The Renaissance began in Italy in the midfourteenth century as a revolution in artistic, philosophical, and scientific thought, and quickly spread throughout southern Europe. It took another hundred years and the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century to push it into more conservative northern Europe, where it took on a decidedly more religious interpretation, giving birth to Protestantism and changing forever the structure of world politics. Though the beginning and end of the Renaissance cannot be dated exactly, most scholars agree that the greatest achievements of the age fall between 1350 and 1600.
Although this era began in Italy, the term renaissance comes from a French word meaning "rebirth." What was reborn during this time was an appreciation for the ideals presented in the classical literature of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Much of their ancient wisdom and scholarship had been lost or forsaken since the fall of.....
This is a free excerpt of 150 words. This section contains 769 words. This
article contains 60,162 words (approx. 201 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our The Renaissance Access Pass.
