Authors, Inventors and Women, oh my!

Although the Renaissance had a plethora of important people, four emerged in the social sphere. The first two were authors. Each one wrote to guide wealthy young men in the world.

Castiglione’s Courtier focused on the social aspects of society. He wrote that young men needed to be trained both physically and spiritually with a background in a broad range of subjects. But no pressure.

Machiavelli wrote The Prince in order to guide men in the political world. Instead of writing about an idealized government, Machiavelli writes on reality and offers practical advice.

The next influential person was Gutenberg, arguable the most important person in the century. He invented the movable type printing press, which allowed people to easily print any word they could imagine. This method of printing allowed the flow of information leading to the stimulation of literacy in the public. 

The mechanical clock also emerged in Europe at this time. This invention was more important to city people than those in the country. It allowed them to schedule their work hours and control how they spent their time. 

The final person was a woman named Laura Cereta. Cereta was educated with her own literary career by 15. However, she lived with the stigma of being smart in a time when women were supposed to only care about the domestic side of life. Cereta believed that women brought their own inferiority upon themselves. She believed that women had the capability to succeed but keep themselves down. Instead of focusing on parties, women should work to better themselves.

Although intellectually the Renaissance was monumental, social matters played a part in the eventual path of history. Without these four influential people, society might have been a different place.