Benson’s AP Euro Review Draft

Benson’s AP European History

Personal Study Guide

1 The Renaissance
1.1 A Prelude to the Renaissance
Due to disastrous climate, food shortages, and pathogenic naivety, people did not
expect to live very long. Thus, people went to an afterlife through religion. In 1348, a
plague hit, devastating Europe. For those that lived, the Black Plague reduced
competition and increased individual rights. At Crecy, the longbow proved to be superior
over the knights, and thus the declination of chivalry.
Even during this time, there were religious skepticism, whether from the Black
Plague or the Great Schism. Conciliarists believed that reform could be achieved
through assemblies. More and more people learned to read due to the rise of vernacular
in books.

1.2 Setting
The city states in Italy fought for power. The Medici family from Florence ran
powerfully under the banking industry. While the North focused on religion, Italy focused
on pleasuring the senses, focusing on life secularly rather than religiously.

1.3 Education
The Renaissance was characterized by a sudden awareness of the material
world, and thus a sudden awareness in education. Humanists studied classics, and
generally rejected classical information that contradicted religion. During this time
period, the attitude of individualism was stressed