The Renaissance: The Period Of The Renaissance

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The “Renaissance” refers to the period in European history when social and political changes were brought about as an interest for classical literature, art and learning spawned in the Italian city states during the 14th century. Revived from the values and intellectual traditions of the ancient Greece and Rome, this era led literary scholars and great thinkers to strive for self-perfection and to replace the predominant Christian church doctrines of the middle ages with the humanistic sentiments of the new age.

The period of the Renaissance echoed with the glory of individual efforts and human achievements. Literary scholars, strongly emphasized about the human potential in obtaining “excellence” in all aspects of life and encouraged people to shape their own destiny through their actions (Sherman 293). Since the Renaissance was inspired by the enthusiasm to rediscover the spirit of the Greco-Roman culture, people sought to emulate everything from art to politics of the classical antiquity. …show more content…

Due to constant rivalry and friction between the religious leaders and the ruling families, these individual provinces were almost always at war with each other for the conflicts along their borders and the struggle for supremacy. Surrounded by the political chaos, the city-states which prided in their republic form of government could no longer preserve the traditional political order. Soon, “strong men with dictatorial power took over” (Sherman 298). As these new leaders took an innovative approach in governing the city-states, they prompted the new spirit of the renaissance that invalidated the medieval values of religious hierarchy and dependency on authority and replaced them with the humanistic values introduced by the renaissance scholars. Driven by the sentiments of the period, political leaders now relied on their individual efforts and self-will to rule the

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