Significant Figures during the Renaissance

1. Niccolo Machiavelli

1.1. wrote The Prince which described how rules can obtain power and maintain that power

1.2. wrote that people are only looking out for themselves

1.3. their is a godly social order is possible even though there is still evil in the people

2. Sir Thomas More

2.1. wrote Utopia

2.2. believed human nature was a good thing

2.3. society is to blame for societal problems

3. Desiderius Erasmus

3.1. education was a tool for reformation

3.2. christians should read the Bible

3.3. defined the humanist movement

4. King Charles VII

4.1. repaired France after 100 years of warfare

4.2. created first permanent royal army

4.3. in 1438 he created Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges which limited papal control on France

5. Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon

5.1. the Reconquista that expelled Muslims

5.2. the Inquisition that expelled Jews and converts to Christianity

5.3. financed Christopher Columbus' expedition