Rebirth of a new age Throughout the history of man, different time periods establishes different factors. Some of these factors may include art, literature, education, religion, and many other dissimilar alterations. According to the humanist writers and thinkers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, some of these different factors were created to distinguish the Renaissance, an era of rebirth and learning of the ancient Greeks and Romans, from the Middle Ages, a thousand years of ignorance and superstition. In contrast to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance was drastically different from the Middle Ages in both economic, and social ways. First, economically speaking, the Renaissance had completely different systems than the manorial system of the Middle Ages. For example, during the Renaissance, land was not an important issue as it was to the people of the Middle Ages.
But instead, great wealth was gained from commerce, especially the import-export trade of goods from the East. In addition, through trade, merchant of the Renaissance has accumulated so much wealth that they turned to another system that helped organizes their money. For instance, the usage of banking and money-lending were developed. Banks rapidly spread throughout Europe from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. This factor made the Renaissance seem like a more organized and well developed era than the Middle Ages.
The Essay on Renaissance and Political System
Renaissance is a French term meaning rebirth or revival. Renaissance period in the history of Europe starts from the beginning of 15th century to the end of 16th century. The Renaissance manifested the transitional phase from the medieval ages to the modern era. It was a time of social and cultural changes in Europe. It is believed to be the beginning of the modern world and hence the new phase of ...
Finally, during the 1300 A. D, the Renaissance provided growth to capitalistic values through the! ^0 putting-out! +/- system. In this system, wealthy merchants would obtain management of the raw material and paid others to produce it into the completed product for trade. This system was beneficial to both the workers and the owners.
Unlike the French nobles, who wasted their time contributing in the court life, the wealthy Italian nobles moved into cities and joined together with the prosperous merchants to form a patrician ruling class. In this prosperous, experienced Italian society, money altered principles and became a new benefit for the Renaissance period. As it was rejoiced in a poem, ! ^0 Money makes the man, Money makes the stupid pass for bright, ! – Money buys the pleasure-giving women, Money keeps the soul in bliss, ! -! +/- (Power and Imagination; p. 83) During the Medieval times, one! s status in society was concluded by what your family did previously. The Church dominated over the opinions and existences of its supporters. This led to the formation of scholasticism, in which the churches! wishes and demands were to be pursued.
Man was aware of himself only as a member of a race, people, party, family, or corporation. (Document 2) In Italy, this dissolved into the air, and individualism was constructed. Man began to think less of the world to come, instead, he concentrated more on the life his living now. Intellectuals torn away from the abiding teachings of the church and began to extend beyond these wisdom’s. They started humanism, the idea that one is equal to the ancients. And Humanists identified them as! ^0 those studies which perfect and adorn man.
! +/- (Textbook) Furthermore, with the rise of Humanism, numerous cultural improvements were made in art, music and literature. In contrast to the art works of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance was an age of great art. With the decrease in the church! s power, artists were free to paint and produce self-interest pieces without following the church! s demands. Paintings became more detailed and depths were included in them. The artist! s perspective was changed, and because of this, many magnificent art works were produced during the Renaissance. Above all, the church itself has processed through various changes.
The Essay on Time Capsule: The Renaissance and the Age of Baroque
The European Renaissance was a time of cultural transition in Europe from a society rooted in religious focus and compliance to humanism and artistic expression. Although the majority of Europe remained loyal to the Papacy and Catholicism, the Renaissance brought about scholars that encouraged human artistic expression and self-fulfillment. Prior to the Renaissance, devout Catholics led simple ...
More specifically, the church! s powers during the Renaissance slowly started to decline. People began to notice the church was getting off track, and that it! s focus was starting to shift toward other unreligious things, this was expressed by a humanist writer, ! ^0 The religious orders nowadays care only for money and sensuality, while learning has passed to secular princes and peers and courtiers! – the tables of priests and divines run with wine and echo with drunken noise and scurrilous jest, while in princes! halls is heard only grave and modest conversation on points of morals or knowledge! -! +/- (Document 5) On the outside, people saw the church as an ideal place, and conversation was only concentrated on religious and moral teachings. But, as it turns out, priests were running around with wines in their hands, and money and pleasure was the real concern for the church. With these things going on, society began to change its focus and opinions from the teachings of the church, thus, the church! s control was weakened. Because economic and social changes were made, the Renaissance was certainly a period distinct from the Middle Ages.
Throughout history, the viewers can see numerous examples of these two factors changing drastically, and with these changes, minds! of human beings got exposed to new ideas and skills, which gave the Renaissance its uniqueness. And as one of the greatest writers in history, Shakespeare expressed this new age as, ! ^0 O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in! t! ! +/- (The Tempest; act 5, sc. 1, lines 182-185).
