Questions tagged [renaissance]
Cultural epoch in Europe, covering 15th and 16th centuries, between Medieval and Baroque.
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Did people during the Renaissance believe that the heart had two chambers?
Short question (adapted from @Oddthinking at Skeptics.SE):
How many chambers did the scientific population of the world (excluding Leonardo da Vinci), think the human heart had during the Renaissance?...
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What was the place of a catapult in a formation
My question is where would you usually keep a catapult on a battlefield. It feels as if you shouldn't keep it in the rear back of the army since it won't reach the target, and also you want to have as ...
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How did public debt financing through annuities work in the States General of the Netherlands?
We're going through some readings regarding how the formation of modern states was structured through the many wars throughout Europe across the centuries, and one of the points that concerns me - ...
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1answer
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Rose tattoo used to mark convicts condemned to death?
I recall from my university history courses a factoid about rose tattoos being used to mark convicts condemned to death in Europe during the Renaissance period (in case of escape), and was wondering ...
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What is the source for this Leonardo Da Vinci quote?
"Art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world."
Where exactly does this Leonardo Da Vinci quote come from? Was it part of a larger paragraph - if so ...
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Did any Moors accompany Hernando de Soto in his exploration of Mississippi?
I was reading about Hernando de Soto and saw William Powell's painting (Relevant bit cropped and added below):
The odd thing (Marked with a red arrow) is the man who looks Moorish and is dressed in ...
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1answer
202 views
Prior to 1790, before dentist chairs, did dentists put the patient's head between their knees?
I read here https://www.sesamecommunications.com/wp-content/PPNarticles/2007-Q1/chair.html (and similarly in a book of facts from the TV series QI), that in the 1700s, the dentist would have held ...
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Was ambition considered a character flaw in medieval times or Renaissance?
In Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar", ambition is an undesirable trait:
"The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious. If it were so, it was a grievous fault".
Was ambition widely considered ...
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Hiring professionals to transcribe historical documents
I'm sorry if this question sounds strange but I'm not sure where else in the world to post it.
I have an eighteenth-century will that I'd like to be able to read, but I have very little practice in ...
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1answer
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Polish king Sigismund II Augustus coronation
Sigismund II Augustus was born in 1520 and crowned at age 10 in 1530, while his father Sigismund I the Old was still alive.
Could someone explain me the reason for this coronation?
Sigismund II ...
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2answers
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Why was William Tyndale burnt at the stake?
I read here that the main reason Tyndale was executed by the church was because he translated the Greek bible into English.
Somewhere else I read that this is not true. Tyndale was charged with ...
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In a challenge to duel, what happened if a thrown gauntlet (and later, glove) was refused?
What would become of a gauntlet or glove after a denied duel? I'm not finding any hints on Google.
Would the challenger abandon it after throwing it to their challengee's feet, as a matter of honor? ...
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Why was the new world named America?
Christopher Columbus is widely credited with discovering the new world in 1492 as the leader of an expedition which included 3 ships financed by the kingdom of Spain. Columbus was a seasoned sailor, ...
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1answer
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Why was Columbus not aware of the existence of America?
Vikings had discovered the American continent centuries before 1492, the year of Columbus' trip. How did the information about the huge discovery got lost? It would not have seemed surprising to me if ...
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1answer
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What language was spoken between Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian I
As the title states: What language was spoken between Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian I. of Habsburg?
I could think of three possibilities: Latin, French and German, but am leaning towards German.
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How did the Medici originally get into finance?
I'm trying to find out how the Medici family rose to power. Most sites simply say, "Banking and finance." I'm trying to figure out a bit more specific. How did Cosimo de Medici originally get into ...
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Were there ever any libraries in medieval villages?
I know that in towns and cities there might be libraries built, but is it possible or likely that peasants can have access to it as well? I've heard that every village has an least a monastery or ...
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What was the contemporary reaction to Dante's Divine Comedy?
Dante's Divine Comedy is one of the great classics of world literature: a poem about Dante's journey through the three afterlives of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. During the course of these adventures ...
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1answer
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Were “hitmen” a real historical occupation?
The trained killer-for-hire is a fairly standard trope in all kinds of media about courtly intrigue. That way, the king's life can be in danger basically all the time. But did these people actually ...
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2answers
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What was the state of the art of salt production before the invention of graduation towers?
According to Wikipedia,
A graduation tower (occasionally referred to as a thorn house) is a structure used in the production of salt which removes water from a saline solution by evaporation, ...
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1answer
457 views
What language is the inscription in Masaccio's Holy Trinity
Masaccio, the Italian Renaissance master, has a painting called the Holy Trinity. In the bottom part of the painting, is a cadaver tomb, with an inscription. I have been able to find plenty of ...
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How much of a symbiotic relationship was there between the Renaissance and the Printing Press?
Both the Renaissance and the Printing Press are dated to be around the 14th century. While the first Printing Press was in 1436 (Johannes Gutenberg), the Renaissance is also supposed to start around a ...
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Why didn't the Roman maniple make a comeback in the Renaissance?
In the late Medieval/Renaissance period, the concept of the Greek phalanx reappeared in the shape of the pike square.
But, while the maniple system was by no means a straight counter of the phalanx, ...
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Please help find these paintings
I've read in a book written about 80 years ago descriptions of 3 paintings,
the paintings were seen about 130 years ago.
These are the descriptions (translated to English):
Painting #1
Painting of ...
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1answer
269 views
Was the term 'renaissance' used during said period?
Just as the title suggests, was the term for the renaissance years coined and used during those years, or is it a modern word used retrospectively?
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Why did Galileo decide to flame Fr. Grassi over the latter's theory of comets, making sure to lose the Jesuits’ support?
Grassi's Disputatio was a rather tame work, which presented his theory of circularly orbiting comets in a non-definitive fashion. It should have pleased Galileo, given his prejudice in strictly ...
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Why didn't early modern Christians object to pagan symbolism in art?
I've been to a couple European museums recently, and a question that has been nagging at me is how a society composed of devout Christians could have been so okay with the introduction of pagan gods ...
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“Ancient knowledge” in Western Europe during Empire's fall
We know that the dawn of the age of Renaissance and the dusk of the Middle Ages were accelerated by the fall of Byzantine Empire and the transfer of a big chunk of "Ancient Knowledge" from Greece to ...
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Did Magellan's log show a lost day?
My question embraces history, cosmology and astronomy, I hope this is an appropriate forum to ask it, if not I apologise and hope to be re-directed.
I have read, but lost the reference, that when the ...
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1answer
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Did any of these artists ever meet?
Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael) and Donato Bardi (Donatello) are some of the most prominent and influential artists of the Renaissance period. Three of the four (...
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1answer
611 views
What made Cicero so fascinating to Petrarch?
Petrarch was apparently fascinated throughout his whole life by Cicero, in a way that his contemporaries apparently weren't. He even wrote letters to Cicero. But these letters don't mean much to me, ...
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Why did classical works re-emerge during the Renaissance?
I recently read the Annals by Tacitus. Although I am definitely pleased with it, I feel like the best parts are missing. It got me thinking about the history of books in general.
I read on another ...
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What were the traveling practices of merchants, roughly between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance?
How did salespersons of the aforementioned period(s), whether affluent merchants or peddlers, tend to travel? I'm familiar with caravansaries/caravanserais, but how did this concept translate to ...
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Why are most late medieval fencing manuals German?
Not only is the German school dominating modern European martial arts, but almost everyone who talks about late medieval fencing refers to German fencing manuals as the primary source.
Why are German ...
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3answers
942 views
Colonies in Machiavelli's age
In Chapter 3 of the Prince Machiavelli offers this advice to the prince who would hold a newly acquired territory:
[T]o send colonies to one or two places, which may be as keys to that
state, for ...
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3answers
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Where was the cultural inheritance of the Greco/Roman world/antiquity preserved?
In school and later in media (this is northern Europe) I was/am always told that it was the Arabs/Muslim world that preserved the science, technology, literature, art, culture etc from the Greek and ...
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When and why did Erasmus ask whether the Pope would govern the east better than the Turk?
Owen Chadwick says in The Reformation:
The European powers were more frightened of each other than of the Turk. A certain scepticism began to appear; Erasmus asked cynically whether if a crusade ...
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Was Islam really responsible for the Italian Renaissance?
I recently heard a big claim from a Muslim, that the Italian Renaissance was largely caused by the positive Islamic influence on Europe via Spain or Al Andalus.
I have my doubts about this claim, ...
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1answer
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What was the banquet of chestnuts?
It is supposed that at some point in Vatican history an event took place commonly referred to as the banquet of chestnuts. However this story is doubted and discounted in many quarters. Is there any ...
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3answers
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How were the borders of the Holy Roman Empire established?
We all know that the Holy Roman Empire was a collection of minor Germanic states in the Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Wikipedia stated that:
The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of ...
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Why anthropocentrism disappears during the Dark Ages
The human being ceases to be central part of Art in Europe with the arrival of the Dark Ages, only to return with the Renaissance.
What are some factors that explain that?
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What are some of the influences of the Black Plague and its aftermath on the period of Renaissance? [closed]
The period of Renaissance in Europe kicked off after the Black Plague started disappearing. How did the the plague help in igniting the fire of rebirth?
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How did Leonardo plan on moving his tank?
Was there a plan for how to propel the circular wooden tank design of Leonardo da Vinci's? It seems far too heavy to be powered Flintstones-style by the people inside, but it also seems too small for ...
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1answer
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What were the responses to Copernicus' heliocentric theory?
Popular explanations often mention that the "Catholic Church" had a problem with Copernicus and his heliocentric theory, neglecting that even a scientific disagreement at that period would likely have ...
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When was the Western Facade on the Sant Andrea Basilica by Alberti constructed?
I've found conflicting answers on other website and was wondering if anyone knows.
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Why were balls used on the Medici coat of arms?
I've heard they represent the weighted balls used to measure goods, alluding to Florence's history as a commercial city and the Medici family's history as merchants and bankers. I've also heard that ...
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2answers
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How did commoners in late medieval to early modern Europe learn to read?
Literacy in the early Middle Ages was very low, but as I recall, by the time of Reformation quite a lot of commoners could read. Even if they were not very good in reading and writing, by the 17th ...
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In the Medieval period, how long would an average swordsmith need to forge an average sword?
Based on this question over in RPG, I'm trying to figure out how long it took to forge a sword in the Medieval/Renaissance smith to make swords. I am recalling a figure of about 9-12 months per sword,...
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1answer
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What should be historically correct costume of Doctor Faust?
What should be historically correct costume of Doctor Faust corresponding to the epoch, described by Goethe?
I encontered with several pictures of Faust in the Internet, but they differ very much.
...
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What sorts of games of chance/skill and other events would a Middle-ages/renaissance festival have?
I am a DM/GM for a role playing game, and I want to plan a large festival for the game. I want to have it as authentic as possible, but don't know where to start. From the various fiction sources I'...
