Renaissance History: Heinrich Becker

Introduction

This is the first article I’ve written that wasn’t copied and pasted from a TTI forum post. It is a continuation of my Renaissance History series, my 5th entry in the series overall.

The first article in the series is an introduction, the rest being based on Renaissance men, one article each for a Renaissance man of my invention, each man of a different nationality. The 4th Renaissance man I cover is Heinrich Becker of Germany.

Biography

Heinrich Becker was a German scholar who spread the Renaissance across the German states after visiting Italy, Spain, and France. Heinrich was born in Hamburg on September 8, 1353. He learned a great deal of knowledge from Italian ambassadors working in Hamburg of the Renaissance which had recently been imported from Italy to Spain, during a time when most Germans were not paying attention.

Heinrich headed for Italy, where he arrived in 1378, and learned even more through experience and study throughout the peninsula. He left Italy for Spain in 1381, the year after Jacques Bonneville imported the Renaissance into France, and found more diversity in the arts in Spain as well. He left Spain for France in 1383, the year after it wrapped up negotiations for peace with England.

After exploring France for a while, Heinrich returned to his native Hamburg in 1385, determined to spread the Renaissance among the German peoples. Local officials and even the Holy Roman Emperor himself were impressed with his discoveries, and soon schools were built to train artists and musicians in the new styles, following the example of countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France.

Heinrich died in Hamburg on September 18, 1431, at the age of 78.

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