The Renaissance is exhilaratingly replete with astoundingly talented artists and breathtaking works of art. These include Giotto, who is today regarded as the father of Renaissance painting, and the sculptor Donatello, both of whom found ample inspiration in the many intricacies of nature. The painter Raphael is perhaps best known for his fresco “The School of Athens,” which depicts a bustling scene in ancient Greece, full of famous scholars, orators, and philosophers whom the humanists of the Renaissance (himself included) idolized. Michelangelo was an artist of exceptional talent – he excelled at both painting and sculpting and is equally famous for his massive, classically-heroic statue of the biblical hero David and his awe-inspiring frescoes that adorn the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. But out of all these prodigies, one stands apart as the best exemplar of the ideals of the so-called “Renaissance man”: Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was an extremely versatile talent, with the wide array of skills and accomplishments and the prodigious intellect that make up the notion of the truly universally accomplished man of the Renaissance era. Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is perhaps the best known painting in the entire world and his many codices of artworks, architectural ideas, and technological designs are a staggering array of visionary scientific talent. Da Vinci was also a devoted student of human anatomy, conducting numerous autopsies in secret so as to better understand the intricacies of the human form (as his Vitruvian man clearly shows). His mighty intellect made him a valuable mathematical and scientific consultant to several Italian princes and even King Frances I of France.

As an absolute monarch, King Louis XIV of France understood that he needed to establish and maintain total control over his nation and his people. The French lower classes had been downtrodden, disenfranchised, and overlooked for centuries and so the King did not see any reason to fear these citizens. In fact, as the “Fronde” revolts had demonstrated, it was the aristocratic class which posed the greatest threat to Louis’s reign. The King correctly recognized that if he wanted to be able to rule France however he pleased, he would first need to make sure that the nobles wouldn’t have the chance or desire to interfere. Consequently, Louis decided to order the construction of an impossibly expensive and mind-bendingly ornate royal residence – the Palace of Versailles – to serve as a physical symbol and reminder of his immense wealth and power. Louis required all members of the noble class to either live permanently or regularly visit Versailles, with mandatory rent payments attached. This policy ensured that Louis would have a steady stream of extra income, while also weakening the economic power of the nobles themselves. By forcing the nobility to live under his roof, Louis was able to enforce his own rules; nobles had to follow the King’s schedule and personally seek to cultivate his favor, all while making sure to avoid any hint of dissent or anger (which would of course not go unnoticed within the King’s own residence). The immense size and grand furnishings of Versailles also sent a strong message to any aristocrats who might have wanted to challenge the King – after all, any ruler who could afford the construction and upkeep of a gold-encrusted, jewel-embedded, glittering mansion could definitely afford to put down any conflict or get rid of any contender. The Palace of Versailles was a blatant physical symbol of the immense political power that Louis wielded. Louis XIV, who’s grand Palace earned him the nickname “the Sun King”, was France’s absolute ruler and the nobles all knew it.

With the establishment of the Muslim Mughal Empire, Buddhism waned as the religion of the Indian subcontinent; although it remained in small communities in India, and very important in places as diverse as Nepal (north of India) and Sri Lanka (south of India.)

With the establishment of the Mughal Empire over much of India in the 16th century, politics became much less insular; in fact this placed India on the world stage much more than previous generations in which India was oftentimes a collection of small kingdoms feuding amongst themselves.

China has never been dominated by its Tibetan community.

China had strong historical ties with Tibet, but did not dominate it politically until the 20th century.

While communities in Tibet have always had members who spoke various Chinese languages fluently, Chinese was a language of international trade and politics, never the language of the home (except by the Chinese diaspora community living in Tibet.)

All of these enlightenment thinkers are collectively paired with their seminal text except Diderot. Diderot is most famous for his contributions to Encyclopedie, which was a lengthy text designed to make the revelations of the enlightenment available to a wider audience. Candide is the most famous work of the philosopher and social critic Voltaire. Candide is a satirical attack on many of the institutions of Voltaire’s day, including the Catholic Church and most European governments.

Michelanglo, who was given patron by Pope Julius II, was contracted to paint the now famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512. 

All of these rulers were Machiavelli's contemporaries, but Lorenzo de' Medici is the only one who is specifically mentioned in book's dedication. However, Francesco Sforza is referenced several times throughout the piece.

While Medieval art was always religious in nature, Renaissance art was not, because it was commissioned by both religious and secular patrons. As a result, Renaissance art could be found in both religious and secular spaces, not just churches or monasteries. Renaissance art also used new artistic techniques such as perspective, making it far more lifelike than anything produced in the Middle Ages.

Renaissance Florence was home to the Medici family, who ruled the city and financed many of its most famous artists. While many wealthy Italian families were patrons of the arts in this period, the artists associated with the Medici included visionaries such as Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Donatello.

The printing press, invented in the mid-fifteenth century, greatly increased literacy rates and drastically changed the social makeup of Europe. Before the new invention, books were mainly produced in Latin by the Church. Therefore, the printing press did help the Protestant Reformation, but it also helped to educate a growing middle class of laymen. The fact that books were read for pleasure only heightened the demand for them, and although high-class intellectuals were also taking advantage of printing, it was the common man's desire to read that contributed most to the rise in literacy rates.

The Mughal Empire was originally founded in 1536 by Babur, a distant descendent of the notorious Genghis Khan. Over time, the Empire grew into one of history’s largest kingdoms, eventually assuming control over nearly the entire Indian subcontinent. Although the Empire had many illustrious rulers, Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor, is most often lauded for ushering in his people’s golden age. An avid student of architecture, Islamic teachings, and military leadership, Shah Jahan sponsored numerous construction projects throughout his Empire. Among his many inspired creations are the Gardens of Lahore, the Red Fort, and, of course, the breath-taking Taj Mahal (originally built as a magnificent memorial to his favorite wife, the Empress Mumtaz Mahal).