1450- 1485 - The War of the Roses was a civil war that broke out between English ducal houses. The house of Lancaster, whose symbol was a red rose, and the house of York, adopting the white rose. In the 1450's many aristocratic families were pitted against one another. Later, in …

1450

Gutenberg is the famous inventor of movable type machines. Around 1455 Gutenberg produced a practical and inexpensive copy of the Bible. In the next century the technology exploded across Europe, from 1 to 100, to 1000 printers across Europe. In the sixteenth century, Gutenberg's movable type apparatus, also coined …

1469- 1527 - Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian politician who's ideas have come to embody an ideal of political power. Machiavelli served as a secretary to the Florentine Council of Ten, and as a diplomat. When the Medici regained control of Florence in 1512, Machiavelli was forced into exile where his …

1304- 1374 - Petrarch was a Florentine, though he primarily lived outside of Florence. Petrarch is attributed in the revival of the classics, and the foundation of Italian Renaissance humanism. He is considered one of the greatest lyric poets of the time, and many of his sonnets are inspired by his …

1265- 1321 - Dante was a Florentine noble who was exiled from his political office. Dante is well known for his work the Divine Comedy which he wrote between 1313- 1321, while in exile. Dante's work depicts the progression of a soul through the process of salvation.

1377- After determining that a decline in papal authority was due, at least in part, to an Avignon Papacy , Pope Gregory XI returned the seat of papal power to Rome. Unfortunately, in 1378 Gregory died, resulting in a new struggle for papal power. Many Roman cardinals feared that the powerful …