Renaissance Reformation

The Start/End of the Renaissance Era

Period: Jan 1, 1300 to Dec 17, 1600

The Renaissance was started sometime in the 1300s and extended all the way to the 1600s.

Giovanni Boccacio

Apr 14, 1313

The Italian poet, Giovanni Boccaccio was most probably born in Tuscany, the illegitimate son of a merchant of Certaldo. Boccaccio abandoned commerce and the study of canon law. At Naples he began to write stories in verse, mingled in courtly society, and fell in love with the noble lady whom he made famous under the name of Fiammetta. During his last years Boccaccio lived principally in retirement at Certaldo, and would have entered into holy orders.

The Black Plague

Feb 22, 1348

In the early 1330s an outbreak of deadly bubonic plague occurred in China. Since China was one of the biggest trade countries or province, the plague was quickly spread to the Western World. By the following August, the plague had spread as far north as England, where people called it "The Black Death" because of the black spots it produced on the skin. A terrible killer was loose across Europe, and Medieval medicine had nothing to combat it.

Donatello

Nov 16, 1386

The powerful expressivity of his art made him the greatest sculptor of the early Renaissance. Masterpieces from the first phases of his career include the marvelous marble Saint George. From 1443 to 1453, Donatello worked in the northern Italian city of Padua. There he designed a high altarpiece for the church known as the Santo. Donatello spent his old age in Florence, often working for the Medici.

Cosimo de Medici

Sep 27, 1389

Cosimo de' Medici was born on September 27, 1389, in Florence. He represented the Medici bank, managed the papacy's finances and became the wealthiest man of his time. Despite never holding office, he controlled Florence via his wealth and was the start of a dynasty that held power for centures. Cosimo was an important patron of Renaisance art. He died in 1464.

Johann Gutenburg

Apr 17, 1398

Gutenberg's father was a man of good family. Very likely the boy was taught to read. But the books from which he learned were not like ours; they were written by hand. A better name for them than books is "manuscripts," which means "hand-writings." Between 1450 and 1455, the Gutenberg Bible was completed. Early documentation states that a total of 200 copies were scheduled to be printed on rag cotton linen paper, and 30 copies on velum animal skin.

The Northern Renaissance

Oct 15, 1426

The Renaissance in the north has a distinctively different character than that of Italy and the southern countries. Though the styles of Northern artists vary according to geography, one characteristic that is fundamental to all northern art of this period is a fondness for meticulous rendering of details. In addition, there is generally less of the classical ideal apparent in the figures (which can be partly explained by their lack of access to Greek and Roman statues). Instead, remnants of Got

Leonardo Da Vinci

Aug 19, 1452

Leonardo da Vici was born on 15 April 1452 in the town of Vinci, the illegitimate son of the notary Ser Piero da Vinci and a peasant woman called Caterina. His childhood spent in the Tuscan countryside inspired in him a life-long passion for the observation and depiction of nature. When he was seventeen, he moved to Florence, where his talent for drawing impressed the great master Verrocchio who took him on as a pupil. Today Leonardo da Vici is seen as one of the most famous figures in the histo

Desiderius Erasmus

Oct 28, 1466

The Dutch humanist, Desiderius Erasmus, was born at Rotterdam, apparently on October 28, 1466, the illegitimate son of a physician's daughter by a man who afterwards turned monk. He attended the school of the "Brothers of the Common Life" at Deventer. On his parents' death his guardians insisted on his entering a monastery and in the Augustinian college of Stein near Gouda he spent six years. He died July 12, 1536.

Machiavelli

May 3, 1469

Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, was born at Florence, May 3, 1469, saw the troubles of the French invasion, when the Medici fled, and in 1498 became secretary of the Ten, a post he held until the fall of the republic in 1512. It was not until 1519 that he was commissioned by Leo X to draw up his report on a reform of the state of Florence. and already in declining health, died on June 22.

Albrecht Durer

Jan 14, 1471

Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) was born in the Franconian city of Nuremberg, one of the strongest artistic and commercial centers in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He was a brilliant painter, draftsman, and writer, though his first and probably greatest artistic impact was in the medium of printmaking. Dürer's talent, ambition, and sharp, wide-ranging intellect earned him the attention and friendship of some of the most prominent figures in German society.

Baldassare Castiglione

Dec 6, 1478

The son of a noble family, Castiglione was educated at the humanist school of Giorgio Merula and Demetrius Chalcondyles. He returned to Mantua in 1499 to enter the service of the marquis, Francesco Gonzaga.

Sir Thomas More

Dec 13, 1478

Thomas More was born in Milk Street, London on February 7, 1478, son of Sir John More, a prominent judge. He was educated at St Anthony's School in London. As a youth he served as a page in the household of Archbishop Morton, who anticipated More would become a "marvellous man." While He resigned in 1532, citing ill health, but the reason was probably his disapproval of Henry's stance toward the church.his work in the law courts was exemplary, his fall came quickly.

Raphael Sanzio

Apr 6, 1483

Raffaello Sanzio was born on April 6, 1483 in Urbino, Italy. He was a painter and architect during The Renaissance. Much of his works remain, since they were done mainly within the Vatican. Raphael’s family was a very artistic family. His dad was court painter to the Duke of Urbino, Federico Il da Montefeltro, and he helped his dad paint some of the pieces. In 1508, he went to Rome, and lived there the rest on his life. His death was caused by a long night of excessive sex with his mistress.

William Shakespeare

Jun 16, 1564

William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. There is no record of his birth, but his baptism was recorded by the church, thus his birthday is assumed to be the 23 of April. His father was a prominent and prosperous alderman in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Seven years later Shakespeare is recognized as an actor, poet and playwright. April 23, in Stratford, on his 52nd birthday he died.