2. Dante Alighieri
Description:
• Dante Alighieri was born in Italy in 1265 and died
in 1321. He was a poet, prose writer, literary
theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker.
He is best known for his poem “Inferno”.
Significants:
• He wrote the poem Inferno and gave people a idea
of what hell and heaven is like.
• People started to pay money to the pope to stop
them from going to hell after their death.
• His description of hell and heaven became power
used by the Catholic Church to have more
economical, moral and political power. People
developed a sense of fear about hell.
3. Johannes Gutenberg’s Printing Press
Description:
• Johannes Gutenberg was born in Germany in 1398
and died in 1468. He was a Jewish blacksmith,
goldsmith, printer and a publisher. He is best
known for his creation , the printing press.
Significants :
• He made the printing press in 1440.
• With his printing press people didn’t have to
publish books with hand. Which made more
copies of the book and poor people could even get
it.
• Priests use to write the bible by hand but writing
but with the printing press many copies of the
bible were made and many people could obtain it.
4. Christopher Columbus
Description:
• Christopher Columbus was born in Italy in
1451 and died in 1506. He was a discoverer.
Significant:
• He discovered America and brought back
corn, potatoes, tobacco leaves , pumpkin,
strawberry, tomatoes, papaya and chilly.
• Because of him other countries followed
him and started to explore the world. It was
the age of discovery.
5. Leonardo Da Vinci
Description:
• Leonardo Da Vinci was born in Italy in 1452 and
died in 1519. He was a painter,
sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathemati
cian, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cart
ographer, botanist and writer. He was a genius and
his most famous creation was the tank and Mona
Lisa.
Significants:
• He designed machines that no one could imagine
in his time. The material in that time couldn’t
make the things he designed.
• His tank that he designed changed the way of
fighting in war.
6. Galileo Galilei
Description:
• Galileo Galilei was born in Italy in 1564
and died in 1564. He was
a physicist, mathematician, astronome
r, and philosopher who played a major
role in the Scientific Revolution.
Significants:
• Galileo found out that the earth orbits
the sun with his telescope.
• His telescope and the lows of motion
changed the way people viewed the
universe.
7. Niccolò Machiavelli
Description:
• Niccolò Machiavelli was born in Italy 1469 and
died in 1527. He was historian,
philosopher, humanist, and writer based in
Florence during the Renaissance. He is
remembered as the write of “The Prince”.
Significant:
• He wrote the book “The Prince” and tried to give
out ideas how to be a good leader.
• His book inspired people in a bad way. People
used his book for evil in his time. Adolf Hitler
was one of the people who read the book and
became a leader.
8. Martin Luther
Description:
• Martin Luther was born in Germany in 1483
and died 1519. He was a monk and believed
in the Catholic way more than anyone else.
But he had questions to the church so he
nailed the “(95 theses) on the church door.
Significants:
• He initiated the Protestant Reformation.
He also wrote the “95 theses” and nailed it
on the church door in Wittenberg.
• He influenced the shape of Protestant
Christianity more than any other person.
9. Francis Xavier
Description:
• Francis Xavier was born in Spain in
1506 and died in 1546. He was a monk
that spread Catholic to the India,
Japan, Borneo and other places.
Significants:
• He and other monks came to Japan to
spread Catholic to Japan.
• He came to Japan to spread religion
causing other countries to come to
Japan. Because of this Europeans and
Japanese started to trade.
10. Oda Nobunaga
Description:
• Oda Nobunga was born in Japan in 1534 and died in
1582. He was the first samurai to rule Japan.
Significant:
• He let Francis Xavier spread Catholic in Japan. Also
Samurai used to fight only with swords but Oda
Nobunaga saw the Europeans holding a matchlock.
He made copies and made soldiers use it.
• Catholic was spread all around Japan and
approximately 30 thousand people believed in
Catholic in the 1600s. With the matchlock we have
learned new tactics to win in wars.
11. Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Description:
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi was born in Japan in 1547
and died in 1598. He was the second person to
rule Japan.
Significant:
• He conducted surveys of farmland to better a
certain how much rice should be collected in
taxes. He also banned the positions of
weapons by farmers. Carrying out raids with
the aim of confiscating swords.
• He clearly divided social status of samurai
and farmers, by their jobs. Which led to social
system of modern society. This system made
society more stable.
