Prepare To Read
Objectives
In this section you will
1. Discover what the Renaissance was like at its peak.
2. Examine the effects of increased trade and stronger rulers in the Renaissance.
3. Learn about revolutions in government and science in the 1600s and 1700s.
Taking Notes
As you read this section, look for details about the Renaissance and the Age of Revolution. Copy the chart below and record your findings in it.
Target Reading Skill
Paraphrase When you pharaphrase, you restate what you have read in your own words. You could paraphrase the first two paragraphs of this section this way: “Marco Polo recorded his world travels in a book that influenced Christopher Columbus.” As you read, paraphrase the information following each red or blue heading.
Key Terms
Renaissance (ren uh sahns) n. a period of European history that included the rebirth of interest in learning and art
monarch (mahn urk) n. the ruler of a kingdom or empire, such as a king or a queen
revolution (rev uh loo shun) n. a far-reaching change
colony (kahl uh nee) n. a territory ruled by another nation
In about a.d. 1324 an elderly explorer named Marco Polo said before he died, “I have only told the half of what I saw!” Marco Polo indeed had an interesting life. For a time, he was a messenger of the great Mongol (mahn gul) emperor Kublai Khan (koo bly kahn), ruler of China. Polo also traveled across burning deserts and sailed south of the Equator. He visited the Spice Islands, which were the sources of the spices cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves that Europeans valued. He earned great riches, only to be robbed on his way home to Italy.
These stories were published in a book we know today as The Travels of Marco Polo. Two hundred years later, Marco Polo’s book inspired Christopher Columbus, another explorer. When Columbus sailed west from Europe, he was searching for a new route to the rich lands Marco Polo had described: China, Japan, and India.
Marco Polo and Kublai Khan
Chapter 2, Section 2
Chapter 2, Section 2
Glories of the Renaissance
Columbus’s search for a new route to the riches of the East was only one example of the movement sweeping Europe. The changes began in Italy in the 1300s and spread over the continent. Traders bought and sold goods across the region. The rich grew even richer. They had the time to enjoy art and learning—and the money to support artists and scholars. This period is called the Renaissance (ren uh sahns), or the rebirth of interest in learning and art. The Renaissance reached its peak in the 1500s.
Looking to the Past
In trying to understand the world around them, Renaissance thinkers re-examined, or looked at once again, the ideas of Greek and Roman thinkers. People learned again about the ancient world’s great poetry, plays, ideas, buildings, and sculpture. What they learned changed them. Writers began writing fresh, powerful poetry. The wealthy built glorious new buildings and filled them with breathtaking paintings.
Humanism: A New View
Recall that during the Middle Ages much of Europe was in chaos, and religion was a way to bring order to people’s lives. Renaissance thinkers began to focus on improving this world rather than hoping for a better life after death. This new approach to knowledge was called humanism (hyoo muh niz um). Humanistic thinkers emphasized the importance of human nature and the abilities of human beings to change the world.
Humanism affected every part of Renaissance life. For example, in the early Middle Ages, statues had been carved as stiff symbols. In contrast, during the Renaissance period artists carved lifelike statues.
Works of Michelangelo Michelangelo used themes from the Bible in many of his art works. The first photo is his sculpture of Moses. As an architect, Michelangelo worked on the dome of St. Peter’s, the church of the Pope, in Rome. Compare And Contrast Compare the photo of St. Peter’s with that of Notre Dame at the end of section 1. How are they alike? How are they different?
An Important Renaissance Artist
The Italian Michelangelo (my kul an juh loh) was one such artist. Michelangelo was an accomplished painter, poet, architect, and sculptor. His lifelike statues were remarkably realistic and detailed. In some, you can see veins bulging in the hands. Or the drape of a cloak across the sculpted person looks so real that it appears to be made of cloth rather than of marble. Like other Renaissance artists, Michelangelo’s work gave art a new importance. During the Renaissance, the role of art changed. Art came to be seen as an important way to understand man, God, and nature. You can read about another important Renaissance figure, Leonardo da Vinci (lee uh nahr doh duh vin chee) in the box below.
Printing Spreads the Renaissance
An important invention encouraged the spread of the Renaissance. Around 1450, the printing press was invented in Germany. Before printed books, books were made by carefully copying them by hand—a process that took a very long time. With the printing press, books could be made quickly.
Printed books made in large quantities could reach far more people than could books copied by hand. For that reason, the spread of printing had two important effects. First, it increased literacy, or the ability of people to read and write. Second, it allowed ideas of the Renaissance, written in books, to spread to large numbers of people. To understand the difference that the printing press made, consider this example. Before the printing press, there were a few thousand hand-copied books in Europe. Within 50 years after the printing press was invented, there were about 9 million books in Europe.
Chapter 2, Section 2
Chapter 2, Section 2
More Trade, Stronger Rulers
During the Renaissance, traders began to travel more often outside of Europe. In the 1400s, Portuguese explorers traveled along the western coast of Africa. There they traded in gold, ivory, and slaves. This trade was very profitable. Some Portuguese traders traveled as far east as the Indian Ocean.
Then in 1492, a discovery brought even more possibilities for wealth. While searching for a shortcut to the Indian Ocean spice trade, Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas. He claimed the lands for Spain. Other Spanish explorers soon followed.
While Portugal grew rich from spices, Spain grew wealthy from American gold and silver. Other European countries grew envious. By the 1600s, France, England, and the Netherlands took a growing share of the riches to be gained from overseas trade and settlement.
Diagram Skills
By the mid-1400s, European merchants like the one shown here sold a wide variety of goods, some from as far away as China.
Identify What items in the diagram were made in Germany?
Analyze Information What kinds of people most likely bought things from merchants such as this one? Why do you think so?
The Effects of Trade
Europeans raced to the Americas in search of wealth. Precious metals, such as gold and silver, and trade goods, such as fur and tobacco, poured into Europe. Much of the wealth went to European monarchs (mahn urks), or rulers such as kings and queens. Some of it went to traders and merchants. These people formed a new social class. They became the middle class, the class between the privileged nobles and the lowly peasants or farmers. The taxes paid by prosperous merchants and traders made monarchs even wealthier. Soon, kings no longer needed the support of feudal lords. Feudalism declined, local lords grew weaker, and kings gained power.
Target Reading Skill
Paraphrase Paraphrase the paragraph under the blue heading The Effects of Trade.
The Age of Monarchs
The period in European history from the 1600s to the 1700s can be called the Age of Monarchs. During this time, many European monarchs became absolute monarchs, meaning that they exercised great power over their subjects.
One such monarch was France’s King Louis (loo ee) XIV, who ruled from 1643 to 1715. One of Europe’s most powerful kings, Louis XIV ruled at a time when France was a leading world power. Like other kings of his time, Louis was an absolute monarch; that is, he exercised complete power over his subjects. As he said, “I am the state.” His wishes were law, and no one dared to disagree with him. Like other European monarchs, Louis believed that his power to rule came from God. To oppose him was the same as opposing God.
Louis used his power to make people pay heavy taxes. These taxes, in part, paid for his very expensive lifestyle. But Louis also wanted to make France strong. Other rulers wanted their countries to be strong as well. Over time, these monarchs made their countries stronger and more unified. As these changes took place, people began thinking again about government. Should the monarchs have such great power? What should the role of the government be?
A Wealthy Monarch Louis XIV, king of France, rides a horse in this painting from the mid-1600s. He built the palace of Versailles, shown above, to be his personal residence as well as the center of France’s government. Analyze Images How does Versailles reflect Louis XIV’s lifestyle? What does it say about his vision of government?
Reading Check
What is an absolute monarch?
Chapter 2, Section 2
Chapter 2, Section 2
Revolutions in Government
The 1600s and 1700s are often called the Age of Revolution. A revolution is a far-reaching change. European thought, beliefs, and ways of life all changed. This period was the beginning of the modern age of science and democracy that we know today.
Citizen Heroes
Chemistry and Revolution
Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) is considered one of the founders of modern chemistry. He was the first scientist to recognize oxygen as an element, and he gave it its name. He was also an important public servant. He built workhouses, savings banks, and canals to improve the lives of people in his district.
During the French Revolution, people turned against Lavoisier and other people who were wealthy or had been part of the government. In 1793, Lavoisier was arrested and given an unfair trial. On May 8, 1794, he and 28 others were executed. Lavoisier is shown in this 1788 painting by Jacques-Louis David with his wife Marie-Anne, who helped her husband in his lab.
New Ideas in Government
One sign of revolutionary change in Europe was that people began questioning their governments. People began to believe that kings should not have all the power. For example, in England, King Charles I refused to share power with Parliament (pahr luh munt), the elected legislature. This disagreement led to war between the king’s followers and Parliament. Charles I was defeated, tried in court, and then put to death. After this period in England’s history, no ruler could again claim absolute power or ignore the law.
The American Revolution
The idea that people should have a say in government spread to North America, where Great Britain had several colonies. A colony is a territory ruled by another nation, usually one far away. In 1776, 13 of the colonies rebelled against the British king because they felt that the laws applied to them were not fair. The colonists defeated the British and formed the independent nation of the United States.
In 1789, 13 years after the Americans declared their independence, a revolution occurred in France. In order to create a democracy, the French people used extreme violence to overthrow their government. They did this in the name of freedom, equality, and brotherhood. The French Revolution created chaos in France. It also inspired new, radical theories about political and economic change. Ideas born in the French Revolution continued to influence Europeans long after the revolution ended.
This painting captures the scene of angry colonists pulling down a statue of British King George III after declaring independence in 1776.
Reading Check
What revolutions took place during the 1600s and 1700s?
Chapter 2, Section 2
Chapter 2, Section 2
Revolutions in Science
For centuries, Europeans had based their view of the world on their religious faith. Scientists had studied nature to explain how the world fit with their religious beliefs. Slowly, scientists began to change their approach. Influenced by humanism and the Renaissance, scientists began to observe nature carefully and record only what they observed. Then they based their theories on facts instead of making the facts fit their religious beliefs. This change in outlook is called the Scientific Revolution.
The Scientific Method
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact beginning of the Scientific Revolution. Yet many sources agree that it started at least in part with the work of a scientist named Copernicus (koh pur nih kus), who lived during the Middle Ages. Before Copernicus, people believed that Earth was the center of the universe. Copernicus shocked the world by suggesting that the sun was the center of the universe, and that Earth moved around the sun. Over time, he was proved to be right. His theories sparked other scientists to look at the world in different ways.
Copernicus and other scientists needed new procedures to test their ideas. These procedures make up what is called the scientific method, in which ideas are tested with experiments and observations. Scientists will accept an idea only if it has been tested repeatedly. The chart titled Scientific Method shows the steps of the scientific method. Using the scientific method, scientists made dramatic advances.