Chapter 10 Important People and Terms (Kagan) – Part 1

People and Terms

1. Dante (1265-1321): Dante wrote the Vita Nuova and Divine Comedy. This was significant because it
formed the foundation of Italian vernacular culture. (p. 323)

2. Castiglione (1478-1529): Baldassare Castiglione wrote the Book of the Courtier, which was written as a
practical guide for the royalty of Urbino and showed that humanist learning could be taught anywhere.
This was significant because it embodied the highest ideals of Italian humanism. It describes a successful
courtier as one who knew how to combine the knowledge of ancient languages and history with athlete,
military, and musical skills while simultaneously exhibiting good manners and being very virtuous.
(p. 342)

3. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519): Leonardo da Vinci represents the ideal image of a Renaissance man
more than any other person in his time. He was a true master of many skills. This was significant because
the range of his interests was so great that it would cause his attention span to short, leading to the
incompletion of many of his ambitious projects. He was also one of the greatest painters of all time as
well as a self-taught botanist and a military engineer hired by many high-ranked individuals, such as King
Francis I of France. (p. 327-328)

4. Rafael (1483-1520): Rafael was a man of great sensitivity and kindness. He as apparently loved by the
people for his personality as well as his art. His career was cut short by his early death at the age of
thirty-seven. This was significant because even though he was young when he died, he was famous for
his tender madonnas. One of his most well-known paintings, the School of Athens, was a virtually
perfect example of Renaissance technique. (p. 328)

5. Michelangelo (1475-1564): Michelangelo was a genius who excelled in a variety of arts and crafts. His
giant eighteen-foot sculpture of David is an excellent example of the harmony, symmetry, and
proportion that Renaissance artists devoted their work to. He lived to be almost ninety, and throughout
those years, he did almost everything by himself and only allowed a few of his assistants to help him out
from time to time. His later works were more complex and suggested deep personal changes. This was
significant because it marked the passing High Renaissance and the beginning of a new style called
mannerism. (p. 328)

6. Julius II (r. 1503-1513): Julius II, born Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, was a strong opponent of the
Borgia family and succeeded Alexander VI as pope. He suppressed the Borgias and put their newly
conquered lands under papal jurisdiction in Romagna. This was significant because he brought the
Renaissance papacy to a peak of military prowess and diplomatic intrigue. This led him to be known as
the “warrior pope”. (p. 332)

7. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527): Niccolo Machiavelli was a humanist and a careful student of ancient
Rome. He was impressed by the way Roman rulers and citizens defended their homeland with virtue.
The juxtaposition of what Machiavelli believed the ancient Romans had been with failures of his
contemporaries to attain such high ideals. This was significant because now the term “Machiavellian”
has become synonymous with ruthless political expediency. (p. 333)
8. Ferdinand and Isabella (r. 1479-1516, r. 1474-1504): Ferdinand and Isabella united the kingdoms of
Castile and Aragon through their marriage in 1469. Together they were able to subdue their realms,
secure their borders, venture abroad militarily, and Christianize all of Spain. As they placed religion in
the service of national unity, they exercised almost total control over the Spanish church. They also
promoted oversees explorations. This was significant because it brought Spain to a new peak of power.