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Renaissance Timeline




 Moments worth keeping in mind in coming to grips with the Renaissance:


1453: Fall of Constantinople

1455: The War of the Roses breaks out in England

1485: War concludes as the Tudors take over, under King Henry VII

1492. The first of Columbus' voyages.

1494: Savonarola takes over in Florence

1498: Savonarola executed. 

1504. Michelangelo completes work on his DAVID.

1510. Hieronymous Bosch paints THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS

1513. Niccolo Machiavelli puts out THE PRINCE, a study of the means that one must use to control a city-state, expressing a devout hope for the unity of Italy against its foreign oppressors.

1530. The earliest known pictures of instruments recognizable as violins date to this time, in northern Italy.  

1598. The earliest known work that could be modern standards be considered an opera is performed in this year, DAFNE, in Florence. 

1605. The publication of Cervantes' masterpiece, Don Quixote. 

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  1. Paul D. Van PeltJuly 29, 2022 at 7:54 AM

    Fascinating! Thanks for the sketch. Did not realize the period predated Enlightenment by so much. Not much of a history scholar.

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    1. ChristopherJuly 29, 2022 at 10:18 AM

      You're welcome. As you may have noticed, the first half of that (covering the second half of the 15th century) is all about the Big Picture stuff -- voyages, battles, an execution. The second half (ranging over the whole of the 16th century) is about the Art that we associate with the word Renaissance. I think of this as Cause and Effect. The outburst of creativity involving Bosch, Michelangelo, etc., was made possible by the world shaking events before. I may have another post soon being more explicit about the connections.

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    2. ChristopherJuly 29, 2022 at 10:18 AM

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