Historical Figures

Renaissance and Reformation

Niccolo Machiavelli• Renaissance writer• Lived in Florence,

Italy• Author of The

Prince• Major concern was

the acquisition, maintenance and expansion of political power as a means to restore and maintain order in his time

Leonardo da Vinci

• Italian Renaissance artist

• Famous works include the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper

• Also talented in many other areas

• Considered the ideal “Renaissance Man”

Michelangelo

• Italian Renaissance artist and sculptor

• Famous works include the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the statute of David

Petrach

• Often called the Father of Italian Renaissance Humanism

• Sought forgotten Latin manuscripts

• Began the emphasis on the use of pure classical Latin

Dante

• Fourteenth century humanist writer who wrote in the vernacular

• His masterpiece in the Italian language was the Divine Comedy

Erasmus• Christian humanist

writer• Called for translations

of the Bible into the vernacular so the common people could read it for themselves

• Stated that Christianity should be a guiding philosophy of daily life

Zheng He • Last of the great

Chinese explorers• Brought exotic gifts

to the Chinese emperor from as far away as Africa

Vasco da Gama• First European to reach

India by rounding the southern tip of Africa

• This allowed the Portuguese

to control trade routes in the area.

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Christopher Columbus

• An Italian sailing under the flag of Spain, he set out to find a westward route from Spain to India.

• He helped establish a permanent European settlement on the island of Hispaniola and facilitated contact between Europe and the inhabitants of what would become the Americas.

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Ferdinand Magellan• sailing under the flag of Spain, he was the

first European to lead an expedition that successfully circumnavigated the earth.

• Magellan died in a battle in the Philippines and only a small number of his expedition actually made it home to Spain.

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James Cook• . He and his crew would be the

first persons in history who would cross the Antarctic Circle on the 17th of January 1773

iHe discovered the still unknown massive southern continent of Australia.

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red: first voyagegreen: second voyageblue: third voyage

Samuel de Champlain

• . Sailing under the French flag, he established the first French Colony in what would become North America.

• His colony in New France was Quebec City.

• He remained its governor and was instrumental in establishing trade routes between France and New France.

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