Showing titles in Renaissance

What was the Reformation—and why does it still matter? As the sixteenth century dawned, Europe stood at the edge of upheaval. Beneath gilded cathedrals and unquestioned authority, voices of dissent began to rise—calling for reform, conscience, and a faith unbound by power or wealth. In Dawn of Reform, historian and storyteller Louisa M. Bauman offers a clear, engaging introduction to one of history’s most transformative eras. From early reformers like John Wycliffe and Jan Hus, to Martin Luther’s break with Rome, and the quiet courage of the Swiss Anabaptists, this pocket guide ...

Scholars suggest the Renaissance started with the first scientific study of perspective. It was introduced in a treatise named De pictura, published in 1435. The author was Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472). He was an Italian polymath.

Multiple images of rebus pictograms were being deliberately embedded in Michelangelo's art in the Sistine Chapel. Our books are picture-based so the audiobook should ONLY be an add-on. The aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive overview on several different secrets that could pertain to the beautiful, world-renowned frescoes. Michelangelo had concealed secrets of math and physics. The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel even hold their fair share of clues to the current whereabouts of the Ark of the Covenant. That premise seems impossible. But it is true. Secrets were being purposefully ...

.“Here's a marvelous treat, the wittiest historical mystery … introducing the unlikely sleuthing team of Leonardo da Vinci and a young dwarf, this novel deftly intertwines fact and fiction in a deliciously clever tale”. Review from National Advertising A black banner flies from Leonardo’s tower room, warning everyone he is dissecting the latest victim in a series of murders. In the bustling halls of the Sforza Castle in Milan amidst the looming threat of French invasion in 1498, a series of gruesome murders shatter the façade of opulence and revelry. At the heart of the intrigue ...

Listen to this audiobook now and unlock the door to Europe's magnificent past, vibrant present, and promising future!

It is generally accepted that the European Renaissance began in Italy. However, a historical transformation of similar magnitude also took place in northern Europe at the same time. This "Other Renaissance" was initially centered on the city of Bruges in Flanders (modern Belgium), but its influence was soon being felt in France, the German states, England, and even in Italy itself. Following a sequence of major figures, Paul Strathern tells the fascinating story of how this "Other Renaissance" played as significant a role as the Italian Renaissance in bringing our modern world into being.

On 29 May 1453 a city that had kept empires honest for a thousand years reached a hinge. This is not a solemn elegy or a single-action thriller; it's the granular, human story of siege life and command choices, of artillery that rewrote theory and of the small, stubborn moments—sorties at dawn, whispered bargains, a priest's stubborn ledger—that decided the day’s shape. Readable, sharp, and unsentimental, the account puts you at the battered walls and inside the narrow rooms where patience and panic ran on the same hour. JD Arden follows the fighting into the streets, then watches ...

The French Invasion of Italy in 1494: The History and Legacy of the Conflict That Started the Italian Wars chronicles the decisive campaign that forever changed the Italian peninsula at the end of the 15th century. You will learn about the First Italian War like never before.

Robert Cecil, statesman and spymaster, lived through an astonishingly threatening period in English history. Queen Elizabeth had no clear successor and enemies both external and internal threatened to destroy England as a Protestant state, most spectacularly with the Spanish Armada and the Gunpowder Plot. All His Spies is a wonderfully engaging and original work of history. Many listeners are familiar with the great events of this tumultuous time, but All His Spies shows how easily these dramas could have turned out very differently.

Hans Holbein the Younger is chiefly celebrated for his beautiful and precisely realised portraiture, which includes representations of Henry VIII, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Anne of Cleves, Jane Seymour and an array of the Tudor lords and ladies he encountered during the course of two sojourns in England. But beyond these familiar images, which have come to define our perception of the world of the Henrician court, Holbein was a protean and multi-faceted genius.

You’ve heard the names. You’ve seen the paintings. Maybe you even thought they were just Ninja Turtles. But behind the marble and oil paint were four real men—Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello—who didn’t just create art. They rewired civilization. This isn’t a sleepy art history book. It’s a front-row seat to the most creative, competitive, and gloriously petty era in human history. Rivals, patrons, popes, politics, and power—it’s all here.

Embark on an intellectual journey that takes you deep into the heart of Niccolò Machiavelli's political philosophy. This captivating book invites you to delve into the complex layers of interpretation that surround Machiavelli's ideas, unraveling the intricate tapestry of his thought on power, morality, and the complexities of political life. Unearthing the profound insights contained within Machiavelli's seminal works, particularly "The Prince," this book goes beyond surface-level analysis to explore the multifaceted meanings and implications of his writings. Drawing upon historical ...

On a raw October morning in 1517 a professor slid inked propositions into an archbishop’s hand—and the humming presses of northern Europe did the rest. What began as a procedural disputation became public argument: shorthand slogans in taverns, printed broadsides in market squares, and a moral question that threatened money, office, and conscience. The Day of the Theses follows that sliver of time when a scholar’s provocation met an information network hungry for controversy. Witty, incisive, and sharply reported, JD Arden tracks the mechanics as much as the motives—printing houses ...

Existen al menos cinco referencias históricas reales que certifican la existencia de un retrato femenino de manos de Leonardo da Vinci. Un encargo que, al parecer, nunca entregó. Sin embargo, a la hora de identificar a la modelo de la Gioconda, las palabras de Agostino Vespucci, Antonio de Beatis, Giorgio Vasari, Cassiano dal Pozzo y el Anónimo Gaddiano no coinciden.

By “assembling” some of the most fascinating figures in world history, Meeting of Minds provided a groundbreaking opportunity for audiences to be exposed to ideas by way of a medium not normally known for its intellectual vigor. Portrayed by actors, panelists engaged in discussions that were conducted like any other talk show but featured prominent influencers from bygone generations. The panelists featured in this volume are German theologian Martin Luther, French philosopher and writer Voltaire, Greek philosopher Plato, and social reformer and nurse Florence Nightingale.

Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes or filled with bean bags and children's drawings - the history of the library is rich, varied and stuffed full of incident. In this, the first major history of its kind, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen explore the contested and dramatic history of the library

Doba pobělohorská - úpadek, nebo rozkvět společnosti? Přehledně a čtivě zpracovaný přehled českých dějin v 17. a první polovině 18. století se snaží o vyvážený pohled na pobělohorskou dobu, schematicky nazývanou dobou temna. Bitva na Bílé hoře je symbolem potupné porážky, po níž následovala násilná rekatolizace, utužení moci Habsburků v českých zemích a emigrace elit.

Brought to you by Penguin. An ageing queen, an heirless state, conspiracy all round: here is the court of Elizabeth I as never known before. History has pictured Elizabeth I as Gloriana, an icon of strength and power -- and has focused on the early years of her reign. But in 1583, when Elizabeth...

A brilliant and compelling account of the apprentice years of Elizabeth I. An abused child, yet confident of her destiny to reign, a woman in a man’s world, passionately sexual yet – she said – a virgin, Elizabeth I was to be famed as England’s most successful ruler. This absorbing new...

With a narrative that grips the reader like a detective story, Antonia Fraser brings the characters and events of the Gunpowder Plot to life. Dramatically recreating the conditions and motives that surrounded the fateful night of 5 November 1605, she unravels the tangled web of religion and...