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History (Key dates (1439: Gotenburg used moveable type press, 1453: The…
History
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Other stuff
In Italy, in the 15th Century, the Renaissance began. This period of ‘rebirth’ was created by unique conditions in Europe and Italy. In Europe contact with the Islamic world through the crusades and the Silk Road brought them into contact with a civilisation more mathematically and scientifically advanced than Europe. The fall of Byzantine Empire to the Turkish meant the return of classical Greek and Roman books and ideas to Europe as scholars fled. In Italy the wealth of city states like Florence and Milan who had much less feudal or Church control allowed for more experimentation. These cities got into a competition to produce cultural works supported by rich patrons who sponsored artists and inventors. Status could now be achieved by showing skill in many disciplines such as art, music and philosophy. Such people were called polymaths or a ‘Renaissance man’ and even kings like Henry VIII were seen to aspire to this.
Across Europe the discovery of the Printing Press made books cheaper to produce and available to a wider audience, increasing literacy and spreading new ideas to the people. The Chinese invention of gunpowder, when traded into Europe, created new weapons which ended the era of knights and castles. The telescope changed the perspective on the world away from the Church-influenced views on a solar system with the Earth at the centre (geocentric) to one with the sun at the centre (heliocentric) and the earth playing a lesser part. In general it also advanced the idea that science and reason may have answers to compliment the Bible and religion.
Europe throughout the medieval period traded with the Far East using the Silk Road. This trading network brought new goods to Europe such as gunpowder and spices. It also encouraged cultural competition as news spread of architectural wonders such as the Great Wall of China, the Kalan Mosque and the Doge’s Palace. When European explorers began to discover the Americas this gave them access to wealth in the East and the West. Spanish conquistadors took gold, tobacco, potatoes and peanuts from the Aztecs and the Incas in the process making them the richest and most powerful European power, starting a race to build empires and take colonies which many European nations would eventually join.
The Reformation had been brewing across Europe for some years as people became frustrated with aspects of the Catholic Church such as the selling of indulgences and the corruption of priests. Martin Luther nailed these protests to the door of a German Church in 1517 and Protestantism as a movement was born. The reforms they argued for went further than a few simple complaints with demands for Bibles in the native language and simpler churches, lifestyles and vestments and changes to theology (beliefs) too.
Key words
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• Renaissance = Rebirth, cultural flowering 15th
• Byzantine Empire = Eastern rump of the Roman Empire, fell in 1453
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• Catholicism = a Christian Church, led by the Pope
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