1. Chapter 4:
The Exchange of Ideas

2. Galileo
 During this era it was always believed that
what the church said was true, few people
dared to challenge the church
 The church said that the earth was the centre
of the universe
 One man, Galileo, challenged the church by
saying that the sun was the centre of the
universe, not the earth

3. Heresy
 The church was not pleased with Galileo’s
observation and charged him with heresy
 Heresy is when someone opposes the churches
teachings
 Galileo was now faced with two options
 Galileo had to give up his views and make a
statement where he explained that he was wrong or
he might be tortured or burned alive
 Galileo issued a statement saying that he was
wrong and was placed under house arrest

4. “Eppur si muove”
 After making his statement it is believed that
Galileo whispered the words “eppur si
muove” which means “but it [the Earth] still
moves

5. Science
 Attitudes towards science changed during the
Renaissance
 Thinkers expanded the text they read
 Because of importance placed on humanism
people were encouraged to question and
experiment
 The concept of a Scientific Method emerged
 This is the process of making observations,
experimenting, and drawing conclusions based on
evidence

6. Science
 In order to study science you would have to
read books written by scholars from Classical
or Islamic civilizations
 People were not to ask any questions about
science that went against he church belief
 Example: Galileo stated that the sun was the
centre of the earth and was accused of heresy

7. Astronomy
 Turn to page 81 in your book to see how
Galileo built on the astronomical beliefs of
earlier scholars.

8. Medicine
 During this time doctors didn’t know much about
the human anatomy (the bodily structure), or the
causes of diseases
 Common treatments were based on astrology,
superstition, bloodletting, and applying leaches
 Midwives and others with knowledge of
traditional and herbal remedies played an
important role in treating the sick.
 During the Renaissance medical knowledge grew
– especially in anatomy and surgery

9. Anatomy
 Before the Renaissance it was illegal to dissect the
human body
 During the Renaissance the laws were changed and
it was made legal in many Italian cities
 A professor at the University of Padua, Andreas
Vesalius, dissected bodies in the lecture hall while
his students watched in an attempt to teach his
students about the human body
 From the dissection of human bodies knew
knowledge was found and medical discoveries were
being made

10. Mathematics
 During the Renaissance the mathematical works of
ancient mathematical scientists were studied
 Euclid theories on geometry were studied, and late al-
Khwarizmi’s theories on algebra were also studied
 People like Leonardo da Vinci believed that math was
the basic tool for understanding the universe
 Math also played a role in Europe’s changing economy
 As trade and commerce grew, knowledge of
mathematics became essential for members of the
merchant class  why?

11. Filippo Brunelleschi
 What is perspective?
 Perspective had been known in ancient times,
yet there was no record of it
 Filippo Brunelleschi rediscovered the
mathematical theory of perspective
 He used this theory to show how the
buildings he was planning would look when
they were finished

12. Brunelleschi’s Techniques
 Brunelleschi developed his technique through experimentation
and by applying mathematical principles by:
1. Painting over a reflection of a building called the Baptistery
on the surface of a mirror
2. Then, in order to prove that his painting was identical to the
Baptistery, he drilled a small peephole in the painted mirror
and stood in front of the Baptistery
3. He looked through the peephole in the back of the painted
mirror and held up a blank mirror to block his view of the
Baptistery. The blank mirror reflected his painted image
4. By moving the blank mirror in and out of the way, he could
see that his painted image was identical to the actual
building.

13. Political and Religious
Leadership
 Isabella D’Este was known as “the first lady of
the world”
 She was one of the few women who received
a fine classical education
 She married the Duke of Mantua and their
court became a centre of learning, music, and
the visual arts
 Because the Duke was often away on military
campaigns she ruled the city-states while he
was away

14. The Scientific Ruler
 Niccolò Machiavelli used his observations to learn about
the natural world
 He spent his time observing people and governments
 These observations led him to new ways of thinking about
leadership and power
 He wrote a book called The Prince where he explained his
conclusions about the best way to govern
 He wrote “It is a good general rule about men, that they are
ungrateful, fickle, liars and deceivers, fearful of danger and
greedy for gain”
 He had the courage to write exactly what he thought about the
civilizations, and even to this day scholars continue to argue
about his theories

15. Niccolò Machiavelli
 Machiavelli’s ideas concerning how leaders must
sometimes act in order to protect their power and
state (pg. 89):
 “It needs to be understood that a prince, and
especially a prince recently installed [place in power],
cannot observe all those qualities which make men
good, and it is often necessary in order to preserve the
state to act contrary to faith, contrary to mercy,
contrary to humaneness, and contrary to religion”
 “In actions of all men, especially princes, where there
is no recourse to justice, the end is all that counts. A
prince should only be concerned with conquering or
maintaining a state…”

16. Class Discussion
 What do you think about Machiavelli’s ideas
about what people are like?
 What do you think about how rulers
sometimes need to behave?

17. Changing Leadership in the
Church
 During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,
the Catholic Church was the most powerful
institution in Europe
 Church leaders believed that they were
responsible for more than the religious well
being of the people
 Some people considered the Church to be the
natural leader in all areas of society—political
and business aspects included
 Members of the church started to abuse their
power for their own well being

18. Savonarola
 Girolamo Savonarola was a monk who belonged to the
Dominican order
 He dedicated his life to fighting against the corruption in
the Church and in society
 He was considered the unofficial leader in Florence
 He even went as far as accusing pope Alexander VI of
corruption
 Under his direction, in 1497, the citizens of Florence built a
huge “bonfire of vanities” in town square where they burnt
all their wigs, make-up, fancy clothing, art, and books.
 He believed that these things kept peoples attention away
from God

19. Savonarola
 Because of his actions against the pope,
Savonarola was excommunicated (officially
excluded from the Church)
 By this time the people of Florence were
growing tired of his sermons and turned
against him
 In 1498, Savonarola was tried for heresy,
found guilty, and executed

20. Class Activity
 Read Savonarola’s Views on page 93 of the
text book
 What are Savonarola’s criticisms of the
Church?
 Why did some Church officials want to silence
Savonarola?

21. Martin Luther
 Martin Luther was a German monk
 He was influenced by humanist actions
 Concerned with the way things were, he
started to study the bible himself
 He came to the conclusion that the Bible, not
the Church, should be a Christian’s true
spiritual guide

22. Martin Luther
 Luther was also upset by the wealth of the
Church, but more importantly, he was upset
about how they obtained the money
 The Church was selling indulgences (certificates
that reduced the time people would be punished
for their sins after they died).
 In 1517, Luther wrote his Ninety-Five Theses,
which criticized the selling of indulgences, on the
door of a Church in Wittenberg
 His Ninety-Five Theses were printed and passed
out throughout Germany

23. Martin Luther
 Pope Leo X was not happy with Luther’s Ninety-Five
These and issued a “bull” (official order) condemning
Luther and banned his work
 Luther took this “bull” and burnt it in public
 Luther was then called before the emperor at an
Imperial Diet (assembly) in 1521 in the city of Worms
 He was asked to give up his ideas, but Luther refused
to back down
 Because of his refusal, Emperor Charles V declared
Luther an outlaw who could be killed
 Luther then went into hiding

24. The Protestant Reformation
 Martin Luther translated the Bible into the
vernacular
 This allowed regular citizens access to read the Bible
in their own home
 When Luther broke off from the church many
German citizens followed him
 This was known as the Protestant Reformation
 A new Church was started in Northern Europe
known as the Lutheran Church
 It didn’t take long for Luther’s ideas to spread across
Europe
 Luther’s followers were known as Protestants

25. The Catholic Counter-
Reformation
 The Protestant Reformation caused the Catholic
Church to lose a lot of its authority and
membership
 Pope Paul III called a series of meetings known as
the Council of Trent
 At this council the Church examined its policies –
this was known as the “Catholic Counter-
Reformation”
 Because of these meetings the corruption
among the higher clergy was cleaned up and
priests were given a better education

26. The Catholic Counter-
Reformation
 Religious orders were established that
focused mainly on converting people to
Catholicism
 Ignatius Loyola founded an order known as
the Society of Jesus
 His followers were known as Jesuits
 Jesuit missionaries were very active among
the Wendat (Huron) during the early days of
European settlement in Canada

27. The Printing Press
 At the beginning of the Renaissance most people
were illiterate (couldn’t read)
 Only the most educated people could read an write
 In order to be literate you would have to know Latin
or Greek
 This is because most of the writings being studied were
written in these languages
 In 1450 a German man named Johannes Gutenberg
developed a printing press that allowed books to be
produced quickly and at a low cost
 This allowed for ideas to be spread quickly
throughout Europe, and made it more affordable to
purchase books

28. Spread of Knowledge
 By the early 1500’s there were over 6 million books
in print in Europe
 Books allowed the exchange of knowledge in Europe
that had never been seen before
 Middle class people were now able to afford these
books so they began to read, discuss, and eventually
write about the exciting ideas of their times
 Books were now being printed in the vernacular
rather than in Latin and Greek
 Writers started making money from the books they
wrote which allowed them the freedom to travel to
universities where they spread their ideas