Activity 1

What was the Renaissance?

Historians describe the Renaissance as ‘possibly the most important period of development that has ever occurred in European history’. It happened between the C14th and C17th and was born in Florence, Italy and spread throughout Europe. Let’s explore this fascinating period in history. There must be lots of mysteries to uncover!

Your Task

Was the Renaissance a time of ‘milk and honey’ for all and does it still influence our lives today? Travel with Tim Gurry as he explores Florence to investigate what the city today tells us about the Renaissance of yesteryear - the legacy of famous artists and architects, the power struggles between competing families, the religious superstations, the vestiges of trade and commerce, the practice of patronage and a murder mystery that remains a cold case today.

Watch the video below. Then answer the questions below or in this Word Doc to save your answers.



What was the Renaissance really about?

What was actually ‘reborn’ during that time? Look closely at the following Renaissance images and text.


Admissions window for unwanted babies at the Hospital of the Innocents


Adoration of the Child
1478-1480 circa - FILIPPINO LIPPI


Trade in Renaissance Florence
(World History Encyclopaedia)


Silk weavers and merchants’ guild


Leonardo de Vinci – famous painter and scientist


Gutenberg printing press
(World History Encyclopaedia)


Duomo Florence (Florence Cathedral)


Lorenzo de Medici – banker, diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets


Galileo’s ‘Compound’ microscope from the Renaissance period, image courtesy of Museo Galileo


Eventually the Renaissance spread to northern Europe, ‘carried’ on trading vessels to France, Germany, England and Flanders. English Renaissance works include Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Thomas Moore’s book Utopia. In France Renaissance ideas influenced French writing espousing the new idea of equality of the sexes as appears in Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies. The invention of the printing press in Germany also helped to spread Renaissance ideas and in Flanders the painters adopted Renaissance styles and techniques still in vogue today.  



Christine de Pizan


Johannes Guttenberg


Van Der Weyden, Rogier~Braque Family Triptych

Renaissance and religion

The more open thinking and new ideas of the period (humanism) challenged the teachings of the Catholic Church. People believed the church was consumed by worldly rather than Godly matters and men like Martin Luther put forward new religious philosophies demanding a return to the simplicity of the bible. Ultimately this led to what is known as the Reformation – a split in the Catholic Church and the rise of Protestantism and the Lutheran religion and other modern day denominations.

Many important events occurred throughout the Renaissance. Click on the timeline dates to discover some of the most significant and events and influential people of the Renaissance period.

1310

Giotto di Bondone revolutionised painting by making art more faithful to reality

1335

First public clock erected in Milan placed in the tower of a church and struck a bell on the hour having no dial

1347

Black Death (the plague) outbreak

1351

Giovanni Boccaccio wrote a collection of tales - a masterpiece of classical Italian prose he pioneered praise for the human ability to overcome adversity and strive for good fortune.

1421

Filippo Brunelleschi begins work on designing the dome on the Florence Cathedral

1440

Guttenberg printing press invented

1452

1452 Birth of Leonardo de Vinci

1473

The first printed book in English was published by William Caxton and Colard Mansion in Belgium

1478

Lorenzo de Medici popularises the support of artists and inventors

1478

Spanish Inquisition begins

1492

Christopher Columbus reaches the Bahamas

1495

Leonardo de Vinci paints the Last Supper

1498

Girolamo Savonarola, the mad monk of Florence, was executed and burned for heresy.

1502

First watch is made

1503

Leonard da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa

1510

Raphael paints the School of Athens capturing the essence of the Renaissance

1512

Michelangelo finishes painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling

1517

Martin Luther wrote a theses attacking the clergy for ‘selling’ forgiveness

1534

King Henry VIII breaks away from the Catholic church

1543

Nicolaus Copernicus, astronomer, published his theory that the earth revolved around the sun

1564

Birth of William Shakespeare

1300
1400
1500
1600

DATE

Desc

Renaissance event/person

How we live our lives today

Lorenzo de Medici

People of wealth today have continued the practice of supporting artists.


Definitions

You often hear or read these terms/words when studying the Renaissance. Match each of the following with their correct definition.

Architecture

Sculpture

Painting

Astronomy

Invention

Industry

Literature

Banking

Church

Music

Humanism

Select a definition for (name)

Gothic cathedrals were topped by great spires and towers whereas Renaissance cathedrals featured domes like St Peters in Rome and the Duomo in Florence.
Copernicus published his revolutionary new theory that the earth revolved around the sun.
The most important invention of the Renaissance—the technology for printing books— was a long revolution from the technique first developed by the Chinese in the second century and began to make paper by shredding old rags, processing them with water, and then pressing the liquid out of the finished sheets.
Renaissance sculptors found in the artistic remains of the classical period the perfect inspiration for their works. They were also inspired by nature.
Renaissance painting is marked by greater perspective and depth, faith in the human form, less religious influence and the capturing of events from contemporary life.
The weaving of woollen cloth was advanced by Belgium in the thirteenth century and 100 years later the wool guild in Florence produced nearly 100,000 pieces of cloth annually and employed 30,000 men.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Divine Comedy was the first major Italian writer to embody some of the qualities that were to characterize Renaissance literature. Much of Dante’s writing and outlook bore the stamp of the Middle Ages, and the grand theme was the chivalric concept of disembodied love inspiring his devotion to Beatrice, whom he seldom saw.
Christianity did not welcome a theory that questioned the belief in an earth-centered, human-centered universe which ultimately led to divisions.
Instead of following strict religious rules to go to heaven people could be educated, active and strive to improve their quality of life on earth.
The Gregorian chant, or single voice plainsong gave way to several voices singing in harmony.
The expansion of trade and industry promoted the rise of banking – A risk and reward pursuit with massive interest rates charged and challenged by religious reformers.

Choose a definition for each term.