Renaissance Timeline

Beginning of Renaissance

Jan 1, 1300

The beginning of the Renaissance era was around the 1350s, but there is no specific date. "Renaissance" means "rebirth" in French. It began in Northern Italy about 1350 after the Bubonic Plague striked, which killed about a third to half the population. It was also a rebirth of classical learning and rediscovery of ancient Rome and Greece. Lastly, the Renaissance was a rebirth of of he human spirit, a rebirth of creativity, called Humanism.

History of the Renaissance Era

Period: Jan 1, 1300 to Jan 1, 1600

Giovanni Boccaccio

Jul 1, 1313

Giovanni Boccaccio was born on July 1, 1313 in Certaldo, Italy. in 1348, he began to plan the "Decameron". The "Decameron" was a book to escape the terrifying ways of the plague of 1347. Seven young ladies and three young men to retire to a Fisolan hillside. To pass away the time, each one told a story every day on a theme and in the order for the one in charge of that day. A hundred "novelle are recounted in ten days. In the book, Boccaccio displayed the battles resulting the Black Plague.

The Black Death

Jan 1, 1347

The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague, killed one-third of Europe's population during the Renaissance period. The cause of this plague were spread by infected fleas that attched themselves to rats and spread easily on the streets. Those lucky enough to survive the plague soon found themselves better off both financially and socially. The wealth of the cities was now spread amongst fewer people by virtue of inheritance.

Donatello

Jan 1, 1386

The Italian sculptor Donatello was the greatest Florentine sculptor before Michelangelo and the most influential individual artist of the 15th century. One of Donatello's earliest known works is the life-sized marble David (1408). The David, dramatic in posture and full of youthful energy, possesses something of the graceful late Gothic feeling. He sculpted many nude men and women to show emotion and expression and the full purity of the human being.

Cosimo de Medici

Dec 27, 1389

Cosimo de Medici was born on December 27, 1389 in Florence, Italy. He founded the Medici dynasty that controlled Florence for years. They were a wealthy and powerful family that a lot of people didn't really like. He controlled the foreign and domestic affairs of Florence, using his money to keep his adherents in the government. He also reformed te system of taxation. Cosimo de Medici died on August 1, 1464 in Florence, Italy.

Johann Gutenberg

Jan 1, 1400

Johann Gutenberg was born in the 1400s in Mainz, Germany. In 1440, German inventor Johann Gutenberg invented a printing press process that remained the principle means of printing until the late 20th century, The inventor's method of printing from moveable type allowed for the first time the mass production of printed books. He also wrote the "Forty-Two Line Bible". Johann Gutenberg died on February 3, 1468.

Leonardo da Vinci

Apr 15, 1452

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy. He was a very well known humanist in the Renaissance era. He is recoganized mainly for his two most important paintings, "The Last Supper", which he started in 1495 and finished in 1497, and the "Mona Lisa". which he started in 1503 and completed in 1506. Da Vinci was also known as a Renaissance Man, someone who had a wide range of interests in drawing, painting, sculpture, philosophy, mathematics, engineering, and natural sciences.

Machiavelli

May 3, 1469

Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. He is well known for his writing of the book, "The Prince", which was written in 1513, which talked about his political philosophy. In 1526, Machiavelli, commissioned by Pope Clement VII, inspected the fortifications of Florence. He died May 22, 1527 in Florence, Italy. He died before he could recieve the last rites of the Church that he had bitterly criticized.

Desiderius Erasmus

Oct 27, 1469

Desiderius Erasmus was born on October 27, 1469 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He was a phenomenally productive writer and was the first European intellectual to exploit fully the power of the printed word. He was a leading writer on education, on humanist educational theories and textbooks used throughout Europe. He knew nearly every Christian humanist and spent time in all the centers of Nothern humanism. He died July 12, 1536 in Basel, Switzerland.

Albrecht Durer

May 21, 1471

Albrecht Durer was born on May 21, 1471 in Nuremberg, Bavaria. He was a very well known German painter and graphic artist because he blended a new style, a fusion of German realistic tradition with the Italian idea of beauty. Albrecht Durer died April 6, 1528 in Nuremberg, Bavaria.

Michelangelo

Mar 6, 1475

Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, Italy. He was celebrated as II Divino the 'Divine One'. He established new standards of excellance in all fields of creativity, including: sculpture, painting, and architecture. He was also a very accomplished poet. Michelangelo was most famous for the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Long story short, the Pope promised him money and Michelangelo got ripped off. It took over 30 years to paint the ceiling. He died at 67 in Rome.

Sir Thomas More

Feb 7, 1478

Sir Thomas More was born February 7, 1478 in London, United Kingdom. He is most famous for the writing of the book "Utopia". More was an English lawyer, scholar, writer, member of parliament and chancellor in the reign of Henry VIII. He was executed for refusing to recognise Henry VIII's divorce and the English church's break with Rome. He died on July 6, 1535 in London, United Kingdom.

Baldassare Castiglione

Dec 6, 1478

Baldassare Castiglione was born December 6, 1478 in Castico, Italy. He wrote the "Book of the Courtier" which talked about how to become/be a "Renaissance man or woman". Renaissance men/ women can pretty much do everything such as writing, dancing, singing, acting, mathematics, and poetry. Baldassare Castiglione died on February 7, 1529 in Toledo, Spain.

Raphael

Apr 6, 1483

Raphael was born on April 6, 1483 in Urbino, Italy. He was a supreme representative of Italian High Renaissance classicism. He painted the School of Athens in 1508. At the time of his death, Raphael's art was developing in new directions, paralleled in his own way by the Michelangelo in his Medici Chapel sculptures. He died on April 6, 1520 in Rome, Italy.

Northern Renaissance

Jan 1, 1494

The Northern Renaissance is pretty much defined by all the Renaissance happenings that occured within Europe, but outside of Italy. the major difference between the two was the art. The North held on to Gothic arc for much more longer than the Italian renaissance did. Also, Northern artists took different approches to art than Italian artists. Italian artists were more concerned about composition, while Northern artists cared what the art actully looked like. Picture: Bosch Garden

William Shakespeare

Apr 23, 1564

William Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is universally recognized as the foremost writer in the English language to date. He wrote the major tragedies of Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth, Twelfth Nigh, A Midsummer's Night Dream, and Romeo and Juliet. He rebuilt the Globe Theater which was located on London's Bankside, the south bank of Thames. He died April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

End of the Renaissance

Jan 1, 1600

The end of the Renaissance took place in the 1600s. When the Church started losing its power, the Renaissance ended and rational thought took over. This was called the Age of Reason, and signified the beginning of what we consider Modern Times.