A Changing Europe

Late 1200’s  Decline of Feudalism  Rising middle class emerged after the crusades  Middle class merchants made money by trading in Southwest Asia  Marco Polo (Italy) traveled to China with his father  Lived there 17 years  Brought back silk, spices, jewels, stories  Wrote book – Description of the World  Few people could read at the time

Late 1200’s  Marco Polo’s book inspired people to travel and learn  Book remained popular for a long time  Europeans did not know there was land to their West  Knew there were lands to the East

Mid 1300’s  Marco Polo’s book inspired people to travel and learn  Book remained popular for a long time  Europeans were increasingly curious about what was beyond their city walls.  Curiosity like this sparked a period of renewed interest in learning and knowledge called the Renaissance=rebirth of learning which from the mid 1300’s-about 1600.

Renaissance  Renaissance was a time of creativity and experimentation  Artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Donatello created paintings, drawings, and sculptures to show nature and people how they really looked

Renaissance  Writers such as William Shakespeare wrote plays and poems  Scientists worked to better understand the human body  Scientists also studied movement of the planets using newly invented instruments  Galileo – telescope  Copernicus – Earth revolves around the sun

Renaissance  Art, Literature, Music, Architecture, Science  Use of math and geometry  Art reflected life and nature  Previously it was based on religion

Renaissance  Influence of Greek and Roman literature and philosophy  Concept of human freedom and republicanism  Could be an influence on America today  As more people moved to the city, there was more interest in the arts  Towns began to use their money to support Renaissance thinkers  As people were exploring the aspects of their culture, the desire to explore the unknown parts of the Earth grew  People were still inspired to travel by Marco Polo’s book

Really Early Exploration  Westward exploration began before Marco Polo’s book and the wave of curiosity started during the Renaissance  Leif Erikson was a Norse thought to have been the first European to reach North America around 1002  Norse = northern European from Sweden, Norway, Denmark  Landed in Canada and had a settlement there called “Vinland”  Norse did not create maps or write reports, but had sagas  Sagas were thought to be legends, but archaeologists found traces of a Norse settlement in Canada  Leif Erikson Day=October 9th