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Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
17.2 – The Northern Renaissance
Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
The Northern Renaissance
Main Idea
Renaissance ideas soon spread beyond Italy to northern Europe
by means of trade, travel, and printed material, influencing the
art and ideas of the north.
Reading Focus
• How did the Renaissance spread to northern Europe?
• What contributions did writers and philosophers make to the
northern Renaissance?
• How did the works of northern artists differ from those of the
Italian Renaissance?
Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
The Renaissance Spreads North
Trade, the movement of artists and scholars, and the development of
printing helped spread Renaissance ideas north from Italy.
Trading Goods
Trading Ideas
• As cities grew, vast trading
network spread across northern
Europe
• Northern Europeans traded
ideas, goods; spread Italian
Renaissance north
• Network dominated by
Hanseatic League, merchant
organization, 1200s to 1400s
• Fleeing violence, Italian artists
brought humanist ideas,
painting techniques north
– Protected members from
pirates, other hazards
• Northern scholars traveled to
Italy, brought ideas home
– Built lighthouses, trained
ship captains
• Universities started in France,
Netherlands, Germany
Renaissance and Reformation
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A Book Revolution
Printing Press
• Mid-1400s, Johannes Gutenberg cast letters of alphabet on metal plates,
locked metal plates on wooden press; perfected movable type printing
• Result, one of most dramatic upheavals world has ever known
• Easier access to books prompted more people to learn to read, cheaper too
Bible
• Gutenberg’s first publication, 1,282-page Bible
• Explosion of printed material quickly spread Renaissance ideas
Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
Philosophers and Writers
Northern humanists expressed their own
ideas
Combined interests of theology, fiction and
history
Desiderius Erasmus
Sir Thomas More
• Combined Christian • More’s best-known
ideas, humanism
work, Utopia,
• Wrote of pure, simple contains criticisms of
English government,
Christian life,
society
educating children
• Fanned flames of
• Presents vision of
discontent
perfect, non-existent
society based on
• Roman Catholic
reason
Church censored,
condemned works
Christine de Pisan
• Italian-born writer
focused on role of
women in society
• Grew up in French
court of Charles V;
turned to writing
when widowed
• Championed equality,
education for women
Renaissance and Reformation
Shakespeare and His Characters
William Shakespeare
• Many believe English
playwright William
Shakespeare greatest writer
• Plots not original, but
treatments of them masterful
• Drew inspiration from ancient,
contemporary literature
• Knowledge of natural science,
humanist topics expressed in
plays
Section 2
Spread Renaissance
Ideas
• Use of language, choice
of themes made plays
appealing even to
uneducated
• Plays helped spread
ideas of Renaissance to
mass audience
• Focused on lives of
realistic characters, unlike
morality plays
• By Shakespeare’s death,
1616, London scene of
thriving theatre district
Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
Artists
Like literary counterparts, northern European artists influenced by
Italian Renaissance
• Adopted Italian techniques
• Works reflected more realistic view of humanity
– Italian artists tried to capture beauty of Greek, Roman gods in paintings
– Northern artists tried to depict people as they really were
Dürer and Others
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•
•
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1400s, German artist Albrecht Dürer visited Italy
On return, used Italian techniques of realism, perspective
Oil paintings exhibit features unique to northern Renaissance
Oils reproduced textures; reflection of objects, scenes outside
window
Renaissance and Reformation
Everyday
Life2
Section
• 1500s, Pieter Brueghel the Elder
used Italian techniques
• Paintings showed scenes from
everyday peasant life
• Different from mythological scenes
of Italian paintings
Flemish School
• Artists of Netherlands developed
own style, Flemish School
• Used technique perfected by Jan
van Eyck, 1400s
• Fused the everyday with religious;
lit candle represents God’s
presence
Renaissance and Reformation
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Section 2
Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
Legacies of the Renaissance
• Changes in the Arts
– Techniques draw on
the Greeks & Romans
– Depictions more
realistic
– Both secular &
religious
– Writers use vernacular
– Individual achievement
recognized
• Changes is Society
– Printing creates a
learning revolution
– Revolution leads to
discoveries in other
fields
– Laws clearer, more
defined
– Humanist ideas change
idea of how to live life
– People begin to question
politics & religion