Unit 9

Beginning of Modern Times

Chapter 28

The Renaissance

Chapter Overview 

In the 1300s & 1400s, Western Europe experienced the following changes… 

1. people became more interested in art & learning.

2. there was a call for the church to change their teachings and practices concerning Christianity. 

3. people were seeking shorter and less costly routes to the Far East. 

4. new forms of Christianity appeared. 

5. a rebirth in Roman and Greek culture.

Chapter Facts

1. Around 1300, certain western European scholars developed an interest in classical writings that led to the Renaissance.

2. Renaissance is a French word that means “rebirth.” Historians consider the Renaissance to be the beginning of modern history. The Renaissance began in northern Italy and then spread through Europe. Italian cities such as Naples, Genoa, and Venice became centers of trade between Europe and the Middle East. Arab scholars preserved the writings of the ancient Greeks in their libraries. When the Italian cities traded with the Arabs, ideas were exchanged along with goods. These ideas, preserved from the ancient past, served as the basis of the Renaissance. When the Byzantine empire fell to Muslim Turks in 1453, many Christian scholars left Greece for Italy. The Renaissance was much more than simply studying the work of ancient scholars. It influenced painting, sculpture, and architecture. Paintings became more realistic and focused less often on religious topics. Rich families became patrons and commissioned great art. Artists advanced the Renaissance style of showing nature and depicting the feelings of people. In Britain, there was a flowering in literature and drama that included the plays of William Shakespeare.

3. During the Renaissance, a great deal of importance was placed in the arts.

4. Artwork became an excellent source of revenue for kings. Most of the money was donated by patrons.

5. Leading artists included Michelangelo, who sculpted the statue of David and painted the Sistine Chapel.

6. Leonardo da Vinci, another leading Renaissance man, was a painter, inventor, and a scientist. Some of his works include the Mona Lisa and Last Supper. He also drew the Vitruvian Man, and he he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, civil engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics.

7. The Renaissance began in Florence where the Medici family started a very profitable banking business and reintroduced the concept of capitalism.

1.8.  The ideas of the Renaissance spread from Italy into France and Germany in the late 1400s.

2.9. Most of the reason for the spread of Renaissance ideas was due to an invention by Johannes Gutenberg.

3.10. This invention was the printing press which allowed books to be printed rather than hand written. This allowed books to be produced cheaper, in higher volume, and in vernacular. As a result, the literacy rate spread throughout Western Europe.

4.11. In the early 1500s, Renaissance ideas had spread to Spain and England.

5.12. In England, people became very fond of plays, most of which were written and inspired by the writings of William Shakespeare.

Chapter 29The

Reformation

Chapter Overview

1. Martin Luther became the 1st person to challenge the authority of the Catholic Church when he nailed his 95 Theses to the Church’s door. 

2. He began what became known as the Protestant Reformation. 

3. The Catholic Church began a reformation movement of their own known as the Catholic or Counter Reformation. 

4. The Reformation movement spread to England where the Anglican Church was formed. 

5. These factions in Christianity sparked many wars in Europe, including the Thirty Years’ War.

Chapter Facts

1. By the early 1500s, many people began to question the authority of the church. Many people said they had become corrupt and greedy. 

2. The movement against the Roman Catholic Church began with Martin Luther. 

3. His biggest complaint was how the Church was selling indulgences (forgiveness of sins). 

4. By 1524, most people in Germany had left the Catholic Church and joined the Lutheran Church—created by Luther. 

5. With religious conflict spreading throughout Germany, the Peace of Augsburg was signed in 1555. This allowed the German prince to decide whether German citizens should be Catholic or Lutheran. 

6. Martin Luther ideas became known as the Protestant Reformation. 

7. Other Protestant churches to form included the Calvinists in France and the Anglicans in England.

8. While the Protestants formed new churches, Catholic reformers worked to improve their church. 

9. Between 1545-1563, the Council of Trent reformed many Roman Catholic practices. 

10. Despite the efforts of the Council of Trent, England still had a reformation of their own.  

11. King Henry VIII’s wife was unable to bore him a son. As a result he wanted the Pope to annul his marriage. The Pope refused so King Henry removed him from head of the Church of England. 

12. As a result, the Anglican Church was formed.

13. By the late 1500s, Elizabeth I of England allowed for both Protestants & Catholics.

14. In 1598, France issued the Edict of Nantes which allowed for the Catholics and Huguenots to both practice their form of Christianity. 

15. Despite efforts to allow for both Protestant and Catholic religions to exist in Europe, many wars were fought. The English fought with the Spanish, the German city-states fought the Thirty Years War, and in France, a Civil war was fought between the Huguenots and Catholics. 

16. After the Thirty Years’ War, no more wars were fought over religion in Europe. Instead, nations tried to gain power through trade and expansion overseas. 

17. Thus began the Age of Exploration.