Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-156) and index.

What is a document? -- How to read a document -- Introduction : Rebirths and Reformations -- The tumultuous Late Middle Ages. The Black Death ; Reactions and explanations ; Religion and the plague ; Economic and social effects ; War and revolts -- The past and the perfect. Florence: a city of gold ; The glories and perils of poetry ; Fame and the Renaissance man ; Perfect gentlemen, perfect ladies ; A perfect prince or a perfect tyrant? -- The glory of the world. The book of nature ; Nature versus art ; Painters, poets, and nature ; The artist as poet ; Fleeting life, fleeting love ; Music to charm the soul ; Messages from the stars -- Picture essay : The individual and the family -- Merchants and master craftsmen. The commercial revolution ; Families and fortunes ; Merchants and morality ; Jews in Renaissance cities ; Clothing and capitalism ; Craft guilds -- Religious reform and renewal. Popular devotion ; The power of the pope ; Calls for reform ; Reform becomes Reformation ; The Catholic response -- Radical hopes, popular protests, and mystical visions. Church and state ; Martyrs and enemies ; The Peasants' War ; A mystic Reformer -- A new moral order. Calvin's Geneva ; Marriage and the Reformation ; Preaching and teaching ; Were the Reformers successful? -- Global connections and challenges. The wealth of the Indies and the Portuguese voyages ; The voyages of Columbus ; The impact of European voyages in American and Africa ; Thinking about the Americas in Europe -- Timeline.