write an essay on european renaissance

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Renaissance

By: History.com Editors

Updated: August 11, 2023 | Original: April 4, 2018

The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.

Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history thrived during this era, while global exploration opened up new lands and cultures to European commerce. The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization.

From Darkness to Light: The Renaissance Begins

During the Middle Ages , a period that took place between the fall of ancient Rome in 476 A.D. and the beginning of the 14th century, Europeans made few advances in science and art.

Also known as the “Dark Ages,” the era is often branded as a time of war, ignorance, famine and pandemics such as the Black Death .

Some historians, however, believe that such grim depictions of the Middle Ages were greatly exaggerated, though many agree that there was relatively little regard for ancient Greek and Roman philosophies and learning at the time.

During the 14th century, a cultural movement called humanism began to gain momentum in Italy. Among its many principles, humanism promoted the idea that man was the center of his own universe, and people should embrace human achievements in education, classical arts, literature and science.

In 1450, the invention of the Gutenberg printing press allowed for improved communication throughout Europe and for ideas to spread more quickly.

As a result of this advance in communication, little-known texts from early humanist authors such as those by Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio, which promoted the renewal of traditional Greek and Roman culture and values, were printed and distributed to the masses.

Additionally, many scholars believe advances in international finance and trade impacted culture in Europe and set the stage for the Renaissance.

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As interest in cultural, intellectual and scientific exploration flourished, support for an all‑powerful church diminished.

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The Renaissance started in Florence, Italy, a place with a rich cultural history where wealthy citizens could afford to support budding artists.

Members of the powerful Medici family , which ruled Florence for more than 60 years, were famous backers of the movement.

Great Italian writers, artists, politicians and others declared that they were participating in an intellectual and artistic revolution that would be much different from what they experienced during the Dark Ages.

The movement first expanded to other Italian city-states, such as Venice, Milan, Bologna, Ferrara and Rome. Then, during the 15th century, Renaissance ideas spread from Italy to France and then throughout western and northern Europe.

Although other European countries experienced their Renaissance later than Italy, the impacts were still revolutionary.

Renaissance Geniuses

Some of the most famous and groundbreaking Renaissance intellectuals, artists, scientists and writers include the likes of:

• Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519): Italian painter, architect, inventor and “Renaissance man” responsible for painting “The Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper.
• Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536): Scholar from Holland who defined the humanist movement in Northern Europe. Translator of the New Testament into Greek. 
• Rene Descartes (1596–1650): French philosopher and mathematician regarded as the father of modern philosophy. Famous for stating, “I think; therefore I am.”
• Galileo (1564-1642): Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer whose pioneering work with telescopes enabled him to describes the moons of Jupiter and rings of Saturn. Placed under house arrest for his views of a heliocentric universe.
• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543): Mathematician and astronomer who made first modern scientific argument for the concept of a heliocentric solar system.
• Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679): English philosopher and author of “Leviathan.”
• Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400): English poet and author of “The Canterbury Tales.”
• Giotto (1266-1337): Italian painter and architect whose more realistic depictions of human emotions influenced generations of artists. Best known for his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.
• Dante (1265–1321): Italian philosopher, poet, writer and political thinker who authored “The Divine Comedy.”
• Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527): Italian diplomat and philosopher famous for writing “The Prince” and “The Discourses on Livy.”
• Titian (1488–1576): Italian painter celebrated for his portraits of Pope Paul III and Charles I and his later religious and mythical paintings like “Venus and Adonis” and "Metamorphoses."
• William Tyndale (1494–1536): English biblical translator, humanist and scholar burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English.
• William Byrd (1539/40–1623): English composer known for his development of the English madrigal and his religious organ music.
• John Milton (1608–1674): English poet and historian who wrote the epic poem “Paradise Lost.”
• William Shakespeare (1564–1616): England’s “national poet” and the most famous playwright of all time, celebrated for his sonnets and plays like “Romeo and Juliet."
• Donatello (1386–1466): Italian sculptor celebrated for lifelike sculptures like “David,” commissioned by the Medici family.
• Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510): Italian painter of “Birth of Venus.”
• Raphael (1483–1520): Italian painter who learned from da Vinci and Michelangelo. Best known for his paintings of the Madonna and “The School of Athens.”
• Michelangelo (1475–1564): Italian sculptor, painter and architect who carved “David” and painted The Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Renaissance Impact on Art, Architecture and Science

Art, architecture and science were closely linked during the Renaissance. In fact, it was a unique time when these fields of study fused together seamlessly.

For instance, artists like da Vinci incorporated scientific principles, such as anatomy into their work, so they could recreate the human body with extraordinary precision.

Architects such as Filippo Brunelleschi studied mathematics to accurately engineer and design immense buildings with expansive domes.

Scientific discoveries led to major shifts in thinking: Galileo and Descartes presented a new view of astronomy and mathematics, while Copernicus proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the solar system.

Renaissance art was characterized by realism and naturalism. Artists strived to depict people and objects in a true-to-life way.

They used techniques, such as perspective, shadows and light to add depth to their work. Emotion was another quality that artists tried to infuse into their pieces.

Some of the most famous artistic works that were produced during the Renaissance include:

• The Mona Lisa (Da Vinci)
• The Last Supper (Da Vinci)
• Statue of David (Michelangelo)
• The Birth of Venus (Botticelli)
• The Creation of Adam (Michelangelo)

Renaissance Exploration

While many artists and thinkers used their talents to express new ideas, some Europeans took to the seas to learn more about the world around them. In a period known as the Age of Discovery, several important explorations were made.

Voyagers launched expeditions to travel the entire globe. They discovered new shipping routes to the Americas, India and the Far East and explorers trekked across areas that weren’t fully mapped.

Famous journeys were taken by Ferdinand Magellan , Christopher Columbus , Amerigo Vespucci (after whom America is named), Marco Polo , Ponce de Leon , Vasco Núñez de Balboa , Hernando De Soto and other explorers.

Renaissance Religion

Humanism encouraged Europeans to question the role of the Roman Catholic church during the Renaissance.

As more people learned how to read, write and interpret ideas, they began to closely examine and critique religion as they knew it. Also, the printing press allowed for texts, including the Bible, to be easily reproduced and widely read by the people, themselves, for the first time.

In the 16th century, Martin Luther , a German monk, led the Protestant Reformation – a revolutionary movement that caused a split in the Catholic church. Luther questioned many of the practices of the church and whether they aligned with the teachings of the Bible.

As a result, a new form of Christianity , known as Protestantism, was created.

End of the Renaissance

Scholars believe the demise of the Renaissance was the result of several compounding factors.

By the end of the 15th century, numerous wars had plagued the Italian peninsula. Spanish, French and German invaders battling for Italian territories caused disruption and instability in the region.

Also, changing trade routes led to a period of economic decline and limited the amount of money that wealthy contributors could spend on the arts.

Later, in a movement known as the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic church censored artists and writers in response to the Protestant Reformation. Many Renaissance thinkers feared being too bold, which stifled creativity.

Furthermore, in 1545, the Council of Trent established the Roman Inquisition , which made humanism and any views that challenged the Catholic church an act of heresy punishable by death.

By the early 17th century, the Renaissance movement had died out, giving way to the Age of Enlightenment .

Debate Over the Renaissance

While many scholars view the Renaissance as a unique and exciting time in European history, others argue that the period wasn’t much different from the Middle Ages and that both eras overlapped more than traditional accounts suggest.

Also, some modern historians believe that the Middle Ages had a cultural identity that’s been downplayed throughout history and overshadowed by the Renaissance era.

While the exact timing and overall impact of the Renaissance is sometimes debated, there’s little dispute that the events of the period ultimately led to advances that changed the way people understood and interpreted the world around them.

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The Renaissance, History World International . The Renaissance – Why it Changed the World, The Telegraph . Facts About the Renaissance, Biography Online . Facts About the Renaissance Period, Interestingfacts.org . What is Humanism? International Humanist and Ethical Union . Why Did the Italian Renaissance End? Dailyhistory.org . The Myth of the Renaissance in Europe, BBC .

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A Beginner's Guide to the Renaissance

What was the renaissance.

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The Renaissance was a cultural and scholarly movement which stressed the rediscovery and application of texts and thought from classical antiquity, occurring in Europe c. 1400 – c. 1600. The Renaissance can also refer to the period of European history spanning roughly the same dates. It's increasingly important to stress that the Renaissance had a long history of developments that included the twelfth-century renaissance and more.

There remains debate about what exactly constituted the Renaissance. Essentially, it was a cultural and intellectual movement, intimately tied to society and politics, of the late 14th to early 17th centuries, although it is commonly restricted to just the 15th and 16th centuries. It is considered to have originated in Italy. Traditionally people have claimed it was stimulated, in part, by Petrarch, who had a passion for rediscovering lost manuscripts and a fierce belief in the civilizing power of ancient thought and in part by conditions in Florence.

At its core, the Renaissance was a movement dedicated to the rediscovery and use of classical learning, that is to say, knowledge and attitudes from the Ancient Greek and Roman eras. Renaissance literally means ‘rebirth’, and Renaissance thinkers believed the period between themselves and the fall of Rome, which they labeled the Middle Ages , had seen a decline in cultural achievement compared with the earlier eras. Participants intended, through the study of classical texts, textual criticism, and classical techniques, to both reintroduce the heights of those ancient days and improve the situation of their contemporaries. Some of these classical texts survived only amongst Islamic scholars and were brought back to Europe at this time.

The Renaissance Period

“Renaissance” can also refer to the period, c. 1400 – c. 1600. “ High Renaissance ” generally refers to c. 1480 – c. 1520. The era was dynamic, with European explorers “finding” new continents, the transformation of trading methods and patterns, the decline of feudalism (in so far as it ever existed), scientific developments such as the Copernican system of the cosmos and the rise of gunpowder. Many of these changes were triggered, in part, by the Renaissance, such as classical mathematics stimulating new financial trading mechanisms, or new techniques from the east boosting ocean navigation. The printing press was also developed, allowing Renaissance texts to be disseminated widely (in actual fact this print was an enabling factor rather than a result).

Why Was This Renaissance Different?

Classical culture had never totally vanished from Europe, and it experienced sporadic rebirths. There was the Carolingian Renaissance in the eighth to ninth centuries and a major one in the “Twelfth Century Renaissance”, which saw Greek science and philosophy returned to European consciousness and the development of a new way of thinking which mixed science and logic called Scholasticism. What was different in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was that this particular rebirth joined together both the elements of scholarly inquiry and cultural endeavor with social and political motivations to create a much broader movement, albeit one with a long history.

The Society and Politics Behind the Renaissance

Across the fourteenth century , and perhaps before, the old social and political structures of the medieval period broke down, allowing new concepts to rise. A new elite emerged, with new models of thought and ideas to justify themselves; what they found in classical antiquity was something to use both as a prop and a tool for their aggrandizement. Exiting elites matched them to keep pace, as did the Catholic Church. Italy, from which the Renaissance evolved, was a series of city-states, each competing with the others for civic pride, trade, and wealth. They were largely autonomous, with a high proportion of merchants and artisans thanks to the Mediterranean trade routes.

At the very top of Italian society, the rulers of the key courts in Italy were all “new men”, recently confirmed in their positions of power and with newly gained wealth, and they were keen to demonstrate both. There was also wealth and the desire to show it below them. The Black Death had killed millions in Europe and left the survivors with proportionally greater wealth, whether through fewer people inheriting more or simply from the increased wages they could demand. Italian society and the results of the Black Death allowed for much greater social mobility, a constant flow of people keen to demonstrate their wealth. Displaying wealth and using culture to reinforce your social and political was an important aspect of life in that period, and when artistic and scholarly movements turned back to the classical world at the start of the fifteenth century there were plenty of patrons ready to support them in these endeavors to make political points.

The importance of piety, as demonstrated through commissioning works of tribute, was also strong, and Christianity proved a heavy influence for thinkers trying to square Christian thought with that of “pagan” classical writers.

The Spread of the Renaissance

From its origins in Italy, the Renaissance spread across Europe, the ideas changing and evolving to match local conditions, sometimes linking into existing cultural booms, although still keeping the same core. Trade, marriage, diplomats, scholars, the use of giving artists to forge links, even military invasions, all aided the circulation. Historians now tend to break the Renaissance down into smaller, geographic, groups such as the Italian Renaissance, The English Renaissance, the Northern Renaissance (a composite of several countries) etc. There are also works which talk about the Renaissance as a phenomenon with global reach, influencing – and being influenced by – the east, Americas, and Africa.

The End of the Renaissance

Some historians argue that the Renaissance ended in the 1520s, some the 1620s. The Renaissance didn’t just stop, but its core ideas gradually converted into other forms, and new paradigms arose, particularly during the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. It would be hard to argue we are still in the Renaissance (as you can do with the Enlightenment), as culture and learning move in a different direction, but you have to draw the lines from here back to then (and, of course, back to before then). You could argue that new and different types of Renaissance followed (should you want to write an essay).

The Interpretation of the Renaissance

The term ‘renaissance’ actually dates from the nineteenth century and has been heavily debated ever since, with some historians questioning whether it’s even a useful word anymore. Early historians described a clear intellectual break with the medieval era, but in recent decades scholarship has turned to recognize growing continuity from the centuries before, suggesting that the changes Europe experienced were more an evolution than a revolution. The era was also far from a golden age for everyone; at the start, it was very much a minority movement of humanists, elites, and artists, although it disseminated wider with printing. Women , in particular, saw a marked reduction in their educational opportunities during the Renaissance. It's no longer possible to talk of a sudden, all changing golden age (or no longer possible and be considered accurate), but rather a phase that wasn't entirely a move 'forward', or that dangerous historical problem, progress.

Renaissance Art

There were Renaissance movements in architecture, literature, poetry, drama, music, metals, textiles and furniture, but the Renaissance is perhaps best known for its art. Creative endeavor became viewed as a form of knowledge and achievement, not simply a way of decoration. Art was now to be based on observation of the real world, applying mathematics and optics to achieve more advanced effects like perspective. Paintings, sculpture and other art forms flourished as new talents took up the creation of masterpieces, and enjoying art became seen as the mark of a cultured individual.

Renaissance Humanism

Perhaps the earliest expression of the Renaissance was in humanism, an intellectual approach which developed among those being taught a new form of curriculum: the studia humanitatis, which challenged the previously dominant Scholastic thinking. Humanists were concerned with the features of human nature and attempts by man to master nature rather than develop religious piety.

Humanist thinkers implicitly and explicitly challenged the old Christian mindset, allowing and advancing the new intellectual model behind the Renaissance. However, tensions between humanism and the Catholic Church developed over the period, and humanist learning partly caused the Reformation . Humanism was also deeply pragmatic, giving those involved the educational basis for work in the burgeoning European bureaucracies. It is important to note that the term ‘humanist’ was a later label, just like “renaissance”.

Politics and Liberty

The Renaissance used to be regarded as pushing forward a new desire for liberty and republicanism - rediscovered in works about the Roman Republic —even though many of the Italian city-states were taken over by individual rulers. This view has come under close scrutiny by historians and partly rejected, but it did cause some Renaissance thinkers to agitate for greater religious and political freedoms over later years. More widely accepted is the return to thinking about the state as a body with needs and requirements, taking politics away from the application of Christian morals and into a more pragmatic, some might say devious, world, as typified by the work of Machiavelli. There was no marvelous purity in Renaissance politics, just the same twisting about as ever.

Books and Learning

Part of the changes brought by the Renaissance, or perhaps one of the causes, was the change in attitude to pre-Christian books. Petrarch, who had a self-proclaimed “lust” to seek out forgotten books among the monasteries and libraries of Europe, contributed to a new outlook: one of (secular) passion and hunger for the knowledge. This attitude spread, increasing the search for lost works and increasing the number of volumes in circulation, in turn influencing more people with classical ideas. One other major result was a renewed trade in manuscripts and the foundation of public libraries to better enable widespread study. Print then enabled an explosion in the reading and spread of texts, by producing them faster and more accurately, and led to the literate populations who formed the basis of the modern world.

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The Renaissance and Its Cultural, Political and Economic Influence Essay

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Renaissance which is also referred as the rebirth is the period that started in the 14 th century and ended up in the 17 th century. The period was marked by increased interests and development in Art, literature, politics, science, religion and music.

The period was characterized by surge of interest in classical learning and values. Renaissance is usually taken as the bridge that linked the medieval era and the modern civilization. Although Renaissance resulted to great changes in many intellectual undertakings such as political and social upheaval, it is mostly remembered for its great contributions in art and music.

This period is marked with discovery of new continents, great growth in commerce and invention and applications of innovations such as paper printing, gunpowder and use of marine compass. The era is regarded as a period of revival of classical learning after a long time span of cultural stagnation and decline (Brotton, 2006).

The rebirth of Renaissance is believed to have started in Italy as early as in the 14 th century. The resurrection of Renaissance in Italy is believed to have been influenced by a number of factors among them a favorable language. During this period, Latin language was considered as the language of scholars.

Due tom its complexity, it was not a common language to many people by then and thus not very appropriate language for the learning process. Many people required a simpler language to understand higher knowledge that was associated with the Renaissance. This resulted to the growth of national vernacular language all over Europe that greatly facilitated the spread of the ideology of the new scholars.

Italy was the first nation to produce great writers in the Renaissance period. England on the other hand developed Standard English that was highly influential during the Renaissance in the learning process. Germany also took the opportunity to translate the bible into Germany language which greatly helped many Germans to read and understand the bible better (Guisepi, n.d).

The great scientific growth and development during this period boosted the Renaissance period greatly. The interactions of Christians and Arabs as they traded helped the Christians learn mathematics, chemistry and experimental science from the Arabs who were more knowledgeable in these concepts.

The new knowledge they received from Arabs enabled them to become more critical with issues. Equipped with the scientific knowledge, people started to accept and apply only what seemed logical to them. Thus, this learning transformed the views of many people who started to question some traditional beliefs which they had learned from the church about certain national phenomenon (Guisepi, n.d).

Some scientific inventions such as the invention of art of printing helped greatly in transmitting knowledge during the Renaissance process. This is because the printed materials was distribution and accessed more easily by many widely and by large number of people.

This strategy was widely intensively used to educate people about the new and modern concepts that were related to the modern civilizations. Similarly, the invention of magnetic compasses helped in the discovery of new continents such as the Africa continent. This in turn amplified the European trading routes which enabled them make more profits.

The invention of gun powder transformed the politics in Europe greatly. Formerly, the Middle Ages were characterized with the supreme monarchy in Europe where nobles were the one who were summoned to provide military support to the king during crises instances. With the invention of gun powder, the European politics greatly changed as kings started to assume the political power that was being exercised by the nobles. This in turn promoted establishment of centralized governments in many parts of Europe.

The growth in trade and commerce also greatly helped in the Renaissance. New trading routes and cities emerged. The merchants were known to travel a lot and thus were greatly instrumental in the spread of the ideas of the modern civilizations as they traded in the new cities established.

The Renaissance influenced Europe culturally, politically and economically. The renaissance was really very instrumental in the areas of scholarship, art, music and architecture. The renaissance was associated with revisiting the knowledge of Greece and Rome to rediscover this knowledge and apply it in the cotemporary context.

This facilitated many universities being established in many parts of Europe where many politicians were educated on the classical knowledge under Guicciadini. The impact of Renaissance on art was great. By the use of Humanism which focused on humanity, the modern concepts that were learned enabled the artist to break from art- dictated art of the Middle Ages and embrace the secular worldview.

In addition, architecture developed greatly which enabled the traditional architecture of the middle ages being replaced by more modern human-centric architecture that was highly embraced all over Europe. Similarly, the Renaissance resulted to enhanced growth and development in trade and commerce that resulted to emergence of banking facilities in many parts of Europe.

Enhance trade in turn resulted to emergence of urban centers and cities such as Florence and Venice cities that eventually transcended to become empires.

Other European nations such as England and Spain followed suite to establish their own cities. The establishment of cities resulted to a great change in European politics which necessitated the idea of diplomacy. Many people in Europe and especially Italy studied diplomacy during the Renaissance period.

It was from Italy that the concept of permanent, resident ambassadors originated during the Renaissance period. The concept of diplomacy enables Italy to maintain very important international relations up to date (Craig, Graham, Kagan, Ozment, & Turner, 2009).

The Protestant Reformation was a European Christian reform movement that resulted to the establishment of Protestantism as a constituent part of the contemporarily Christianity. The movement was initiated as a protest towards certain catholic rituals, doctrines and ecclesiastical structures of the Catholic Church.

The protest resulted to a Counter Reformation movement which was headed by Jesuit order. The Counter Reformation resulted to reclamation of many parts of Europe which include Poland, parts of England back to Catholic faith.

The reason that motivated the reformation to initiate in Germany is because Germany was the first nation that translated the bible into Germany language which enhanced the Germans to understand the bible when they read it more effectively. Well understanding of the bible prompted Germans Christians to start questioning some Catholic rituals and doctrines which they considered to contradict the Christianity teaching as expressed by the bible.

The scientific discoveries that accompanied the Renaissance enlightened people greatly. One of great discovery is the Copernican theory which suggested that the sun and other planet rotated around a central sun. This discovery faced a lot of resistance from many scholars and also from the theologians who contested with this discovery as they claimed it contradicted what the bible stated.

This fact was proved later when Galileo invented telescope that was used to clearly view distant objects. The civilizations that was associated with Renaissance was enlightened people could not any longer take anything for granted, but did their best to look for relevant facts to support ideas (Cronin,1992) .

Reference List

Brotton, J. (2006) The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Prentice Hall.

Craig, A. M., Graham, W. A., Kagan, D., Ozment, S., & Turner, F. M. (2009). The heritage of world civilizations (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Cronin, V. (1992). The Renaissance . London: Oxford University Press.

Guisepi, R.A. (n.d). The Renaissance Beginning and Progress of the Renaissance . Web.

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Renaissance Humanism

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Renaissance Humanism was an intellectual movement typified by a revived interest in the classical world and studies which focussed not on religion but on what it is to be human. Its origins went back to 14th-century Italy and such authors as Petrarch (1304-1374) who searched out 'lost' ancient manuscripts. By the 15th century, humanism had spread across Europe .

Humanists believed in the importance of an education in classical literature and the promotion of civic virtue, that is, realising a person's full potential both for their own good and for the good of the society in which they live. The difficulty in defining humanism and its ever-evolving character have not prevented it being widely regarded as the defining feature of 1400 to 1600 Europe and the very reason why that period can be identified as a Renaissance or 'rebirth' of ideas.

Defining Humanism

Humanism was a term invented in the 19th century to describe the Renaissance idea that directly studying the works of antiquity was an important part of a rounded education (but not the only part). From this position came the idea that the study of humanity should be a priority as opposed to religious matters (which need not be neglected or contradicted by humanist studies). Important classical ideals which interested humanists included the importance of public and private virtue, Latin grammar, techniques of rhetoric, history, conventions in literature and poetry, and moral philosophy . This education did not create an all-encompassing philosophy or worldview in its adherents. Someone who had a humanist education might be a Catholic or a Protestant, for example, and many students went on to study very different branches of thought such as theology, law , or medicine .

In modern times, the term 'humanism' has gained a different meaning (a rational and non-religious way of life) and so to safeguard its original purpose, when applied to 1400-1600, it is often clarified as 'Renaissance Humanism'. It is important to remember, though, that Renaissance thinkers did not themselves use the term humanism, and neither did they agree on all subjects. Due to these problems of definition, some historians prefer to use the term studia humanitatis , coined by the Roman statesman Cicero (106-43 BCE) and revived by the Florentine scholar Coluccio Salutati (1331-1406). Studia humanitatis refers to studies which, rather than concentrating on religious matters, focus instead on what it is to be human, and more precisely, consider what is a virtuous individual in its widest sense and how may that individual fully participate in public life.

The main elements of Renaissance humanism include:

• an interest in studying literature and art from antiquity
• an interest in the eloquent use of Latin and philology
• a belief in the importance and power of education to create useful citizens
• the promotion of private and civic virtue
• a rejection of scholasticism
• the encouragement of non-religious studies
• an emphasis on the individual and their moral autonomy
• a belief in the importance of observation, critical analysis, and creativity
• a belief that poets, writers, and artists can lead humanity to a better way of living
• an interest in the question 'what does it mean to be human'?

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Origins of the classical revival.

The humanist movement can be traced back to a trio of Italian authors who lived before the Renaissance period had even begun: Dante Alighieri (1265-1321 CE), Petrarch, and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). All three would receive new interest in their work during the Renaissance when they were recognised as its founding fathers. Dante was the first, and his Divine Comedy (c. 1319), although a book with a central message on how to reach salvation, was a subtle shift from entirely religious-focussed works to those considering humanity's role in God 's universe. The Divine Comedy had many overtly classical elements, from the Roman poet Virgil (70-19 BCE) acting as a guide to the many ancient historical figures mentioned.

Next came Petrarch, who was an equally religious man but in his work criticised some elements of the Catholic Church such as its corruption and excessive love of show. Petrarch rejected scholasticism which grimly held on to Church dogma and created endless rounds of fruitless debate amongst scholars. He made perhaps his greatest contribution to the study of antiquity by finding manuscripts which had become 'lost' in obscure monastic libraries. Amongst his famous discoveries were several works and letters by Cicero.

Petrarch believed that a new golden age of thought and politics could be achieved by returning to the ideals of antiquity and by permitting poets and scholars to lead a revolution in education. His idea that the period in which he lived was an intermediary period between antiquity and this new dawn, what he called disparagingly 'a slumber' was latched onto by later Renaissance thinkers and did much to foster the idea that the Middle Ages was somehow a period of cultural darkness. Further, Petrarch's work with ancient manuscripts encouraged the scholarship of non-religious subjects with humanity at its centre, and this became a legitimate activity for intellectuals. Consequently, Petrarch is often cited as the father of humanism.

Giovanni Boccaccio also searched out 'lost' manuscripts relevant to antiquity. In addition, his Decameron ( Ten Days ), a collection of tales compiled between c. 1348 and 1353, appealed to later humanists because it dealt with everyday human experiences in great detail. Bocaccio also created works that were of great use to humanist scholars such as his Ancestry of the Pagan Gods .

All three of these writers promoted the use of the Tuscan vernacular (at least in poetical works), and this eventually led to the dominance of Latin being challenged. Humanists, though, continued to favour Latin for scholarly purposes and modelled their Latin on that of Cicero for prose and Virgil for poetry. The arrival of the printing press in Europe in 1450 was another boost to the trio of authors mentioned above and the democratisation of knowledge. Renaissance humanism gave great importance to invention, and here, again, Dante with his creation of terza rima (poems formed of stanzas of three rhyming lines) and Boccaccio's innovative promotion in written form of the ottava rima (where stanzas are formed of eight 11-syllable lines) fit that sentiment perfectly.

The Classical Ideal

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, many Greek scholars fled the collapsing Byzantine Empire and brought classical texts with them to Europe, especially Italy. These were a very welcome addition to the Latin texts scholars like Petrarch had found in monastic libraries. Consequently, by 1515 the works of all major classical authors were available in print. Looking at these works as a whole, one idea which especially interested Renaissance thinkers was virtus (virtue or excellence) and civic duty. Petrarch had studied this half a century before but now the idea really took off that the ancient world had something very valuable to teach the people of the 15th century. Renaissance humanists now wanted to use, analyse, and critique ancient sources to improve one's public life in service of the state. Theoretical knowledge was not enough, what was gained from study had to be put into practice for the good of the state and all who lived in it. Consequently, the great question, what does it mean to be human that preoccupied Renaissance scholars provoked answers that included religious, philosophical, scientific, and artistic considerations.

It today seems rather odd that scholars took such an interest in ancient sources which might be considered outdated and irrelevant to contemporary society. For humanist thinkers, though, antiquity, as seen in so many newly discovered manuscripts, presented a fresh and vibrant alternative to the stagnant pool of thought so jealously guarded by the medieval church . The new horizons offered by these texts and the seemingly unbiased approach of ancient scholars in discussing and explaining the world without any preconceived ideas made the whole Renaissance process seem, like its very name indicates, an intellectual rebirth. Humanist scholars were not uncritical of ancient sources, on the contrary, just like many ancient thinkers, they approached any subject with critical analysis. Further, to approach a given subject objectively, one must be intellectually free and with this idea came that of the free-thinking individual, one unrestrained by religious or political bias. There were even those who thought that God had given humanity the world as a test, to make of it what they will and apply their virtue into making it a better place. In this way, humanism was not in opposition to religion for many thinkers, but it did lead to the idea of a morally-autonomous individual, which in turn led to individualism.

There was yet another reason to admire the ancients: their eloquence of argument. Cicero was taken as the example par excellence of superb writing in Latin. Rhetoric - another term that modernity has twisted out of all recognition from its original meaning - was then the art of presenting eloquent argument. Further, this was not merely a trick to be used by scholars in their writing, this was a tool to be used in everyday life. In other words, rhetoric is persuasion, and with persuasion comes power. Rhetoric could become the means by which humanists spread their ideas, persuading everyone from a literate merchant to the ruler of a dukedom that theirs was the best way to be educated, live, work, and rule.

The Spread of Humanism

The printing press helped spread humanist ideas from their origins in Italy to the north of Europe. Indeed, the most celebrated humanist scholar of his day was Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1469-1536). Erasmus believed that education was the answer to the Catholic Church's problems (and not a radical Reformation ). To this end, he compiled editions of classical authors and provided a new Latin and Greek translation of the New Testament. Erasmus' sharp and critical examination of original texts to produce this, his textual analysis of current versions, and his interest in philology would be influential on other Renaissance scholars.

Although early humanists were often Christians, the movement's emphasis on critical inquiry did lead to an inevitable clash with Church authorities who depended on mass and uncritical acceptance of secondhand interpretations of doctrine. That some humanist scholars became champions of pagan texts was another bone of contention.

In the north of Europe, humanist scholars were more interested in religious reforms compared to elsewhere, hence their brand of humanism is often called Religious Humanism. Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), the English scholar and statesman, was one figure in this movement. A defender of the Catholic Church against the Reformists, he famously wrote Utopia in 1516 about an ideal society set on an imaginary island. More likely intended the work as a thinly-veiled criticism of the reign of Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547), but its radical presentation of a society where everyone works for the common good and shares equally in its success rang a note of recognition in the minds of humanist scholars elsewhere. The obvious link with Plato 's Republic was another point of favour with the classical-loving humanists.

A Humanist Education

Erasmus was important in one other area: education for everybody. It was all very well for scholars to debate the ideals of education in theory but more practical offerings were needed to achieve the humanist goal of widening education. Erasmus, therefore, wrote many textbooks such as his hugely popular On Copia (1512), which taught students how to argue, revise texts, and produce new ones. His 1521 On Writing Letters taught how to best write letters, aim for specific audiences, and employ eloquent expressions. Erasmus even produced guides for those wishing to establish a school and compiled recommended syllabuses.

Humanists emphasised the importance of an education which covered the liberal arts of rhetoric, moral philosophy, grammar, history, and poetry. Physical exercise, just like in ancient Greece , was also considered an essential part of a rounded education that resulted in young people being able to realise their potential and become good citizens. In addition, a humanist education continued for life, and it was never too late to learn its benefits, especially so for rulers.

Humanism in Science

Observing, analysing, and categorising the world around us was an important part of humanist thought, just as it had been in antiquity. For this reason, science made great leaps forward during the Renaissance, powered at first by developments in mathematics. The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) proposed that the solar system was heliocentric, amongst other innovative ideas, in his On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres , published in 1543. Copernicus was a classic Renaissance scholar as he studied the works of antiquity, observed what he could in the world personally, collated all that had been studied thus far in his field, and then came up with a new view of the subject at hand. Perhaps the greatest contribution humanism made to science was its thirst for answers and the confidence that they could be found through human endeavour.

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Humanism in the Arts

Rulers like Federico da Montefeltro (1422-1482 in Urbino and Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574) in Florence were great admirers of antiquity and built up impressive humanist libraries. They were, too, collectors of ancient art such as sculpture , sarcophagi, relief panels, and coins. Both men also became great patrons of the arts, encouraging humanist artists. This was a pattern imitated by rulers across Europe.

Renaissance painters and sculptors became very interested in classical mythology , sometimes even combining it with Christian themes such as subtly representing Venus as the Virgin Mary. Ancient thinkers were directly represented in art, perhaps most famously in the School of Athens fresco in the Vatican by Raphael (1483-1520).

There was, too, an appreciation of the skill of ancient artists, especially sculptors and their ability to capture reality in bronze or marble. Renaissance artists were keen to capture this reality themselves, a process going back as early as Giotto (b. 1267 or 1277 - d. 1337) and culminating with the hyper-realistic portraits by late Renaissance Netherlandish artists. Just like Renaissance writers, artists wanted not only to emulate the classical tradition but also to improve upon it. Consequently, the correct use of perspective became an ever-more precise endeavour for Renaissance artists. Artists were also convinced that their ancient counterparts had somehow discovered mathematical secrets of proportion, especially related to the human body.

Artists now gave emphasis to the human experience in their art. Portraits, for example, might include a classical book next to the sitter to emphasise their humanist tendencies. Even religious works of the period have a focus on the human figures and their story within the scene. Just as humanist writers knew full well the powerful effect of their words, so, too, artists knew the power they had to create a lasting aesthetic impression on the viewer. Perhaps there is no better example of this wow-factor than Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling . Finally, the emphasis on the individual within humanism found expression in the way artists now viewed themselves - superior artisans who used their intellect to study art and create masterpieces that would carry their fame for generations to come.

Humanism pervaded Renaissance architecture where buildings were designed that were elegant, symmetrical, functional, and harmonious with their surroundings, just as they had been in ancient Rome . Above all, buildings displayed the classical ratios of length and height.

Humanism, with its reverence for classical authors and what exactly a knowledge of antiquity can teach us found expression in the performance arts, notably in the plays of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) who was interested in characters that could reveal the breadth and depth of the human experience. Shakespeare is not perhaps taking any particular side in the humanist debates presented in his works but he does, at least, make full masterly use of that humanist power tool - language - to achieve his effects.

The Legacy of Renaissance Humanism

Humanism transformed education and rejuvenated the world of ideas and art with its discovery, promotion, and adaptation of classical works. It led to the creation of an international network of scholars linked by letters and books, the separation of church and politics, the critical examination of texts leading to the discovery of inaccuracies and even forgeries, and the creation of public libraries.

Perhaps inevitably, though, humanist scholars and thinkers began to divide into groups as they specialised into different areas of what was already a hopelessly broad area of human endeavour. There were realists against moralists, those who wanted to forget all about religion and those who did not, and those who were republicans and those who were royalists. There were humanists who thought the study of language an end itself while others thought it only a means to understand ideas. Some preferred a life of contemplation in contrast to those who still stuck to the idea of putting humanism into political practice. As science, the arts, history, philosophy, and theology all split away from each other, so Renaissance humanism came to an end, broken apart as scholarly specialisation won the battle against earning a comprehensive overview of the human condition.

Despite the breaking up of the humanist movement into its component parts, the essential idea that humans were worthy of serious study is one that has never gone away, of course. If anything, this idea has only widened and deepened. The subjects that were considered important to study in classical sources such as philosophy, history, and literature came to be collectively known as the humanities, and today, of course, they form major faculties in colleges and universities worldwide.

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Bibliography

• Blockmans, Wim & Hoppenbrouwers, Peter. Introduction to Medieval Europe 300–1500. Routledge, 2017.
• Campbell, Gordon. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Renaissance. Oxford University Press, 2019.
• Celenza, Christopher S. The Intellectual World of the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge University Press, 2020.
• Eugene F. Rice Jr. & Anthony Grafton. The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559. W. W. Norton & Company, 1994.
• Hale, J.R. (ed). The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of the Italian Renaissance. Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1985.
• Holmes, George. The Oxford History Of Medieval Europe. Oxford University Press, U.S.A., 2001.
• Paoletti, John T. & Radke, Gary M. Art in Renaissance Italy. Pearson, 2011.
• Rundle, David. The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. Hodder Arnold, 2000.
• Wagner, John A. Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World. Greenwood, 1999.
• Wyatt, Michael. The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge University Press, 2014.

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The Renaissance: The ‘Rebirth’ That Changed the World

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The Renaissance refers to the period in European history between the 14 th and 17 th centuries. As a historical era, the Renaissance was preceded by the Middle Ages, and succeeded by the early modern period. Alternatively, the Renaissance is considered more of an intellectual and cultural movement, rather than a historical period. Indeed, today, the Renaissance is commonly thought of as a time when Europe made great advances in the sciences and the arts, as opposed to the Middle Ages. Although the Renaissance is most notably connected with the Italian city-states, as it was there that this movement originated, over time the Renaissance would spread to other parts of Europe as well.

From Darkness to Light: The Origins of the Renaissance

The word ‘renaissance’ comes from the French language, and simply means ‘rebirth’. This term was made popular by the 19 th century French historian Jules Michelet, and became current in the English language during that time. This concept was further developed by Jacob Burckhardt, a Swiss historian who lived around the same time as Michelet. We owe our modern perception of the Renaissance largely to these two historians. The so-called ‘rebirth’ of Europe may be considered from two different angles. On the one hand, it may be taken specifically to mean the ‘re-discovery’ of classical texts and learning, and their application in the sciences and arts. On the other, it may refer more generally to the ‘revitalization’ of Europe as a result of such activities.

The word ‘renaissance’, however, was already in use long before Michelet and Burckhardt. In 1550, the word ‘renascita’, which is Italian for ‘renewal’ or ‘rebirth’ was used by Giorgio Vasari in his book, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori , which translates to mean Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects . Vasari, commonly considered to be Europe’s first art historian, wrote about the artistic development that was occurring in Italy during his lifetime, as well as during the centuries preceding his time.

Vasari divided his work into three periods, starting with the ‘First Age’. This period included the 13 th / 14 th century painter Giotto, who was one of the first Italian painters to have moved from the stylized depiction of humans, landscape, and architecture to a more naturalistic one. Thus, Vasari credits Giotto with the establishment of a new movement in painting, though modern historians normally consider him to be part of a ‘proto-Renaissance’. The ‘Second Age’ deals with the 15 th century, and includes such artists as Masaccio, Donatello, and Brunelleschi. The ‘Third Age’ deals with Vasari’s own lifetime, i.e. the first half of the 16 th century, and includes such artists as Leonardo , Raphael, and Michelangelo . These artists were said to be working in ‘ la maniera moderna ’ (meaning ‘the modern manner’).

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Known as one of the greatest Renaissance artworks to be completed. (Leonardo da Vinci / Public domain )

Death Before Rebirth

Since the word ‘renaissance’ means ‘rebirth’, it must naturally follow that the era preceding it was a period of ‘death’. Not only does this contrast enhance the meaning of the term the ‘Renaissance’, but it also serves to heighten the significance of this moment in history. One of the negative effects of such a comparison is the reduction of the preceding Middle Ages to a period of ‘darkness’. Thus, the Middle Ages is popularly viewed today as a time when Europe made little intellectual and cultural development, and when the continent was gripped by war, famine, and disease. However, this supposedly grim image of medieval Europe is not entirely true, as scholarship continued during this period, and impressive works of art were made. Nevertheless, such achievements are often overshadowed, and even forgotten, as a result of the comparison between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

It cannot be denied, however, that the thinkers and artists of both periods were looking at the world around them using two very different sets of lenses. During the Middle Ages, Europe was dominated by Christianity . Its thinkers saw their work primarily as a means to glorify God, and the arts were dominated by religious themes. During the Renaissance, on the other hand, a concept known as ‘humanism’ began to develop in Italy, and gradually grew in popularity. One of the important principles promoted by the proponents of humanism was the centrality of the human being. Unlike the medieval scholars and artists, who saw God as the center of the universe, their Renaissance counterparts placed humans at the center of the universe. In other words, the humanists focused their attention on humans, their nature, activities, and achievements.

Byzantine monumental Church mosaics are one of the great achievements of medieval art. These are from Monreale in Sicily from the late 12th century. (Berthold Werner / CC BY-SA 3.0 )

Nevertheless, this does not mean that the humanists rejected Christianity completely. The humanists also believed in a doctrine called syncretism, which suggests that there is a unity and compatibility of truth found in all philosophical schools and religious systems. Another significant feature of humanism is its belief in a rebirth of a lost human spirit and wisdom, and the efforts made by these humanists to recover them. This is one of the reasons for the revival of classical Greek and Roman art, literature, and learning, and its huge influence during the Renaissance.

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Biblical Renaissance artwork – ‘Creation of Adam’ by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Rome. ( creedline / Adobe stock)

Where and When it Begun

It has been argued that there is no single starting point, in both place and time, for the Renaissance, as this movement occurred in different parts of Europe at different points in time. Nonetheless, the Italian Renaissance, which is deemed to be ‘the’ Renaissance by most people, is considered almost universally to have begun in central Italy, the city of Florence in particular, during the 14 th century.

One of the key figures of the Renaissance during this stage is Francesco Petrarca (commonly referred to in English as Petrarch), who was born in Arezzo, Tuscany, in 1304. Apart from being a poet, Petrarch was also a scholar and a diplomat. In addition, Petrarch was deeply interested in classical wisdom, and regarded the Roman Empire to be the pinnacle of human achievement. Incidentally, it was Petrarch who coined the term ‘Dark Ages’, as he saw the period following the collapse of the Roman Empire as a time of social decline in Europe. Petrarch also argued that if there was a divine presence guiding the course of history, then human beings are placed at its center. In other words, history is not perceived to be a sequence of religious events, but one of human achievements, which is one of the central tenets of humanism.

Nobles of the Italian City-States

At the same time that humanism was taking shape as an intellectual movement, central and northern Italy saw the rise of the city-states. The political situation in these Italian regions would play an equally important role in the growth of the Renaissance. The Italian city-states were often fiercely independent, and a strong sense of rivalry developed amongst them. Additionally, these city-states were normally led by new noble families, i.e. those that had risen to power not long ago.

One of the most notable of these new nobilities is the Medici family, which ruled over Florence for much of the period between the 15 th and 18 th centuries. The Medicis were originally peasants from Tuscany, and they trace their roots to the village of Cafaggiolo in the Mugello, the valley of the Sieve, north of Florence. Some of these villagers emigrated to Florence, due to the opportunities afforded by commerce, and grew rich.

Renaissance artwork of the Virgin and Child with St Anne and members of the Medici family as saints. (Giovanni Maria Butteri / Public domain )

The Medicis too obtained their wealth by these means, though they were not amongst the leading families. After 1340, however, many of these powerful families were forced into bankruptcy, as a consequence of an economic depression in Europe. Furthermore, around the same time, Europe was struck by the black death, which reached its peak between the 1340s and 1350s. The Medici family managed to survive these disasters, and even seized the opportunity to advance their position in Florentine society. Amongst the most famous members of the Medici family were Cosimo de’ Medici, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Catherine de’ Medici.

The Medicis, as well as other noble families of the Italian city-states, needed to legitimize their new social and political status, and were keen to display their wealth. As these nobles were also heavily influenced by humanism, they decided to do this through the arts and culture. Thus, these powerful families became important patrons of the arts, and it was their great wealth that funded the Renaissance. As humanists, the Italian nobles had no qualms in drawing inspiration from both the pagan classical world, as well as from Christianity. Whilst the former allowed these nobles to link themselves with the lost glories of ancient Greece and Rome, the latter displayed their piety. Thus, the works of art of the Renaissance had both paganism and Christianity as their subject matter. For instance, at the same time Raphael was painting The School of Athens , Michelangelo was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel , both are considered some of the best Renaissance artworks to be completed by two of the most influential artists.

The School of Athens by Raphael (‘Stanze di Raffaello’) in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. (Raphael / Public domain )

The generous patronage of these Italian noble families resulted in the rise of many distinguished artists, whose works are still admired even today. Some of the most prominent of these Renaissance artists were Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, all of whom were patronized by the Medicis at some point of time in their careers. In the case of Raphael, he did not work under the Medicis in Florence, as they were in exile for much of Raphael’s life. Instead, he received patronage in Rome from Pope Leo X, who was himself a member of the Medici family.

Although the Renaissance began in Florence, it spread to other Italian city-states as well, including Venice, Genoa, Milan, and Bologna. The Renaissance even arrived in Rome itself during the early 15 th century, thanks to a series of popes collectively known as the ‘Renaissance Papacy’. Although most of the popes from this period were morally bankrupt, they invested heavily in the arts and architecture of Rome, as they saw it as a way to increase the prestige of the Eternal City. The rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica, for instance, began in 1506, during the reign of Pope Julius II (who, incidentally, chose his papal name in honor of Julius Caesar, and is nicknamed the ‘Warrior Pope’), whilst the Sistine Chapel was painted during the papacies of Sixtus IV, Julius II, Clement VII, and Paul III.

Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican. ( Sergii Figurnyi / Adobe stock)

Spreading Further Afield

Furthermore, the Renaissance spread from Italy, and subsequently reached different parts of Europe. As these countries lie to the north of the Italian peninsula, it became known as the ‘Northern Renaissance’. Nevertheless, as the Renaissance arrived in these countries, the trajectories it took varied considerably from one country to another. In France, for instance, the Renaissance arrived following Francis I’s involvement in the Italian Wars during the 16 th century. The French monarch was inspired by the Renaissance in Italy, and imported many Italian works of art, as well as artists, including Leonardo da Vinci. The Renaissance in France received a boost in 1533, when the 14-year-old Catherine de’ Medici married Henry II, the son of Francis, and the future king of France. Catherine brought with her the latest arts, music, and science from her native Florence to the French court.   

Funeral sculptures of Henry II and Catherine de’ Medici in Basilique de Saint-Denis, France. (Germain Pilon / CC BY-SA 3.0 )

The Renaissance in Germany, on the other hand, was quite different from that of Italy and France. The Renaissance spread to that area of Europe around the second half of the 15 th century, and subsequently became intertwined with the Protestant Reformation of the early 16 th century. Apart from its involvement in the Protestant Reformation, the German Renaissance is most notable for the printing press, which was invented by Johannes Gutenberg around the middle of the 15 th century. Gutenberg, along with Albrecht Dürer, renowned for his woodcut prints, are two of the biggest names of the German Renaissance.

The Renaissance also made its way to England, arriving around the middle of the 16 th century, and coincided with the Elizabethan era. The Renaissance in England is most notable for its literary achievements, and the playwright William Shakespeare is undoubtedly its brightest stars. Other figures of the English Renaissance include Shakespeare’s fellow playwrights Christopher Marlowe and Ben Johnson, the composer Thomas Tallis, and the courtier-poet Edmund Spenser.

Naturally, the Renaissance could not last forever, and eventually came to an end. Some scholars consider the 16 th century to be the end of the Renaissance, whilst others argue that it ended a century later. In the case of Italy, several factors have been identified as contributing to the demise of the Renaissance. These include economic decline, the political instability as a result of the many wars fought by other European powers on Italian soil, and the Counter-Reformation. Nevertheless, it may be argued that as a movement, the Renaissance did not come to an end. Instead, its ideas were transformed, and continued to be developed, albeit in a different direction.

Top image: ‘The Last Judgment’ fresco by the Renaissance painter Michelangelo covering the whole altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity. It is known as one of the greatest pieces of Renaissance artwork.            Source: Francesco  Todaro / Adobe stock

By Wu Mingren

Carter, A., 2016. Did Artists in the Renaissance Know They Were in the Renaissance?. [Online] Available at: https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/did-artists-in-the-renaissance-know-they-were-in-the-renaissance/

Dickson, A., 2017. Key features of Renaissance culture. [Online] Available at: https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/key-features-of-renaissance-culture

Gabriele, M., 2019. There Was No Such Thing As The 'Renaissance'. [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewgabriele/2019/03/07/no-such-thing-renaissance/#4776a3635897

History.com Editors, 2019. Renaissance. [Online] Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/renaissance

Jones, J., 2010. Jacob Burckhardt: The Renaissance revisited. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/jul/10/jacob-burckhardt-civilization-renaissance-italy

New World Encyclopedia, 2015. Renaissance. [Online] Available at: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Renaissance

Oxford University Press, 2019. Renaissance Art and Architecture. [Online] Available at: https://www.oxfordartonline.com/page/renaissance-art-and-architecture

Szalay, J., 2016. The Renaissance: The 'Rebirth' of Science & Culture. [Online] Available at: https://www.livescience.com/55230-renaissance.html

The Art Story Foundation, 2019. Summary of Early Renaissance. [Online] Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/early-renaissance/

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019. Medici family. [Online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Medici-family

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019. Renaissance. [Online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance

The Telegraph, 2015. The Renaissance – why it changed the world. [Online] Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/london-culture/renaissance-changed-the-world/

Whitfield, J. H., 2019. Petrarch. [Online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Petrarch

Wilde, R., 2018. A Beginner's Guide to the Renaissance. [Online] Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/guide-to-the-renaissance-1221931

Wu Mingren (‘Dhwty’) has a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient History and Archaeology. Although his primary interest is in the ancient civilizations of the Near East, he is also interested in other geographical regions, as well as other time periods.... Read More

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Architecture in renaissance italy.

Recto: Temple Types: in Antis and Prostyle (Vitruvius, Book 3, Chapter 2, nos. 2, 3); Verso: Temple Types: Peripteral (Vitruvius, Book 3, Chapter 2, no. 5).

Attributed to a member of the Sangallo family

Villa Almerico (Villa Rotunda), from I quattro libri dell'architettura di Andrea Palladio (Book 2, page 19)

Andrea Palladio

I quattro libri dell'architettura di Andrea Palladio. Ne'quale dopo un breue trattato de' cinque ordini (Book 2, page 19)

Department of European Paintings , The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2002

Italian Renaissance architects based their theories and practices on classical Roman examples . The Renaissance revival of classical Rome was as important in architecture as it was in literature. A pilgrimage to Rome to study the ancient buildings and ruins, especially the Colosseum and Pantheon, was considered essential to an architect’s training. Classical orders and architectural elements such as columns, pilasters, pediments, entablatures, arches, and domes form the vocabulary of Renaissance buildings. Vitruvius’ writings also influenced the Renaissance definition of beauty in architecture. As in the classical world, Renaissance architecture is characterized by harmonious form, mathematical proportion, and a unit of measurement based on the human scale .

During the Renaissance, architects trained as humanists helped raise the status of their profession from skilled laborer to artist. They hoped to create structures that would appeal to both emotion and reason. Three key figures in Renaissance architecture were Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, and Andrea Palladio.

Brunelleschi Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) is widely considered the first Renaissance architect. Trained as a goldsmith in his native city of Florence, Brunelleschi soon turned his interests to architecture, traveling to Rome to study ancient buildings. Among his greatest accomplishments is the engineering of the dome of Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo). He was also the first since antiquity to use the classical orders Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian in a consistent and appropriate manner.

Although Brunelleschi’s structures may appear simple, they rest on an underlying system of proportion. Brunelleschi often began with a unit of measurement whose repetition throughout the building created a sense of harmony, as in the Ospedale degli Innocenti (Florence, 1419). This building is based on a modular cube, which determines the height of and distance between the columns, and the depth of each bay.

Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) worked as an architect from the 1450s onward, principally in Florence, Rimini, and Mantua. As a trained humanist and true Renaissance man, Alberti was as accomplished as an architect as he was a humanist, musician , and art theorist. Alberti’s many treatises on art include Della Pittura (On Painting), De Sculptura (On Sculpture), and De re Aedificatoria (On Architecture). The first treatise, Della Pittura , was a fundamental handbook for artists, explaining the principles behind linear perspective, which may have been first developed by Brunelleschi. Alberti shared Brunelleschi’s reverence for Roman architecture and was inspired by the example of Vitruvius, the only Roman architectural theorist whose writings are extant.

Alberti aspired to re-create the glory of ancient times through architecture. His facades of the Tempio Malatestiano (Rimini, 1450) and the Church of Santa Maria Novella (Florence, 1470) are based on Roman temple fronts. His deep understanding of the principles of classical architecture are also seen in the Church of Sant’Andrea (Mantua, 1470). The columns here are not used decoratively, but retain their classical function as load-bearing supports. For Alberti, architecture was not merely a means of constructing buildings; it was a way to create meaning.

Palladio Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) was the chief architect of the Venetian Republic, writing an influential treatise, I quattro libri dell’architettura (Four Books on Architecture, 1570; 41.100.126.19 ). Due to the new demand for villas in the sixteenth century, Palladio specialized in domestic architecture , although he also designed two beautiful and impressive churches in Venice, San Giorgio Maggiore (1565) and Il Redentore (1576). Palladio’s villas are often centrally planned, drawing on Roman models of country villas. The Villa Emo (Treviso, 1559) was a working estate, while the Villa Rotonda (Vicenza, 1566–69) was an aristocratic refuge. Both plans rely on classical ideals of symmetry, axiality, and clarity. The simplicity of Palladian designs allowed them to be easily reproduced in rural England and, later, on southern plantations in the American colonies .

Department of European Paintings. “Architecture in Renaissance Italy.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/itar/hd_itar.htm (October 2002)

Further Reading

Heydenreich, Ludwig H. Architecture in Italy, 1400–1500 . Rev. ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.

Hopkins, Andrew. Italian Architecture: From Michelangelo to Borromini . London: Thames & Hudson, 2002.

Lotz, Wolfgang. Architecture in Italy, 1500–1600 . Rev. ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.

Additional Essays by Department of European Paintings

• Department of European Paintings. “ The Rediscovery of Classical Antiquity .” (October 2002)
• Department of European Paintings. “ Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) .” (originally published October 2004, last revised March 2010)
• Department of European Paintings. “ Titian (ca. 1485/90?–1576) .” (October 2003)
• Department of European Paintings. “ The Papacy and the Vatican Palace .” (October 2002)

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List of Rulers

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• Venice and Northern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
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• 16th Century A.D.
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• Architecture
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• High Renaissance
• Italian Literature / Poetry
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• Palladianism
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Essay Samples on Renaissance

The impact of technology on art: a modern renaissance.

Introduction The influence of technology on art is an evolving narrative that reflects the symbiotic relationship between human creativity and innovative tools. From the early use of simple tools to create cave paintings to the digital art technologies of today, the integration of technology in...

• Art History
• Impact of Technology
• Renaissance

Europe's Cultural Mosaic: Exploring the Diverse Traditions and Beliefs

Europe, or The Old Continent during the Exploration Era, has been a relatively small home compared to other mainlands. Although taking up only one-fifteenth of the world’s land area, it holds some of the most sophisticated and advanced technology and culture at some point in...

Renaissance: Niccolo Machiavelli and Galileo Galilei

The Renaissance fostered great people, art, and ideas, to say the least. A movement that arose within the period was humanism. Humanism emphasizes practice and scientific studies of human nature and relays the idea of man as the measure of all things. Humanism focuses on...

• Galileo Galilei

The Invention Of The Pocket Watch During The Renaissance Period

“The Renaissance was a period in European history, covering the span between the 14th and 17th centuries and marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity. The traditional view focuses more on the early modern aspects of the Renaissance and argues that it was...

Impact of The Crusades During the Renaissance Period

The Renaissance wouldn't have occurred without the Crusades. Labeled in history as one of the most significant events to happen in History developed in Europe. They entitled religious wars impacting many Christians throughout Europe during the middle ages. The groundwork for developing towards the Crusades...

• Religious Beliefs

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Analysis of Hans Holbein’s The French Ambassadors

The French Ambassadors is a Renaissance era oil painting by Hans Holbein the Younger. Painted in 1533, it is a portrait of Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve, french ambassadors to the court of english King Henry VIII. Holbein, a Lutheran, came from a...

Hans Holbein’s The French Ambassadors: A Masterful Legacy of the Renaissance Period

Personal Voice I chose this painting, first and foremost, because of its subject matter. I think it offers a tangible window into the past, it gives insight into a period I very much find fascinating. Having seen the painting in person, I was impressed by...

Characteristics of the Work The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein

Characteristics of the work The Ambassadors is a work of Renaissance style painted in oil on oak board, with dimensions of 209 cm. high by 207 cm. wide. It is one of the first standing portraits, complete, almost life-size. The work has the characteristics of...

Philosophy of Humanism In Renaissance Period

The Renaissance was a time of “rebirth” and, for art, that meant a change in style. Humanism is the philosophy emphasizing the worth of the individual, the rational abilities of humankind, and the human potential for good (1111). The concept of humanism is complicated; everyone...

The Renaissance Value of Humanism

As a leader living during the Renaissance, I am focused on the qualities of humanism, individualism and secularism based on Machiavelli’s book. The Prince, written by Niccolò Machiavelli, is a guide for successful monarchial rule. From its origins in 14th-century Florence, the Renaissance spread across...

Michelangelo Buonarroti And His World Famous Works

The Sistine Chapel in Rome is certainly one of the most famous monuments of the Italian high Renaissance. The images which adorn the altar wall of this chapel are so engrained into our culture, all thanks to Michelangelo Buonarroti. Michelangelo’s best-known paintings are on the...

• Italian Renaissance
• Michelangelo

Michelangelo As A Great Figure Of Renaissance

Michelangelo was born in the middle and late Renaissance period, who drew Renaissance art to its peak. Among varieties of Michelangelo’s biographers, much ink was spilled in the work The Last Judgement most of the writers. Giorgio Vasari and Ascanio Condivi, who are both presents...

The Renaissance: the Defining Era of Art

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were vital times for the development of a modern society. After the subsequent shift away from the Middle Ages, it became apparent that this era in world history would re-examine values that the ancient Greeks and Romans created. These values,...

The Renaissance and the Humanists: Revival of Classics

The Darkness of 1300s was a time of famine, plague, continuous wars, and ignorance. There were very few achievements in science and art due to the crisis. The Renaissance (1350-1550s) is an epoch of the world significance in the history of European culture, which replaced...

Italy as the Birthplace and Center of Renaissance

In Italian the Renaissance is pronounced “Il Rinascimento” and Italy was a primary place when it came to the Rinascimento, but what made Italy the destination of the Renaissance? Other countries such as France, Germany, and England went through similar culture changes, but Italy was...

Edgar Allan Poe, Innovator in Literature of New England Renaissance

“And so being young and dipped in folly I fell in love with melancholy”. This quote by Edgar Allan Poe hints at the estranged life he lived. Edgar Allan Poe was a poet who suffered a life of hardships and whose only solace came from...

• Edgar Allan Poe
• New England

Self-Portrait By Leonardo Da Vinci – A True Renaissance Man

The puzzling self-portrait by Leonardo Da Vinci was drawn using Sanguine which is a blood red colour and has been fading. According to researchers it was drawn on paper of linen and cotton fibers and hemp rags. We got it straight from Turin where it...

• Leonardo Da Vinci

Best topics on Renaissance

1. The Impact of Technology on Art: A Modern Renaissance

2. Europe’s Cultural Mosaic: Exploring the Diverse Traditions and Beliefs

3. Renaissance: Niccolo Machiavelli and Galileo Galilei

4. The Invention Of The Pocket Watch During The Renaissance Period

5. Impact of The Crusades During the Renaissance Period

6. Analysis of Hans Holbein’s The French Ambassadors

7. Hans Holbein’s The French Ambassadors: A Masterful Legacy of the Renaissance Period

8. Characteristics of the Work The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein

9. Philosophy of Humanism In Renaissance Period

10. The Renaissance Value of Humanism

11. Michelangelo Buonarroti And His World Famous Works

12. Michelangelo As A Great Figure Of Renaissance

13. The Renaissance: the Defining Era of Art

14. The Renaissance and the Humanists: Revival of Classics

15. Italy as the Birthplace and Center of Renaissance

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Renaissance Essay | Essay on Renaissance for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Renaissance Essay:  The word renaissance means rebirth. The Renaissance that took place in the periods of 15th and 16th centuries in is probably one of the most celebrated periods of European history. Even though two different periods of history do not have any form of demarcation, but the Renaissance worked to mark the transition from the Medieval Age to the Modern Age.

The Renaissance period is celebrated all around the globe. It has been an important period to pave culture and art in Europe, which eventually spread all around the globe due to colonization.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Renaissance for Students and Kids in English

We are providing students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic “Renaissance” for reference.

Long Essay on Renaissance 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Renaissance is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

The meaning of the word renaissance means rebirth. The period was named so as the period was almost sort of a rebirth of human thinking capabilities, art, culture, morals, etc. in Europe between the 14th and 16th centuries (the period is debated over at times). The Renaissance has been associated with the great social change which followed the later medieval period (a period of crisis).

It is said that the period of the Renaissance was a break from the middle ages, but some argue that it was an extension of the Middle Ages. Humanism is what defined the earliest ages of the Renaissance which came into being and formation because of the events of the later Middle Ages, such as the fall of the Roman Catholic Church and intellectual reawakening.

Humanism developed earliest in Italy by secular men like Leonardo Bruni, Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola, etc. instead of scholar clerics who had dominated intellectual awakening in the Middle Ages. Dante was one of the predecessors of Humanism.

The concept of Humanism was derived from the concept of Roman Humanitas and the rediscovery that was done regarding Greek philosophy, one of them being the Protagoras. The fall of Constantinople worked as a boost for Humanism and many scholars arrived in Italy with books and manuscripts from Greece. Humanism emphasized took all forms of human manifestation as a subject emphasized the dignity of man and highlighted about the compatibility and unity of all truth in syncretism.

Art and architecture, science, culture, geography, religion, political establishments and human thinking, all went through massive changes in the period of Renaissance. In art, during the Renaissance, the ‘point perspective’ was established, and artists like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael flourished. Even though Michelangelo and Raphael were contemporaries and both had their unique styles with the touch of Renaissance Art and hence were both celebrated for their differences and similarities. Da Vinci’s work on human anatomy is something that the world will be ever grateful for. Thus, intermingling art and science also led to scientific and medical changes and improvements during the Renaissance.

Europeans set out into the world and found out about the various other continents and established trade connections (which later led to colonization) with them. Christopher Columbus is one big name during this period because he was responsible for the finding of the ‘New World’ (even though Columbus intended to find a different route to India, hence when he landed on the ‘New World’ he thought it was India).In the scientific fieldworks of Copernicus, Vesalius, Galileo, Kepler, etc. are celebrated. Copernicus’ book ‘On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres’ (translated in English) and Vesalius’ book on ‘The Workings of the Human Body’ paved ways for several other scientific innovations and discoveries, which, many historians argue paved the way for the Modern Age to set in. The Renaissance period, to be defined in a single sentence was the period of light, discoveries, rebirth and reawakening.

Short Essay on Renaissance 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Renaissance is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

The time between the Medieval Age and Modern Age in Europe is called the Renaissance French word), which means rebirth. It took place around 14th to 16th centuries which at times are also argued by historians.

Some prefer to segregate the Renaissance as a separate period. In contrast, some say that it was the extension of the later Medieval Age, regardless it worked as a marking period between the medieval age and modern age. Art, architecture, science, literature, geography, human thinking and philosophy, religion and political and social structures, all by mingling with each other, went through a reawakening or rebirth, hence living up to the name of the period in history.

Humanism, beginning in Italy, was one of the earliest characteristic features of the Renaissance which was inspired by the Roman ‘Humanitas’ and was ignited by the fall of Constantinople which led scholars to come into Italy with Greek books and manuscripts. Historians believe that the later developments in science and medicine are what led to the setting in of the Modern Age.

10 Lines on Renaissance in English

• The word Renaissance means ‘rebirth’.
• The Renaissance took place in Europe between the Middle and Modern Ages.
• The time of the Renaissance starts from the 14th century and continues onto the 16th century.
• One main and earliest aspect of the Renaissance was Humanism.
• The fall of Constantinople in 1453 ignited the path for Humanism.
• New continents were discovered during this time, which led to trade and later colonization.
• Ptolemaic astronomy replaced Copernican astronomy.
• Leonardo Da Vinci’s works on the human body and anatomy through his art paved the way for development in science.
• There was an increased interest in Classical Scholarship values.
• The Renaissance is one of the most celebrated historical times.

FAQ’s on Huck Finn Essay

Question 1.  What does the word Renaissance Mean?

Answer:  The French word Renaissance means rebirth.

Question 2.  When did the Renaissance take place?

Answer:  The Renaissance took place between the 14th and 16th centuries.

Question 3.  What is the Renaissance?

Answer: Renaissance is a period in history when in Europe science, art, medicine, astronomy, art, literature, human values flourished and had an awakening, leaving an impact all over the world. It worked as a demarcation point between the middle and modern age.

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• Introduction
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Intellectual and religious revolution, the race for cultural development.

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The Renaissance period: 1550–1660

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Literature and the age

In a tradition of literature remarkable for its exacting and brilliant achievements, the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods have been said to represent the most brilliant century of all. (The reign of Elizabeth I began in 1558 and ended with her death in 1603; she was succeeded by the Stuart king James VI of Scotland , who took the title James I of England as well. English literature of his reign as James I, from 1603 to 1625, is properly called Jacobean.) These years produced a gallery of authors of genius, some of whom have never been surpassed , and conferred on scores of lesser talents the enviable ability to write with fluency, imagination, and verve. From one point of view, this sudden renaissance looks radiant, confident, heroic—and belated, but all the more dazzling for its belatedness. Yet, from another point of view, this was a time of unusually traumatic strain, in which English society underwent massive disruptions that transformed it on every front and decisively affected the life of every individual. In the brief, intense moment in which England assimilated the European Renaissance, the circumstances that made the assimilation possible were already disintegrating and calling into question the newly won certainties, as well as the older truths that they were dislodging. This doubleness, of new possibilities and new doubts simultaneously apprehended, gives the literature its unrivaled intensity.

In this period England’s population doubled; prices rocketed, rents followed, old social loyalties dissolved, and new industrial, agricultural, and commercial veins were first tapped. Real wages hit an all-time low in the 1620s, and social relations were plunged into a state of fluidity from which the merchant and the ambitious lesser gentleman profited at the expense of the aristocrat and the laborer, as satires and comedies current from the 1590s complain. Behind the Elizabethan vogue for pastoral poetry lies the fact of the prosperity of the enclosing sheep farmer, who sought to increase pasture at the expense of the peasantry. Tudor platitudes about order and degree could neither combat nor survive the challenge posed to rank by these arrivistes. The position of the crown, politically dominant yet financially insecure, had always been potentially unstable, and, when Charles I lost the confidence of his greater subjects in the 1640s, his authority crumbled. Meanwhile, the huge body of poor fell ever further behind the rich; the pamphlets of Thomas Harman (1566) and Robert Greene (1591–92), as well as Shakespeare ’s King Lear (1605–06), provide glimpses of a horrific world of vagabondage and crime, the Elizabethans’ biggest, unsolvable social problem .

The barely disguised social ferment was accompanied by an intellectual revolution, as the medieval synthesis collapsed before the new science , new religion, and new humanism. While modern mechanical technologies were pressed into service by the Stuarts to create the scenic wonders of the court masque , the discoveries of astronomers and explorers were redrawing the cosmos in a way that was profoundly disturbing:

And freely men confess that this world’s spent, When in the planets, and the firmament They seek so many new…. (John Donne, The First Anniversary , 1611)

The majority of people were more immediately affected by the religious revolutions of the 16th century. A person in early adulthood at the accession of Elizabeth in 1558 would, by her death in 1603, have been vouchsafed an unusually disillusioning insight into the duty owed by private conscience to the needs of the state. The Tudor church hierarchy was an instrument of social and political control, yet the mid-century controversies over the faith had already wrecked any easy confidence in the authority of doctrines and forms and had taught people to inquire carefully into the rationale of their own beliefs (as John Donne does in his third satire [c. 1596]). The Elizabethan ecclesiastical compromise was the object of continual criticism , from radicals both within (who desired progressive reforms, such as the abolition of bishops) and without (who desired the return of England to the Roman Catholic fold), but the incipient liberalism of individuals such as John Milton and the scholar and churchman William Chillingworth was held in check by the majority’s unwillingness to tolerate a plurality of religions in a supposedly unitary state . Nor was the Calvinist orthodoxy that cradled most English writers comforting, for it told them that they were corrupt, unfree, unable to earn their own salvations, and subject to heavenly judgments that were arbitrary and absolute. Calvinism deeply affects the world of the Jacobean tragedies, whose heroes are not masters of their fates but victims of divine purposes that are terrifying yet inscrutable.

The third complicating factor was the race to catch up with Continental developments in arts and philosophy. The Tudors needed to create a class of educated diplomats, statesmen, and officials and to dignify their court by making it a fount of cultural as well as political patronage. The new learning, widely disseminated through the Erasmian (after the humanist Desiderius Erasmus ) educational programs of such men as John Colet and Sir Thomas Elyot , proposed to use a systematic schooling in Latin authors and some Greek to encourage in the social elites a flexibility of mind and civilized serviceableness that would allow enlightened princely government to walk hand in hand with responsible scholarship. Humanism fostered an intimate familiarity with the classics that was a powerful incentive for the creation of an English literature of answerable dignity. It fostered as well a practical, secular piety that left its impress everywhere on Elizabethan writing. Humanism’s effect, however, was modified by the simultaneous impact of the flourishing Continental cultures , particularly the Italian. Repeatedly, crucial innovations in English letters developed resources originating from Italy—such as the sonnet of Petrarch , the epic of Ludovico Ariosto , the pastoral of Jacopo Sannazzaro , the canzone, and blank verse—and values imported with these forms were in competition with the humanists’ ethical preoccupations. Social ideals of wit, many-sidedness, and sprezzatura (accomplishment mixed with unaffectedness) were imbibed from Baldassare Castiglione ’s Il cortegiano , translated as The Courtyer by Sir Thomas Hoby in 1561, and Elizabethan court poetry is steeped in Castiglione’s aristocratic Neoplatonism, his notions of universal proportion, and the love of beauty as the path to virtue. Equally significant was the welcome afforded to Niccolò Machiavelli , whose lessons were vilified publicly and absorbed in private. The Prince , written in 1513, was unavailable in English until 1640, but as early as the 1580s Gabriel Harvey , a friend of the poet Edmund Spenser , can be found enthusiastically hailing its author as the apostle of modern pragmatism . “We are much beholden to Machiavel and others,” said Francis Bacon , “that write what men do, and not what they ought to do.”

So the literary revival occurred in a society rife with tensions, uncertainties, and competing versions of order and authority, religion and status, sex and the self. The Elizabethan settlement was a compromise; the Tudor pretense that the people of England were unified in belief disguised the actual fragmentation of the old consensus under the strain of change. The new scientific knowledge proved both man’s littleness and his power to command nature; against the Calvinist idea of man’s helplessness pulled the humanist faith in his dignity, especially that conviction , derived from the reading of Seneca and so characteristic of the period, of man’s constancy and fortitude , his heroic capacity for self-determination. It was still possible for Elizabeth to hold these divergent tendencies together in a single, heterogeneous culture , but under her successors they would eventually fly apart. The philosophers speaking for the new century would be Francis Bacon, who argued for the gradual advancement of science through patient accumulation of experiments, and the skeptic Michel de Montaigne (his Essays translated from the French by John Florio [1603]), who denied that it was possible to formulate any general principles of knowledge.

Cutting across all of these was the persistence of popular habits of thought and expression. Both humanism and Puritanism set themselves against vulgar ignorance and folk tradition, but, fortunately, neither could remain aloof for long from the robustness of popular taste. Sir Philip Sidney , in England’s first Neoclassical literary treatise , The Defence of Poesie (written c. 1578–83, published 1595), candidly admitted that “the old song [i.e., ballad] of Percy and Douglas” would move his heart “more than with a trumpet,” and his Arcadia (final version published in 1593) is a representative instance of the fruitful cross-fertilization of genres in this period—the contamination of aristocratic pastoral with popular tale, the lyric with the ballad , comedy with romance , tragedy with satire, and poetry with prose. The language, too, was undergoing a rapid expansion that all classes contributed to and benefited from, sophisticated literature borrowing without shame the idioms of colloquial speech. An allusion in Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606–07) to heaven peeping “through the blanket of the dark” would become a “problem” only later, when, for instance, Samuel Johnson complained in 1751 that such words provoked laughter rather than awe. Johnson’s was an age when tragic dignity implied politeness, when it was below the dignity of tragedy to mention so lowly an object as a blanket. But the Elizabethans’ ability to address themselves to several audiences simultaneously and to bring into relation opposed experiences, emphases, and worldviews invested their writing with complexity and power.

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The Influence of China on The European Renaissance

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