Renaissance History

If you want to discover the captivating history of the Middle Ages, then pay attention...One of the least understood periods of European history occurred between the 6th century and the 14th or 15th century (depending on which historian you ask). Commonly called the Middle Ages, this was a time period of extreme change for Europe, beginning with the fall of the Western Roman Empire. To a continent that had seen a drastic shift in the power structure, the world seemed to be particularly harsh. Rome had been a major player across Europe for well over a millennium. Then it was gone.

The Wright Brothers initially underestimated the difficulties involved in flying, and they were apparently surprised by the fact that so many others were working on solving the “problem of human flight” already. Decades before their own historic plane would end up in the National Air & Space Museum, Wilbur and Orville asked the Smithsonian for reading materials and brushed up on everything from the works of their contemporaries to Leonardo Da Vinci.

Doba pobělohorská - úpadek, nebo rozkvět společnosti? Přehledně a čtivě zpracovaný přehled českých dějin v 17. a první polovině 18. století se snaží o vyvážený pohled na pobělohorskou dobu, schematicky nazývanou dobou temna. Bitva na Bílé hoře je symbolem potupné porážky, po níž následovala násilná rekatolizace, utužení moci Habsburků v českých zemích a emigrace elit.

Dubbed the “joy goddess of Harlem’s 1920s” by poet Langston Hughes, A’Lelia Walker, daughter of millionaire entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker and the author’s great-grandmother and namesake, is a fascinating figure whose legendary parties and Dark Tower salon helped define the Harlem Renaissance. After inheriting her mother’s hair care enterprise, A’Lelia would become America’s first high profile black heiress and a prominent patron of the arts.

This valuable deal contains multiple titles in one book. The topics are the following: Florence, once a major center of Middle Ages European trade and banking, and one of the most affluent cities in the world; Naples, one of the world's oldest constantly occupied cities; St. Catherine of Siena, a Dominican laywoman, mystic, activist, and writer who impacted Italian literature and the Catholic Church significantly; the Vatican, a landlocked, independent city-state and enclave in Rome, Italy; and the Venetian Empire.

The Ottoman Empire was one of the most popular empires in history. This audiobook will discuss the many facts of the Ottoman Empire, along with the notable achievements achieved during its time. Learning about history is not just about memorizing names and dates. It’s also about appreciating the events of the past. Grab a copy today!

The First Italian War: The History and Legacy of the Italian Wars’ Initial Conflict at the Height of the Renaissance chronicles the various nations and city-states that jousted for power throughout the peninsula during the late 15th century. The audiobook presents places and events that'll help you learn about the First Italian War like never before.

The Norman Conquest in English History, Volume 1: A Broken Chain? pursues a central theme in English historical thinking over seven centuries. Covering more than half a millennium, this first volume explains how and why the experience of the Norman Conquest prompted both an unprecedented campaign in the early 12th century to write (or create) the history of England, and to excavate (and fabricate) pre-Conquest English law.

Welches der vergangenen zehn Jahrhunderte hat die größten Veränderungen erlebt, welches hat die Menschheit am weitesten vorangebracht? Was war das Besondere eines jeden Jahrhunderts? Auf einem Streifzug durch die vergangenen 1000 Jahre führt uns Ian Mortimer zu den großen Zeiten der Erkenntnis und des Wandels. Wir begegnen gottesfürchtigen Forschern, gewitzten Bauern, kühl kalkulierenden Unternehmern und willensstarken Frauen.

Toby Lester, author of the award-winning The Fourth Part of the World, masterfully crafts yet another century-spanning saga of people and ideas in this epic story of Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic drawing of a man inscribed in a circle and a square. Over time, the nearly 550-year-old ink-on-paper sketch has transformed into a collective symbol of the nature of genius, the beauty of the human form, and the universality of the human spirit.

On August 22, 1485, at Bosworth Field, Richard III fell, the Wars of the Roses ended, and the Tudor dynasty began. The clash is so significant because it marks the break between medieval and modern; yet how much do we really know about this historical landmark? Michael K. Jones uses archival discoveries to show Richard III's defeat was by no means inevitable and was achieved only through extraordinary chance. He relocates the battle away from the site recognized for more than 500 years.

In all of human history there has never been an era as richly endowed with human creativity as the Italian Renaissance. When the economic boom of the Late Middle Ages had allowed a flourishing and wealthy merchant class to emerge, a plethora of artists, sculptors, architects, and thinkers followed in their wake. In an astonishingly short period of time, Italy was transformed mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Niccolò Machiavelli is the most influential political writer of all time. His name has become synonymous with cynical scheming and the selfish pursuit of power, but the real Machiavelli, says Miles Unger, was a deeply humane and perceptive writer whose controversial theories were a response to the violence and corruption he saw around him. Machiavelli’s philosophy was shaped by the tumultuous age in which he lived, an age of towering geniuses and brutal tyrants. His first political mission was to spy on the fire-and-brimstone preacher Savonarola.

Die Borgia sind die unheimlichste, schrecklichste und auf jeden Fall umstrittenste Familie der italienischen Renaissance...

The year is 1501. Michelangelo has created his Roman pieta, and yet patrons are not lining up at his door to hire him for more commissions. Reluctantly, he agrees to take on a project for Cardinal Piccolomini - a commission which will try the patience of both patron and artist. Before the year is out, Michelangelo hears the rumors that the Florentine City Fathers are looking for a sculptor to finish the colossal David that had been been begun four decades before. Will they give the task to Michelangelo, or his arch rival, Leonardo the Florentine?

In 1494, there were five sovereign regional powers in Italy: Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States, and Naples. In 1536, only one remained: Venice. These decades of conflict precipitated great anxiety among Western thinkers, and Italians responded to the fragmentation, forevermore, of Latin Christendom, the end of self-governance for Italians, and the beginning of the early modern era in a myriad of ways. They were always heavily influenced by the lived experience of warfare between large Christian armies on the peninsula.

La revolución socioeconómica europea que lleva este nombre supone un nuevo despertar del clasicismo griego con una personalidad absolutamente inconfundible. Si el clasicismo helénico había sido el periodo de mayor esplendor estético de la antigüedad, el nuevo Renacimiento pretende expresar de nuevo la grandeza del espíritu humano fuera de toda regla y condición.

Ya hemos dicho que Flandes es la otra zona europea en donde surge el Renacimiento artístico, tanto desde el punto de vista cultural y filosófico, como puramente estético. Italia y Flandes son las cunas del Renacimiento europeo y en consecuencia también lo son del arte europeo de esta época. Como ocurre con la Baja Edad Media, ambas zonas mantienen sin embargo su personalidad de un modo muy específico. No se puede confundir una obra italiana y otra flamenca de la misma época, aunque ambas resultan revolucionarias y sorprendentes comparadas con las de anteriores periodos.

Voyages of discovery, inventions, the revival of classical learning, and the advent of science contributed to the intellectual upheavals of this creative period, and are reflected in its literature and art. Hudson focuses on the one thread of continuity that he sees as both the seed and the fruit of this exciting era: the awakening of secular humanism and the emergence of the individual. This history gives the listener a lucid, perceptive analysis of the splendid Renaissance.

Galileo's oldest child was 13 when he placed her in a convent near him in Florence, where she took the most appropriate name of Suor Maria Celeste. Her support was her father's greatest source of strength. Her presence, through letters which Sobel has translated from Italian and masterfully woven into the narrative, graces her father's life now as it did then. Galileo's Daughter dramatically recolors the personality and accomplishment of a mythic figure whose 17th-century clash with Catholic doctrine continues to define the schism between science and religion.