In this full analysis of Machiavelli’s literary masterpiece, The Prince, and through the use of various other primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Machiavelli’s theories behind power and government, his ideas on how a ruler should deal with religion and the Church, and finally what he believed should be the relationship between a ruler and his or her subjects.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Leonardo’s place in Renaissance Florentine society, his major scientific and artistic works, and how da Vinci’s thirst for knowledge and his genius combined to produce the ultimate “Renaissance Man”.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Giotto’s role in revolutionizing artistic techniques in the late medieval period, how he used linear perspective to add a three-dimensional quality to his two-dimensional paintings and frescoes, and why he was so important to the Renaissance artists that would follow him over a century later.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Donatello’s place in early Renaissance Florentine society, both in terms of the importance of his own artistic creations, especially his statue of David, and his link to and possible influence on artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo who came to prominence in subsequent generations.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain why building the dome on Florence’s Duomo presented such a daunting task and Filippo Brunelleschi’s mathematical and engineering solutions to the problems. In an alternate and separate in-class activity, students will also try to replicate Brunelleschi’s dome using man-made materials (sugar cubes and play-doh) to understand the challenges of such an undertaking.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Botticelli’s place in early Renaissance Florentine society, how and why he created his masterpiece The Birth of Venus, and why the painting personified such a radical shift in subject and techniques that in many ways helped usher in a new age of humanistic thinking.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how a merchant became a Venetian Doge, what powers the Doge exercised in the performance of his duties and how the citizens of the Venetian Republic retained a measure of control over their elected officials.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story behind the Fourth Crusade, what role the Venetians played in the campaign, and how the Fourth Crusade led to the dominance of Venice in Medieval European affairs and ultimately to the fall of Byzantium.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story behind the construction and style used in designing, building and decorating St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, how and why the saint’s bones are in Venice in the first place when he died in Alexandria, and how the church became a symbol of Venetian wealth and power by the early Renaissance.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, including selections from the Travels of Marco Polo, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of Marco Polo’s adventures in Asia, how he described what he saw during his visit to China, and how Polo’s book inspired later generations of dreamers, merchants and monarchs across Europe in their push to explore the world looking for his riches.

In part 2 of this full analysis of Dante’s Divine Comedy, through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the images and stories of characters found in the second part of Dante’s masterpiece: Purgatorio, including what the different levels represent in terms of sin, why Dante might have chosen the different characters for each level and what overall message medieval Europeans were supposed to get out of reading the piece.

In part 3 of this full analysis of Dante’s Divine Comedy, through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the images and stories of characters found in the third part of Dante’s masterpiece: Paradiso, including what the different levels represent, why Dante might have chosen the different characters for each level and what overall message medieval Europeans were supposed to get out of reading the piece.

In part 1 of this full analysis of Dante’s Divine Comedy, through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the images and stories of characters found in the first part of Dante’s masterpiece: Inferno, including what the different levels represent in terms of sin, why Dante might have chosen the different characters for each level and what overall message medieval Europeans were supposed to get out of reading the piece.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how the Black Death swept across Europe in the late 1340s, what impact the plague had on how Europeans saw the Church and religion, and what modern scientific theories say about the calamity.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the major points of the fascist doctrine as defined by its Duce, Benito Mussolini, how the Duce came to power in Italy and how fascism inspired German National Socialism (yet was very different in its aims).

Through an examination of both primary and secondary sources on the subject, including various types of visual media in addition to electronic and written sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the major points of the “Pact of Steel” between Germany and Italy in 1939, how the once rocky relationship between Fascist Italy and NAZI Germany developed between 1935 and 1939, and how the signing of the agreement was one of the major steps that led to the opening of the Second World War.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the details behind the story of Romulus and Remus. The mythical/historical narrative behind the founding of the Eternal City, and how the myth of Romulus and Remus is central to understanding how Romans saw (and still see) their sense of identity, and why these stories are important to the development of western civilization.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the details behind the Rape of the Sabine Women and how the myth became part of the Roman identity and sense of self.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of St. Brendan and the legends surrounding the Irish saint. Students will then take a position as to whether they believe Brendan deserves credit for being the first European to discover America, some 1000 years before Christopher Columbus and 500 years before Leif Erikson.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the role played by leading figures in the rebellion, including Wolfe Tome and the United Irishmen, the reasons the French got involved in the 1798 rebellion and the subsequent consequences for the French government as a result of that involvement, and finally the legacy of the Rebellion for the Irish today.