William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, two epitaphs on a man named John Combe, one epitaph on Elias James, and several other poems.
"William Shakespeare." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
"William Shakespeare." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616) was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His most famous piece Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written
"Miguel De Cervantes." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 June 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
"Miguel De Cervantes." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 June 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He was for many years an official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. He was a founder of modern political science, and more specifically political ethics. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs, and poetry. His personal correspondence is renowned in the Italian language. He was Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence from 1498 to 1512, when the Medici were out of power. He wrote his masterpiece, The Prince, after the Medici had recovered power and he no longer held a position of responsibility in Florence.
"Niccolo Machiavelli." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
"Niccolo Machiavelli." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
Francesco Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374), known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar and poet, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism". In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch's works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio, and, to a lesser extent, Dante Alighieri. Petrarch would be later endorsed as a model for Italian style by the Accademia della Crusca. Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry.
"Francesco Petrarch." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 June 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
"Francesco Petrarch." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 June 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, simply referred to as Dante (1265–1321), was a major Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His Divine Comedy, originally called Commedia and later called Divina by Boccaccio, is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.
"Dante Alighieri." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
"Dante Alighieri." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works, which include The Book of the Duchess, the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde, he is best known today for The Canterbury Tales.
"Geoffry Chaucer." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
"Geoffry Chaucer." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
Louise Labé
Louise Labé, (c. 1520 or 1522 – April 25, 1566), also identified as La Belle Cordière, (The Beautiful Ropemaker), was a female French poet of the Renaissance, born at Lyon, the daughter of a rich ropemaker, Pierre Charly, and his second wife, Etiennette Roybet. A recent book has argued that the poetry ascribed to her was a feminist creation of a number of French male poets of the Renaissance.
"Louise Labe." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
"Louise Labe." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), known to Roman Catholics as Saint Thomas More since 1935, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and was Lord Chancellor from October 1529 to 16 May 1532. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935 as one of the early martyrs of the schism that separated the Church of England from Rome in the 16th century. In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared him patron of Catholic statesmen and politicians.
"Sir Thomas More." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
"Sir Thomas More." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
vernacular: A language that is used in a specific area as the common tongue, but not used for official documents.
printing press: A machine used to print ink in a specific way on a piece of paper, an earlier version of the printer.
printing press: A machine used to print ink in a specific way on a piece of paper, an earlier version of the printer.