Renaissance Origins and Development

Origins  The Renaissance is known today as a single cultural and intellectual movement.  It actually began in Italy as the Italian Renaissance, however, and then spread to the rest of Europe, where it was called the Northern Renaissance.  The Italian Renaissance was started in the mid−1300s by a group of scholars called humanists

 About 1450, European scholars became more interested in studying the world around them. Their art became more true to life. They began to explore new lands.  The new age in Europe was eventually called “the Renaissance.” Renaissance is a French word that means “rebirth.”  Historians consider the Renaissance to be the beginning of modern history.  When the Italian cities traded with the Arabs, ideas were exchanged along with goods.  These ideas, preserved from the ancient past, served as the basis of the Renaissance.  When the Byzantine empire fell to Muslim Turks in 1453, many Christian scholars left Greece for Italy.

On Humankind  One humanist wrote, “To each species of creature has been allotted a peculiar and instinctive gift. To horses galloping, to birds flying, comes naturally. To man only is given the desire to learn.”

 Led by the Italian poet Petrarch (1304–1374), they set out to revive the Greek − based culture of ancient Rome (an era known as the classical period).  They called themselves "humanists" because they wanted to focus on human achievement, which was exemplified by the arts, science, philosophy, and literature of the classical period.

 The humanists felt that Greek and Roman contributions to European culture had been lost during the "dark ages," the period after the fall of the West Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries.  Not content simply to look back to past accomplishments, the humanists used classical works as models to write philosophy and literature that reflected their own times.  Moreover, they expressed a newfound hope in the future. They stressed the value of daily life and contended that the individual is capable of doing great things.

 The humanists' ideas were controversial, though, because they concentrated on secular (nonreligious) subjects, which previously had not been approved by the powerful Roman Catholic Church (a Christian faith based in Rome, Italy).  Because of the dramatic social and political upheaval occurring throughout Europe at the time, society was eager for change.  As a result, humanist ideals were embraced with enthusiasm.  Feudalism was collapsing, the Roman Catholic Church was weakened, and the Holy Roman Empire could not maintain unity among the states of Europe.