table of contents

Unit 6 - Topic 2: Overview..........................................................................................................................................1

Unit 6 - Topic 2: Goal, GLEs, & Description...............................................................................................................2

• Essential Content - GLEs

• Ancillary Content - GLEs

Homework: What Did you Learn in Unit 6 - Topic 1.................................................................................................3

Student Strategies........................................................................................................................................................4

• Caterpillar Writing

• Thinking Like a Historian

• R.A.C.E. Strategy for Reading

• C.E.R. (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) Strategy for Reading and Sentence Starters

Introducing the Renaissance......................................................................................................................................5

Lesson Activity: Vocabulary Words - Homework......................................................................................................6

Lesson Activity: Building Context - Causes of the Revolution.................................................................................7

Lesson Activity: Building Context - Humanism.........................................................................................................8

Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment - The Renaissance Man.........................................9

Lesson Activity: Building Context - Renaissance Movers and Shakers..................................................................10

Lesson Activity: Building Context - Medieval vs. Renaissance Art..........................................................................11

Lesson Activity: Building Context - The Printing Press............................................................................................12

• Engraving of Publisher and Printer Johannes Gutenberg..............................................12A

• Treasures in Full: The Gutenberg Press............................................................................12B

• Treasures in Full: The Gutenberg Bible.............................................................................12C

• The Printing Press: Transforming Power of Technology.................................................12D

Lesson Activity: Building Context - The Printing Revolution..................................................................................13

Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment - Spread of Printing...............................................14

Lesson Activity: Prior Knowledge - Physical and Political Maps.............................................................................15

• Political Maps of Europe.....................................................................................................15A

• Physical Maps of Europe.....................................................................................................15B

• Major Mountains and Major Rivers Maps.........................................................................15C

• Climate Zone Map................................................................................................................15D

• Time Zone Map.....................................................................................................................15E

Lesson Activity: Building Context - Columbus...........................................................................................................16

• Excerpt from a Letter from Columbus to the Spanish royals.........................................16A

• Geographical Diffusion of Columbus's First Letter..........................................................16B

Lesson Activity: Summative Assessment....................................................................................................................17

Lesson Activity: Building Context - Characteristics of Civilizations.........................................................................18

Unit 6 Description: Students explore how changing ideas led to the "modern world." Students learn about the characters that defined the Middle Ages and the factors that brought about change that shifted Europe into the Renaissance.

Topic 1: Goal

Students will be able to write an essay that explains how Renaissance inventions helped renew European civilization.

Topics (GLEs) for the unit & pacing:

Unit 6: Approximately 7 weeks

Topic 1: Approximately 14 class periods

Connections to the Unit Claim:

Students examine the ideas that brought about the Renaissance and how those ideas spread throughout Europe and changed society forever.

Key Connections:

• Feudalism, trade, and commerce led to the growth of towns and cities during the Middle Ages.

• Ideas, people, and events influenced the Renaissance and transformed European culture.

• Past civilizations influence later civilizations.

Claim:

• What makes civilizations regress and how do they renew themselves?

Sub-claim:

• How did Renaissance inventions help renew European civilization?

6.2.10 Examine the significance of the people and ideas that influenced the Renaissance in Europe

• Analyze key ideas, people, and events that influenced the Renaissance (classical Greek and Roman texts, philosophies, art, and architecture, Renaissance values, scientific advances from the Muslim world).

• Discuss characteristics of the Italian Renaissance, including Renaissance values (humanism, individualism, secularism, skepticism/questions, classicism), and explain how the relationship between Italian artists, patrons of the arts, and the Catholic Church contributed to flourishing art in Italian city-states.

• Describe the qualities associated with the Renaissance man and woman and the contributions of Renaissance creators/thinkers (Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Galileo).

• Describe the contributions of key people and groups who influenced the Renaissance (Catholic Church/the Church influential families such as the Medicis, Machiavelli)

• Describe the characteristics of Renaissance art and literature (realistic, use of perspective, writing in the vernacular), and compare/contrast art from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

• Explain the ways in which the Renaissance changed European society (scientific thinking during the Renaissance led to world navigation, intellectual thinking challenged Catholic doctrine, the printing press, and the spread of information).

• Explain the social, cultural, economic, and political effects of the printing press and its role in facilitating change during the Renaissance.

• Use maps to identify the start and spread of printing.

6.1.1 Produce clear and coherent writing for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences by completing the following tasks:

• Options to address 6.1.1 in Unit 6:

  • Use technology to research Renaissance thinkers and creators, and their influence on European society.

  • Analyze artifacts from the Renaissance to answer questions about the impact of ideas on society.

  • Produce written claims on how civilizations decline and renew themselves.

6.1.2 Construct and interpret a parallel timeline of key events in the ancient world

• Create a parallel timeline for the Middle Ages and Renaissance that includes the rule of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire, the rise and decline of feudalism, the Crusades, the signing of the Magna Carta, the Black Death/Bubonic Plague, the Italian and Northern Renaissance, Medici family rule, development of the printing press, and printing of the Gutenberg Bible.

• Create a timeline using appropriate dates, including B.C.E./B.C. and C.E./A.D.

6.1.3 Analyze information in primary and secondary sources to address document-based questions

• Analyze primary sources, artifacts, and secondary sources related to the Renaissance, including excerpts and artwork from influential artists and thinkers (Da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo, Petrarch, Raphael) to answer questions about the Renaissance in Europe.

6.1.4 Identify and compare measurement of time in order to understand historical chronology

• Identify historical time periods and eras (Middle Ages, medieval, Commercial Revolution, Renaissance).

• Review terms related to measurements of time as needed (B.C.E./B.C., C.E./A.D., circa or c.).

6.3.1 Identify and label major lines of latitude and longitude using a world map or globe to determine climate zones and time zones

• Review the location of major lines of latitude (Equator, Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, Arctic Circle), climate zones and types (tropical, dry, mild, continental, polar), and the relationship between latitude and climate as necessary.

• Using a climate map, describe the type of climate(s) present in Europe.

• Review time zones as necessary.

6.3.2 Plot coordinates of latitude and longitude to determine location or change of location

• Review how to find latitude and longitude as necessary by using maps to plot coordinates or latitude and longitude for important locations in Europe, and recognize hemispheres, continents, and oceans.

6.3.3 Compare and contrast physical and political boundaries of civilizations, empires, and kingdoms using maps and globes

• Use maps to locate the major physical features (bodies of water, deserts, mountain ranges) that influenced political boundaries.

• Use maps to locate political boundaries, including kingdoms/empires, city-states, and major cities in Europe (medieval: Germanic kingdoms, Byzantine Empire, England, France, Holy Roman Empire, Paris, Russia, Spain), and explain changes to political boundaries over time.

6.4.1 Identify and describe physical features and climate conditions that contributed to early human settlement in regions of the world

• Use maps to locate major physical features associated with medieval and Renaissance Europe, including bodies of water (Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea) and rivers (Danube, Rhine), mountain ranges (Alps, Apennines, Carpathian, Caucasus, Pyrenees).

6.4.3 Explain the connection between physical geography and its influence on the development of civilization

• Analyze reasons for the location of towns and cities in Europe (proximity to water).

• Explain the importance of geography and environment to the development of medieval and Renaissance Europe.

Ancillary Content not addressed in the textbook at this time. Teachers should include Ancillary Content with the Topic.

The renaissance - introduction

In the year 1300, civilizations in Asia and the Middle East were creative and alive. In contrast, European civilizations seemed unchanged and unchanging. However, strong forces for change were just below the surface of everyday life. When the Crusaders returned from their campaigns in the Holy Land, they brought back exotic goods -- spices, jewelry, and other luxuries. They also brought back descriptions of how people lived in other lands. Most important, ideas in government, science, and the arts were brought to Europe from these lands.

As these ideologies spread throughout Europe, people's attitudes changed. People became curious about other parts of the world. At the same time, scholars, scientists, writers, and artists became interested in the neglected arts and sciences of ancient Greece and Rome.

Between 1300 and 1800, new ideas and inventions caused Europeans to think and live in different and exciting ways. Talented individuals created great art and literature. Scientific experiments expanded knowledge about the human body and the natural world. Reformers changed the Roman Catholic Church. Other reformers broke away from the Church and created new Christian religions.

Restless adventurers explored new lands and increased trade between Europe and Asia and Africa. This trade created a new class of rich merchants, many of whom supported the arts and sciences. Cities grew powerful at the expense of the feudal manors in the countryside. By 1700, a new Europe had come into being.

Renaissance is a French word that means "rebirth." It is used to describe the great renewal or rebirth of interest in learning and the arts in Europe at the end of the Middle Ages. At that time, people became more interested in the world around them. They accepted new ideas more readily. From the 14th through the 17th century, Europeans made great advances in the fine arts, literature, and science. Classic works from Greece and Rome were rediscovered. Starting in Italy in the 1300s the Renaissance spirit later spread north and west throughout Europe. The Renaissance period is regarded as the beginning of modern times in Europe.

A Renaissance Man is a man who is skilled at all tasks he attempts and has wide-ranging knowledge in many fields. A Renaissance man is defined as a man with well-rounded skills in cognitive, physical, and social pursuits. The term came about during the Renaissance and emerged from the humanist tradition. Traditionally, Renaissance men were excellent philosophers but also strong, handsome, and charismatic. We sometimes call a Renaissance Man a 'polymath.'

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that saw a flowering of education, literature, art, and sciences. The Renaissance saw an inflow of new ideas and new practices and left a profound cultural legacy.

The Renaissance was enabled by scientific discoveries, most notably, the development of the printing press by J. Gutenberg, which allowed the mass production of books. The heart of the Renaissance is considered to have started in Florence during the early 14th century. This was helped by financial and cultural support from the dominant Medici family, and later from the Vatican.

The Renaissance attained its most glorious expression in its paintings, sculpture, and architecture. Wealthy patrons, popes, and princes played a major role in this artistic flowering. Renaissance art reflected the ideas of humanism. Like artists of the Middle Ages, Renaissance artists portrayed religious themes. However, they often set religious figures such as Jesus and Mary against classical Greek or Roman backgrounds. Below you will learn more about the differences in Medieval and Renaissance art.

Not only did the ideas of the Renaissance shape society, but the degree to which the ideas spread was also impressive. In our modern society, we often take for granted that we have access to vast amounts of information at our fingertips. In Medieval Europe, access to information was extremely limited and very expensive. Only the very wealthy could afford access to the papers and people who could provide information.

Gutenberg's invention made it possible to mass-produce books. He himself did not make money out of it, but his method had great commercial potential and it became the basis of the success of many later printers and publishers. Technology is not enough for success, however. A publisher needs to choose the right texts for his market. This was much more important for a printer than for the men and women who made a living from producing manuscripts. A printer had to sell many copies of the same work at the same time, and he had to sell them fast to recover his investment.

Books did not become cheap immediately after the appearance of Gutenberg's printed works, but prices soon began to fall. By 1500 access to books had changed profoundly. This meant more access to information, more informed discussion, and more widespread criticism of thought.

Gutenberg's first and only large-scale printing enterprise was the Bible in Latin. This is not an obvious choice of text, for the Bible was not very central to the daily life of the Church in the 15th century. Parts of the Bible would have been used in church every day, but not in the order in which they appear in the Bible. The texts of the Bible were reorganized in order to deliver a clear message to the mostly uneducated population attending mass. Missals containing these reorganized messages were different from region to region, however.

Perhaps Gutenberg realized that, in order for a large-scale printing project to be commercially successful, he had to aim at an international market. The Bible might sell fewer copies in each region, but it had the potential to sell all over Western Europe. Gutenberg and his team also knew that they needed to market their new invention. In 1454 they showed their product to an international audience in Frankfurt, perhaps even before the project was completed. They must have been aware that a successful launch would be much easier if they began with a high-profile book of importance, and he wagered correctly.

Physical maps illustrate the physical features of an area such as the mountains, rivers, and lakes. Topographic maps include contour lines to show the shape and elevation of an area.

NOTE: 1492 CE was an important year in the history of Spain. It was in 1492 CE that the monarchs of Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella I successfully drove the last of the Muslim invaders out of Spain and Portugal. In that same year, Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain to find an all-water route to Asia. More than two months after setting sail, Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas that he called San Salvador; the natives called it Guanahani. When Columbus arrived back in Spain in 1493 CE, he immediately wrote a letter announcing his discoveries to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who had helped finance his trip. The letter was written in Spanish and sent to Rome, where it was printed in Latin. An excerpt from Columbus' letter follows.

I have determined to write you this letter to inform you of everything that has been done and discovered in this voyage of mine.

On the thirty-third day... I came into the Indian Sea, where I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people. I took possession of all of them for our most fortunate King by making public proclamation and unfurling his standard [flag], no one making any resistance. The island called Juana [Cuba], as well as the others in its neighborhood, is exceedingly fertile. It has numerous harbors on all sides, very safe and wide, above comparison with any I have ever seen. Through it flow many very broad and health-giving rivers; and there are in it numerous very lofty mountains. All these islands are very beautiful, and quite different shapes; easy to be traversed, and full of the greatest variety of trees...

In the island, which... was called Hispana [Haiti], there are very lofty and beautiful mountains, great farms, groves, and fields, most fertile both for cultivation and for pasturage, and well adapted for constructing buildings. The convenience of the harbors in this island, and the excellence of the rivers... surpass human belief... In it the trees, pasture-lands and fruits different much from those of Juana [Cuba]. Besides, this Hispana abounds in various kinds of species, gold and metals. The inhabitant... are all... unprovided with any sort of iron, and they are destitute of arms, which are entirely unknown to them, and for which they are not adapted; not on account of any bodily deformity, for they are well made, but because they are timid and full of terror... and very liberal of all they have. No one refuses the asker anything that he possesses; on the contrary they themselves invite us to ask for it. They manifest the greatest affection towards all of us, exchanging valuable things for trifles, content with the very least thing or nothing at all... I gave them many beautiful and pleasing things, which I had brought with me, for no return whatever, in order to win their affection, and that they might become Christians and inclined to love our King and Queen and Princes and all the people of Spain; and that they might be eager to search for and gather and give to us what they abound in and we greatly need.

Christopher Columbus' 1493 announcement of the success of his voyage westward across the Atlantic Ocean quickly became one of the earliest 'best sellers' of European publishing. No less than eleven editions were published in the year 1493! They were issued across western Europe, in Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Six more editions were published in 1494-97. They are however all quite rare today; several of the editions survive in only a single copy; in total there are no more than 80 copies of all the editions.