Key People Flashcards
Francesco Petrarch
Francesco Petrarch was born in Arezzo, Tuscany (Italy) on July 20, 1304. Petrarch died on July 18, 1374. He was an Italian scholar, poet, and humanist. He dedicated his poem to his love named Laura. He contributed to the Renaissance by showing people the Idea of Lyric poetry. Francesco’s love of Classical authors led him to travel around learning new people and visiting men of learning and searching monastic libraries for Classical manuscripts. During that time he was regarded as the greatest scholar of his age.
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam was a Dutch philosopher and Christian humanist. He was born on October 28, 1466, in Rotterdam and he died on July 12, 1536, in Basel Switzerland. Erasmus was a Dutch philosopher and Christian humanist. He was considered to be a great scholar during his time.
Michel de Montaigne
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Lord of Montaigne was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He was born on February 28, 1533, in France and died in France on September 13, 1533. Montaigne was a French writer and philosopher known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. In his essays, he wrote one of the most captivating self-portraits ever given, on a par with Augustine’s and Rousseau’s.
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian artist, engineer, and scientist. He was born on April 15, 1452, and died on May 2, 1519. He was famous for painting the Mona Lisa which was one of his biggest accomplishments. He had a notebook that revealed mechanical inventions that were centuries ahead of their time.
Donatello
Donatello (1386–1466) was one of the most influential artists of the early Italian Renaissance. He developed a unique technique for casting bronze statues that were
used by later artists.
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), a Polish
mathematician and astronomer used mathematics
and careful observations to develop a different theory
about the universe. Copernicus’s observations and calculations proved that the Earth and the other planets revolved around the sun. Copernicus also proved that the Earth rotated on its axis once a day.
Geoffery Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet and author. Widely seen as the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages, he is best known for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer has been styled the “Father of English literature”. Born: 1343, London, United Kingdom
Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More, venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He was also a Chancellor to Henry VIII, and Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to 16 May 1532
Martin Luther
Martin Luther, O.S.A., was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. He came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church; in particular, he disputed the view on indulgences.
