45 Facts About Renaissance

Traditional view focuses more on the early modern aspects of the Renaissance and argues that it was a break from the past, but many historians today focus more on its medieval aspects and argue that it was an extension of the Middle Ages.

Intellectual basis of the Renaissance was its version of humanism, derived from the concept of Roman humanitas and the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of Protagoras, who said that "man is the measure of all things".

In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, and in science to an increased reliance on observation and inductive reasoning.

Renaissance began in the Republic of Florence, one of the many states of Italy.

From Italy, the Renaissance spread throughout Europe in Flanders, France, Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and elsewhere.

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Some observers have called into question whether the Renaissance was a cultural "advance" from the Middle Ages, instead seeing it as a period of pessimism and nostalgia for classical antiquity, while social and economic historians, especially of the longue duree, have instead focused on the continuity between the two eras, which are linked, as Panofsky observed, "by a thousand ties".

Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period.

Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism and human emotion in art.

In stark contrast to the High Middle Ages, when Latin scholars focused almost entirely on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural science, philosophy and mathematics, Renaissance scholars were most interested in recovering and studying Latin and Greek literary, historical, and oratorical texts.

One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity.

Many of its cities stood among the ruins of ancient Roman buildings; it seems likely that the classical nature of the Renaissance was linked to its origin in the Roman Empire's heartland.

However, this does not fully explain why the Renaissance occurred specifically in Italy in the 14th century.

Renaissance was certainly underway before Lorenzo de' Medici came to power – indeed, before the Medici family itself achieved hegemony in Florentine society.

In some ways, Renaissance humanism was not a philosophy but a method of learning.

Education during the Renaissance was mainly composed of ancient literature and history as it was thought that the classics provided moral instruction and an intensive understanding of human behavior.

One of the distinguishing features of Renaissance art was its development of highly realistic linear perspective.

The outstanding architectural work of the High Renaissance was the rebuilding of St Peter's Basilica, combining the skills of Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Sangallo and Maderno.

Renaissance vaults do not have ribs; they are semi-circular or segmental and on a square plan, unlike the Gothic vault, which is frequently rectangular.

Renaissance artists were not pagans, although they admired antiquity and kept some ideas and symbols of the medieval past.

Renaissance accidentally stumbled upon the Americas, but believed he had reached the East Indies.

However, the Renaissance had a profound effect on contemporary theology, particularly in the way people perceived the relationship between man and God.

Humanism and the Renaissance therefore played a direct role in sparking the Reformation, as well as in many other contemporaneous religious debates and conflicts.

In 1495 the Italian Renaissance arrived in France, imported by King Charles VIII after his invasion of Italy.

The Renaissance style came directly from Italy during the Quattrocento to Hungary first in the Central European region, thanks to the development of early Hungarian-Italian relationships—not only in dynastic connections, but in cultural, humanistic and commercial relations—growing in strength from the 14th century.

Acceptance of Renaissance art was furthered by the continuous arrival of humanist thought in the country.

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Renaissance's library was second only in size to the Vatican Library.

Renaissance had new monasteries built in Late Gothic style for the Franciscans in Kolozsvar, Szeged and Hunyad, and for the Paulines in Fejeregyhaza.

Italian Renaissance artists were among the first to paint secular scenes, breaking away from the purely religious art of medieval painters.

The Polish Renaissance lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and was the Golden Age of Polish culture.

Renaissance arrived through the influence of wealthy Italian and Flemish merchants who invested in the profitable commerce overseas.

Renaissance built twelve churches for Ivan III, including the Cathedral of the Archangel, a building remarkable for the successful blending of Russian tradition, Orthodox requirements and Renaissance style.

Renaissance arrived in the Iberian peninsula through the Mediterranean possessions of the Aragonese Crown and the city of Valencia.

Renaissance humanism flourished in the early 16th century, with influential writers such as philosopher Juan Luis Vives, grammarian Antonio de Nebrija and natural historian Pedro de Mexia.

Later Spanish Renaissance tended towards religious themes and mysticism, with poets such as Luis de Leon, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross, and treated issues related to the exploration of the New World, with chroniclers and writers such as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Bartolome de las Casas, giving rise to a body of work, now known as Spanish Renaissance literature.

For Michelet, the Renaissance was more a development in science than in art and culture.

Renaissance asserted that it spanned the period from Columbus to Copernicus to Galileo; that is, from the end of the 15th century to the middle of the 17th century.

Renaissance saw in the Renaissance the emergence of the modern spirit of individuality, which the Middle Ages had stifled.

Renaissance's book was widely read and became influential in the development of the modern interpretation of the Italian Renaissance.

Rather than a period with definitive beginnings and endings and consistent content in between, the Renaissance can be seen as a movement of practices and ideas to which specific groups and identifiable persons variously responded in different times and places.

Many people who lived during the Renaissance did not view it as the "golden age" imagined by certain 19th-century authors, but were concerned by these social maladies.

Johan Huizinga acknowledged the existence of the Renaissance but questioned whether it was a positive change.

Finally, Joan Kelly argued that the Renaissance led to greater gender dichotomy, lessening the agency women had had during the Middle Ages.

Some historians have begun to consider the word Renaissance to be unnecessarily loaded, implying an unambiguously positive rebirth from the supposedly more primitive "Dark Ages", the Middle Ages.

Term Renaissance has been used to define periods outside of the 15th and 16th centuries.

The San Francisco Renaissance was a vibrant period of exploratory poetry and fiction writing in that city in the mid-20th century.

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