Ap European History: Renaissance - Famous Figures

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Thomas Aquinas

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1225-1274 - Scholastic theologian/philosopher and Saint, fused Aristotle’s ideas with Christian teachings

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Desiderius Erasmus

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1466-1536 - Dutch humanist, theologian and scholar, advocated for moderate reform of the Church

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Joan of Arc

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1412 - 1431 - Soldier who defended France against English domination on behalf of Charles VII, received visions from heaven and was burned at the stake and later made into a Saint herself

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Walter Tyler

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died 1381 - Leader of the Peasant’s Revolt in England, which opposed the universal taxation of British citizens and advocated for peasants’ freedom

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Machiavelli

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1469-1527 - Italian historian, politician, and humanist, author of The Prince, which discussed mechanisms for gaining political power through manipulation and self-interest

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Christine de Pisan

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1364-1430 - Italian & French writer and poet who, as a widow, supported her family through her writing, wrote poetry and nonfiction describing period fashion, codes of behavior, and social realities

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Dante

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1265-1321 - Italian writer and poet, called “The Supreme Poet” by Italians and author of The Divine Comedy

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Shakespeare

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1564 - 1616 - British poet and stage writer, responsible for many classic plays such as Romeo and Juilet and Othello, invented many words and satirized current events of his day

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Francesco Guicciardini

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1483-1540 - Political writer and contemporary of Machiavelli, he wrote The History of Italy and was one of the first to use government sources to back up his writing

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Nicholas of Cusa

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1401-1464 - German theologian and humanist, developed the idea of “learned ignorance” and rose to a high position in the Catholic Church while promoting the teachings of Renaissance humanism

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Meister Eckhart

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1260 - 1327 - German theologian and philosopher during the time of the Avignon Papacy, worked with lay religious groups but was tried by the Church as a heretic

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Raphael

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1483 - 1520 - Italian painter and architect of the Renaissance, painted for the Vatican, designed buildings, and trained many great artists as pupils

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Jan van Eyck

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1390 - 1441 - Painter from the Netherlands, painted portraits and Biblical scenes as altarpieces

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Masaccio

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1401 - 1428 - Italian Renaissance painter famous for his use of linear perspective and realism

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Leon Battista Alberti

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1404 - 1472 - Italian scholar of many talents or “Renaissance Man”, painter, architect, linguist, theologian, poet and cryptographer, wrote treatises on artistic design and invented his own written codes

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Alfonso X (Castile/Spain)

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1252 - 1284 - King of Castile (part of Spain), responsible for the rise of Castilian as an academic language and supported the development of science and literature during his reign

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Frederick I (Barbarossa/Redbeard-Germany)

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1122 - 1190 - Roman Emperor/King of Italy, used divine right to rule and amass more territory and greatly increased size of the Roman Empire

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Charles V (France)

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1500 - 1558 - Son of the Hapsburg and Valois-Burgundy ruling lines and husband of the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, Holy Roman Emperor and political leader of the Catholic Counter-Reformation

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John Wyclif

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1320 - 1384 - British theologian and scholar who opposed the Catholic Church and papal authority before Martin Luther’s rise to fame

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Guillaume Dufay

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1397-1474 - Flemish (French/Belgian) composer, the most famous of the 15th century, wrote both religious and secular music

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Lorenzo de Medici

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1449 - 1492 - de facto head of Florence, Italy, patron and sponsor of many artists and peaceful ruler of Florence during the High Renaissance

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Petrarch

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1304-1374 - Italian scholar, writer, and poet who endorsed the ideas of Humanism very early, and whose writing style is considered a model for the Italian language

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Castiglione

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1478 - 1529 - Italian diplomat, soldier, and Renaissance writer who favored the ideas of Humanism, wrote The Book of the Courtier

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Boccaccio

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1313 - 1375 - Italian writer and poet responsible for Decameron and On Famous Women, espoused Humanist ideas and corresponded with Petrarch

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Copernicus

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1473 - 1543 - Prussian (Polish) mathematician and astronomer who proposed that the Earth orbited the Sun, but his theories did not anger the Catholic Church until much later when Galileo was persecuted

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Poggio Bracciolini

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1380 - 1459 - Italian Renaissance Humanist writer and scholar responsible for rediscovering many lost Classic manuscripts, debated linguistics and philosophy with Lorenzo Valla

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Leonardo Bruni

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1370 - 1444 - Italian Humanist writer and historian, famous for his writing of history (unintentionally) without a religious bias, wrote A History of the Florentine People

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Paracelsus

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1493 - 1541 - rebellious and independent Swiss German scholar who focused on medicine and scientific study, examined psychosomatic illness, founded the discipline of toxicology and promoted observation-based learning rather than relying on previous scholars’ work for medical guidance

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Gerard Groote

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1340 - 1384 - Dutch Roman Catholic deacon who founded the Brethren of the Common Life, a lay religious group based on Christian values that grew to widespread popularity in the 14th century

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Donatello

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1386 - 1466 - Italian Renaissance sculptor, used bas-relief techniques, responsible for “David” and “St. Mark” as well as many other realistic sculptures

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Hans Holbein

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1497 - 1543 - German Renaissance/Reformation artist, famous for his portraits and his propaganda contributions to the Protestant Reformation

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Paolo Uccello

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1397 - 1475 - Late Gothic painter from Italy who focused on using perspective to create the illusion of depths in paintings, favored colorful designs rather than realism

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Giovanni di Dondi

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1330 - 1338 - Italian clockmaker who attempted to design a mechanized model of the solar system, called the “astrarium”, considered a pioneer in the field of engineering

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Edward III (England)

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1312 - 1377 - Warlike ruler of England, fought the Hundred Years’ War for control of France, expanded English military and territory and allowed for the evolution of the English Parliament

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John Huss

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1369 - 1415 - Czech theologian and scholar, predecessor to Martin Luther and John Calvin but shared many of the same ideas, burned at the stake as a heretic but his followers remained faithful and defeated Catholic crusaders five times in the Hussite Wars

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Albrecht Durer

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1471 - 1528 - German painter and engraver famous for his detailed woodcutting artwork and his watercolors, creator of Melencolia I

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Charles IV (Germany)

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1316 - 1378 - King of Luxembourg and Holy Roman Emperor, supported the Catholic Church against the rivalry of Louis IV

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Lorenzo Valla

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1407 - 1457 - Italian Humanist, writer, rhetorician (persuasive writer), and teacher, debunked Church doctrine such as the “Donation of Constantine” as false/forged

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Pico della Mirandola

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1463 - 1494 - Italian Renaissance philosopher, wrote the Oration of the Dignity of Man which is regarded as a manifesto for the Renaissance, and contributed to the teachings of Humanism

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Peter Paul Vergerio

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1498 - 1565 - Italian proponent of the Reformation of the Church, promoted ecclesiastical (critical/scholarly) study of the Church and its teachings, arrested and exiled as a heretic by the Church

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Geoffrey Chaucer

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1343 - 1400 - English writer, diplomat, and scientist, most famous for the Canterbury Tales but contributed many other works to the development of English literature

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Cosimo de Medici

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1349 - 1464 - Wealthy Italian banker and politician who became the de facto ruler of Florence, Italy, and began the Medici Dynasty, sponsored and funded the development of artists and their work during the Italian Renaissance

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Cassandra Fedele of Venice

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1465 - 1558 - Most renowned female scholar of the Italian Renaissance, wrote in Italian, Latin, and Greek and delivered powerful speeches until her intellectual life ended with marriage

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Dr. Faustus

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1480 - 1541 - German Renaissance scientist, alchemist, astrologer, and student of the occult, mythologized and rumored to have sold his soul to the devil for knowledge, inspiration for several plays including Goethe’s Faust.

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Leonardo da Vinci

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1452 - 1519 - Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, mathematician, and man of many other talents, famous for his flying machine designs, the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man, and many scientific discoveries and inventions

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Michelangelo

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1475 - 1564 - Italian Renaissance man like Leonardo da Vinci, sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer, sculpted the Pietà and David, and painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling most famously, but produced a large body of diverse other works

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Giotto

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1266 - 1337 - Italian painter and architect who lived during the Late Middle Ages/Early Renaissance, painted many biblical works and portraits in a more realistic style than what was popular during his lifetime

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Brunelleschi

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1337 - 1446 - Italian Renaissance architect and designer of many buildings, invented and experimented with types of hydraulic machinery, clockwork, and theater technology

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Johannes Gutenberg

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1398 - 1468 - German blacksmith, metalworker, and printer who invented movable type and revolutionized the printing press and made mass communication possible during the Renaissance

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Philip IV the Fair (France)

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1268 - 1314 - King of France and other possessions, responsible for transforming France into a more centralized, less feudal state, and responsible for the Pope of Avignon situation after his relationship with the clergy became strained

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Philip VI (France)

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1293 - 1350 - Highly disputed and contested king of France, lost the Hundred Years’ War to the English while France was overcome by the Black Plague