Unit II: Renaissance & Reformation

I. Feudal Society

A. Life in Europe before the Renaissance

1. Middle Ages- (500-1300 BCE estimate)

a. time period after fall of Roman empire

b. Europe was broken into small kingdoms

c. The dominate Christian religion was Catholicism (Roman Catholic Church), in Western Europe

d. Eastern Orthodox Church dominates the eastern part of Europe in Constantinople (Turkey).

*find Turkey on a map!

II. Feudalism

a. Feudalism was a political & economic system that provided safety for people

b. Feudalism was needed because Europe was being invaded by Vikings & other outsiders.

Also, nobles were fighting over land & power

c. Feudal society was organized in a hierarchy (order of power)

-ex. Monarch (King), nobles (had most power), knights, men at arms, peasants (backbone of feudal society)

III. Crusades

a. Crusades- Christians went to war to win back the Holy Land (Jerusalem) from Muslims & Jews (Middle East)

b. Fighting continued for over 100 years, Christians tried 8 times.

c. Crusades were very violent. Killed many Muslims (1st crusade over 10-20,000) & burned down Jewish synagogues

d. Caused all groups to seek revenge, problems still exist today.

IV. Black Death (Plague)

a. Bubonic Plague- disease that killed over 25 million Europeans during the Middle Ages (1000-1400’s)

b. Rats carried fleas that had bacteria, fleas bit humans

c. The bubonic plague spread throughout Europe through trade & human to human contact

d. Eventually died out because people died quickly, & so did the rats

II. The Renaissance

A. Rebirth of Learning & the Arts

1. Renaissance was a cultural movement from 14th to 17th century (1300’s-1600’s)

2. Began in Italy & later spread to the rest of Europe

3. Artists, writers & other individuals revisited the classics (Ancient Greece & Rome) for inspiration.

Michelangelo: painter, sculptor,Michelangelo: painter, sculptor,

Architect & poetArchitect & poet

William Shakespeare: Romeo & JulietWilliam Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet

Hamlet, McbethHamlet, Mcbeth

B. Changes in medieval culture

1. Invention of the Printing Press

a. Johann Gutenberg borrowed ideas from China (1440) created moveable type

b. printing press- a machine that presses paper against a tray of inked moveable type.

c. books were written in the vernacular (common language) literacy rates increased.

d. books were now cheap & ideas spread more easily!

Gutenberg BibleGutenberg Bible

2. War & plague caused suffering during the middle ages.

3. Survivors began questioning the church & medieval social structure (once a peasant always a peasant)