The Renaissance: The Cultural Rebirth of Europe(Illustrated Histories)

Think of the Renaissance and you might only picture the work of fine artists such as Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Van Eyck. Or architecture could spring to mind and you might think of St Peter’s in Rome and the Doge’s Palace in Venice. Or you might consider scientists like Galileo and Copernicus. But then let’s not forget the contribution of thinkers like Machiavelli, Thomas More or Erasmus. Someone else, though, might plump for music or poets and dramatists – after all, there was Dante and Shakespeare. Because when it comes to the Renaissance, there’s an embarrassment of riches to choose from. From art to architecture, music to literature, science to medicine, political thought to religion, The Renaissance expertly guides the reader through the cultural and intellectual flowering that Europe witnessed from the 14th to the 17th centuries. Ranging from the origins of the Renaissance in medieval Florence to the Counter- Reformation, the book explains how a revival in the study in Antiquity was able to flourish across the Italian states, before spreading to Iberia and north across Europe. Nimbly moving from perspective in paintings to Copernicus’s understanding of the Universe, from Martin Luther’s challenge to the Roman Catholic Church to the foundations of modern school education, The Renaissance is a highly accessible and colourful journey along the cultural contours of Europe from the Late Middle Ages to the early modern period.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 15th century Europe Some historians dispute the term ‘Renaissance’ and its dates. The Mediterranean Trade revived with the crusades. Looting of Constantinople in 1204. Influx into western Europe of Byzantine scholars and scholarly texts after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. How western Europe benefited from Arabic copies of ancient Greek texts: after the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West, much ancient Greek though was lost, or at least overlooked, in the West. Decline in feudalism. Impact of the plague on the Renaissance. Chapter One: Origins Florence – how Italian city-states, led by Florence, unencumbered by heavy Papal influence or empire, and growing rich on wool production and east-west, north-south Mediterranean trade, were well placed to leap ahead intellectually and artistically. From Florence, the Renaissance reached Venice. Medici. Banking. Chapter Two: Art and Architecture Fine Art – laws of perspective. Giotto, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli Pigments – Titian’s blue. How Venetian Mediterranean trade enabled Architecture: Brunelleschi’s Duomo in Florence, Doge’s Palace in Venice, St Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Papal patronage Northern Renaissance: Van Eyck, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Albrecht Durer, Hieronymus Bosch Chapter Three: Science and Medicine How studies in anatomy advanced figurative art Understanding blood flow in the body Copernicus. Galileo. Inquisition. Chapter Four: Exploration Wealth, advances in shipbuilding and navigation skills, as well as the pioneering zeal of some Renaissance minds, enabled travellers to sail far further by sea. Age of Discovery. The Americas. Mapmaking. Amerigo Vespucci, Christopher Columbus. Chapter Five: Literature and Music Tallis, Taverner and Byrd. Polyphony in the Netherlands. Boccaccio, Petrarch, Dante. Elizabethan and Jacobean Theatre. Shakespeare and the English stage. Chapter Six: Humanism, Political Thought and Religion Machiavelli’s The Prince. Thomas More’s Utopia. Erasmus. Martin Luther, Vasari. Bookkeeping: Luca Pacioli Chapter Seven: Legacy Bibliography Index

About the Author :
John D. Wright is an American author and editor living in England. He has been a reporter in London for Time and People magazines, covering such subjects as politics and crime. He is the author of several history books, including The Oxford Dictionary of Civil War Quotations and The Routledge Encyclopedia of Civil War Era Biographies. Among his other books are Crime Investigation and Unsolved Crimes. He holds the Ph.D. degree in Communications from the University of Texas and has taught writing at three universities.