Concepts

Understand Fundamentals
  • In history of Europe, the last phase of mediaeval period i.e. 13th to 16th century is known as the Period of renaissance. During this period reformation, religious reform movement and geographical discoveries laid the foundation of the modern era. Hence this period is also known as the Age of Renaissance.
  • Renaissance is the French word ‘rebirth’. The Renaissance was a period in European history which led to a revival in classical learning and wisdom.
  • The Renaissance had a profound impact on European cultural history as a new era of learning that led to advancements in new ideas and through them some of the most important moments in Human history. Chief among them was the Age of Discovery that led to the discovery of the North American continent and the French Revolution that changed the political landscape of Europe.
  • As a cultural movement, the Renaissance encompassed innovative flowering of Latin and vernacular literature, beginning with the 14th-century resurgence of learning based on classical sources.
  • The age of Renaissance developed a spirit of adventure among the the Europeans especially the Portuguese, the Spanish and the English to undertake voyages of discovery and discover new lands like the new continent of America, the land of Brazil Mexico, West Indies, etc.
  • New musical instruments like violin and the piano became popular.In the Renaissance period, artists portrayed nature and life of people along with religious subjects. Architecture, science and medical science too flourished and achieved great heights.
  • The invention of printing press made common people educated and improved their reasoning power. Influence of church reduced. Feudalism came to an end. This encouraged the people towards new discoveries.
  • Copernicus proved the theory of rotation of the earth on its axis and its revolution around the Sun. Galileo, invented the Water Balance and also discovered the Compass, Telescope etc,.
  • The effects of Renaissance were Reformation, development of vernacular language, a number of major geographical explorations, the development of humanism, growth of nation- states and ultimately, the Industrial Revolution.
  • Origin of the Renaissance
    The Renaissance began in the universities and monasteries of Italy, where people rediscovered old manuscripts in Latin and Greek on science, art and literature. Some of these manuscripts were brought to Italy by Greek scholars fleeing Constantinople after the city’s fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Scholars tried to understand Greek and Roman beliefs, which placed more emphasis on the significance of human life on Earth rather than on an afterlife.

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    In literature, great Italian poets such as Petrarch began to explore human emotion. By the early 1500s three painters of genius – Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael – were at the height of their powers, bringing new energy and realism to the art while architects designed new and elegant buildings that echoed the classical styles of ancient Greece and Rome.

    The Renaissance was fueled by new technology. Printing with movable type, developed by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany, made books cheaper and more plentiful, so new ideas could be ready by more people.

    The Spread of Humanism
    At the turn of the 14th century, a new cultural movement began to take shape in Italy. This was humanism. Humanism promoted the idea that man was the centre of his own universe and that advancements in education, classical arts and science should be accepted for the betterment of humankind