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Jul 20, 1304
Petrarch
Petrarch is an Italian poet and humanist that added to the Renaissance with his fluid and lyrical poetry. Although he started out studying to be a laywer under his father's wishes, Petrach still created poetry from this time but it got heavily revised. he then continued to work as a poet after his father's death and through his poetry and studies, would be known as the greatest scholar of his time. -
1399
Johannes Gutenburg
Creator of the printing press, Gutenburg revolutionized how books were created as they no longer had to be written by hand. This made the price of books go down drastically letting the common man buy books for themselves. So through the invention of the printing press Gutenburg ushered in a new age of literacy. -
1400
Humanism
Humanism was a movement in the Renaissance that brought back Greek and Roman ideology rather than medieval. It revived Greek and Roman culture as people began to focus on life in the present rather than the afterlife. Humanism led a new wave of knowledge and human understanding as fields of art and science were explored because of it. -
Jan 1, 1449
Lorenzo de'Medici
Lorenzo de'Medici was an Italian statesman, ruler and a patron of thing like art as he helped his brother run Florence during the Renaissance. He helped out and commissioned various artists during the Renaissance one being Leonardo da Vinci. And in his later years he would make school for sculpting where he would meet the prodigy Michelangelo who he would treat like a son. -
Jun 15, 1452
Leonardo da Vinci
Famously known for painting the Mona Lisa and other paintings such as the Last Supper. He was also known as a true Renaissance man as he contributed to the arts with his paintings but also was a part of the science and engineering part of the Renaissance. His contributions to the art world have since made him an icon. -
May 21, 1471
Albrecht Durer
A German artist who is remarked as being one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance worked with various medias but mostly did engravings. His works had a gothic style to them and were greatly influenced by Durer's time in Italy. He was later put into the service of the Holy Roman Emperor as he worked for him for about seven years creating drawings to his liking. -
Feb 19, 1473
Nicolas Copernicus
Copernicus gave us the heliocentric model where the Earth orbited the sun. As the Earth was thought to be the center of the universe at the time Copernicus's model wasn't accepted except for a few people who did believe in his model. They would later help prove that Copernicus's model is correct but like in the case of Galileo had to recant their findings. -
Mar 6, 1475
Michelangelo
Michelangelo was a famous Italian Renaissance painter known for his paintings on the Sistine Chapel and sculptures like David. His works are still on the chapel and many other of his works are still in museums to this day. He had a few mentors one being Lorenzo de'Medici. -
Feb 7, 1478
Sir Thomas More
An early humanist and a states man More was one of many people who died by refusing to convert when King Henry VIII separated from the church. More would be canonized as a saint for this act of difance against the king and staying with the church. More is also known for writing his book on an ideal society known as "Utopia". -
Nov 10, 1483
Martin Luthor
Luthor opposed the Catholic church with his 95 Theses that got nailed to the door of a church. Luthor refused to recant his complaints with the church and as a result got excommunicated from the church and declared a heretic. Luthor then created his own religion based off his ideal which is still around to this day as Lutheranism. -
Jul 2, 1489
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas was a protestant who was an advisor to Henry VII and his son Edward I. He was made the archbishop to the Church of England by Henry and continued through Edward's time of being king however Mary caused an issue. Mary wanted to go back to the Catholic church and persecuted those who stood by her father's church and one of the people burned for heresy was Cranmer. -
1491
Ignatius of Loyala
Ignatius was once a knight before he created his own religion however he was hit by a cannonball which impaired him. The people who follow the religion Ignatius created, The Socity of Jesus, are called Jesuits who took special oaths to the pope as part of their religion. So when Ignatius fell ill and died he was made into a saint by Pope Paul V. -
Jun 28, 1491
Henry VIII
Henry VIII separated England from the Catholic Church because the pope would refuse to divorce him from his first wife. He then created the Church of England and persecuted Catholics that refused to convert to England's new religion. He died in 1547 with his only son Edward succeeding him but before he died Henry added both of his daughters Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession. -
1509
John Calvin
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Sep 7, 1533
Elizabeth I
One of King Henry VIII's three kids, Elizabeth took the crown after the death of both her brother and sister. She unified Britain into an "Elizabethan Era" as she let her subjects choose their religion. She also refused to be head of church of England as she thought politics and religion should be two separate things. -
1542
Inquisition
This church court was a form of torture that was started in 1232 but went away for awhile only to resurface later. It was meant to stop heresy but when it came back in 1524 was meant to stop people from joining Protestantism. Although it was made to stop people from joining Luther's religion it continued on becoming a big part in the church's government. -
1543
Heliocentric Theory
The heliocentric theory was created by Copernicus as he thought that the planets rotated around the sun and was later proven by Galileo. However the church said that the Earth was the center of the universe at the time which led people to not take Copernicus's theory seriously. Galileo even had to denounce his findings or be declared a heretic. -
1545
Council of Trent
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Jan 22, 1561
Francis Bacon
Bacon was a statesman, philosopher, and lawyer who stopped after there were claims of currpution. He is mostly known for his philosophical works and helping create the scienticifc method that is still used today. His work in the field of science is credited with ushering a new age of human understanding. -
Feb 15, 1564
Galileo
Galileo is a famous astronomer who supported Copernicus's heliocentric model but later had to recant his evidence so he wouldn't be declared a heretic. Galileo was actually imprisoned for life by this suspected heresy and is quoted to say, "But yet it moves.." after being arrested. -
Apr 26, 1564
William Shakespeare
A famous play writer who's plays have lived on to the modern era, Shakespeare wrote hundreds of poems and plays. His work though was in vinacular or the spoken language of the people which led more people to be able to read his works. His theather was called the Globe where actors would go and preform his works for people to enjoy. -
Rene Descardes
Decardes has been called the father of modern philosophy as he created a new kind of science. That science he created was based on observation and strayed from the ideas of Aristole and was the first kind to focus on mind and body. Descardes wanted to help humans master nature by creating essentially a tree of knowledge. -
Sale of Indulgences
The church began selling indulgences as they were having some financial troubles and decided to create some get out of sin cards which were known as indulgences. Indulgences promised to cleanse you or a dead love one of a sin so they would spend less time in purgatory and were a huge source of income to the church. However this led to even more corruption within the church leading people to mistrust or leave the church. -
Isaac Newton
Newton is credited with the three laws of motion that are now the basic laws of physics. He has created some of the most important works in the history of modern science even discovering a new form of calculus. In short Newton founded principals we use today that are the building blocks of science.
