Shull School RENAISSANCE

As ancient civilizations sprang up across the planet thousands of years ago, so too the Inca civilization evolved. As with all ancient civilizations, its exact origins are unknown. Their historic record, as with all other tribes evolving on the planet at that time, would be recorded through oral tradition, stone, pottery, gold and silver jewelry, and woven in the tapestry of the people.

The Inca Empire was quite short-lived. It lasted just shy of 100 years, from ca.1438 AD, when the Inca ruler Pachacuti and his army began conquering lands surrounding the Inca heartland of Cuzco, until the coming of the Spaniards in 1532.

In 1438 the Inca set out from their base in Cuzco on a career of conquest that, during the next 50 years, brought under their control the area of present-day Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador. Within this area, the Inca established a totalitarian state that enabled the tribal ruler and a small minority of nobles to dominate the population.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473 in a house on St. Anne's Street (now Copernicus Street) in the city of TorunTorun Torun is a city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River, with population over 207,190 as of 2006, making it the second largest city of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, after Bydgoszcz.... (Thorn). Torun, situated on the Vistula River, was part of Royal PrussiaRoyal Prussia Royal Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Poland from 1466 and then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1772. Royal Prussia included Pomerelia, Chelmno Land, Malbork Voivodeship, Gdansk, Torun, and Elblag.... , a region of the Kingdom of PolandKingdom of Poland (1385-1569) The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Poland state created by the accession of Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386.... .

In 1491 Copernicus enrolled at the Kraków AcademyJagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University is located in Krak?w, Poland. Originally founded as Akademia Krakowska in 1364 by Casimir III of Poland, it is the second oldest university in Central Europe after the Charles University in Prague, and one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation.... (now Jagiellonian University), where he probably first encountered astronomy with Professor Albert BrudzewskiAlbert Brudzewski Albert Brudzewski, also Albert Blar , Albert of Brudzewo or Wojciech Brudzewski was a Poland astronomy, mathematics, philosopher and diplomat.... . Astronomy soon fascinated him, and he began collecting a large library on the subject. Copernicus' library would later be carried off as war booty by the Swedes during "the Deluge"The Deluge (Polish history) In the history of Poland and History of Lithuania, the Deluge commonly refers to a series of wars in the mid-to-late 17th century which left the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in ruins.... and is now at the Uppsala University LibraryUppsala University Library Uppsala University Library in Sweden consists of 19 different branch libraries, with the largest being that housed in the old main library building, Carolina Rediviva.... .

In 1499 Pinzón sailed to the South American coast. Carried by a strong storm, he reached the north coast of what today is Brazil on January 26, 1500. Pinzón disembarked on the shore called Praia do Paraíso, in present-day Cabo de Santo Agostinho of the state of Pernambuco.

In 1505, Pinzón was named commander-in-chief and 'corregidor' of the city of Puerto Rico, now called San Juan

On November 19, 1999, a monument to his memory was dedicated in Palos de la Frontera, Spain, on the occasion of the fifth centenary of the discovery of Brazil and of the brotherhood with the city Cabo de Santo Agostinho.

In 1509, Íñigo took up arms for Antonio Manrique de Lara, Duke of Nájera and Viceroy of Navarre. According to Thomas Rochford, S.J., his diplomacy and leadership qualities made him a gentilhombre[9] very useful to the Duke.

During the time he was recovering, Ignatius read a number of religious texts on the life of Jesus called the Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony [12][13]and the saints and became fired with an ambition to lead a life of self-denying labor and emulate the heroic deeds of Francis of Assisi and other great monastic leaders.

Ignatius of Loyola was the main creator and initial Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious organization of the Catholic Church whose members, known as Jesuits, served the Pope as missionaries. He is remembered as a talented spiritual director.

The city of Granada is placed at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, Beiro, Darro and Genil, at an elevation of 738 metres above sea level yet only one hour from the Mediterrean coast, the Costa Tropical.

The Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace, is in Granada. It is one of the most famous items of the Islamic historical legacy that makes Granada a hot spot among cultural and tourist cities in Spain.

In 1228, with the departure of the Almohad prince, Idris, who left Iberia to take the Almohad leadership, the ambitious Ibn al-Ahmar established the longest lasting Muslim dynasty on the Iberian peninsula - the Nasrids.