Chapter 6

The Renaissance

The RenaissanceBegan in northern Italy where people were

living in city-states. Many of the city-states were ruled by

wealth families or wealthy merchants. International trade brought the products

and ideas of other cultures to the Italian city-states. Trade created wealth

This also made the powerful people richer.

In the 1300’s scholars and artist began to look at life in a new way.

They looked back to the literature , science, and art of ancient Greece and Rome.

This new focus on the achievement of individual people is known as Humanism.

Someone who was talented in many fields- was called a Renaissance man.

Two Northern Renaissance artists were Durer and Van Eyck.

By the 1400s. Cities in northern Europe had become wealthy.

They became centers for a rebirth of culture called the Northern Renaissance.

By the 1500s, the Renaissance had reached England.

The Renaissance Artist.

During the Middle Ages artist had not painted people or nature to look real.

Renaissance artist wanted the people in the paintings to look like real people.

Artist uses a method called perspective to make objects and landscapes look real.

Michelangelo was one of the greatest artist of the Renaissance. He is most remembered for painting the Sistine Chapel

The Protestant Reformation In 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther

began to question the Roman Catholic Church. His actions began the Reformation. In Germany many people supported Luther’s

ideas about the Church. He said “faith in God, not how much money you

pay is the key to getting into heaven.” The printing press helped spread Luther’s

writings.

By 1546 most people in Northern Europe were Lutheran, or followers of Luther’s teaching.

Other Protestant churches also formed. Protestant – referring to Christian

religions that grew out of the Reformation. During the Reformation German leaders

wanted to collect taxes for themselves instead of for the pope.

Summary:

Questions: Answers:

Why is Michelangelo called a Renaissance man?Who was Martin Luther? And what did he do?ReformationProtestant

Summary:

Section 2 - The Age of Exploration

In the 1400s, Europeans began to explore distant lands. Why?

Curiosity, a desire for trade, and better technology brought about the Age of Exploration. – the period of European exploration overseas from about 1400-1600.

Inventions helped sailors to travel further away from home.

New ship style called – Caravel Navigation tools – mariner’s compass and

the astrolabe. Sailors went in search of new routes to

reach Asia for trade. Why was Portugal a leader in exploration?

The Portuguese head east The Portuguese sailed around the southern tip

of Africa In 1419 a school was opened to encourage

exploration. – this school was open by who? They set up trading post along Africa’s coast.

They also gathered information on winds, ocean currents and coastlines.

Each trip sailors went further and further and in 1488 Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the Cape of Good Hope. - the southern tip of Africa

Columbus heads West

An Italian sea captain named Christopher Columbus thought he could reach Asia by sailing west, across the Atlantic.

He convinced Spain to pay for his trip.The Spanish king and queen knew there

were riches to be gained from a Spanish sea route.

No one knew that North and South America were between Europe and Asia.

In 1492 Columbus landed on a small island in Caribbean Sea, he thought he had reached the Indies.

He claimed the land for Spain in October of 1492.

Spain and Portugal signed a treaty splitting the new land between them in 1494.

Spain was the first European Country to carve an empire on the Americas.

Other explores looked for a way through the Americas to Asia.

The route was called the Northwest Passage.

In 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed a narrow strip of land in Central America.

He became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.

The African Slave Trade.

Prince Henry had helped start trade between Portugal and the west coast of Africa.

Soon they started trading for enslaved people.

There was a market for slaves in the Americas.

The enslaved Native American slaves died, then they began to import enslaved Africans

Africa and its societies would suffer from the loss of millions of people.

Sailing around the World 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set sail with five

ships. They sailed around South America looking for a

way around the continent. Finally, they found a narrow, dangerous

passage, now called the strait of Magellan. They reached the Philippines, where Magellan

died. Only one out of five ships with 18 sailors

returned to Spain They were the first people to circumnavigate

the world. – Sail around the Earth.

Summary:

Questions: Answers:

How did exploration change the world? Circumnavigate Northwest Passage Strait of Magellan

Summary:

6-4 Conquests in the Americas and Africa

Once Europeans heard about the new lands Columbus had found, they wanted the riches that might be there.

The Spanish sent conquistadors to look for treasure.

Spanish conqueror in the Americas. Hernan Cortes led an expedition in what

is now Mexico.

He heard about the wealth of the Aztec empire and had to take them over to take control of Mexico.

Many of the locals hated the Aztecs because they conquered them and taxed them heavily.

Some of these groups joined Cortes to fight the Aztecs.

When Cortes and his men arrived at the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, they were amazed.

It was larger than any European city at the time.

In 1521, the Aztecs surrendered. Only after a blood war.

The Aztecs empire was in ruins. Cortes took control of the region and

called it New Spain. He built a new capital, Mexico City, on the

site of Tenochtitlan.The Spanish settlers were supposed to

convert the Native Americans to Christianity and treat them well.

Instead, settlers treated them like slaves. Many were worked to death, others died of

European diseases. Cortez introduced the system of

Encomienda. A system in which the Spanish king gave

Spanish settlers the right to the labor of the Native Americans who lived in a particular area.

Incas

The Incas also had an advanced civilization.

Their empire covered most of the western coast of South America.

Spanish conquistador Franciso Pizarro defeated the Incas.

The Spanish went on to take control of most of the Central and South America.

The gold and silver that Spain brought back to Europe made Spain even more powerful.

The large number of Spanish settlers changed the course of history in the Americas.

They brought great harm and to the people of the Americas by treating them cruelly and bringing new diseases.

The African Slave TradePrince Henry had helped start trade between

Portugal and the west coast of Africa. Soon other European countries went their for

gold, ivory and pepper. Soon they began to trade for enslaved

people. There was a market for slaves in the

Americas. European Settlers wanted workers for their

plantations.

When enslaved Native Americans died, they began to import enslaved Africans.

Eleven million Africans may have been taken to the Americas.

Many died in the crowded, dirty ships. Africans were taken from their homeland

and treated brutally, The harmful effects of the slave trade

lasted for centuries.

Summary:

Questions: Answers:

What were the effects of Spanish control of large areas of the Americas? What would life be like in the Americas if the French took control instead of the Spanish?

Summary: