History Northern Renaissance Humanists and Writers – Flashcards

A region that included parts of present-day northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands; was an important industrial and financial center of northern Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

1400s one of the talented artists of Flanders. His portrayals of townspeople and religious scenes added to the realism of his art. He developed new techniques for using oil paint. Him and others used the methods to produce strong colors and hard surface paint that could survive for centuries.

1500s leading Flemish painter. He used vibrant colors to portray lively scenes of peasant life. His secular art influence later Flemish artists, who painted scenes of ordinary people and their daily lives.

Was born in Germany. A painter, draftsman, and writer, his greatest artistic impact was in engraving. He traveled to Italy, studied the Italian masters, and helped spread Renaissance ideas to northern Europe. Many of his famous works, such as The Apocalypse and Adam and Eve, had religious themes.

Art form in which an artist etches a design on a metal plate with acid and then uses the plate to make multiple prints.

Was a Dutch priest, writer, and scholar who promoted humanism. He wrote texts on various subjects and produced a new Greek edition of the Christian Bible. He also called for a transition of the Bible in vernacular, or everyday language, to help spread learning, ideas, and education. He also wanted to reform Church corruption.

Was born in London. He became a lawyer, scholar, writer, and member of British parliament during the reign of Henry VIII. He wrote Utopia, describing an ideal society. The word utopian came to mean idealistic or visionary. In 152, he was knighted.

Idealistic or visionary, usually used to describe a perfect society.

Born in England, became a famous poet and playwright during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Between 1590 and 1613, he wrote 37 plays that are still performed around the world. He invented words and phrases still used today. Like other Renaissance writers, he took a humanist approach to his characters.

Was born in Germany. He became a goldsmith, printer, and publisher. His pioneering invention of a printing press with moveable type changed the world. Around 1455, Gutenberg printed the first complete edition of the Christian Bible using his press.

The printing press caused many changes that would later on transform Europe. Prior to the invention of the printing press there were only a couple thousand books in Europe. The only way to produce books was by hand, and that was a very slow process. Within forty years 15 to 20 million books were produced because of the printing press. The price of books also drastically lowered because it became cheaper to make the books. Since the printing press caused books to become widely available more people learned how to read and write. The people of Europe gained a wide variety of knowledge from the books. Lastly, the ideas of religious reformers spread much faster than they did prior to the printing press.

Both Jan van Eyck and Pieter Bruegel's realistic portrayals of townspeople and peasants were filled with detail which added realism to their art. Realism was a common theme during the Renaissance in artists work.

Albrecht Durer was compared to Leonardo da Vinci for one major reason. The reason being that he also had a wide ranging interests like Leonardo da Vinci. He also traveled to Italy to study the techniques of Leonardo da Vinci. Durer then used the new methods he learned. Like Leonardo Durer helped spread Renaissance ideas to northern Europe.

Sir Thomas More was an English humanist. The intellectual topics that he was interested in was social and economic reforms. He was also interested in utopian societies.

The Shakespeare play about Julius Caesar reflected an important aspect of the Renaissance because of humanism movement. During the Renaissance the intellectual movement known as humanism, humanist scholars studied classical Greek and Roman cultures. Caesar was a political leader in ancient Rome, so Shakespeare was bringing back a person from the time which is one thing that the humanists focused on.