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RENAISSANCE
LITERATURE
Voyages to New Worlds
Since the times of the Crusades in the 11th
and 12th centuries, Europe had been
trading with the East.
There was an increased demand for exotic
Eastern spices, cloth, and wood, which
created new wealth for traders and
merchants
Voyages to New Worlds
• The Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453
temporarily blocked the overland route to the
East, so new trade routes were needed. People
started to explore.
• 1492—Italian explorer Christopher Columbus
attempted to reach the east by sailing west
across the Atlantic.
• 1498—Vasco da Gama, commissioned by
Portugal, opened an Eastern trade route to India
• 1519 Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan—in
search of a western trade route for Spain—
sailed around South America into a vast ocean
he called the Pacific
Humanism: An Emphasis on the
Individual
Medieval philosophers’ systems of thought was
mainly centered around God and questions of
religions.
Humanists were interested
in human values, and they
revived the study of classical
Greek and Roman art,
literature, history, and
philosophy.
Humanism: An Emphasis on the
Individual
• Humanists nurtured classicism in the
arts—the application of Greco-Roman
principles such as reason, balance, and
moderation.
The Arts in the Renaissance
Wealthy Italian merchant families used their
riches to support the exploration of human
thought and imagination.
They became patrons of the arts, financing
the works of writers, musicians,
philosophers, and other artists and
thinkers.
The Arts in the Renaissance
• The works of Renaissance artists clearly
expressed the belief that humankind is the
measure of all things.
• Giotto (Italian painter) developed a new style of
painting that emphasized natural-looking forms
instead of flat, stylized figures.
• Michelangelo was fascinated with the shape,
substance, and power of the human body.
The Arts in the Renaissance
• Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps the
most imaginative and gifted figure
of the Renaissance. He was an
inventor, artist, architect,
musician, and scientist. He
studied the moon’s effect on the
tides, initiated the science of
hydraulics, and studied human
anatomy. He also designed
several flying devices.
A New Spirit of Inquiry
Da Vinci made detailed
observations, which were
carefully recorded into
notebooks. This method of
inquiry was different from
the medieval method of
relying on information
approved by the Church.
Scientists began questioning
accepted teachings as
they developed their skills
of observation.
A New Spirit of Inquiry
• Nicolaus Copernicus challenged the views of
Ptolemy, an ancient astronomer who had
claimed that the sun revolved around the earth.
Copernicus argued that the earth rotated on an
axis and revolved around the sun.
• Galileo, 100 years later, wrote a book defending
Copernicus’s theory.
• The Church’s Inquisitors forced him to withdraw
his statements, but legend has it that as he rose
from his knees after his recantation, he
whispered, “But it does move!”
The Rise of Printing
• Around 1455, Johann Gutenberg produced
Europe’s first printed book, the Gutenberg Bible.
• The Church strongly resisted this new
technology.
• More than one printer was burned at the stake
as a heretic.
The Church Loses Power
• Reform began to occur as critics began to
question the sale of indulgences—the
practice of “forgiving” sins in exchange for
money.
• They demanded that the Church practice
the poverty it preached.
• John Wycliffe was a reformer who taught
that people had a direct relationship to
God and did not need priests to act as gobetweens.
The Church Loses Power
• Desiderius Erasmus was a Dutch priest and
scholar who sharply criticized the Church and
advocated reform.
• He helped pave the way for Martin Luther, the
German monk who, in 1517, officially began the
Reformation when he made a public list of
complaints against Church practices.
• Luther was asked to recant, and he refused.
Instead, he led the reform movement, called
Protestantism, forward.
• Luther influenced John Calvin, whose teachings
became the basis of Puritanism in England and
America.
Renaissance Literature
• The Italian poet Petrarch was a key literary
figure, who was perhaps the first person to
use the term Renaissance to describe the
time in which he lived.
• He popularized sonnets.
• He and Giovanni Boccaccio were among
the first writers to use the vernacular
rather than Latin.
Renaissance
Literature
In France, Francois Rabelais wrote a series of
stories called Gargantua and Pantagruel.
In Spain, Miguel de Cervantes wrote what many
consider to be the first novel in the Western
hemisphere, about Don Quixote.
Nowhere is the spirit of the English Renaissance
better expressed than in the plays of William
Shakespeare. His skill in language and
characterization has earned him a place with the
greatest writers of all time.