rena**sance
the rena**sance,also known as"il rinascimento"(in italian),was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and art**tic transformation,at the dawn of modern european h**tory.it marks the transitional period between the end of the middle ages and the start of the modern age.the rena**sance ** usually considered to h**e begun in the 14th century in italy and the 16th century in northern europe.
h**toriography
the term rebirth(rinascenza),to indicate the flour**hing of art**tic and scientific activities starting in italy in the 13th century,was first used by italian h**torian giorgio vasari in the vite,publ**hed in 1550.the term rena**sance ** the french translation,used by french h**torian jules michelet,and expanded upon by sw**s h**torian jacob burckhardt(both in the 1860s).rebirth ** used in two ways.first,it means red**covery of ancient classical texts and learning and their applications in the arts and sciences.second,it means that the results of these intellectual activities created a revitalization of european culture in general.thus it ** possible to speak of the rena**sance in two different but meaningful ways:a rebirth of classical learning and knowledge through the red**covery of ancient texts,and also a rebirth of european culture in general.
leonardo da vinci's vitruvian man,an example of the blend of art and science during the rena**sance.[edit]multiple rena**sances
during the last quarter of the 20th century many scholars took the view that the rena**sance was perhaps only one of many such movements.th** ** in large part due to the work of h**torians like charles h.haskins(1870–1937),who made a convincing case for a"rena**sance of the 12th century,"as well as by h**torians arguing for a"carolingian rena**sance."both of these concepts are now widely accepted by the scholarly community at large;as a result,the present trend among h**torians ** to d**cuss each so-called rena**sance in particular terms,e.g.,the italian rena**sance,the rena**sance,etc.th** terminology ** particularly useful because it eliminates the need for fitting"the rena**sance"into a chronology that previously held that it was preceded by the middle ages and followed by the reformation,which many believe to be inaccurate.the entire period ** now often replaced by the term"early modern".(see period**ation,lumpers and splitters)
other periods of cultural rebirth h**e also been termed a"rena**sance;such as the harlem rena**sance or the san franc**co rena**sance.the other rena**sances are not considered further in th** article,which will concentrate on the rena**sance as the transition from the middle ages to the modern age.
critical views
since the term was first created in the 19th century,h**torians h**e various interpretations on the rena**sance.
the predominant view ** that the rena**sance of the 15th century in italy,spreading through the rest of europe,represented a reconnection of the west with classical antiquity,the absorption of knowledge—particularly mathematics—from arabic,the return of experimental**m,the focus on the importance of living well in the present(e.g.human**m),an explosion of the d**semination of knowledge brought on by printing and the creation of new techniques in art,poetry and architecture which led to a radical change in the style and substance of the arts and letters.th** period,in th** view,represents europe emerging from a long period as a backwater,and the r**e of commerce and exploration.the italian rena**sance ** often labelled as the beginning of the"modern"epoch.
marx**t h**torians view the rena**sance as a pseudo-revolution with the changes in art,literature,and philosophy affecting only a tiny minority of the very wealthy and powerful while life for the great mass of the european population was unchanged from the middle ages.they thus deny that it ** an event of much importance.
today most h**torians view the rena**sance as largely an intellectual and ideological change,rather than a substantive one.moreover,many h**torians now point out that most of the negative social factors popularly associated with the"medieval"period-poverty,ignorance,warfare,religious and political persecution,and so forth-seem to h**e actually worsened during th** age of machi**elli,the wars of religion,the corrupt borgia popes,and the intensified witch-hunts of the 16th century.many of the common people who lived during the"rena**sance"are known to h**e been concerned by the developments of the era rather than viewing it as the"golden age"imagined by certain 19th century authors.perhaps the most important factor of the rena**sance ** that those involved in the cultural movements inquestion-the art**ts,writers,and their patrons-believed they were living in a new era that was a clean break from the middle ages,even if much of the rest of the population seems to h**e viewed the period as an intensification of social maladies.
johan huizinga(1872–1945)acknowledged the ex**tence of the rena**sance but questioned whether it was a positive change.he argued that the rena**sance was a period of decline from the high middle ages,which destroyed much that was important.the latin language,for instance,had evolved greatly from the classical period and was still used in the church and by others as a living language.however,the rena**sance obsession with classical purity saw latin revert to its classical form and its natural evolution halted.robert s.lopez has contended that it was a period of deep economic recession.meanwhile george sarton and lynn thorndike h**e both critic**ed how the rena**sance affected science,arguing that progress was slowed.
start of the rena**sance
the santa maria del fiore church of florence,italy.florence was the capital of the rena**sancethe rena**sance has no set starting point or place.it happened gradually at different places at different times and there are no defined dates or places for when the middle ages ended.the starting place of the rena**sance ** almost universally ascribed to central italy,especially the city of florence.one early rena**sance figure ** the poet dante alighieri(1265–1321),the first writer to embody the spirit of the rena**sance.
petrarch(1304–1374)** another early rena**sance figure.as part of the human**t movement he concluded that the height of human accompl**hment had been reached in the roman empire and the ages since h**e been a period of social rot which he labeled the dark ages.petrarch saw h**tory as social,art and literary advancement,and not as a series of set religious events.re-birth meant the red**covery of ancient roman and greek latin heritage through ancient manuscripts and the human**t method of learning.these new ideas from the past(called the"new learning"at the time)triggered the coming advancements in art,science and other areas.
another possible starting point ** the fall of constantinople to the turks in 1453.it was a turning point in warfare as cannon and gunpowder became a central element.in addition,byzantine-greek scholars fled west to rome bringing renewed energy and interest in the greek and roman heritage,and it perhaps represented the end of the old religious order in europe.
italian rena**sance
main article:italian rena**sance
raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the classical past with the features of h** rena**sance contemporaries.school of athens(above)** perhaps the most extended study in th**.the italian rena**sance was intertwined with the intellectual movement known as rena**sance human**m and with the fiercely independent and combative ** societies of the city-states of central and northern italy in the 13th to 16th centuries.italy was the birthplace of the rena**sance for several reasons.