In Blackadder: Back & Forth, Baldrick assembles a wooden-parts time machine from a design of Leonardo da Vinci and the thing actually works. Could be potential there, but I haven’t seen much of it elsewhere. Before Atompunk, before Deiselpunk, before Steampunk, before Clockpunk – Woodpunk!
TVTropes has a page on Bamboo Technology, but it’s not quite the same thing.
‘Clockpunk’ is Renaissance steampunk.
No, Clockpunk is Englightenment Steampunk. Clockwork was much cruder in the Renaissance.
Before woodpunk – stonepunk!
Since I think I’m going to go beyond the edit window composing this, it’s a second post, not continuing my edit.
TV Tropes has a whole list of ‘punk-punk’ genres.
Since you actually want pre-Renassance tech, Stonepunk is relatively close, though that tends to imply stone-age, not medieval.
Dungeonpunk gets a bit closer to the feel, but tends a bit more toward the fantastic and the tech-level tends to be a combination of magic, clockpunk and steampunk.
I’m sorry, are you under the misapprehension that the technology in the punk subgenres is supposed to be realistic?
I had the impression that Leonardo was firmly set in the Renaissance – if not vice versa. So any fiction mentioning his designs and “what might have been” would pretty much be it, wouldn’t it?
Yes. Leonardo is pretty much the poster boy for the Renaissance (as well as clockpunk).
In that case, I’d submit Discworld stories featuring on the Patrician and Leonard of Quirm.
Well, it’s supposed to be inspired by period technology, that’s why Clockpunk is different from Steampunk.
Pretty much – e.g., what if one of his flying machines had actually worked? Or if he had found a way to perfect the tank he designed (sound design, except that it would take a team of horses to move the thing and they couldn’t be fit inside it)? Or, even, if he had actually built that bicycle?
It’s not the greatest book ever written, but Pasquale’s Angel might be what you’re looking for.