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The Northern Renaissance
Chapter 17
Section 2
VOCAB
 Utopia
 William Shakespeare
 Johann Gutenberg
The Northern Renaissance Begins
 Setting the Stage:
 1450 Northern Europe’s population on the rise after the
bubonic plague
 In Italy wealthy merchants patron artists; in England and France
powerful monarchs did the same
 Leonardo Di Vinci was invited to retire in France to help spread
the Renaissance movement
 Northern Renaissance artists focused on realism and would use
the spirit of the Renaissance to reform society
 Based on Judeo-Christian values
Northern Renaissance Artists
Use Realism:
 Flemish Painters:
 Artistic capital of N.R.
 Artists like Jan van Eyck
and Pieter Bruegel use oil
paints to depict “peasant
life”
 Use of realism gives art of
the Renaissance new
direction
Northern Writers Try to
Reform Society
 Italian humanists focused on reviving the classical languages
 People used this to re-examine the teachings of the Church
 People became critical of the church for not inspiring people
to live a Christian life.
 Christian Humanists:
 Goal to reform society
 Promoted education of women and founded schools attended
by both boys and girls
Christian Humanists
Desiderius Erasmus
1509- The Praise of Folly
-poked fun at wealthy
merchants and greedy
priests
-Believed in Christianity of
the Heart; no ceremonies
-To improve society people
must study the Bible
Thomas More
 1516 - Utopia
 In Greek “no place”
 Land where greed,
corruption, and war no
longer exist
 People in Utopia had little
need for money
 (read excerpt)
“Gold and silver, of which money is made, are so treated…that no one values them more
highly than their true nature deserves. Who does not see that they are far inferior to iron in
usefulness since without iron mortals cannot live and more without fire and water?
– Thomas More “Utopia”
The Elizabethan Age
 Renaissance spreads to
England in the 1500s
 Queen Elizabeth I
 (1558- 1603)
 Well Educated; spoke
French, Italian, Latin, and
Greek
 Wrote poetry and music
 Greatly supported the
development of English art
and literature….
William Shakespeare
 Most famous writer of the




Elizabethan Age
Greatest playwright of all time
Shakespeare’s plays demonstrate
a mastery of the English
language and of human nature
Most of his plays focus on
human flaw
Famous works:
 Tragedies: Macbeth, Hamlet,
Othello, Romeo and Juliet
 Comedies: A midsummer Nights
Dream,The Taming of the Shrew
Shakespeare’s Popularity
Printing Spreads Renaissance Ideals
 Gutenberg Improves the
Printing Process:
 13th Century printing
blocks reach Europe from
China but too slow to
create books
 1440 Gutenberg
(craftsmen from Germany)
 Invents movable printing
press
 Produce large amounts of
pages quickly.
Renaissance Legacy