Renaissance Flashcards
Important terms
Benvenuto Cellini
A goldsmith and sculptor who wrote an autobiography, famous
for its arrogance and immodest self-praise.
Condottiere
A mercenary soldier of a political ruler.
Humanism
The recovery and study of classical authors and writings.
Individualism
The emphasis on the unique and creative personality.
New Monarchs
The term applied to Louis XI of France, Henry VII of England, and Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, who strengthened their monarchical authority often
by Machiavellian means.
Rationalism
The application and use of reason in understanding and explaining events.
Renaissance
The period from 1400 to 1600 witnessed a transformation of cultural and intellectual values from primarily Christian to classical or secular ones.
Secularism
The emphasis on the here and now rather than on the spiritual and otherworldly.
Lorenzo Valla
1407 - 1457
A humanist who used historical criticism to discredit an eighth-century document giving the papacy jurisdiction over Western lands.
Virtu
The striving for personal excellence.
