Causes of transition in Renaissance and Reformation Europe
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Question
What was the Renaissance?
Answer
A rebirth of interest in classical Greek and Roman art, ideas and learning, beginning in the wealthy Italian city-states around 1400.
Question
Why did the Renaissance begin in northern Italy?
Answer
Wealthy, independent city-states like Florence and Venice, enriched by trade, competed to fund art and classical learning; they also sat among the ruins of ancient Rome.
Question
Who were the Medici and what did they do?
Answer
A wealthy Florentine banking dynasty who used their fortune to fund artists, architects and scholars — a famous example of Renaissance patronage.
Question
Define humanism.
Answer
A Renaissance way of thinking that studied classical texts and celebrated human reason, potential and worldly achievement.
Question
What happened in 1453 and why did it matter?
Answer
The Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople. Greek scholars fled west carrying ancient manuscripts, fuelling humanist scholarship in Italy.
Question
Who invented the printing press and roughly when?
Answer
Johannes Gutenberg, around 1450, using movable metal type.
Question
Why was the printing press so important for the transition?
Answer
It made books fast and cheap, so humanist and later reformist ideas could spread across Europe in weeks instead of being hand-copied slowly.
Question
Define indulgence.
Answer
A Church document said to reduce the punishment for sins — its sale for money angered many Christians and sparked calls for reform.
Question
Name three criticisms of the Catholic Church before the Reformation.
Answer
The sale of indulgences, absentee clergy who never served their regions, and widespread corruption and worldly wealth despite preaching poverty.
Question
What were Luther's Ninety-Five Theses (1517)?
Answer
A written list of arguments attacking indulgences and Church corruption, traditionally marked as the start of the Protestant Reformation.
Question
Why did the fragmented Holy Roman Empire help the Reformation?
Answer
It was a patchwork of states the emperor could not fully control, so individual princes were free to protect and adopt Protestantism.
Question
Long-term causes vs the immediate trigger of the transition?
Answer
Long-term: Renaissance humanism, trade wealth, the printing press and Church corruption. Immediate trigger: Luther's 1517 Ninety-Five Theses.
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Topic 9.2 hub
Case study 1 — Renaissance and Reformation Europe (Europe)
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