The Age of The Renaissance

The Middle Ages is considered by many historians a time period of ignorance, where little or no advancements took place. The church was the center of attention, and instead of a philosophical view of the world, beliefs were centered around superstitions. On the other hand, the rebirth of education and advancements that followed the Middle Ages and was labeled as the Renaissance. There have been arguments as to whether the Renaissance is actually a separate time period, or instead, just a high point of the Middle Ages. The Renaissance was definitely a distinct era. Inspiration from the ancient Greek and Roman people led to humanism beliefs and encouraged man to become multi-talented. Therefore, the Renaissance man, a man who excelled in many areas, became prominent. Also, the ideals of the people changed, and religion no longer ruled their lives. Advancements in all aspects of life virtually improved. Thus, many aspects lead to the change from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, a time period that was undoubtedly distinct from the Middle Ages.

During the Renaissance, ideas and beliefs changed greatly. Humanism, a crucial movement to the Renaissance, stressed secular ideas and beliefs and the importance of advocating human’s ideas and values. The movement drew inspiration from the ancient Greek and Roman people. Therefore, classical education began to circulate once again (document 1). The people of the Middle Ages had great amounts of ignorance and believed in faith and false ideas while focusing on childish possessions, but during the Renaissance these ignorant beliefs disappeared and humanism took its place (document 2). The church was no longer the center of life for many and some lost interest in the traditional beliefs that the church was preaching. Yet, it was still an important aspect. The church had lost large amounts of power and wealth due to the humanism movement because people became less reliable on the church and could think and follow ideals on their own. But, the church was rapidly changing during this time period also, because religion was focused on wealth and the money it could obtain (document 5). Instead, many supported the idea that the people who held secular beliefs should be ruled by noblemen that were scholarly, highly educated, and not only concerned with goods (document 5). Entirely new ideas and beliefs began to circulate during the Renaissance, and the church lost much of its great influence.