The Spread of Ideasduring the Renaissance

Lesson 12-2Discovery School Video – 15m

Leonardo da Vinci – 5mGalileo’s Telescope – 4m

Machiavelli and The Prince – 5m

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• TN SPI– 6.5.14 Recognize how the Renaissance changes

the nature of society (shift from religious domination to science, philosophy, and art)

– 6.6.2 Recognize the impact of individuals on world history (Johannes Gutenberg, Galileo)

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Theocracy

• A theocracy is a form of government where religious rulers run the government.

• Prior to the beginning of the Renaissance, lands were ruled by feudal kings or the Roman Catholic Church.– The Church had religious power.– The Church controlled people’s beliefs.– The Church had economic power.– The Church had political power.– The Church was NOT controlled by the king.

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A Change in Thought

• The Renaissance was a widespread change in culture and thought that took place in Europe beginning in the 1300s.

• Feudalism was on the decline, successful merchants bought up feudal lands, and nobles moved to cities.

• Italy was the cradle of change. Italian city-states were not under the control of a king or the Roman Catholic Church.

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A Change in Thought

• During the Renaissance, people looked back to what earlier groups had done.

• They studied their ideas, inventions, art, and pastimes.

• Instead of thinking how wonderful it will be in the afterlife, they made the present as wondrous as they could.

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Humanism

• The thing that sparked most of the excitement during the Renaissance was humanism which focused on the ideas and actions of the individuals.

• Scholars searched the world through questioning and investigation.

• People were inspired by Classical civilizations like the Greeks and Romans.

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Johannes Gutenberg• About 1450 a German printer

named Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type used on a printing press.

• The printing press used many small pieces of metal with single letters or numbers that could be arranged in trays to form rows of words and could be easily changed.

• The printing process became much easier and faster.

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Johannes Gutenberg• Prior to the invention of movable type:– Books were copied by hand.– Books were printed with blocks of carved wood that

were inked and stamped.• In 1455 Gutenberg printed a 1,200 page Bible.• Books became cheaper and more widespread.• Printing presses could be found in all major

European cities.• Through the printed page, ideas of the

Renaissance spread quickly through Europe.

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Gutenberg Bible

• Each copy of the Gutenberg Bible used as many as three million metal letters.

• It took several months, many workers, and six printing presses to make.

• Of the 200 copies that were made, approximately 40 exist today.

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William Shakespeare

• William Shakespeare, considered the greatest writer of the Renaissance, was famous for plays and poems.

• Ordinary people, nobles, and royalty alike crowded London’s Globe Theatre to see Shakespeare’s plays.– Romeo and Juliet– Julius Caesar– Antony and Cleopatra– Hamlet– King Lear– Timon of Athens

• He wrote at least 37 plays based on ancient works.

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New Ideas in Science

• (1500s) Nicolaus Copernicus presented mathematical calculations to prove the Earth revolved around the sun and was not the center of the universe.

• (1600s) Galileo proved Copernicus’s theory with the invention of his telescope. It showed the Earth did move around the sun.

• (1600s) Isaac Newton formed the theory of gravity, and explained how the planets circle the sun.

• Newton followed a scientific method that required ideas to be tested through observing and experimenting.

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Renaissance Architecture

• Renaissance architects drew ideas from ancient Greece and Rome. (columns, arch, dome)

• Medieval churches were built in the shape of a cross.

• Architects designed buildings in a circular shape.

• In the ancient world, the circle (a simple, clean figure) represented the perfect shape.

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Bell Tower of Pisa

• A freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa.

• Construction began in 1173 and continued until 1372 (177 yrs.) when the 7th floor and bell tower (8th floor) were completed.

• The tower began to sink after the 3rd floor was added due to an unstable foundation.

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Galileo and the Tower

• Galileo is said to have dropped two cannon balls of different masses from the tower to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent of their mass.

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Bell Tower of Pisa

• In May 2008, after the removal of another 77 tons of earth, engineers announced that the Tower had been stabilized and stopped moving for the first time in its history.

• They stated it would be stable for at least 200 years.

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Renaissance Architecture

• This small temple built in 1502 in Rome marks the place where Peter was put to death.

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