Key Figures of the Renaissance

1. Key Figures of the Renaissance

2. Medici family • Powerful ruling family from Florence • Known for presiding over the Italian Renaissance • Rose to power through Cosimo de Medici • Height of power with Lorenzo the Magnificent • Bank of the Roman Catholic Church • Advocates and patrons of the arts • Artists including Donatello, Botticelli, Michelangelo

3. Geoffrey Chaucer • c. 1340-1400 • British writer • The Canterbury Tales • Troilus and Criseyde • used English when most works were in Latin • Buried in Westminster Abbey

4. William Shakespeare • 1564-1616 • “The Bard of Avon” • English poet and playwright • Famous worker of The Globe • works are the second most read in the world • 154 Sonnets • Romeo & Juliet • Hamlet • Julius Caesar

5. the Borgias • Italian family of Spanish descent • prominent in religious and political affairs • Two popes, many political/church leaders, one saint • Known for treachery, corruption, murder • Four most-famous • Alfonso de Borgia (1378-1458): established influence in Italy; Pope Calixtus III in 1455 • Rodrigo Borgia: cardinal of Roman Catholic church, then Pope Alexander VI; fathered children with mistress • Cesare Borgia (1475/76-1507): politician; tried to establish a secular kingdom in central Italy • Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519): patron of the arts; skillful at political intrigue

6. Niccolo Machiavelli • 1469-1527 • Italian philosopher, politician, writer • The Prince (1513) • Guide to the exercise of raw political power over a Renaissance principality • Character or skill of leader that determines success of a state • Various ways of acquiring and maintaining state • Success by any means. The end justifies the means. • The Art of War (1520) • Procedures for the acquisition, maintenance, and use of a military force

7. Marguerite of Navarre • 1492-1549 • Marguerite d’Angoulême, Queen of Navarre • published author • Heptameron • based on Boccaccio’s Decameron • collaborated with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V for the safe release and return of her brother, the King of France • grandmother of Henry IV • encouraged church reform

8. Martin Luther • 1483-1546 • German theologian, professor, pastor, church reformer • Inspired the Protestant Reformation with publication of 95 Theses • Attacked Church’s sale of indulgences • Remission of temporal punishment due for sins that have already been forgiven • Advocated theology that rested on God’s grace rather than in human works • complete translation of Bible into German • excommunicated by Pope Leo X

9. Nicolaus Copernicus • 1473-1543 • Polish astronomer • The Sun, not the Earth, is at the centre of the universe. • Earth rotates daily on its axis; revolves yearly around the sun. • Planets circle the sun. • De RevolutionibusOrbiumCoelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) • seen as initiator of the Scientific Revolution

10. Leonardo da Vinci • 1452-1519 • Italian Renaissance artist, sculptor, engineer, scientist, inventor • wrote and drew on geology, anatomy, flight, gravity, optics, and many more • wrote in left-handed mirror script • “invented” the bicycle, airplane, helicopter, parachute • La Gioconda • The Last Supper • The Madonna of the Rocks • The Vitruvian Man

11. Leonardo da Vinci

12. Raphael • 1483-1520 • Italian Renaissance painter, architect, designer • Celebrated for grace and serenity • Frequently commissioned by Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X • The Stanza dellaSegnatura fresco in Vatican palace • Sistine Chapel tapestries • many Madonnas

13. Ferdinand Magellan • 1480-1521 • Portuguese explorer • first European to cross the Pacific Ocean • Commander of the expedition that was first to sail around the world • Out of 250 men, only 18 survived • Killed in battle between rival Filipino groups; did not see the end of his trip

14. Filippo Brunelleschi • 1377-1446 • Italian goldsmith, sculptor, clock maker, architect • Lost competition for commission of the new Baptistery doors to Lorenzo Ghiberti • received commission to execute dome of unfinished Santa Maria del Fiore • Used no centering • Two domes in one • Pioneer in perspective

15. Michelangelo Buonarroti • 1475-1564 • Italian painter, sculptor, architect, poet • Close to the Medici family • David • Commission by Church for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel • The Creation of Man

16. Donatello • 1383-1466 • Florentine sculptor • Goldsmith apprentice of Lorenzo Ghiberti • Accompanied Brunelleschi to Rome • Deep understanding of classical art • David • St. John the Baptist

17. Francesco Petrarch • 1304-1374 • “Father of Humanism” • Wrote hundreds of poem to Laura • Canzoniere • Poet laureate of Rome • Epistolaemetricae • Developed idea of laurel symbol • Poetic and literary immortality • Inventor of Petrarchan sonnet • works as basis for modern Italian

18. John Calvin • 1509-1564 • French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation • developed Calvinism • Total depravity • Unconditional election • Limited atonement • Irresistible grace • Perseverance of the saints • Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) • Introductory textbook on the Protestant faith • God’s total sovereignty • Attacked the teachings of the unorthodox, particularly Roman Catholicism

19. Johann Gutenberg • ca. 1400-1468 • Invented the printing press with replaceable/movable wooden or metal letters • Fostered rapid development in science, arts, and religion through transmission of texts • Gutenberg Bible • First book to be published in volume