1. Renaissance and Reformation
Introduction
From World History ad : Renaissance and Reformation. National Geographic Reading Expeditions

2. In the mid-1300s, a bold new spirit began in the cities of Italy and then spread throughout Europe. This time is known as the Renaissance. Renaissance means “rebirth.” This era produced great achievements in the arts and sciences. It also challenged the power of the Church, beginning a movement for religious change known as the Reformation.

3. Rebirth
The “rebirth” that occurred during the Renaissance resulted from a renewed interest in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome.
This study of these cultures led to a new outlook known as humanism that changed people’s thinking in Europe in important ways.
The Middle Ages, the period that came before the Renaissance, had stressed human dependence on God and the importance of spiritual life.

4. Humanists
By contrast, the humanists celebrated human freedom and the joys of this world. They believed that there were no limits to what human beings could accomplish. As one humanist claimed, “Men can do all things if they will.”

5. The Renaissance produced an extraordinary flowering of the arts
The Renaissance produced an extraordinary flowering of the arts. It gave artists new subjects for their art and new styles in which to work. In particular, painters and sculptors made their works far more realistic than the art of the Middle Ages had been.

6. The Reformation
The spread of humanism and reading began the reformation, a movement for change in the Catholic Church. Because the reformers in this movement were protesting what they saw as evils in the Church, they became known as Protestants.

7. Protestant groups across Europe sought change in the existing Catholic Church, but later formed new Christian churches of their own.

8. Key Ideas Major advances were made in the arts and sciences.
After trying to change the Catholic Church, some people split away and created other Christian churches.