The Renaissance: Events At The End Of The Middle Ages

The major social changes during the Renaissance era were a step into a renewed world. Political class, different types of ideas, development of arts was one of the major social changes in the Renaissance. The rejection during the era was religion due to the rulers.

The Renaissance started in Italy during the 1300’s before spreading throughout Europe in the 1500 and 1600’s. It came about because of a change in the way of thinking. In an effort to learn, people began to want to understand the world around them. This study of the world and how it works was the start of a new age of science. “The people were curious and questioned the known wisdom of the church. They began to use experimentation and observation to solve worldly problems”. (Johnson). Many Renaissance intellects focused on trying to define and understand the laws of nature and the physical world. During the Renaissance, great advances occurred in science and technology as well as others areas.

Imagine a society in which the church would be the most powerful without question, people with differing opinions would be criminals, scientific discoveries would not made, analytical questions would not asked, and other cultures would not be embraced. This is what society would compare to if the transformations in Europe had never happened. These four major transformations include of the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment. The Renaissance accounted for a rebirth in culture after the Middle Ages, when Rome fell, and all education and advancements were at a stalemate. It recalled on Greek and Roman ideas such as creating detailed, perspective art that featured humanistic views. Out of the Renaissance came the Reformation, which was when people started to form new denominations, and turn away from the Catholic Church. This happened as a result of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses that he posted to the doors of the Wittenberg Church Castle. People that went against the church were called protestants, and because of this, the Catholic Church started the Counter-Reformation in order to revive the church. Additionally, during this time, non-religious ideas were encouraged. Then came the Scientific Revolution, in which answers to questions were no longer based off of religion, but with reason and observation. This was when many scientific discoveries were made, and the scientific method was created. Majorly influenced by the Scientific Revolution was the

The decline of the western part of the old Roman Empire left Europe without the laws and protection the empire had provided. The vacuum was filled by the creation of a feudal hierarchy. In this hierarchy, the serf, or peasant, was protected by the lord of the manor, who, in turn, owed allegiance to and was protected by a higher overlord. And so the system went, ending eventually with the king. The strong protected the weak, but they did so at a high price. In return for payments of money, food, labor, or military allegiance, overlords granted the fief, or feudum – a hereditary right to use land – to their vassals. At the bottom was the serf, a peasant who

Italy can be looked at as the home of the renaissance and consequently the immergence of great art. Artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, and Raphael are some of the greats and are looked at for standards. But what about the artists whose lives are mysteries, and their works that were influenced by the greats? These artists hold just as much importance in the history of art as do the artist’s whose names can be recalled off the top of an average person’s head. During the sixteenth century things began to change in the art world, and that change was the Baroque. This new style of art brought a revolution to how subject matter was painted, it brought upon “… a radical reconsideration of art and its purposes…” (249) and how artists of all ranks could learn to paint the up and coming style of Baroque.

The Middle Ages and Renaissance were two very different periods of time. Throughout the Middle Ages, it was believed that God was the ruler, and almost everything in life was based around religion. Illiteracy was also very widespread, unless one was a religious figure. For example, priests and monks were basically the only literate people during the Middle Ages, and they were the ones that would do all the reading, and writing from the Bible. One of the main reasons for illiteracy was the lack of technology. The only way for copies of books to be made was with handwritten books, which made it hard to get hands on a book, because the quantity was so scarce. Another reason for the illiteracy was that many people were called serfs, which are

The Medieval Times and the Renaissance were grand times that added new types of art and ideas about religion that are still very popular and interesting. The Renaissance, which started in the 1300 - 1700 in Italy and Southern France, came after the Middle Ages, which took place in 500 - 1500 in Europe right after Rome’s end. Because of the need for change after the fall of Rome, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance had art and religious beliefs that were unique and rapidly changed.

The Renaissance, meaning rebirth, was meant to signify the end of the barbaric, medieval, Middle Ages and began to advance with classical learning and the rediscovery of ancient Rome and Greece.1 Many of the ideas, philosophy, art techniques, and scientific discoveries were founded during this period.2 It had occurred between 1300 and 1600 AC, though the exact time is debatable, and followed after the Middle Ages or the “Dark Ages”. The Renaissance follows the general pattern that is shown throughout history; destruction and flourishment. In this case it was sparked by the Black Death or the Bubonic Plague which is where, many believe, the song “Ring around the Rosie” had originated from.3

In the time between the 1300's and the 1500's, a great transformation took place in Europe. Prior to the 1300's, Europe had experienced what has been called the Middle Ages, but after 1500, the continent was fully into the period known as the Renaissance. The impetus for the transformation that took place was the onslaught of the Black Death, or a two hundred year nightmare in which the Bubonic Plague devastated European society. The changes that took place as a result of the Plague altered the economic, social, artistic, political, and intellectual foundations of Europe forever.

The Renaissance came into existence as a result of the distressed medieval way of life that was intertwined with the orthodox catholic churches who believed that the great mythologies were the right place to seek all the existential answers. This however didn’t stop the great minds to reason beyond the obvious. This particular period in history marked the era of great works of art, science, astronomy etc that portrayed mathematical accuracy along with deep philosophical meaning.

From the Middle Ages to The Renaissance, man’s view on the world changed drastically. The way we saw and interpreted everything from art to science was greatly influenced during these times. The Renaissance opened a door to a more realistic way of thinking and seeing things. Without the changes that took place in these times, the world wouldn’t be where it was today. The word Renaissance means “rebirth” or “revival”. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the Renaissance changed man’s view of the world.

The argument being put forward in this dissertation is that the Renaissance in Europe, with specific emphasis on Italy, during the 15th Century, was the most influential period in developing the ‘early modern’ human society. Many believe that this was due to its almost perfect location between Western Europe and the Eastern shore of the Mediterranean. By analysing various factors and sources, as well as different aspects of society, for example political factors and the views of contemporary texts, it will provide enlightening insight into the changes made during the Renaissance period and how these changes are still reverberating. I believe that this question is an important one to study and to answer correctly and accurately because it means that we can trance back the origins of our society today and how it has evolved from, arguably, a more primitive one in terms of breakthroughs and technology.

The significance of the word Renaissance is rebirth or a regeneration of a period. This period was called the Middle Ages and it began during the fourteenth century. The Renaissance was mainly characterized for the development of learning and thinking. This period also distinguished the discovery and exploration of new continents, system of astronomy, the growth of commerce, and the innovations of paper, printing, compass, art, literature, math and science. During this period, it was primarily the revival where people would learn, think, and invent new things after having a long period of cultural decline. Some of the main concepts during this time were the belief in humanism, the ravishing art that captured this age, the influence of the

The term Renaissance comes from the French word "rebirth." The Renaissance was a period of European history, considered by modern scholars that occurred between 1300 and 1600. Many dramatic changes happened during the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a period of new inventions and beliefs. This period of time was drastically different from the Middle Ages.

The Renaissance started as a cultural movement in Italy in the Medieval period and later spread to Europe, marking the beginning of the Modern age.The Renaissance was a period in history, from the 14th to the 17th century, known as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. The Renaissance was a dramatic turning point in the western civilization, it produced fundamental changes in all areas of European society and knowledge. One of the big focus of the Renaissance is art, in which there was dramatic change in the approach and style. Then another big change was also the invention of new technology.