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Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
The Northern Renaissance
Preview
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• The Renaissance Spreads North
• Philosophers and Writers
• Artists
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
Section 2
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
Printed Word Available to More
• Before only way to reproduce writing was by hand; long, painstaking process
• With movable type, text quickly printed; producing books faster, cheaper
• Easier access to books prompted more people to learn to read
Italics
• Gutenberg’s first publication, 1,282-page Bible
• Printers soon appeared in other cities, made books quickly, inexpensively
• Explosion of printed material quickly spread Renaissance ideas
Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
Find the Main Idea
How did Renaissance ideas spread to
northern Europe?
Answer(s): Ideas were exchanged through trade;
artists and scholars traveled between Italy and the
north; printing press allowed easier bookmaking;
ideas spread with printed material.
Section 2
Renaissance and Reformation
Philosophers and Writers
Northern humanists expressed their own ideas
Combined interests of theology, fiction and history
Created philosophical works, novels, dramas, and poems
Desiderius Erasmus
Sir Thomas More
• Combined Christian
ideas, humanism
• Wrote of pure, simple
Christian life,
educating children
• Fanned flames of
discontent
• Roman Catholic
Church censored,
condemned works
• More’s best-known
work, Utopia,
contains criticisms of
English government,
society
• Presents vision of
perfect, non-existent
society based on
reason
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
Section 2
Shakespeare and His Characters
William Shakespeare
Spread Renaissance Ideas
• Many believe English
playwright William
Shakespeare greatest writer
• Use of language, choice of
themes made plays appealing
even to uneducated
• Plots not original, but
treatments of them masterful
• Plays helped spread ideas of
Renaissance to mass audience
• Drew inspiration from ancient,
contemporary literature
• Focused on lives of realistic
characters, unlike morality plays
• Knowledge of natural science,
humanist topics expressed in
plays
• By Shakespeare’s death, 1616,
London scene of thriving
theatre district
Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
Summarize
What are some characteristics of
Renaissance writers’ work?
Answer(s): expressed humanist ideas, scientific
knowledge, realistic experiences, and social
conditions
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
Section 2
Renaissance and Reformation
Dürer and Others
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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
Flemish School
Everyday Life
• Artists of Netherlands developed
own style, Flemish School
• 1500s, Pieter Brueghel the Elder
used Italian techniques
• Used technique perfected by Jan
van Eyck, 1400s
• Paintings showed scenes from
everyday peasant life
• Fused the everyday with religious;
lit candle represents God’s
presence
• Different from mythological scenes
of Italian paintings
Renaissance and Reformation
Section 2
Contrast
How did northern Renaissance artwork differ
from that of Italian artists?
Answer(s): depicted everyday objects, people as
they actually were