The Italian Renaissance: humanism
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the context of Renaissance humanism.
Key learning points
- The printing press allowed humanists to share rediscovered knowledge more easily.
- Humanism was promoted by the universities of Europe.
- New universities were founded in this period.
- Humanism represented a desire to study the classical world.
- Erasmus was an important humanist scholar.
Keywords
Renaissance - from a French term for ‘rebirth’, the Renaissance was a period of revival in European art and literature under the influence of classical ideas
Printing press - the printing press was a machine used to print words
Humanist - humanists were people who were interested in the classical world and the potential of the human race
Humanism - humanism was the revival of interest in Greek and Roman thought during the Renaissance
Common misconception
Pupils might think that because printing presses were mechanical, they were as fast and efficient as modern machinery.
Explain to pupils that even though printing presses were much quicker than copying by hand, it could still take a relatively long time to print books.
Teacher tip
When discussing the map of European universities, have pupils discuss where these appear to be concentrated, and which areas appear to have had the most.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these were Renaissance humanist?
Q2.The Renaissance takes its name from the French term for...
Q3.Lucretius' De rerum natura argued that the universe was made up of tiny things called...
Q4.Which ancient civilisations were humanists mostly interested in?
Q5.Starting with the earliest, put these events in chronological order.
Q6.Humanists like Petrarch and Bracciolini found classical documents in the libraries of religious buildings such as cathedrals, abbeys and...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Before the printing press, most book copying was controlled by the...
Q2.What impact did the printing press have on the speed of book copying?
Q3.Holbein's portrait compared Erasmus to which figure from a classical myth?
Q4.What happened to the number of universities in Europe during the Renaissance?
Q5. ideas spread through Europe's universities during the Renaissance.
Q6.Which of the following did not help to spread humanist ideas during the Renaissance?
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: The Italian Renaissance: humanism, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: The Italian Renaissance: humanism, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the The Renaissance: what do the artefacts of the Renaissance tell us about it? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.