The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare: How the Renaissance in Northern Europe Transformed the World
An original, illuminating history of the northern European Renaissance in art, science, and philosophy, which often rivaled its Italian counterpart.



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, London, and even in Italy itself. The northern Renaissance, like the southern Renaissance, largely took place during the period between the end of the Medieval age (circa mid-fourteenth century) and the advent of the Age of Enlightenment (circa end of seventeenth century).



Following a sequence of major figures, including Copernicus, Gutenberg, Luther, Catherine de' Medici, Rabelais, van Eyck, and Shakespeare, 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.
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The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare: How the Renaissance in Northern Europe Transformed the World
An original, illuminating history of the northern European Renaissance in art, science, and philosophy, which often rivaled its Italian counterpart.



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, London, and even in Italy itself. The northern Renaissance, like the southern Renaissance, largely took place during the period between the end of the Medieval age (circa mid-fourteenth century) and the advent of the Age of Enlightenment (circa end of seventeenth century).



Following a sequence of major figures, including Copernicus, Gutenberg, Luther, Catherine de' Medici, Rabelais, van Eyck, and Shakespeare, 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.
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The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare: How the Renaissance in Northern Europe Transformed the World

The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare: How the Renaissance in Northern Europe Transformed the World

by Paul Strathern

Narrated by Roger May

Unabridged — 14 hours, 58 minutes

The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare: How the Renaissance in Northern Europe Transformed the World

The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare: How the Renaissance in Northern Europe Transformed the World

by Paul Strathern

Narrated by Roger May

Unabridged — 14 hours, 58 minutes

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Overview

An original, illuminating history of the northern European Renaissance in art, science, and philosophy, which often rivaled its Italian counterpart.



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, London, and even in Italy itself. The northern Renaissance, like the southern Renaissance, largely took place during the period between the end of the Medieval age (circa mid-fourteenth century) and the advent of the Age of Enlightenment (circa end of seventeenth century).



Following a sequence of major figures, including Copernicus, Gutenberg, Luther, Catherine de' Medici, Rabelais, van Eyck, and Shakespeare, 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.

Editorial Reviews

The New Criterion

"Following the great minds of the [Renaissance] period in insightful biographical chapters, Strathern’s book sets the record straight on this second revival."

Kirkus Reviews

"Strathern believes that historians of the Renaissance have focused on Southern Europe to the detriment of the many technical, artistic, and intellectual advances that occurred north of the Alps. To rebalance this history, he describes the contributions of those who lived outside the Mediterranean world. The lives portrayed are deeply fascinating...A docent-style stroll through the pantheon of Renaissance thinkers of Northern Europe."

The Sunday Times (London)

An excellent history. An entertaining tale of the rise and fall of an ambitious banking family.

Publishers Weekly

"In this accessible look behind the curtain, Strathern lays out the history of the infamous Italian clan. Strathern makes a tangled and thorny history readable."

Kirkus Reviews (starred)

The prolific author continues to do what he does best—bring history to wondrous life—with this thorough history of the Medici family. A fantastically comprehensive history covering the breadth of the great learning, art, politics, and religion of the period.

The Times (London)

"Strathern's entertaining cast of often garrulous northerners, their origins ranging from Paris to rainy London, discovered things that made us what we are today. He describes their contributions in clear-sighted and effective prose, making complex ideas instantly intelligible. Full of pleasing anecdotes, and myths are duly dispatched along the way."

From the Publisher

Praise for Paul Strathern’s The Medici and The Borgias:

The Wall Street Journal

"An enlightening and fascinating study. Mr. Strathern’s canvas is immense, yet the picture he paints is never less than pellucid, and packed with lively detail and fascinating facts."

Financial Times

"From art and astronomy to medicine and exploration, The Other Renaissance covers a lot of ground, and the author's biographical style is invariably engaging. Lively and wide-ranging."

The New York Times Book Review

Highlights [the family’s] literary accomplishments in detail, as well as the story of how the Medici became the Renaissance’s most influential family.

Financial Times

"From art and astronomy to medicine and exploration, The Other Renaissance covers a lot of ground, and the author's biographical style is invariably engaging. Lively and wide-ranging."

The Economist

"Rich in telling details. The Borgias’ ambition was boundless; their legacy proved to be enormous. Not without reason did Machiavelli make Cesare the hero of The Prince."

Booklist

"Strathern continues his investigation into powerful Italian clans, following The Medici with this equally engaging and informative history of a notorious family. A magnet for all who are intrigued by this infamous clan and everyone versed in European history who is looking for a new perspective, this is an outstanding account."

The Sunday Telegraph (London)

Strathern has done his research thoroughly, and tells a good story well.

Booklist

"Strathern continues his investigation into powerful Italian clans, following The Medici with this equally engaging and informative history of a notorious family. A magnet for all who are intrigued by this infamous clan and everyone versed in European history who is looking for a new perspective, this is an outstanding account."

Kirkus Reviews

2023-02-08
Biographical sketches of the men and women who launched the Renaissance in Northern Europe.

First established in Italy in the early 15th century, the Renaissance later took root in Germany, Belgium, France, and England, “gradually overturning many long-held medieval certainties.” Indeed, it “was a time of increasing change, extending into all spheres of life.” Strathern, award-winning novelist and author of The Florentines, The Borgias, The Medici, and other titles, believes that historians of the Renaissance have focused on Southern Europe to the detriment of the many technical, artistic, and intellectual advances that occurred north of the Alps. To rebalance this history, he describes the contributions of those who lived outside the Mediterranean world. Three themes anchor Strathern’s counterstory: the invention of the movable type printing press, which enabled a wide dissemination of knowledge; the emergence of Protestantism as a challenge to the Roman Catholic Church and driver of humanism; and the shift from geocentric to heliocentric astronomy, which “would dislodge humanity from its central place in the universe, an event which would provoke a subtle but profound psychological effect on the human psyche.” Gutenberg enabled Rabelais and Shakespeare; Martin Luther and Henry VIII broke from the papacy; and Copernicus, Mercator, and Kepler forever changed our understanding of the planet and facilitated the discovery of America, “very much an independent achievement of the Other Renaissance.” Strathern also examines the contributions of humanists such as Montaigne and Nicholas of Cusa; artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Jan van Eyck; and the political rulers Catherine de’ Medici and Cardinal Richelieu, “the father of modern statecraft.” Although influenced by discoveries and ideas germinated in Southern Europe, the Other Renaissance “would transform European culture in its own unique fashion.” That the lives portrayed are so deeply fascinating is the great appeal of the book.

A docent-style stroll through the pantheon of Renaissance thinkers of Northern Europe.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940191002088
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication date: 10/29/2024
Edition description: Unabridged
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