Renaissance guilds - job opportunities!!

So you think the job market in these modern times is tough?  Try getting into a guild as an apprentice during the Renaissance!  A guild, as  you may learn (if your teacher is good at what he/she does) was the forerunner of the organization known as a union.  (That means they were organized as a working group.)

So:  here are a series of opportunities for enterprising, earnest, enthusiastic, and eager employment endeavors to get YOU into the guild of your choice!  You can be an alchemist (pictured), architect, artist, banker, clothing merchant/buyer, ship's captain, printer, chef or physician!

Apprentice Questions - Alchemist, Scientist, Astronomer

You are to be apprenticed to an Alchemist, Scientist, Astronomer to engage in scientific inquiry and design new tools.

Consider:
-    Name of your guild? Who is allowed into your guild? Special features of your guild? Terms and vocabulary unique to your guild's work or beliefs? Special clothing that your guild members must wear? Why?
-    Who have been the innovators in your field of study? What has each contributed of significant importance? Where did each master get his ideas? Any special study that he did, place he visited, things he observed and applied to what he is passing on to you?
-    What mathematical 'news' has someone from your guild discovered? Particular problems, superstitions your guild must deal with? What artwork has your guild been required to commission? What donations is your guild responsible for and why? What must be kept secret and why?

Course of study? What books will you be using? By? Techniques must learn or know about?  Cautions, hazards? Math: What math must you know or will you be using? What mathematical 'news' is there that will help you? Technology (tools) available? What innovative technology will be built into your work or have others discovered? (14th to 17th century versions of 20th century technology? Is the older better? In what ways?) Technology needed (you may have to invent)? Guilds will use to do this? Decorative art for your implements? Which ones? Which guild and/or famous master has helped you?

Special features of your guild's work area? Sanitation: a concern? Particular problems you are working on to solve? Guilds may use to do this?

What have you learned that 20th century chemists, scientists, mathematicians, or astronomers use today as a result of ideas and techniques of the Renaissance ( or what the Renaissance borrowed from earlier centuries)?

Apprentice Questions - Architect

You are to be apprenticed to an Architect designing a Palatial Estate, Cathedral, Hospital, University, Globe Theatre, place of business, designing a town mall (marketplace)

Consider:
- Name of your guild? Philosophy of design? Terms and vocabulary unique to your guild's work?  Who have been the innovators in your field of study? What has each contributed of significant importance? Where did each master get his ideas? Any special study that he did, place he visited, things he observed and applied to what he is passing on to you? For what donations is your guild responsible and why? What artwork has your guild been required to commission? What should be kept secret and why?

What construction skills and techniques must you learn or know about? What are the hazards of your work? Math: What mathematical 'news' is there that will help you? Technology (tools) available? What innovative technology can be built into your work or have you or others discovered? (14th to 17th century versions of 20th century technology? Is the older better? In what ways?) Special features of your project that you must build into your design? Technology needed? (You may have to do some inventing to complete your project - but within the limits of the Renaissance.)

Sanitation: a concern in design? Particular problems you may run into with your project? Building materials available from where? Special guilds for them? Decorative art for your design? What other guild(s) will you need to know about or use? In what way(s)?

What have you learned that 20th century architects and builders use today as a result of ideas and techniques of the Renaissance ( or what the Renaissance borrowed from earlier centuries)?

Apprentice Questions - Artist, Glassblower, Sculptor, Musician, Musical Instrument Maker, Composer

 You are to be apprenticed to an Artist, Glassblower, Sculptor, Musician, Musical Instrument Maker or Composer to prepare for a festival or wedding feast or to work on art commissioned for a cathedral.
 
Consider:
-    Name of your guild? In which special guild must you start before you can proceed to work with a master in the field of painting, sculpture, etc.? Who is allowed into your guild? Special features of your guild? Terms and vocabulary unique to your guild's work or beliefs? Special clothing that your guild members must wear? Under what conditions? What does each piece signify? What change in philosophy about art has enabled your guild to exist and develop?
-    What is different about the Renaissance philosophy of art and music compared to that of the Middle Ages? Who do the visual or performing arts depend upon to exist? Who have been the innovators in your field of study?
-    What has each contributed of significant importance? Where did each master get his ideas? Any special study that he did, place he visited, things he observed and applied to what he is passing on to you? What artwork has your guild been required to commission? What donations is your guild responsible for and why?
-    Philosophy of design/art, music? Skills and techniques you must learn or know about? Steps in a process that you must follow? Why? Of what significance is math in your field of study? What mathematical 'news' is there that will help you in the 'works' that you create? What has that 'news' opened up for you as an artist, sculptor, glassblower, musician, instrument designer/builder, etc.?
-    Technology (tools) available? Special features or requirements of your work that you must consider in your training? Cautions, hazards of your work? Materials for your work is available from where?
-    Special guilds for them? What other guild(s)do you work with? Particular problems you may run into with your work? What innovative technology is built into your work or have you or others discovered? (14th to 17th century versions of 20th century technology? Is the older better? Equivalent? In what ways?) Special features of your project that require new technology? (You may have to do some inventing to complete your project - but within the limits of the Renaissance.)
-    Where will your work be displayed or performed? Describe it. What must be kept in mind when you propose and present a project to be developed and completed? Who will perform your music? What must you keep in mind concerning those who will be your audience, who will perform your work, and the instruments to be used ?
-    What have you learned that 20th century artists, musicians, glassblowers, musical instrument makers, and composers use today as a result of ideas and techniques of the Renaissance (or what the Renaissance borrowed from earlier centuries)?

Apprentice Questions - Sailing Captain:  Shipbuilder, Mapmaker, Carpenter, Armourer, Physician, Butcher, Astronomer

You are to be apprenticed to a Shipbuilder, Mapmaker, Carpenter, Armourer, Physician, Butcher, or Astronomer readying for a lengthy voyage

Consider:
-    What are all of the materials that would be needed for a long voyage: for the men and for the ship? Which guild would you want to apprentice?
-    For this particular project, consider food preservation, storage, and preparation; clothing for all kinds of weather and conditions; defense; plotting and maintaining a route (course); medical supplies and practicioners. What else would be needed for a voyage with which a guild would involved?

Which guild would you apprentice? Then brainstorm for and research the skills and techniques you must learn or know about?

In particular, consider these as a beginning point:
Math: What mathematical 'news' is there that will help you? Science: What scientific 'news' and philosophy will help you with your guild's preparation for this voyage? Technology (tools) available? Technology needed? Innovative technology you have to design? Special features of a voyage that you must consider as a member of your guild? Sanitation: a concern? Particular problems your guild may run into with this project? Building materials needed? Building materials available from where?  Special guilds for them? Decorative art for anything? Why? What guild(s) would you use? Famous innovators you've met along the way?

Apprentice Questions - Lawyer, Judge, Banker

 
You are to be apprenticed to a Lawyer, Judge, or Banker to prepare for an upcoming trial
 
Consider:
-    Name of your guild? Who is allowed into your guild? Special features of your guild? Terms and vocabulary unique to your guild's work or beliefs? Special clothing that your guild members must wear? What does each piece signify?
-    Who have been the innovators in your field of study? What has each contributed of significant importance? Where did each master get his ideas? Any special study that he did, place he visited, things he observed and applied to what he is passing on to you?  What artwork has your guild been required to commission? What donations is your guild responsible for and why?

Course of study? What books will you be using? By? Philosophy of law (or banking/ money changing)? Particular problems your guild must be ready to solve?

For those of you studying law: how is guilt or innocence determined in general? for particular crimes? How is court run? How are cases tried? What are the roles of the defense and prosecuting attorney? Are you called an attorney? If not, what? Is there a jury system? Explain. Particular laws that you found lenient, harsh? Jail conditions, jail terms and sentences for the accused? Famous case or cases? Cautions to the public?

For you bankers, in particular: how is money minted? weighed? designed and by what guild? What does it look like? How much are different coins worth by 20th century standards? What can money buy during the Renaissance compared to the time period to which you will be returning? How is banking conducted compared to 20th century practices? What are the various philosophies about money and money lending, collateral, charging interest on a loan? Why? Who can and cannot apply for a loan? Why?

For all of you: skills and techniques you must learn or know about? Steps in a process that you must know or memorize? Special materials needed for your line of work? Math: needed? for what? What mathematical 'news' is there that will help you? What guilds work with yours? Why? Technology (tools) available? What innovative technology will be needed or have others discovered to meet special requirements that your field of work needs? Which guilds will likely help with that? (14th to 17th century versions of 20th century technology? Is the older better? In what ways?) Solutions that have been tried?

What have you learned that 20th century lawyers, judges, and bankers use today as a result of ideas, techniques, and problems they faced during the Renaissance ( or what the Renaissance borrowed from earlier centuries)? 

Apprentice Questions - Master Cook/Chef

You are to be apprenticed to a Master Cook/Chef for a banquet or festival
 
Consider:
- What are all of the materials that would be needed for a banquet? For this particular project, consider food preservation, storage, and preparation. Then brainstorm for and research the skills and techniques you must learn or know about?

-    Name of your guild? In which special guild must you start before you can proceed to work with a master chef? Who is allowed into your guild?
-    Special features of your guild? Terms and vocabulary unique to your guild's work or beliefs? Special clothing that your guild members must wear? Under what conditions? What does each piece signify?
-    What changes during the Renaissance have affected your field of study and how banquets are conducted? What festivals are most important to celebrate? How is that done with special foods, recipes, dishes?
-    Who have been the innovators in your field of study? What has each contributed of significant importance? Where did each master get his ideas? Any special study that he did, place he visited, things he observed and applied to what he is passing on to you? What artwork has your guild been required to commission? What donations is your guild responsible for and why?
-    Course of study? What books will you be using? By? Philosophy about food, preparation, processing, and presentation? Manners and customs that must be learned for your field of work? Skills and techniques must you learn or know about? Best and/or most unique techniques, beliefs, recipes? Special math skills that are needed?
-    Materials for your work available from where? Special guilds for them? What other guild(s)do you work with? Technology (tools) available? Innovative technology you may want to use? Special features of your work that you must consider in your training? Cautions, hazards? Particular problems you may run into with your work? What secrets are you pledged to keep for your guild and why?
-    What have you learned that 20th century chefs and banquet-goers use today as a result of ideas and techniques of the Renaissance ( or what the Renaissance borrowed from earlier centuries)?

Apprentice Questions - Barber/Surgeon, Physician, Herbalist (Apothecary)

 
You are to be apprenticed to a Barber / Surgeon, Physician, Herbalist (Apothecary) to staff a new hospital.

Consider:
- Name of your guild? Who is allowed into your guild? Special features of your guild? Terms and vocabulary unique to your guild's work? Special clothing that your guild members must wear? Why?
Who have been the innovators in your field of study? What has each contributed of significant importance? Where did each master get his ideas? Any special study that he did, place he visited, things he observed and applied to what he is passing on to you? Particular problems your guild faces? What artwork has your guild been required to commission? What donations is your guild responsible for and why? What should be kept secret and why?

Course of study? What books will you be using? By? Philosophy of medicine? Philosophy about disease, curing disease, and hygiene? Based on whose ideas or what beliefs? What will your role be as barber, physician, herbalist? What is the patient's role? Skills and techniques you must learn or know about? Artists who have helped your field of study? Math: needed? for what? What mathematical 'news' is there that will help you?

Steps of a process that you must learn? Materials needed for your line of work? Accepted methods of treatment for specific diseases, in particular, the Plague? Cautions, hazards in your line of work?
What precautions are you taught to take for yourself? for your patients? Technology (tools) available? What innovative technology will be built into your work or have others discovered to meet special needs? (14th to 17th century versions of 20th century technology? Is the older better? In what ways?) Solutions that have been tried?

What guilds work with yours? Why this method of organization?

What have you learned that 20th century doctors, dentists, or pharmacists use today as a result of ideas, discoveries, and techniques from the Renaissance (or what the Renaissance borrowed from earlier centuries)?

Apprentice Questions - Master Printer

You are to be apprenticed to a Master Printer setting up a new print shop in England.

Consider:
- What are all of the materials that would be needed for setting up a new print shop? For this particular project, consider consumable supplies such as ink and paper, outside labor contacts such as binders and illuminators or scribes, start-up equipment such as presses and type. Then brainstorm for and research the skills and techniques you must learn or know about?

-    Name of your guild? In which special guild must you start before you can proceed to work with a master printer? Who is allowed into your guild? Special features of your guild? Terms and vocabulary unique to your guild's work or beliefs? Special clothing that your guild members must wear? Under what conditions? What does each piece signify?
-    What changes during the Renaissance have affected your field of study and how printing is done? What books are most important to print? What other types of work do printers do in order to bring in money?
-    Who have been the innovators in your field of study? What has each contributed of significant importance? Where did each master get his ideas? Any special study that he did, place he visited, things he observed and applied to what he is passing on to you?
-    What artwork has your guild been required to commission? What donations is your guild responsible for and why?
-    Course of study? What books will you be using? By? Philosophy about printing and the written word? Manners and customs that must be learned for your field of work? Skills and techniques you must learn or know about? Best and/or most unique techniques, beliefs, books? Special math skills that are needed?
-    Materials for your work available from where? Special guilds for them?
-    What other guild(s)do you work with? Technology (tools) available? Innovative technology you may want to use? Special features of your work that you must consider in your training? Cautions, hazards? Particular problems you may run into with your work? What secrets are you pledged to keep for your guild and why?

What have you learned that 20th century printers use today as a result of ideas and techniques of the Renaissance ( or what the Renaissance borrowed from earlier centuries)?

Apprentice Questions - Mercer, Dealer in Cloth, Spinner of Cloth,
Clothing Shoppe Merchant

You are to be apprenticed to a Mercer, Dealer in Cloth, Spinner of Cloth, Clothing Shoppe Merchant to outfit the royal entourage for an upcoming wedding.

Consider:
-    Name of your guild? Who is allowed into your guild? Special features of your guild? Terms and vocabulary unique to your guild's work? Who have been the innovators in your field of study? What has each contributed of significant importance? Where did each master get his ideas? Any special study that he did, place he visited, things he observed and applied to what he is passing on to you?
-    Particular problems your guild faces? What artwork has your guild been required to commission?
What donations is your guild responsible for and why? What should be kept secret and why?

Steps of a process that you must learn? What innovative technology will be built into your work or have others discovered? (14th to 17th century versions of 20th century technology? Is the older better? In what ways?) What are the hazards in your line of work? Solutions that have been tried?

Special features of your project that you must build into your design? Technology needed? (You may have to do some inventing to complete your project - but within the limits of the Renaissance!)  Skills and techniques you must learn or know about? Math: needed? for what? What mathematical 'news' is there that will help you?

Philosophy of design? Comfort in design? Changes in philosophy of design? What related guilds are or will be a part of the processes you must follow to complete your masterpiece? Can your guild finish a process alone without the help of other guilds? Why or why not?

Materials available: varieties? from where? Thread: what? made by? Patterns: yes, no? What were they like? Decorative arts or crafts for your designs or clothes? Closures: How did Renaissance folk keep their clothes 'buttoned'? Undergarments: were there any and purpose? Who made them? Coats, cloaks, shoes, hats, gloves, (accessories): made by whom from what guilds?

What have you learned that 20th century clothiers and designers use today as a result of ideas and techniques of the Renaissance ( or what the Renaissance borrowed from earlier centuries)?

The European Renaissance (Part II)

CONTINUING ON with the Renaissance...here's some comments I wrote in order to launch that outline I did for the 8th grade project from graduate school.  (And here's a really good web site too at
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/renaissanceinfo.htm)

Let's Meet The Renaissance!

In previous class readings, discussions and projects, the Middle Ages was reviewed as a time of struggle and subjugation of individual freedoms, including intellectual pursuits, religious beliefs, human rights and ownership through servitude, and warfare over properties, territories and the dogma of the Vatican.  The Renaissance has been viewed as a reawakening of theology, education, social philosophies, inventions that made global changes and historical legacies, scientific discoveries and validation or repudiation of theories, expeditionary zeal, colonization at the price of decimation to other cultures,  and tremendous creative expression in the fields of music, sculpture, painting and building.  

It was indeed marked by a flourishing cultural identity, but it was the unashamed pursuit of valuable possessions, including great religious and secular art, and material and commercial spirit of the 15th and 16th centuries that set the tone.  A single-syllable word transformed monarchies and fueled expeditionary rivalry and decades of land and sea confrontations:  "Gold."  Commerce and international trade provided the enormous fortunes that funded artistic production, and luxury goods, including great works of art, became important as means of displaying newly acquired wealth and status.  It was an urge to own, a ceaseless quest for new horizons and exotic treasures, to publicly succeed, that fueled the cultural output of the Renaissance, and that taste for conspicuous displays of opulence characterizes the Western experience of the arts and culture to this day.

The typical "Renaissance man'' was motivated by conspicuous consumption as much as by humanist principles. The leading members of Renaissance society sought to live in ornate palaces filled with fine paintings, sculpture, marble and rare stone, porcelain, Venetian glass, silk from China, broadcloth from London, rich velvet, and fine tapestries and carvings--hardly the spiritual symbols of a deeply religious era. Yet Renaissance religious art reflected a true spirituality: Most Renaissance artists believed that only the very best was good enough to honor their sacred subjects.

The Renaissance uniquely combined the sacred with the profane:  Literature and art that blithely mixed a celebration of valuable commodities with sacred themes.  During the Renaissance, city-states like Venice and Genoa grew fat channeling the riches and spices of the Orient into Europe.  Trading, capital investment, banking, and credit all accelerated the creation of a new wealthy class.  Ostentation reflected the authority of powerful princes of the states and the Church, and the achievements of great merchants.  Some innovations improved the lot of the common man and inspired more humble consumption.  In particular, the invention of the printing press made formerly handwritten rare copies of Greek and Roman classics available to learned commoners.
 
The rapidly growing market for printed books - a new commodity seized upon with equal enthusiasm by investors and consumers - disseminated the "new learning" via publishing houses and printing presses across Europe, stimulating the evolution of the European intellectual tradition as much by accident as by design. 

Therefore, the question is open for discussion, research, and rebuttal:  should the Renaissance be viewed as a time period of discovery, creativity and reawakening of mankind (and womankind)'s higher mental facilities, or should it be characterized as an age of greed, opportunity, scandal, and pretentiousness?

The European Renaissance - 8th grade outline

In the summer of 1999, I took a graduate course where I was required to develop a large-scale project 8th-grade level outline on a theme.  The theme that I selected was the Renaissance.

This is the outline that I created in order to show cross-curriculum concepts on that subject.


Renaissance Unit Outline - Grade 8

I.    Purpose:  Throughout a six week time period, students will become familiar with the Renaissance time period through cross-curriculum studies.  Students will be involved in many forms of instruction to both illuminate and clarify the time period and its contributions in terms of art, music, history, science, mathematics, language, world language and sports.

II.  Outcomes:
•    Following class discussions and videos, students will identify and characterize the foundations of the Renaissance.  This will be assessed through the KWL method.
•    Students will be able to describe the Copernican Theory and apply it creatively.  This will be assessed through an editorial activity (oral communication).
•    Students will define the following terms of the Renaissance to be assessed through a short-answer test:  Renaissance, humanist, humanities, Aristotelian (Aristotle), Inquisition, indulgences, heliocentric, geocentric, elliptical, alchemy, metaphysical poetry, classical allusion, metaphysical conceit, satire, neo-Classicism, perspective, utopia, city-state, nationalism, inductive method, scientific method.
•    Following a class discussion and readings, students will be able to explain concepts about themes in poetry, and define concept, symbolism and rhyme scheme by providing a written or musical example of each.
•    After analyzing a handout example of a timeline and evaluating key features through discussion, students will create a graphic organizer that distinguishes primary facts of the Renaissance on history/politics, literature/theater, arts/music, and science/technology/inventions.
•    Given a set of questions to be answered from a handout and assessed through a rubric, students will choose from a selection of guilds and create an autobiography of themselves living in the Renaissance using appropriate information (resources, society, occupation, inventions) with the use of previous materials.
•    After viewing the film "Romeo & Juliet" and reading the play as arranged for modern reading, students will analyze and retell the story in their own words in short answers in a test and evaluated with a rubric.  
•    After viewing the films "Romeo & Juliet" and "West Side Story," students will compare and contrast both films through a "Siskel & Ebert/Lyons & Medved" review of no more than five minutes, evaluated with a rubric
•    After class discussion and comparison outline, students will work in cooperative pairs and be evaluated with a peer critique rubric, to research, design, display and describe a poster featuring two corresponding themes between a modern theater and/or film production, a book and/or story, or a book/story and movie/theater production.

III.  CONTENT:
A.    Definition of Movement
Overall Definition &
Styles Introduced
Terminology and Vocabulary
Impact
 
B.    Historical Perspective
Length of Time of period
Social Perspective & Events
Political Climate
Religion & society
C.    Literature of the Renaissance
Genres
Poetry
Biographies
Parables
Drama
D.    Art
Introduction of new styles
Architecture
Paintings
Sculpture
E.    Drama & Theater
Construction of the theater
Construction of a play
Speech
Themes & Issues in society
F.    Scientific & Mathematical Discoveries & Inventions of the Renaissance
Bacon & Descartes- Experimentation and scientific research
Gutenberg - Spreading the word(s)
Copernicus - Heliocentrism vs. Geocentrism
Harvey - Blood circulation
Vesalius - Modern Anatomy
 Brahe -  The Position of the Planets
Kepler - The three laws of the solar system
Galileo - The telescope, dynamics & mechanics
Newton - Physical laws of the universe
Gilbert -Magnetism
Da Vinci - Master Inventor
Boyle - Laboratory pioneer
Hooke - The compound microscope
Leeuwenhoek - Microbe hunter
Pascal - Pressure & liquid laws

IV.  TIMELINE:
WEEK ONE:  Introduction to the Renaissance
    What do students know?  Questions?
    Review of description of Renaissance as time period
    Major events in cultural progress
    The Age of (Re)Discovery
    Discussion on multi-cultural Renaissance periods
    
WEEK TWO:   History and contributions
      The divisions of European countries
      War & Peace in Europe
      Monarchy and city-states
        Thomas Hobbes
      John Locke
        Niccolo Machiavelli
      Martin Luther
      Writing an illustrated newspaper
      Mapping a Renaissance timeline

WEEK THREE: Introduction of Literature
        Discussion of significant terminology
        Authors and their styles
        Sir Thomas Moore
        Desiderius Erasmus
        Niccolo Machiavelli
        Francis Bacon
        Miguel de Cervantes
        William Shakespeare
        Creative Writing on Renaissance theme
        
WEEK FOUR:    The Rise of Art
          The influence of the Church on Art
          The Great Cathedrals
          The Development of Dance
          The Great Master Painters
          Leonardo Da Vinci's Art/Science
          Michelangelo
          Raphael
          Titian
          The birth of Opera

WEEK FIVE:  Discussion of Theater and Rules
     The Globe Theater
     Books, Printing & Theater
    
WEEK SIX:  Exploring the Scientific Revolution
    Nicolaus Copernicus
    Ideas about the Solar System
    Religious influences on science
    Galileo
    Tycho Brahe
    Johannes Kepler
    Isaac Newton
        Gravity & magnetism
    William Harvey & blood analyses
    Andreas Vesalius
    Beginnings of medical research
    Pascal
    Classroom hands-on experiments

V.    EVALUATION

PROJECTS:

1.    Timeline  (5%)
2.    Poster  (5%)
3.    Editorial speaking activity  (10%)
4.   Shakespeare movie review  (10%)

WRITING ACTIVITIES:  

1.    Definitions & terms  (15%)
2.    Autobiography  (20%)
3.    Test on "Romeo & Juliet"  (15%)

CLASS ASSIGNMENTS (outlines, essays) (10%)
PARTICIPATION/GROUP WORK (10%)

VI.    Absent students/missed work
•    Students who miss class when an assignment is due must have a written excuse or doctor's note and must hand in the work the day upon returning to class.  E-mail submission for emergencies are available.
•    Students who are absent the day of a quiz may make it up after school or during their lunch period the following day.
•    Students who do not discuss a possible delay on a completed project will have points deducted from their final grade.

VII.    RESOURCES

1.    Student text
2.    Teacher text
3.    Encyclopedia of the Renaissance
4.    Additional handouts
5.    Encarta 98
6.    Transparencies
7.    Markers
8.    Posterboard
9.    Highlighters
10.    Literature books
11.    Overhead
12.    Scissors
13.    Construction paper
14.    Computers
15.    Index cards
16.    Three-ring binder (optional)
17.    Journals
18.    Library and reference books
19.    A&E Biography series videos
20.    "Romeo & Juliet" - MGM Films
21.    "West Side Story" - MGM Films
22.  "Copernicus" - The Rise of Science Series
VIII.    Bibliography

Aston, Margaret.  (1996).  The Panorama of the Renaissance.  New York:  Harry N. Abrams.

Anderson, Margaret Jean.  (1996).  Isaac Newton:  The Greatest Scientist of All Time:  Great Minds of Science.  Springfield, New Jersey:  Enslow Publishing.

Armstrong, Spencer.  (1960).  101 of the World's Greatest Books.  New York:  
Greystone Press.

Atchity, Kenneth J. (Editor) & McKenna, Rosemary (Editor).  (1996)).  The Renaissance Reader.  New York:  Harpercollins.

Black, C.F., Greengrass, Mark, & Howarth, David.  (1993).  Cultural Atlas of the Renaissance.  New York: Macmillan General Reference

Browning, D.C.  (1993).  The Complete Dictionary of Shakespeare Quotations.  New York:  Barnes & Noble Books.

Boorstin, Daniel J.  (1983).  The Discoverers:  A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself.  New York:  Random House.

Downs, Robert B.  (1961).  Famous Books Since 1492.  New York:  Barnes & Noble
    
Cady, Frank W. & Cartmell, Van H.  (1946).  Shakespeare Arranged for Modern Reading.  New York:  Doubleday and Company.

Cornwell, Anne Christake & Damianakos, Alexander N.  (1993). The Renaissance/Audio Cassette (Western Civilization). University Press & Sound

Durant, Will.  (1953).  The Story of Civilization (Series V) - The Renaissance.
New York:  Simon and Shuster.

Durant, Ariel & Will.  (1968).  The Lessons of History.  New York:  Simon and Shuster.

Emerson, Kathy Lynn.  (1996).  The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Renaissance England.  New York:  Writer's Digest Books.
    
Fadiman, Clifton.  (1960).  The Lifetime Reading Plan.  Cleveland, Ohio:  The World Publishing Company.

Fonte, Moderata & Cox, Virginia (Editor).  (1997).  The Worth of Women : Wherein Is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men (Other Voice in Early Modern Europe).  Chicago, IL:  University of Chicago Press.

Grun, Bernard.  (1975).  The Timetables of History.  New York:  Touchstone.

Hall, Alice G.  Benjamin Franklin.  National Geographic, Vol. 148, No. 1 (July 1975).
Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Society.

Hamilton, Edith.  (1942).  Mythology - Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes.  New York:  The New American Library.

Jardine, Lisa.  (1996).  Worldly Goods:  A New History of the Renaissance.  New York:
Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub (Traditional).

Jeffery, David.   A Renaissance for Michelangelo.   National Geographic, Vol. 176, No. 6 (December 1989).  Washington, D.C.:  National Geographic Society.

May, Nadia (Narrator) & Pater, Walter.  (1995).  The Renaissance.  New York:
Blackstone Audio Books.

Smith, Pamela H.  (1994). The Business of Alchemy : Science and Culture in the
Holy Roman Empire.  Princeton, NJ:  Princeton University Press.

Stephens, John.  (1990).  The Italian Renaissance : The Origins of Intellectual and
Artistic Change Before the Reformation.  London, England: Longman Group United Kingdom.

Thompson, Bard.  (1996). Humanists and Reformers : A History of the Renaissance
and Reformation.  New York: Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Velikovsky, Immanuel.  (1950).  Worlds in Collision.  New York:  Pocket Books (division of Simon and Shuster.)

Weber, Eugen.  (1995).  The Western Tradition:  From the Ancient World to Louis XIV.  Lexington, MA:  D. C. Heath and Company

http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/Renaissance/VirtualRen.html
http://bang.lanl.gov/video/stv/arshtml/galileo2.html
http://bang.lanl.gov/video/stv/arshtml/intro.html
http://bang.lanl.gov/video/stv/arshtml/arch1.html
http://bang.lanl.gov/video/stv/arshtml/arch3.html
http://bang.lanl.gov/video/stv/arshtml/mathofmotion1.html
http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Music/Genres/Classical/Composers/Renaissance/
 
http://www.yahoo.com/Arts/Performing_Arts/Dance/Renaissance/
http://www.yahoo.com/Arts/Art_History/Periods_and_Movements/Renaissance/Artists/
http://members.aol.com/worldciv/renaissance.html
http://members.aol.com/worldciv/game/1.html
http://www.egr.it/rodin_e_michelangelo/
http://www.ulens.com/shakespeare/
http://bang.lanl.gov/video/stv/arshtml/lanlarstitle.html
http://www.mediaguild.com/copernic.html

Benjamin Franklin: Citizen of the World.  A&E Biography Series
Copernicus and His World.  The Rise of Science Series, BBC-TV/Open University
Elizabeth I:  The Virgin Queen.  A&E Biography series
From the Earth to the Moon.  HBO Films, 1997.
Henry VIII:  Scandals of a King.  A&E Biography series.
Leonardo da Vinci:  Renaissance Master.  A&E Biography series.
Lucrezia Borgia - Pretty Poison.  A&E Biography series.
Michelangelo - Artist & Man.  A&E Biography series.
Romeo & Juliet.  MGM, 1968.
Sir Isaac Newton:  The Gravity of Genius.  A&E Biography series.
Sister Wendy's Story of Painting.  The Renaissance.  BBC WorldWide Americas.
William Shakespear - Life of Drama.  A&E Biography series.
West Side Story.  MGM, 1961.