Melanie Blanco 3rd B

Instituto Andes

Homework-The Spread of New Ideas

Answer the following questions about The Spread of New Ideas.

1. Why was Mores book Utopia important? How was it similar to and different
from Machiavellis The Prince?
2. What were the ideas of Erasmus and Rabelais? What methods did they use to
express their ideas?
3. Name two artists from the Northern Renaissance and explain how they
expressed the ideals of the Renaissance through their work.
4. What were the consequences of the creation of the movable metal type?
5. How did the Church react to the increase of literacy during the Renaissance?
6. Are books still banned today? If so, give an example.

Answers

1- We can say that Mores book Utopia and Machiavellis book The
Prince shows some differences and similitaries. By differences we can
say that Thomas More believes his idea of Utopia could happen if the
world consisted of kind people and that philosophy could influence
politics, but Machiavelli believes that it cannot happen because there
will always bad in everyone. "The Prince" discusses characteristics of
a fine ruler based on the corrupt traits of the people, while the second
part in "Utopia" by Thomas says that if there will come a time when
people will be civilized and generous, the idea of an Utopia could
come to life; when Machiavelli believes such a theory would never
happen because of the reality of life.

In those two books we can also find some similarities, both writers are
informed about the reality of society and understand how it works. In
Thomas More's first book, he talks about all the corrupt leaders, crimes
committed, untrustworthy and stingy people which are what make up
the country; just like that of Machiavelli's The Prince.

4- In those times books were written by hand, and therefore they were
very expensive. We can know that even large libraries had only a few
hundred books, and many people never could see a book, much less
onwned one. With the creation of the MOVABLE TYPE books could be
made rapidly into great quantities, and the cost was much less than
hand copying books. With the Movable Type printing became
important thing during those times and made remarkable changes.
Printing helped spread the Renaissance spirit, books, pamphelts, and
broadsheets could be printed and spread rapidly. In this way, new
ideas circulated very quickly though Europe, including humanist
writing. The new movement in the rest of Europe was called Northern
Renaissances. It changed as each country added some ideas of its
own.

The printing revolution brought inmerse changes. Printed books were

cheaper and easier to produce tan handcopied Works. With books
more rapidly available, more people learned t oread. Readers gained
access to broad range of knwolege, from medicine and law to
astrology and mining. Printed books exposed educated Europeans to
new ideas, greatly expanding their horizons.

So in conclusion, the consequences of the Printing Revolution thanks

to the Movable Type were:
The spread of literacy
The rise of censorship
The Churchs reaction (Question #5)
The 1559 list of prohibited books
And self-censorship