The Renaissance period from 1400-1600 saw a rebirth of interest in classical antiquity in art and intellectual pursuits. The Black Death and Crusades weakened the feudal system and exposed Europeans to new ideas. In Italy, wealthy patrons supported artists and scholars, leading to more realistic paintings and sculptures that glorified the human form. The printing press allowed mass-production of books and spread of new ideas, while scientific thinkers like Copernicus and Galileo challenged the Church's authority. The Protestant Reformation led by Luther and Calvin further questioned the Catholic Church, dividing Europe along religious lines.

1. The Renaissance
1400-1600ish
The Crusades and the Black Death
were 2 of the most important events
that brought an end to the Middle
Ages (Dark Ages).

2. • The Crusades exposed Europeans to new
goods and new ideas and stimulated a rebirth
of trade
• The Black Death, killing about 1/3 of the
population, created a labor shortage, thus
weakening the Feudalistic system

3. The Renaissance
• A new interest in learning about the classical
civilizations of Greece and Rome developed in
the city-states of Italy in the 1400’s.

4. • During the Renaissance, wealthy Italians acted
as supporters (patrons) of the arts, writers,
and scholars.
• Secularism-relating to the world, not religious,
increased as people started to have more
interest in this world and not life hereafter.
They started to explain life on their
experiences and not on Church teachings.

5. Humanism
• Renaissance thinkers placed much thought on
the dignity, worth and uniqueness of each
person—each human being.

6. The Artistic Impact

7. Artists introduced perspective, and
shadowing, and other techniques to
make their paintings look more
realistic

8. Leonardo Da Vinci
• http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/vie
w/assetGuid/D76A656E-34C9-43D4-934B-
F1950FA6F940

9. Leonardo Da Vinci
• Mona Lisa
•

10. The Last Supper

11. Da Vinci
• He was a sculptor, painter, inventor and had
one of the best scientific minds of the time.
He had a notebook filled with drawings of
everything from helicopters to submarines to
human muscles and other anatomy

12. Michelangelo
• http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/vie
w/assetGuid/F58A7B5A-3C2E-4B74-96D5-
2EC24C8072F9

13. Michelangelo
• David Pieta

14. Sistine Chapel-Creation of Adam

15. • Renaissance art glorified the human form

16. Architecture
• http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/vie
w/assetGuid/1547A63F-3363-4CDF-8A92-
036FD12E8239
• They abandoned the gothic styles of the
Middle Ages and used the columns and
circular arches of ancient Greece and Rome
for a classical style.

17. The Intellectual Impact
Scholarship and Literature
• Renaissance humanists studied Classical
Roman and Greek literature, poetry, and
philosophy.
• William Shakespeare
• Cervantes
• Machiavelli—The Prince
• http://youtu.be/5IGBKu6qM7Y

18. Science and Technology
• Important discoveries occurred during the
Renaissance with the help of Nicholas Copernicus
and Galileo Galilei.
• Copernicus: stated the Earth orbited around the
sun—the Church opposed his theory
• Galileo: inventor of the telescope and believer of
Copernicus’ ideas-tried by the Catholic Church,
found guilty and confined to his home.
• http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/view/
assetGuid/23C79BE1-41FB-4CBA-BE01-
C8B560EA55BC

19. Johann Gutenberg
The Printing Press
• Until the mid 1400’s, Europeans copied all books
by hand—very few books available, very few
people were literate.
• Block printing invented in China in the 1300’s—
slow process
• Gutenberg’s movable type printing press—
allowed mass production of printed books—more
people read, new ideas spread, etc.
• http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/view/
assetGuid/E555AA86-A016-4E0A-852F-
CDC606C49301

20. The Protestant Reformation
• During this time of questioning everything,
some began to question the Catholic Church.
It had grown very large and corrupt.
• Martin Luther was one of the Church’s most
vocal critics. He posted his Ninety-Five Theses
on a church door in Germany challenging
many of the Church’s practices. The Pope
excommunicated him. But he refused to back
down.

21. • Luther established the first Protestant
church—The Lutheran Church.
• He believed people must read the Bible for
themselves so he translated the New
Testament into German.
• He believed the priests nor the Pope had
special powers to provide salvation. That only
faith through God could a person be saved.

22. Martin Luther
• http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/vie
w/assetGuid/92EDB1C0-359B-4E94-BE1A-
FF9169536AAA

23. John Calvin
• Calvin was another reformer who thought that
since God was all-knowing, it was
predestined as to who would be saved and
who would be damned.

24. Effects of the Reformation
• 1. End of Religious Unity—warfare would start
between Catholics and Protestants.
• 2. Growth of Royal Power—without the power
of the Catholic Church, many European kings
power began to grow.
• 3. Persecution-the killing of religious minority

25. The Catholic Counter-Reformation
• As Protestantism spread across Europe, the
Catholic church began some reforms of their
own.
• They ended the sale of indulgences, redefined
beliefs, banned Protestant books and created
a special court to into heretics called the
Inquisition.

26. The Political Impact of the
Reformation
• Some countries in Europe sided with the Pope
and established Catholic countries—France,
Italy, Spain and Southern Germany.
• Others sided with the Protestant movement—
Northern Germany, Holland and Scandinavia
• England remained a Catholic country until
Henry the VIII wanted a divorce from his
wife—the Church refused so the king declared
himself head of the Church of England

27. Henry VIII and his 6 wives
• http://youtu.be/-fadCAHjN-s