Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Chapter 12, Lesson 2: The Italian Renaissance (pp. 316-323)
I. The Birthplace of the Renaissance
B. Italy had no central government, but instead had many city-states who vied with each other for land and power.
II. The Renaissance and Life
B. Humanists focused on three ideas of the Greeks and Romans: individual worth, the value of public service, and the development of a
variety of skills and talents.
III. The Flowering of Arts and Learning
B. Classical ideas of literature influenced Renaissance writers.
C. Architects looked to ideas from Greece and Rome for their inspiration, while artists learned how to depict subjects realistically.
IV. Wealth and the Renaissance
B. Not everyone in the Italian city-states felt the influence of the Renaissance, and life for the average worker remained about the same.
Lesson at a Glance Outline
A. The Renaissance, a renewal of learning, began in northern Italy in the 1300s and then spread through Europe.
A. Many Renaissance scholars were introduced to humanism, or concern for the classical arts, through Greek and Roman works that had been kept alive over the centuries by Arab and Byzantine scholars.
A. The new ideas about human potential stimulated great artistic and intellectual achievement across Europe.
A. The Renaissance began among the wealthy.
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