Notes
The Italian Renaissance (c. 1450 start)
- A rebirth of interest in classical Greece and Rome. Italian city-states (Florence, Venice) were rich from trade and banking, and patrons like the Medici funded artists.
- Humanism focused on human potential and classical texts (Petrarch). Civic humanism promoted public service.
- **Machiavelli's The Prince** (1513) advised rulers to be practical and feared rather than loved, separating politics from morality.
- Art used perspective, realism and classical themes: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael.
The Northern Renaissance
- Northern humanists like Erasmus and Thomas More applied humanism to Christianity and criticized Church corruption (Christian humanism).
- Gutenberg's printing press (around 1450) spread ideas rapidly, increased literacy, and later helped the Reformation.
New monarchies
Rulers in France, England and Spain centralized power: they built standing armies, collected taxes and reduced the nobility's power. Ferdinand and Isabella united Spain and finished the Reconquista (1492).
Exploration and empire
- Motives: "God, gold and glory." Technology: the caravel, the astrolabe, the compass, and better maps.
- Portugal sailed around Africa to India (da Gama, 1498). Spain reached the Americas (Columbus, 1492) and conquered the Aztec and Inca empires.
- The Columbian Exchange moved crops, animals and diseases between hemispheres.
- The Commercial Revolution: a flood of American silver caused the price revolution (inflation); joint-stock companies and banking grew. Atlantic trade shifted Europe's economic center from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.
- The Atlantic slave trade expanded to supply plantations.
Practice
Humanists studied Greek and Roman writers.
It separated politics from ethics.
Books became cheaper and more common.
His In Praise of Folly mocked abuses.
They united Spain and sponsored Columbus.
More money chasing the same goods caused inflation.
Their banking wealth funded artists and scholars.
Portugal wanted to bypass Italian and Ottoman middlemen.
Free response
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Free-response question
Answer (a), (b) and (c).
(a) Describe ONE way the Northern Renaissance differed from the Italian Renaissance.
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Northern humanists focused more on Christian reform and religious texts (Christian humanism), while Italian humanists focused more on classical and civic themes.
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(b) Explain ONE way the printing press affected European society between 1450 and 1600.
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It spread humanist and religious ideas quickly; Luther's writings reached huge audiences, fueling the Reformation.
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(c) Explain ONE economic effect of European exploration.
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American silver caused inflation (the price revolution), and the center of trade shifted to Atlantic ports like Lisbon, Seville and Antwerp.
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