PetrarchItalian poet, born in 1304.

Wrote love poems mostly to “Laura,” and created a new poetic form called the sonnet.

One of the first humanists.

“Nothing weighs less than a pen and nothing gives more pleasure.”

Vernacular Who: Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch (Italians); Chaucer,

Shakespeare (English); Rabelais (French), Cervantes (Spanish)

What: Locally spoken language—not Latin; after the development of the printing press, writers started to produce literature in vernacular languages;

Dante—Divine Comedy, “Inferno”

Boccaccio—Decameron

Chaucer—Canterbury Tales

Rabelais—Gargantua and Pantagruel

Cervantes—Don Quixote

When: Renaissance era

Where: Europe

Why: Made literature much more accessible to common people who were not educated in Latin; helped literacy increase

Machiavelli 1469-1527

●Italian●Writer, diplomat, politician.●Wrote The Prince, describing effective rulers. He said rulers must be ruthless.●“It is better for a prince to be feared than loved.”●The ends justify the means.

Medici FamilyWealthy banking family

Ruling family of Florence. Had fierce rivalries with other families.

Prominent members included Cosimo, Lorenzo, and Catherine.

Strongly believed in supporting the arts, so served as patrons for many artists by supporting them or commissioning work from them.

1400s

Leonardo da VinciA painter, scientist, and inventor from Italy.

Studied the human body carefully, and made careful drawings of the structure of muscles and bones.

Invented the world’s first bicycle, and drew plans for a flying machine.

Some of his most famous paintings included Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

MichelangeloPainter and sculptor from Florence, Italy, though one of his most famous works, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, is located at the Vatican in Rome.

Some of best sculptures are David and the Pietà.

Johannes Gutenberg

German printer

The first European to use the process of printing with moveable type.

In 1453-55, he printed the first book to be produced with his printing press, The Bible.

William ShakespeareAn actor, a poet, and the author of 37 plays.

Worked as an actor in the Globe Theatre in London.

In his plays, explored human behavior and feelings--a humanist.

ErasmusDutch writer and humanist

Wrote a book called Praise of Folly in 1509.

Studied the humanities as well as Christianity.

Wrote a Latin translation of the New Testament.

Sir Thomas More

English writer and humanist

Bothered by many parts of his society, including the government and religion

Explained his ideas about a perfect society in a book called Utopia. Because there was little greed, Utopians had little use for money.

Albrecht Dürer 1471-1528

●German painter, printer●Influenced by Italian artists●Famous for his woodcut prints and engravings●Prints include Knight, Death and the Devil and St. Jerome in his Study

Albrecht Dürer