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I call this a “workshop” since I want to get other people's opinions and possibly post this list in some special form. I am interested in listing the top ten figures from the Renaissance, which I will limit to the years 1350 – 1600. The question to answer is this: if you had to learn about the key figures of the Renaissance period, who would they be? In other words, who are the crucial figures a person interested in the Renaissance should learn about? And in what order?Here are some (out of order):- Henry VIII- Elizabeth I- Macchiavelli- Michelangelo- Pope Sixtus V- Andrea Palladio- Lorenzo de Medici- Martin Luther- Johannes Gutenberg- Isabella I of CastileAs you can see, I took people from different fields but I may have missed some obvious choices. Anyone care to weigh in?
What about :Leonardo Da VinciErasmusGalileo GalileiWilliam ShakespeareJohannes KeplerAndreas VesaliusNicolaus CopernicusMichel de MontaigneChristopher ColumbusHern?n Cort?sVasco da GamaFerdinand MagellanGerardus Mercator....
Francis BaconFrancis DrakeHenry the NavigatorHernando CortesThese are what I came up with off the top of my head.
Yes, good lists. Looks like we have about 32 names in total (Cortes was listed by two people). Maybe we can whittle this down to 25 names? Is there any agreement on the order of the top five persons? I realize this may be somewhat arbitrary and there may be some difficulty in making such a list. For example, Shakespeare is obviously one of the most significant writers in all of history, but whether he was a “Renaissance” writer is my question; I believe his works begin appearing only in the 1590s.I also noticed that we didn't include Charles V or Philip II of Spain, even though at least one of these probably controlled more land in the world than anyone else in history.
I started to go with Charles V, but didn't for some reason. He was important in terms of physical power, but I was going with figures who contributed ideas and philosophies which last longer than temporary ownership of land.
I too would put idea men and explorers at the top. Kings and Emperors exercised great physical power but generally their achievements if any, did not outlive them. Ideas and discoveries lasted well beyond their originators lives and many resonate down to the present.
Leonardo Da Vinci Fingered !It seems that a newly discovered self-portrait of Da Vinci was authenticated as an original !http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/self-portrait-fingered-by-leonardo-da-vinci/story-e6frg6so-1225861256956
The Renaissance is an extremely interesting period of European history. The name is perfectly descriptive. It is almost as though the elite and intelligentsia of Europe suddenly woke up in the middle of the 14th century and realized that everything good to know did not just come from the ancients, there was new stuff out there to find out as well.
"Thank you China !": also sprach Gavin Menzies ;D
Not going there. You will not upset my Eurocentric view of the world. 😉
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