OCR A-Level History A H505
Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016Unit group 1
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107Unit group 1
Y103: England 1199–1272Unit group 1
Y104: England 1377–1455Unit group 1
Y105: England 1445–1509: Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VIIUnit group 1
Y106: England 1485–1558: The Early TudorsUnit group 1
Y107: England 1547–1603: The Later TudorsUnit group 1
Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660Unit group 1
Y109: The Making of Georgian Britain 1678–c.1760Unit group 1
Y110: From Pitt to Peel 1783–1853Unit group 1
Y111: Liberals, Conservatives and the Rise of Labour 1846–1918Unit group 1
Y112: Britain 1900–1951Unit group 1
Y113: Britain 1930–1997Unit group 1
Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750Unit group 2
Y202: Charlemagne 768–814Unit group 2
Y203: The Crusades and the Crusader States 1095–1192Unit group 2
Y204: Genghis Khan and the Explosion From the Steppes c.1167–1405Unit group 2
Y205: Exploration, Encounters and Empire 1445–1570Unit group 2
Y206: Spain 1469–1556Unit group 2
Y207: The German Reformation and the Rule of Charles v 1500–1559Unit group 2
Y208: Philip II 1556–1598Unit group 2
Y209: African Kingdoms c.1400–c.1800: Four Case StudiesUnit group 2
Y210: Russia 1645–1741Unit group 2
Y211: The Rise and Decline of the Mughal Empire in India 1526–1739Unit group 2
Y212: The American Revolution 1740–1796Unit group 2
Y213: The French Revolution and the Rule of Napoleon 1774–1815Unit group 2
Y214: France 1814–1870Unit group 2
Y215: Italy and Unification 1789–1896Unit group 2
Y216: The USA in the 19th Century: Westward Expansion and Civil War 1803–c.1890Unit group 2
Y217: Japan 1853–1937Unit group 2
Y218: International Relations 1890–1941Unit group 2
Y219: Russia 1894–1941Unit group 2
Y220: Italy 1896–1943Unit group 2
Y221: Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 1919–1963Unit group 2
Y222: The Cold War in Asia 1945–1993Unit group 2
Y223: The Cold War in Europe 1941–1995Unit group 2
Y224: Apartheid and Reconciliation: South African Politics 1948–1999Unit group 2
Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800Unit group 3
Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066Unit group 3
Y303: English Government and the Church 1066–1216Unit group 3
Y304: The Church and Medieval Heresy c.1100–1437Unit group 3
Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600Unit group 3
Y306: Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y307: Tudor Foreign Policy 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y308: The Catholic Reformation 1492–1610Unit group 3
Y309: The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire 1453–1606Unit group 3
Y310: The Development of the Nation State: France 1498–1610Unit group 3
Y311: The Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558–1783Unit group 3
Y312: Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th CenturiesUnit group 3
Y313: The Ascendancy of France 1610–1715Unit group 3
Y314: The Challenge of German Nationalism 1789–1919Unit group 3
Y315: The Changing Nature of Warfare 1792–1945Unit group 3
Y316: Britain and Ireland 1791–1921Unit group 3
Y317: China and Its Rulers 1839–1989Unit group 3
Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964Unit group 3
Y319: Civil Rights in the USA 1865–1992Unit group 3
Y320: From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire 1857–1965Unit group 3
Y321: The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab SpringUnit group 3
Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600
- 14 subtopics
- 36 things to know
- Unit group 3
- Thematic study and interpretations, one unit of twenty-one
What Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600 covers
The Renaissance C.1400–c.1600 is unit Y305 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-one options in unit group 3, the thematic study and historical interpretations; a student sits one of them. Its four key topics and three depth studies are artistic and cultural development, the role of the individual, religion and religious change, the Impact of War, the Venetian Renaissance, Savonarola, the French Renaissance. 451 recall questions across 14 subtopics.
Where it is assessed
Unit group 3
Thematic study and historical interpretations, one unit of twenty-one.
Check the OCR specification ↗The 14 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Artistic and cultural development: cultural conditions in western Europe c.1400Recall questions on the cultural conditions in western Europe c.1400, the origins and causes of the Renaissance, social, political, economic and cultural factors, the development of, and changes in, artistic and literary styles and techniques, regional variations in art.Open →
- Artistic and cultural development: High Renaissance and continuity with the Middle AgesRecall questions on the High Renaissance, the role of trade, the impact of republicanism and the Italian communes, the influence of humanism, the impact of Florence, Rome and Venice on artistic and cultural development, the influence of Neo-Platonism.Open →
- The role of the individual: contributions to the RenaissanceRecall questions on the contributions to the Renaissance of individual patrons, artists and scholars.Open →
- The role of the individual: humanist writers and artists from Brunelleschi to DürerRecall questions on the contributions of Castiglione, Erasmus, More and Colet as humanist writers, and of Brunelleschi, Alberti, Donatello, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Bramante, Titian and Dürer as architects and artists.Open →
- Religion and religious change: condition of the Church, Christianity and the RenaissanceRecall questions on the condition of the Church and religious institutions, the Council of Florence, Rome and the importance of the Papacy and international links, the Renaissance Papacy and its condition and attitude to the Renaissance.Open →
- Religion and religious change: anti-clericalism and impact of the Renaissance on church musicRecall questions on anti-clericalism, clerical advocates of the new learning, the role of Papal patronage, the impact of the Renaissance on church music, including Pallestrina and Monteverdi.Open →
- The Impact of War: the condottieri and the invasion of 1494Recall questions on the condottieri and reliance on mercenaries, soldier-rulers such as Montefeltro, humanist criticism, Machiavelli’s militia, the French invasion of 1494, its effect on Florence and the damage war did to the Renaissance ideal.Open →
- The Impact of War: the Sack of Rome, new warfare and MachiavelliRecall questions on the Sack of Rome, changes in artillery and infantry, the trace italienne, artists’ military work, The Prince and its conflict with Christian morality, and war and the universal man.Open →
- Depth study: The Venetian Renaissance — condition of Venice in c.1400Recall questions on the condition of Venice in c.1400, the social, economic and political conditions that encouraged the development of the Renaissance, the impact of the Greek East and the fall of Constantinople.Open →
- Depth study: The Venetian Renaissance — artistic development in Venice and impact of war on VeniceRecall questions on artistic development in Venice, the importance of printing and education, the impact of the Doge, the myth of Venice, the church in Venice and reform, the impact of war on Venice.Open →
- Depth study: Savonarola — Savonarola as a preacher and Florence under SavonarolaRecall questions on Savonarola as a preacher, the impact of the French invasion and the fall of Piero de’ Medici, Florence under Savonarola, political change, moral reform, the Bonfire of the Vanities.Open →
- Depth study: Savonarola — fall of SavonarolaRecall questions on the fall of Savonarola.Open →
- Depth study: The French Renaissance — Reasons for the development of the RenaissanceRecall questions on reasons for the development of the Renaissance in France, Renaissance monarchy in France under Louis XII, Francis I and Henry II, the monarchs as patrons of art, literature and architecture, including Chambord and Blois.Open →
- Depth study: The French Renaissance — impact of da Vinci and impact of the Italian WarsRecall questions on the impact of da Vinci, del Sarto, Cellini, Rabelais and the impact of the Italian Wars.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Name two technical changes that transformed painting during the period.
What was distinctive about Venetian painting?
Define the High Renaissance.
Outline the political system of Venice.
Why did Venetian painters work in oil on canvas, and how did their colorito differ from Florentine disegno?
Who were the piagnoni, the arrabbiati and the compagnacci?
Was Savonarola a medieval reactionary or a genuine reformer?
Why did the Renaissance develop in France when it did?
Distinguish civic patronage from private patronage.
How did Nicholas V and Julius II make Rome the centre of the Renaissance?
What did Thomas More and John Colet contribute to English humanism?
Why did Italian states rely on mercenaries rather than citizen armies?
What was the effect of the Sack of Rome in 1527?
What changes took place in infantry warfare?
Why did the events of 1494 strengthen Savonarola's authority?
How did Charles V and Francis I spread the Renaissance beyond Italy?
Name three of Michelangelo's major works.
Give three criticisms made of the Renaissance popes.
Define simony, pluralism and absenteeism.
How did humanist scholarship threaten church authority?
Name two clerical advocates of the new learning and what they did.
Name two condottieri who became rulers and patrons.
Which economic conditions in Venice encouraged the Renaissance?
Name three later sixteenth-century figures who shaped the look of Venice.
What was the main constitutional change made under Savonarola's influence?
Name three other royal building projects of Francis I.
Name two other French writers of the period and their achievement.
Explain the effect of the fall of Constantinople in 1453 on the Renaissance.
How did artists reconcile classical subjects with Christian belief?
What happened in Italy in 1494?
Give two examples of Renaissance artists working on military projects.
What was the contribution of the Bellini family?
What was the position of the Church in Venice?
Name two reforms, apart from the Great Council, introduced in Florence during Savonarola's ascendancy.
Give three reasons for Savonarola's fall.
Take Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600 further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Linear perspective vs Neo-Platonism
Linear perspective: the geometrical method of representing depth by lines converging on a single vanishing point. Neo-Platonism: the philosophy revived in Florence which read Plato as pointing towards Christian truth.
Christian humanism vs Condottieri
Christian humanism: the application of classical scholarship to scripture and the reform of the Church. Condottieri: the mercenary captains who contracted to fight for the Italian states.
Simony vs Pluralism
Simony: the buying and selling of Church office. Pluralism: the holding of more than one benefice at the same time.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What was cultural life in western Europe like around 1400?
Model answer
It was dominated by the Church and by scholastic theology, with Gothic styles in art and architecture, Latin as the language of learning, and manuscripts copied slowly by hand in monasteries and princely courts.
- 2
Give three conditions in the Italian city states that helped cause the Renaissance.
Model answer
Wealth from long-distance trade and banking, a large and confident urban middle class, and a fragmented political map in which rival states competed for prestige.
- 3
What was linear perspective and who first demonstrated it?
Model answer
Linear perspective was a mathematical method of showing depth on a flat surface using a single vanishing point, demonstrated by Brunelleschi in Florence around 1413 and set out in writing by Alberti.
- 4
Name two technical changes that transformed painting during the period.
Model answer
The replacement of egg tempera by oil paint, which allowed deeper colour, glazing and subtle modelling, and the study of human anatomy, which produced convincingly solid and mobile figures.
- 5
How did literary style change under humanist influence?
Model answer
Writers imitated classical Latin models such as Cicero, revived the study of Greek, and developed history, biography, dialogue and the letter, while increasingly also writing in the vernacular.
- 6
What distinguished the northern Renaissance in Flanders from Italian art?
Model answer
Flemish painters such as Jan van Eyck mastered oil paint to achieve minute realistic detail and dense religious symbolism, rather than the Italian concern with classical form, perspective and the nude.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600 revision questions
- What does Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600 cover in OCR A-Level History A?
- 14 subtopics: artistic and cultural development: cultural conditions in western europe c.1400, artistic and cultural development: high renaissance and continuity with the middle ages, the role of the individual: contributions to the renaissance, the role of the individual: humanist writers and artists from brunelleschi to dürer, religion and religious change: condition of the church, christianity and the renaissance, religion and religious change: anti-clericalism and impact of the renaissance on church music, the impact of war: the condottieri and the invasion of 1494, the impact of war: the sack of rome, new warfare and machiavelli, depth study: the venetian renaissance — condition of venice in c.1400, depth study: the venetian renaissance — artistic development in venice and impact of war on venice, depth study: savonarola — savonarola as a preacher and florence under savonarola, depth study: savonarola — fall of savonarola, depth study: the french renaissance — reasons for the development of the renaissance and depth study: the french renaissance — impact of da vinci and impact of the italian wars. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600 organised?
- By the OCR H505 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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