RENAISSANCE
The term RENAISSANCE, literally means "rebirth" and is the period in European civilisation immediately following the Middle Ages, conventionally held to have been characterised by a surge of interest in classical learning and values. The Renaissance also witnessed the discovery and exploration of new continents, the decline of the feudal system and the growth of commerce, and the invention or application of such potentially powerful innovations as paper, printing, the mariner's compass, and gunpowder. To the scholars and thinkers of the day, however, it was primarily a time of the revival of classical learning and wisdom after a long period of cultural decline and stagnation.
The new birth of resurrection known as the "Renaissance" is usually considered to have begun in the city of Florence, Italy in the fourteenth century. Various theories have been proposed to account for its origins and characteristics, focusing on a variety of factors including the social and civic peculiarities of Florence at the time: its political structure; the patronage of its dominant family - The Medici ( bankers, who gave support to various artists ) ; and the migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy following the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, and finally Rome during the Renaissance Papacy.
At all events the Renaissance was heralded through the recovery by Italian scholars of Greek and Roman classical literature. When the movement began, the civilization of Greece and Rome had long been exerting a partial influence, not only upon Italy, but on other parts of mediaeval Europe as well. But in Italy especially, the people began to feel a returning consciousness of their ancient culture, and a desire to reproduce it. To Italians the Latin language was easy, and their country abounded in documents and monumental records which symbolized past greatness.
The Renaissance begins in Italy and spreads north to the rest of Europe.
• Italy was the centre of trade between northern Europe and Africa.
• It was the centre of Greco-Roman culture.
• It was the centre of the Catholic Church.
• The Renaissance runs between 1300 and 1650.
The key role played by the Medici, a banking family and later Ducal ruling house, in patronising and stimulating the arts. Lorenzo de' Medici (1449–1492) was the catalyst for an enormous amount of arts patronage, encouraging his countrymen to commission works from the leading artists of Florence, including Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo Buonarroti.
CAUSES OF THE RENAISSANCE
- Lessening of Feudalism
- Church disrespected- Nobility in chaos- Growth of middle class through trade
- Fall of Constantinople
- Greek scholars fled to ItalyEducationNostalgia among the Italians to recapture the glory of the Roman empire.
Characteristics of the Renaissance :
Humanism
Individualism
Questioning Attitude
Interest in Secular, or non-religious worldly matters.
Rise of the middle class ( Disposable income)
Great achievements in Arts.