Western Civilization I / Unit 13 WC1 1231 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Sequencing the Renaissance, 1300 to 1527
The idea
The exam gives four Renaissance events and asks their order, and the trap is that writers, technology and politics run in parallel. The method is a spine of politics: Lodi fourteen fifty-four, the Medici's takeover fourteen thirty-four before it, the French invasion fourteen ninety-four after it, the sack of Rome fifteen twenty-seven at the end. Hang the rest on it.
In practice
Hang eight. Dante's death in thirteen twenty-one and Petrarch's in thirteen seventy-four: before everything. Brunelleschi's dome in fourteen thirty-six: two years after the Medici. Cosimo's Council in fourteen thirty-nine: after the dome. Gutenberg's Bible in fourteen fifty-five: one year after Lodi. Botticelli's Venus in fourteen eighty-five: within the peace. Savonarola's death in fourteen ninety-eight: after the invasion. David in fifteen oh four and the Sistine ceiling finished in fifteen twelve: after Savonarola. The Prince written in fifteen thirteen, the Courtier printed fifteen twenty-eight: at the end. Read: Dante, Petrarch, Medici, dome, Council, Lodi, Bible, Venus, invasion, Savonarola, David, ceiling, Prince, Courtier.
Where people slip
Two traps. Gutenberg's press is a northern event inside the Italian spine, so a question may pair it with Lodi. And Erasmus and Christine de Pizan are northern writers whose dates, fourteen thirty and fifteen thirty-six, straddle the Italian sequence.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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