Renaissance and Reformation: Visual resources

A teaching company video presenting college level lectgures on the history of Northern European art from the 15th through the 16th centuries.

Provides a panorama of 2000 years of architecture, painting and sculpture. Studies the art masterpieces as reflections of the Western culture that produced them.

Art historian Sir Kenneth Clark presents an epic examination of Western European culture, defining what he considers to be the crucial phases of its development. This lavish series was hailed as a masterpiece when it was broadcast in 1969.

One of the most important rulers in history, Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time when England was under threat of annexation from abroad and collapse from within. When she died after a reign of 45 years, she left behind a nation protected by the greatest navy on earth and in the midst of a cultural explosion she made possible. This series explores the life and rule of the woman who gave her name to an era. A blend of dramatic re-creations and commentary brings alive the courtly intrigues and epic conflicts that shaped her reign, opens a window into the Queen's private struggles and convictions, and examines her monumental legacy.

Dramatization of the life of Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII by Anne Boleyn. As a young woman, Elizabeth is faced with imprisonment and worse, but she prevails over vicious court intrigues and secures her claim to the throne. As Queen, she faces the continuing threat from Mary, Queen of Scots, an impending royal wedding that would unite England and France, and a palace insurrection involving a former court favorite.

Ivan the Terrible dragged his nation out of the Dark Ages, instituting sweeping internal reforms and expanding its borders in a series of campaigns. But he made his people pay in blood. One of the most fascinating rulers in history, he was the first Russian Czar, and virtually invented the Russian State that would survive until the Communist Revolution nearly 400 years later. Yet he is better remembered for his ruthlessness and wanton brutality, which became more and more prevalent during his long rule. Russian scholars detail his many accomplishments - he presided over one of the greatest periods of internal reform, external expansion, and centralization of state power in the history of Russia.

He is widely regarded as the greatest artist who ever lived. Yet this remarkable genius was equally skilled as an architect, engineer and scientist. Leonardo da Vinci's masterpieces are among the most famous and treasured works ever created. His revolutionary techniques transformed art, but he never achieved the fame enjoyed by his younger rival Michelangelo. Explore Leonardo's life from his Tuscan boyhood to his death in France. Extensive use of da Vinci's journals, notes and sketches provide valuable insight into the mind of a genius who anticipated many of the advances of modern science.

This course explores Luther's theology, the circumstances surrounding his conclusion that the papacy was "antichrist," and major issues and events in the Reformation as it unfolded in Luther's life after he posted his famous 95 theses on the door of the church of Wittenberg, Germany in 1517.

A tale of one family's ambition and of Europe's struggle to emerge from the ravages of the Dark Ages. The Medici used charm, skill and ruthlessness to garner unparalleled wealth and power, ruling Europe for more than 300 years.

He is one of the greatest artists of all time, a man whose name has become synonymous with the word masterpiece: Michelangelo Buonarotti. Creator of unparalleled works of art painted on canvas and plaster, carved in marble and built from stone, Michelangelo created a legacy of art treasured by the world: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the heroic marble sculpture of David, and the central plan for Saint Peter's Cathedral in Rome. Was he the tortured and lonely man who suffered agonies in pursuit of his art, as he is often portrayed?

A teaching company video feature college level lectures on the history of the Papacy.

This is a telecourse on western civilization built around the classroom lectures of Eugen Weber, author, historian, and professor at UCLA. The following parts cover the Middle Ages: 15. The Byzantine Empire -- 16. The fall of Byzantium -- 17. The dark ages -- 18. The age of Charlemagne -- 19. The middle ages -- 20. The feudal order -- 21. Common life--Middle Ages -- 22. Cities and cathedrals--Middle Ages -- 23. The late Middle Ages -- 24. The national monarchies