Renaissance

Middle Ages

Period: 500 to 1500

It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages.

Dante Alighieri

1321

An Italian from Florence, became known as the “father of Italian poetry.” He wrote the Divine Comedy.

Geoffrey Chaucer

1343

The most significant Middle English author who was active in the late 14th century. Father of English Literature. The Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus.

The Renaissance

Period: 1400 to 1700

The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 14th century to the early 17th century. Florence, Italy. Also known as "The age of Shakespeare".

The Printing Press

1440

In Germany, goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press.

Leonardo Da Vinci

1452

(1452 – 1519). “First modern man”. Painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect.

Nicolaus Copernicus

1473

(1473-1543) Copernicus proposed a heliocentric theory for the universe, placing the sun at its center.

Michelangelo

1475

1475 – 1564. Architect, painter and sculptor. Painted the ceiling of the Sistine chapel in Rome.

William Caxton

1477

William Caxton (1422-1491) was an English printer. He was known for printing medieval romances. He became the first person in England to print a dated book.

"Portrait of a Young Woman"

1480

(c. 1480–85) (Simonetta Vespucci) by Sandro Botticelli

"The Birth of Venus"

1480

Painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown.

Pico della Mirandola

1486

He wrote the "manifesto" of the Renaissance, the Oration on the Dignity of Man, a vibrant defence of thinking.

"Vitruvian Man"

1490

Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man demonstrates the effect writers of Antiquity had on Renaissance thinkers.

Christopher Columbus

1492

Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas was in 1492. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.

"The Last Supper"

1495

The final meal that Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion.

Luca Pacioli

1500

The father of accounting.
At the end of the 15th century, Luca Pacioli published the first work on bookkeeping, making him the founder of accounting.

"David"

1501

"David" is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, created in marble by the Italian artist Michelangelo. David is a marble statue of the Biblical figure David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence.

"Mona Lisa"

1503

"The best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world".

"Sistine Chapel ceiling"

1508

(Italian: Soffitto della Cappella Sistina), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art.

Galileo Galilei

1564

(1564-1642). Galileo invented the telescope and was able to prove that the earth does indeed revolve around the sun.

William Shakespeare

Apr 26, 1564

He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". The most influential writer in the English language.
He wrote Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth.

"Don Quixote"

1605

Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes, its full title is El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha.

Jules Michelet

1798

He coined the term Renaissance (meaning " rebirth " in French) as a period in Europe's cultural history that represented a break from the Middle Ages, creating a modern understanding of humanity and its place in the world.