How the Renaissance transformed the written word…

  Reflected Renaissance curiosity and interest in the humanities  Wrote works on philosophy and scholarship  Developed guidebooks for men and women to become successful in the Renaissance world Italian Writers:

  Wrote The Book of the Courtier  Describes the manners, skills, learning, and virtues that a member of the court should possess.  Ideal courtier- well educated, well mannered aristocrat who mastered many fields(poetry, music, sports, etc..) Baldassare Castiglione

 Castiglione's Ideal Person Men 1. Athletic 2. Good at games 3. Plays musical instruments 4. Knows literature and history Women 1.Pretty “outer beauty is the true sign of inner goodness”

  Wrote a guide for rulers on how to gain and maintain power  Did not discuss ideals, but looked at real rulers in an age of ruthless power politics  Stressed “the end justifies the means”  Urged rulers to use whatever methods were necessary to achieve their goals Niccolò Machiavelli

  Machiavelli saw himself as an enemy of oppression and corruption  Critics attacked his advice, said it was too cynical  Machiavellian- came to refer to the use of deceit in politics  Give an example of a modern leader who follows Machiavelli’s advice. Machiavelli continued…

 A Revolution in Printing Before the printing press: 1.A few thousand books throughout Europe 2.All books were hand written 3.Books were expensive After the printing press: 1.By 1500, 20 million books had been printed 2.Books were cheaper 3.Books were readily available 4.More people learned to read

 Johann Gutenberg  1455, in Mainz, Germany, printed the first complete edition of the Bible using a printing press with movable type

  Renaissance writers still wrote in Latin, however, many writers began writing in the vernacular  Vernacular- everyday language of the people  How does the vernacular revolutionize reading and writing? Vernacular

  Important scholar of his time  Used his knowledge of classical language to produce a Greek edition of the Bible  Helped spread Renaissance humanism  Wanted the Bible translated into the vernacular Desideratum Erasmus

  Pressed for social reform  Wrote Utopia  His book described an ideal society where men and women lived in peace and harmony Sir Thomas More

  Monk, physician, Greek scholar, author  Wrote Garantua and Pantagruel  About the adventures of 2 gentle giants  On the surface was a funny tale, but it also tackled serious subjects such as religion and education  Rabelais was deeply religious, but had doubts about the organized church François Rabelais

  English poet and playwright  His genius was in expressing universal themes in everyday, realistic settings  He is responsible for the creation of over 1700 new words  Wrote 37 plays that are still performed today William Shakespeare

  academe accused addiction advertising amazement  arouse assassination backing bandit bedroom  beached besmirch birthplace blanket bloodstained  barefaced blushing bet bump buzzer  caked cater champion circumstantial cold-blooded  compromise courtship countless critic dauntless  dawn deafening discontent dishearten drugged  dwindle epileptic equivocal elbow excitement  exposure eyeball fashionable fixture flawed  frugal generous gloomy gossip green-eyed  gust hint hobnob hurried impede  impartial invulnerable jaded label lackluster  laughable lonely lower luggage lustrous  madcap majestic marketable metamorphize mimic  monumental moonbeam mountaineer negotiate noiseless  obscene obsequiously ode olympian outbreak  panders pedant premeditated puking radiance  rant remorseless savagery scuffle secure  skim milk submerge summit swagger torture  tranquil undress unreal varied vaulting  worthless zany gnarled grovel

 Shakespeare continued…