goods and culture. The Black Death had some positive impacts by increasing spending as people sought to improve their lives. Scholars fled the fall of Constantinople bringing ancient Greek and Roman texts to Italy, fueling interest in classical learning. Major Italian cities like Florence saw a flourishing of the arts as wealthy families like the Medicis sponsored artists and architects. Figures like Machiavelli and the concept of humanism reflected new ways of thinking that questioned religious authority and put more emphasis on human abilities and

1. Renaissance: Beginnings AD 1350s to 1700 Mongols reopen Silk Road Marco Polo visits China, returns to Europe, writes a book Causes people to want to go there and get Chinese goods Positives of Black Death No damage to farmland, goods, metals People are happy to be alive and spend money to erase memories of the plague (Medici Family) Ottoman Turks conquer Byzantine Empire Scholars flee to Italy with ancient texts of the Greeks and Romans

2. Renaissance: Italy Major trading cities: Milan, Florence, Genoa, Venice Florence wealthy from wool and banking Medici family were bankers with political power Hired artists and architects to make Florence great

3. Renaissance: People Focus on humans and their abilities and actions (humanism) Machiavelli wrote The Prince Said rulers should be mean instead of nice “ End justifies the Means”

4. Humanism Really an old idea from Ancient Greece and Rome Based on the Socratic and Platonic ideas of observation and reasoning Idea that man, not God, was the center of the universe Man controls his own destiny Man can learn about and understand his world by observation and reason without God’s help Helped spark a new age of secular learning and the development of early modern schools and universities such as Oxford and Cambridge Led many to question both governments and the institutional Church

5. How did the Renaissance change thought? Age of Reason Age of “Faith” “ Rebirth” “ Dark” Ages Focus on learning the “Classics” (The Iliad, Aristotle) to inspire learning and the arts Little focus on learning and the arts The Individual is important The Individual not important Focus on this life Focus on Afterlife After Before

6. Renaissance: Across Europe People came to Italy to learn and spread ideas across Europe Northern Europe focused more on history of Christianity and less on Greeks and Romans Northern European artwork looked more real with more scenes from nature than Italian artwork

7. Renaissance: Michelangelo Wrote poetry, carved sculptures, painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

8. Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci Sculptor, architect, town planner, inventor, engineer, mapmaker, painted Mona Lisa

9. Renaissance: Math/Science Square root symbol, plus sign, minus sign Earth moves around sun (Copernicus, Galileo)

10. Renaissance: Gutenberg Johan Gutenberg invents printing press with moveable type. Learning spreads faster than ever before