Three Major Factors Of The Renaissance

The word Renaissance means “rebirth” and it was the response to the brutal hardships of daily life in the middle ages. It was mostly based around humanism, fine arts, and reformation of the Church. Early humanists such as Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and Niccolo Machiavelli wrote books and expressed new ideas about humanism which made everyday life more secular and free willing. The three major factors of the Renaissance that were different from the middle ages were Humanism, improvements in discovery, and the Reformation of the Church.

In the middle ages, people’s lives were very dedicated to two things: the Church, and feudalism. Leading thinkers were preoccupied with the individual’s responsibility to God designing ways to make Feudalism better. People were thought that they were predestined in life and that they could only seek salvation through God. Religion was part of everyday life and almost all people in Europe were Christian. This lasted for about three centuries until a crisis struck Europe. In the beginning of the 14th century the Black Death swooped over Europe and a third of the population died. After that event there was The Hundred Years War which also further weakened Europe. Feudalism eventually broke down and people began to doubt the Church. New thinkers evolved such as Desiderius Erasmus, one of the greatest humanists, Niccolo Machiavelli,he wrote The Prince, and Francesca Petrarch, another humanist. They wrote books that introduced more secular, aristocratic, and brought back ancient Greek ideas. They often looked back at secular ideas of the Greeks and Romans. Instead of being concerned about salvation and the destiny of the soul, Greek philosophy was designed to teach men how to liv...

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...ted to protest against the Church. Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg and that sparked the Protestant reformation. Luther’s idea and teachings were spread throughout Europe and a new church, The Protestant church, was formed. They believed that the Bible and music should be written in the vernacular so the common people could sing and read it. Protestant teachings were mostly based on the bible and justification of faith alone.

There is probably no era in history more revolutionary. The Renaissance was a gateway of transformation from the middle ages to the modern world. It emphasized that man should be free and choose their own destiny. Individualism and free will impacted people by innovating new ideas and inventions. The reformation of the Church led to promoted capitalism and a strong work ethic which eventually led to democracy.