Renaissance Spreads North

I. As the Renaissance spreads north, Northern artists adapt Italian Renaissance ideals in their own way.

Spread of Renaissance to Northern Europe

1. Hundred Year’s War—end’s 1453, allowing people to focus on subjects other then war.

2. Printing Press—invented around 1440 by Johann Gutenberg

It decreased the price of books so middle-class people could buy them

a. The idea for the printing press was culturally diffused from Chinese block printing.

Block Printing

Movable Type

b. Allowed news ideas to spread very quickly—leads to cultural diffusion

c. Encouraged people to learn Increased literacy and decreased the cost of books

d. 1st book published = Complete Bible Gutenberg Bible

3.Authors began writing in the vernacular, meaning local or spoken languages, rather then Latin, allowing the common man to read

The Printing Press-A Turning Point

Books became cheaper and easier to make.

More Europeans learned to read.

People gained knowledge about medicine,

geography, and science

Printed Bibles increased the spread of religious ideas

II. Northern Artists—focused on the individual and everyday life

1. Pieter Bruegel and Jan Van Eyck—painted pictures about common people and their everyday life •ex. weddings, dances, harvest, festivals

The Peasant Wedding—Pieter Bruegel

The Beggars—Pieter Bruegel

The Peasant Dance—Pieter Bruegel

The Harvesters—Pieter Bruegel

The Crucifixion

byJan van

Eyck

The Last Judgment

byJan van

Eyck

Detail:The Last Judgment

The Triumph of Death—Pieter Bruegel

III. Northern Writers:

1. Desiderius Erasmus— The Praise of Folly —1509—poked fun at society,including the church

a. Strongly Christian—said people should study the Bible

2. Thomas More: Utopia—1515—story about imaginary land inhabited by peace loving people

3. Niccolo Machiavelli —The Prince -advises rulers on how to gain and maintain power

a. Tells rulers that they should use whatever methods are necessary to ensure their success “The

end justifies

the means.

”

b. Machiavelli’s writing demonstrate the Renaissance interest in worldly rather than only spiritual things.

3. William Shakespeare: revealed the souls of men and women through scenes of dramatic conflict

IV. End of Renaissance—By 1600’s, new artistic styles and ideas appear

1. Renaissance ideals continue to influence European thought

2. Belief in dignity of individual played a key role in democratic ideals