How the Reformation and Age of Discovery were extensions of the Renaissance

The Effects of the Printing Press

1440

The printing press was innovated with interchangeable parts in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg to mass-produce religious texts such as the bible. With the printing press, copies of books were made much faster than handwriting books. More people had access to books such as the bible which aided education in the churches.

The Gutenberg Bible

1455

The Gutenberg bible was a printed Latin version of the bible which was used in churches at the time. The ability to produce many copies of the bible in Latin or other religious texts printed in the printing presses allowed many people to get access to religious books.

Renaissance Thinkers

1490

The renaissance period was full of renaissance thinkers such as Machiavelli, Erasmus, and Dante who used the ideas of humanism to come up with advancements in philosophical approaches. Humanistic thinking also allowed for the renaissance thinkers to think deeply into theology and religion.

Humanism

1490

Humanism was the thought commonly used by Renaissance thinkers to establish the idea people were the best of God's creations because of the achievements made throughout history. The idea also helped shape renaissance education by stating that education made people more well-rounded. This belief would inspire Martin Luther to come up with the religious belief that God would allow well-rounded people who were forgiven and faithful into heaven.

Columbus Accidentally Discovers the Americas

1492

Columbus making the discovery of the Americas lead countries to want to expand their land to new places. In doing this, they were expanding ad changing their countries economy, politics, and society in many new ways.

Religion in Renaissance Paintings

1495

During the Renaissance, there were many artists who made paintings, sculptures, and mosaics that were related to religion. Michalenago created paintings on the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel such as the creation of Adam, a very recognizable religious painting.

Colonization of the Americas

1500

After Columbus, countries like Spain, France, and Portugal who were colonizing Central and South America picked up parts of the native people's culture and adapted it to their own. By doing this, the colonists were changing their own culture and mixed cultures with the natives, thus rebirthing their culture.

Martin Luther and the 95 Theses

1517

Martin Luther was a professor in Wittenberg who was exploring theology and his own spiritual beliefs when he thought of the idea of Lutheranism. He did not believe the Catholic church was doing the right thing by making people buy their way to heaven, he thought that people being forgiven and their faith was their way into heaven. The 95 indulgences Luther posted on the Wittenberg chappel against the catholic church was the start of the Protestant movement.

Protestant Movement Creates New Denominations

1518

New denominations of people such as Calvinists, Lutherans, Presybitarans, and Anglicans followed their own interpretations and beliefs according to the bible, steering away from the strict views and beliefs the catholic church had. These new denominations changed and rebirthed the religious culture and beliefs in Europe.

Effects of Religious Change: The Religious Wars

1560

Though there was a lot of change in the church which some people found positive, there were many people in the catholic church who thought the change of the new denominations was negative. This conflict led to wars between countries such as Spain, Catholics, versus France, Protestants. There was no winner to these fights, but it resulted in kings finding a new form of ruling, Absolutism.