City University of New York
Cuny: General Characteristics of the Renaissance
A look at the rebirth of the Renaissance in the context of five interrelated issues: a renewed interest in classical antiquity and the concept of "the Great Chain of Being", political changes, Humanism, the literary doctrine of...
Yale University
Yale: The Illusion of the Renaissance
A curriculum unit on perspective, detailing the differences between medieval and Renaissance art. This is designed as a studio art course for 8th grade through high school, and contains some good information and activities. Illustrations...
Read Works
Read Works: The Renaissance Introduction to the Renaissance
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Renaissance. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Other
Eugene School District: The Renaissance Begins [Pdf]
Chapter 28 of a middle school textbook on world history (7 pages). It explains how the Renaissance began in Italy, and the differences between classical, medieval, and Renaissance art. It discusses the expanding world of trade and...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: American Culture in the 1920s
The First World War had a crippling effect on any notions of positivity in the artists, writers, and intellectuals of that time and they became known as the Lost Generation. This page discusses this group of people, the emergence of jazz...
Other
Italian renaissance.org: Basic Ideas of the Renaissance
Basic information about the Renaissance. Looks at Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, painting, and sculpture. Touches upon humanism.
Other
University of Massachusetts Lowell: Italian Renaissance: Neoplatonism
This site explains how the Platonic tradition was revived in Italian Renaissance humanism. It presents an analysis of Ancient Greece and Plato's thought, and then describes how his ideas were adapted to fit humanistic teaching. It also...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The Image of Africa in the Literature of the Harlem Renaissance
Overview of African Americans and their relationship to Africa. a myth which was embraced by the Harlem Renaissance.
Steven Kreis, PhD
The History Guide: Renaissance Humanism
This site contains a overview of Renaissance humanism from the modern European intellectual history lectures. It discusses the age, the tenets of humanism, and the major personalities involved in the movement.
ibiblio
Ibiblio: Web Museum: La Renaissance
This site from ibiblio.com explains the Renaissance, not only as a time period, but as how it changed thought, writing, and art throughout Europe. See links to Renaissance in Italy, Germany and Netherlands.
Library of Congress
Loc: Rome Reborn: Humanism
Access scans of manuscripts belonging to the Vatican Library that were instrumental to the growth and development of humanism in Renaissance Italy.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Italian Renaissance
A description of life in Florence, Italy during the Renaissance, the emergence of humanist thought, and of how the Renaissance got its start in Italy. The Lorenzo de Medici's important role as a patron of the arts in Florence is...
Other
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: European Renaissance and Reformation, 1300 1600 [Pdf]
Chapter 17 of a textbook on world history (36 pages). Includes a Renaissance timeline and map. Looks at the conditions that led to the Italian Renaissance, major artists, writers, the Northern Renaissance, the Elizabethan Age, the...
Luminarium
Luminarium: Renaissance Literature: The Life of Sir Thomas More
A great biography, focused mainly on his life and career in the courts. Also contains a great bibliography.
Other
Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne: The Italian Renaissance [Ppt]
A detailed slideshow that presents key concepts and ideas on Renaissance economics, society, politics, arts and architecture, philosophy, the Papacy, and the spread of humanism. The significant individuals in each category are also...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Renaissance Humanism
This lesson plan explores Renaissance humanism in both "Hamlet" and "The Birth of Venus." Included in the lesson plan is an overview, practice, objectives, resources, preparation, and more.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: World History: 1450 1750 Renaissance and Reformation
Links to embedded videos and other information about World History: 1450 - 1750 Renaissance and Reformation including the The Protestant Reformation, Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, Spanish and Portuguese Empires, Mughal rule in...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Correggio, Assumption of the Virgin
In the sacred architecture of the Roman and Byzantine empires, domes were viewed as symbols of heaven. Correggio merged this symbolism with the Renaissance's fascination for three-dimensional illusion. He transformed the dome of the...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Temple of Minerva and the Sculpture of Apollo (Veii)
Etruscan temple design had a huge impact on Renaissance architecture and one can see echoes of Etruscan columns in many buildings of the Renaissance and later in Italy. View pictures and read the history behind these temples in this...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Popular Culture, Making of African American Identity: V. 2
A sculpture, poster, poem, and a painting that challenge black stereotypes in the early-twentieth century. Links to these precursors to the Harlem Renaissance are provided at the top of the page.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Making of African American Identity: The Promised Land?
A short story and a painting illustrating African American perceptions of Northern cities. Rudolph Fisher's short story "The City of Refuge" and William H. Johnson's painting Moon over Harlem offer insight into life within the black...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Other Worlds the Voyage of Columbus
This site has a lesson plan designed for grades 9-12. The lesson plan deals with understanding the culture from which Columbus came, Renaissance Europe, and the culture he found in the New World.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: The Development of Writing and Books [Pdf]
In this activity, students examine early civilizations and the evolution of written language, the role of the Renaissance in developing the printing process and in distributing information, and the human desire to record information.
Luminarium
Luminarium: The History of King Richard the Third
A biography written by More on Richard the Third, this text is in Old English, which can be difficult at times to read.