Paul Sargent Makes History
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1.1 Renaissance and Scientific Revolution

Youtube Playlist
Renaissance and Science Trailer

Key Concept

The worldview of European intellectuals shifted from one based on ecclesiastical and classical authority to one based primarily on inquiry and observation of the natural world.

Concept Overview

Renaissance intellectuals and artists revived classical motifs in the fine arts and classical values in literature and education. Intellectuals — later called humanists
— employed new methods of textual criticism based on a deep knowledge of Greek and Latin, and revived classical ideas that made human beings the measure of all things. Artists formulated new styles based on ancient models. The humanists remained Christians while promoting ancient philosophical ideas that challenged traditional Christian views. Artists and architects such as Brunelleschi, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael glorified human potential and the human form in the visual arts, basing their art on classical models while using new techniques of painting and drawing, such as geometric perspective. The invention of the printing press in the mid-15th century accelerated the development and dissemination of these new attitudes, notably in Europe north of the Alps (the northern Renaissance).


During the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans developed new approaches to and methods for looking at the natural world in what historians have called the Scientific Revolution. Aristotle’s classical cosmology and Ptolemy’s astronomical system came under increasing scrutiny from natural philosophers (later called scientists) such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. The philosophers Francis Bacon and René Descartes articulated comprehensive theories of inductive and deductive reasoning to give the emerging scientific method a sound foundation. Bacon urged the collection and analysis of data about the world and spurred the development of an international community of natural philosophers dedicated to the vast enterprise of what came to be called natural science. In medicine, the new approach to knowledge led physicians such as William Harvey to undertake observations that produced new explanations
of anatomy and physiology and to challenge the traditional theory of health and disease (the four humors) espoused by Galen in the second century. The articulation of natural laws, often expressed mathematically, became the goal of science.


The unexpected encounter with the Western hemisphere at the end of the
15th century further undermined knowledge derived from classical and biblical authorities. The explorations produced new knowledge of geography and the world’s peoples through direct observation, and this seemed to give credence to new approaches to knowledge more generally. Yet while they developed inquiry- based epistemologies, Europeans also continued to use traditional explanations of the natural world based on witchcraft, magic, alchemy, and astrology.
*Language on this page is provided by the College Board.

Sub-Concept 1

A revival of classical texts led to new methods of scholarship and new values in both society and religion.

Sub-Concept 2

The invention of printing promoted the dissemination of new ideas.

Sub-Concept 3

The visual arts incorporated the new ideas of the Renaissance and were used to promote personal, political, and religious goals.

Sub-Concept 4

New ideas and methods in astronomy led individuals such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton to question the authority of the ancients and religion and to develop a heliocentric view of the cosmos.



My Videos

Introduction to the Renaissance
Humanism
Secular Humanism
Civic Humanism
The Printing Press
Renaissance Art
Michelangelo
Renaissance Naturalism
Renaissance Contextualized

Reading Assignments

Pages below are from Jackson Spielvogel's Western Civilization, Updated 9th AP Edition
Reading assignment 1:
  • Petrarch – pages 323-324
  • Introduction to the Renaissance – pages 332-333
  • Meaning and Characteristics of the Italian Renaissance – page 333
  • Social Changes in the Renaissance – pages 336-337
  • Machiavelli and the New Statecraft – pages 343-344
Reading assignment 2:
  • The Intellectual Renaissance in Italy – page 344-350
Reading assignment 3:
  • The Artistic Renaissance – page 350
  • Art in the Early Renaissance – pages 350-353
  • The Artistic High Renaissance – pages 353-355
  • The Artist and Social Status – page 355
Reading assignment 4:
  • The Northern Artistic Renaissance – pages 355-356
  • The Changing Faces of Art – page 468-471
Reading assignment 5:
  • Background to the Scientific Revolution - pages 477-478
  • Toward a New Heaven – pages 478-479
  • Copernicus – pages 479-481
  • Brahe – page 481
  • Kepler – pages 481-482
Reading assignment 6:
  • Galileo – pages 483-486
  • Newton – pages 486-488
Reading assignment 7:
  • Advances in Medicine and Chemistry – pages 488-490
  • Toward a New Earth – pages 493-494
Reading assignment 8:
  • The Scientific Method and the Spread of Scientific Knowledge – pages 494-498

Interesting Articles

  • Why Machiavelli Matters
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Painted as the Renaissance Painters They Were Named After
  • Bronze Statues May Be Last Remaining by Michelangelo
  • Why do actors avoid the word "Macbeth"?
  • Michelangelo's Daddy Issues
  • When the Mona Lisa Was Stolen from the Louvre
  • New Hieronymus Bosch Drawing Found in Private Art Collection

Primary Sources

  • Machiavelli, The Prince - page 345
  • Erasmus, Education of a Christian Prince - page 345
  • Petrarch, The Ascent of Mount Ventoux - page 346
  • Lorenzo Valla, The Donation of Constantine
  • Baldassarre Castiglione, The Courtier
  • Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists - page 356
  • Nicolaus Copernicus, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres - page 480
  • Letters between Kepler and Galileo - page 482
  • Galileo Galilei, The Starry Messenger - page 484
  • Galileo Galilei, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina - page 485
  • Robert Ballarmine, Letter to Paolo Foscarini - pages 485-486
  • Isaac Newton, Rules of Reasoning in Philosophy - page 487
  • Renee Descartes, Discourse on Method - page 494

Other Resources


The Day The Universe Changed 03-10 Point of... by costello74

Paul Sargent Makes History

  • Home
  • My YouTube Channel
  • AP European History
    • Historical Reasoning Skills
    • Thematic Learning Objectives >
      • Interaction of Europe and the World
      • Poverty and Prosperity
      • Objective Knowledge and Subjective Visions
      • States and Other Institutions of Power
      • Individual and Society
      • National and European Identity
    • Concept Outline
    • Period 1: 1450-1648
    • Period 2: 1648-1815
    • Period 3: 1815-1914
    • Period 4: 1914-Present
    • Exam Review Resources
  • AP Government
    • Concept Outline
    • Constitutional Underpinnings
    • Political Beliefs and Behaviors
    • Linkage Institutions
    • Institutions of Government
    • Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
    • Exam Review
  • Government and Economics
    • Foundations of Government
    • The Constitution
    • Executive Branch
    • The Judicial Branch
    • Voting and Elections
  • My Blog