Renaissance Foundations
This Italian word means "rebirth" and describes the era of new art, science, and learning in Europe.
The Renaissance
German inventor Johannes Gutenberg created this machine around 1440, changing how information was shared forever.
The Printing Press
On October 31, 1517, this German monk posted his 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg
Martin Luther
A single king or queen who holds complete, unchecked power over an entire kingdom without anyone able to tell them "no".
Monarchy
These were medieval holy wars where returning fighters brought back advanced Islamic science, philosophy, and classical Greek and Roman texts.
The Crusades
This wealthy Florentine banking family used their vast fortune to pay artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.
The Medici family
Religious communities were monks live
Monasteries
This leader of the Catholic Church claimed absolute power and was accused of spending money extravagantly on personal pleasures.
The Pope
A vast network of ancient land and sea trade routes that connected Asia with the Middle East, Africa, and Europe
The Silk Road
Martin Luther argued that salvation was achieved through this alone, rather than by good works or buying indulgences.
Faith
Access to Mediterranean trade routes brought immense wealth to these coastal Italian city-states, sparking the birth of the Renaissance.
Venice and Florence
Because books became cheaper and easier to buy, this ability to read and write increased among ordinary citizens.
Literacy
The overall religious movement in the 1500s that aimed to change and break away from the Catholic Church.
Protestant Reformation
A belief system that revolves around the worship of a single God
Monotheism
This Renaissance master sculpted David and painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo
This intellectual movement emphasized human potential, classical learning, and individual achievement alongside Christian faith.
Humanism
Martin Luther made Scripture accessible to ordinary German citizens by translating the Bible into this spoken language
German
This English King broke away from Rome and formed the Church of England when the Pope refused to grant him an annulment
Henry VIII
Church officials sold these certificates to promise buyers a reduced punishment in purgatory for their sins.
Indulgences
In Thesis 1, Luther argued that the Pope does not have the power to cancel penalties for sins, stating that this power belongs only to God and this sacred text.
The Bible
Instead of focusing only on religion, Renaissance artists and writers studied these two ancient classical civilizations.
Ancient Greece and Rome
Prior to the printing press, European books were handwritten and copied primarily in this language, making them rare and expensive.
Latin
Prior to the Protestant Reformation, this institution served as the single most dominant political, cultural, and spiritual authority across Western Europe.
The Catholic Church
Martin Luther wrote this famous document in 1517 to spark academic debate over Church practices.
95 Theses
The establishment of this foundational religion shifted Western civilization toward a belief in one God, ethical laws, and the individual's divine worth.
Judaism