Exploration and Knowledge Questions

1. Page 88 in the Worldviews: Contact and Change textbook states, “Merchants and bankers as well as humanists came to believe that strong leadership was the solution.”Why did they value leadership in society so strongly?

2.Why was Isabella D’Este known as the “first lady of the world?”

3. Read the excerpt by Isabella D’Este on page 88 of the text.How does this quotation prove that D’Este was concerned about the common good?

4. Because Machiavelli introduced new conclusions about government, civil service, leadership, and power, many call him the world’s first (two words).

5. Machiavelli coined the famous phrase, “the end justifies the means.”This means that if a person gets what he wants in the end, it does not matter how he went about getting it.For example, Christine knew she had cheated, but she was pleased that she achieved the top mark on the Renaissance exam, so she thought it didn’t matter how she got it. Imagine yourself first as a Machiavellian supporter and then as a Machiavellian critic.Complete the chart below by using Machiavelli’s ideas to provide two points that defend an action from an example of your own and two points that criticize an action from an example of your own.An example has been given to help you get started.

Machiavelli: Christine’s actions were Right / Machiavelli: Christine’s actions were Wrong
Example: Christine achieved the outcome she wanted.Does it matter how she came to achieve the highest mark? / Example: Christine achieved the outcome she wanted.What’s wrong with that?
Point #1
Point #2

6. Compare and contrast Isabella D’Este’s and Niccolo Machiavelli’s ideas about leadership in society.Complete the chart below by providing three similarities and three differences between their opinions.An example has been given to help you get started.

Similarities between Isabella D’Este and Niccolo Machiavelli / Differences between Isabella D’Este and Niccolo Machiavelli
Example:Both Este and Machiavelli had their own set of political views that they strongly believed in. / Example: D’Este’s ideas were considered more positive than Machiavelli’s ideas, which are still controversial today.
Similarity #1 / Difference #1
Similarity #2 / Difference #2
Similarity #3 / Difference #3

7.Machiavelli once wrote that, “a leader must be like a lion and a fox.”What do you think he meant and why did he refer to these two animals in particular?

8. Why was Girolamo Savonarola so controversial? What happened to him?

9. What were Savonarola's criticisms of the church? Why do you think some church officials wanted to silence Savonarola?

10. What are indulgences?

11. Compare (similarities) and contrast (differences) between the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

Protestant Reformation / Catholic Counter-Reformation

11.How did the printing press help to spread the western worldview?

12. How has the internet changed our worldview?

13. The Renaissance was an exciting – and sometimes dangerous – time to live. People were willing to go to prison and even die for the sake of ideas they considered important. It was a time when powerful new ideas and knowledge challenged the traditional world order. Using a graphic organizer like the one below (or something you come up with on your own), list changes the exchange of ideas in science, leadership, religion and the arts.

14. Why were monarchs willing to finance the risky expeditions of the explorers at this time?