*Italian poet Franseco Petrarch: first person to use the word renaissance to describe the time in which he lived. He was also the first humanist
*Giovanni Boccaccio: one of the first writers to use vernacular. He is also best known for the Decameron, a collection of stories that shows his lively interest in men and women as unique individuals.
*In the 1300s, the Italian painter Giotto developed a new style of painting that emphasized natural looking forms instead of flat, stylized figures.
*The paintings and sculptures of Michelangelo demonstrated a fascination with the shape, substance, and power of the human body.
*Niccolo Maciavelli: wrote the prince, which emphasized the philosophy of pragmatism: the idea that the ends justify the means.
*Johann Getenberg: produced Europes first printed book, the bible.
*John whycliffe: Translated the bible into English: ppl had a direct relationship with god.
*Desiderius Erasmus: dutch priest and scholar, exerted an enormous interllectual influence, sharp critic of the church
*Sir Thamas More of England paved the way for the radical reforms of Martin Luther and John Calvin.
*Miguel De Cervantes: wrote the first novel: Don Quixote
*Neoclassicism: imitation of classical greek and roman forms
*Pierre de Ronsard is famous for the French poems he modeled after classical poets, as well as for his sonnets.