The Renaissance 2 Essay, Research Paper

The Renaissance was a period in history were many changes happend during the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a period of new inventions and beliefs.

The Renaissance was drastically different from the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages the church held most of the power . Exploration and learning was almost put to a stop. During the Renaissance, society was changed into a society which was dominated by central political institutions with. Also, people’s curiosity overcame thier fear and many people started to venture out and explore. New schools and colleges becamemore and more common.

The Renaissance was started in many rich Italian cities, like Florence, Ferrara, Milan ,and Venice. Because these cities were very wealthy, many merchants spent money on different things, such as painting, learning, new banking techniques, and new systems of government. These things gave rise to a new type of scholar, the humanist. Humanism was subjects concerned with humankind and culture… They stutied various things such as Latin, Greek language, literature and philosophy. Music and mathmatics were also studied as well.

The Renaissance gave way to new forms of painting , art and sculpture. During the Renaissance, artist were seen as independent personalities. Many artists merged mathmatics with art , in order to become more precise in their measurements and to make sure an object was supported both rationally and porportionally. As a result things became more life like. Artists also studied the way light hits objects and the way our eyes percieve light. A new kind of paint called oil paint was used. This allowed the artist to create texture , mix colors, and allow more time for corrections before it dried.

The printing press was probaly the most important advance in technology. Europeans first used movable metal type to print a book. On small pieces of metal they engraved single letters of the alphabet. These could then be arranged and rearranged to form words and sentences. Johan Gutenberg is usually given credit for the first book printed, a copy of the Bible. By the 1500’s printing presses where fairly well spread. The printing press had many effects on the world. First of all, it made books much easier to come by, wich made them cheaper. That ment common people could afford them. As a result literacy became

more widespread, in contrast to the Middle Ages where only monks and church officials were able to read. Second, since many more people were able to read, they wanted to read subjects other than religious or scientific work. So books on other subjects were published. Also many books were published in languages other than Latin, like English, Portugeese, Spanish, French, and Italian. A third effect was that scholars had better access to one anothers work. They could also read works from the ancient and medieval periods.

The Renaissance also had an effect on the general society. Many people became interested in politics. Also, people became interested in the world outside of thier towns. Many became explorers, merchants, and mapmakers. Religion really changed during the Renaissance. In the Middle ages people were concerned with serving the church and getting to heaven. But the rise in arts and education gave people something to look forward to, and a life worth living. So people based thier lives around other things instead of the church. Because of the increase in literacy people learned that the Catholic Church only told the people what they wanted them to hear. This caused many people to break away from the churh.

The Renaissance produced many great minds. Leonardo da Vinci was one of them. He had many works of art such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He also is regarded as a great inventor. He is credited for coming up with the idea of the helicopter. He would dissected corpses to learn more about human anatomy. Another great man was a German monk, Martin Luther. He taught Biblical studies at the University of Wittenberg. Luther’s beliefs challenged the church, and many people agreed with his ideas. He was eventually kicked out from the chuch and he started Protestantism.

The Renaissance was a time of new awakening in Euroupe. It include the general loss of power by the church, an increase in literacy and education, and an exploration period.