Download Renaissance Spread of New Ideas

The Spread of Ideas
during the Renaissance
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(Before the Renaissance) Theocracy
• A theocracy is a form of government where
religious rulers run the government.
• Prior to the beginning of the Renaissance, lands
were ruled by feudal kings or the Roman Catholic
Church.
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The Church had religious power.
The Church controlled people’s beliefs.
The Church had economic power.
The Church had political power.
The Church was NOT controlled by the king.
Slide 2
A Change in Thought
• The Renaissance was a widespread change in
culture and thought that took place in Europe
beginning in the 1300s.
• Italy was the cradle of change. Italian citystates were not under the control of a king or
the Roman Catholic Church.
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Humanism
• The thing that sparked most of the excitement
during the Renaissance was humanism which
focused on the ideas and actions of the
individuals.
• Scholars searched the world through
questioning and investigation.
• People were inspired by Classical civilizations
like the Greeks and Romans.
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Johannes Gutenberg
• About 1450 a German printer
named Johannes Gutenberg
invented movable type used
on a printing press.
• The printing press used many
small pieces of metal with
single letters or numbers that
could be arranged in trays to
form rows of words and could
be easily changed.
• The printing process became
much easier and faster.
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Johannes Gutenberg
• Prior to the invention of movable type:
– Books were copied by hand.
– Books were printed with blocks of carved wood that
were inked and stamped.
• (The first book) In 1455 Gutenberg printed a
1,200 page Bible.
• Books became cheaper and more widespread.
• Through the printed page, ideas of the
Renaissance spread quickly through Europe.
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Gutenberg Bible
• Each copy of the
Gutenberg Bible used as
many as three million
metal letters.
• It took several months,
many workers, and six
printing presses to make.
• Of the 200 copies that
were made,
approximately 40 exist
today.
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William Shakespeare
• William Shakespeare, considered the greatest writer
of the Renaissance, was famous for plays and poems.
• Ordinary people, nobles, and royalty alike crowded
London’s Globe Theatre to see Shakespeare’s plays.
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Romeo and Juliet
Julius Caesar
Antony and Cleopatra
Hamlet
King Lear
• He wrote at least 37 plays based on ancient works.
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New Ideas in Science
• (1500s) Nicolaus Copernicus presented mathematical
calculations to prove the Earth revolved around the sun
and was not the center of the universe.
• (1600s) Galileo proved Copernicus’s theory with the
invention of his telescope. It showed the Earth did
move around the sun.
• (1600s) Isaac Newton formed the theory of gravity,
and explained how the planets circle the sun.
• Newton followed a scientific method that required
ideas to be tested through observing and
experimenting.
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Renaissance Architecture
• Renaissance architects drew ideas from
ancient Greece and Rome. (columns, arch,
dome)
• Medieval churches were built in the shape of a
cross.
• Architects designed buildings in a circular
shape.
• In the ancient world, the circle (a simple, clean
figure) represented the perfect shape.
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Bell Tower of Pisa
• A freestanding bell tower, of
the cathedral of the Italian
city of Pisa.
• Construction began in 1173
and continued until 1372 (177
yrs.) when the 7th floor and
bell tower (8th floor) were
completed.
• The tower began to sink after
the 3rd floor was added due to
an unstable foundation.
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