Renaissance





The Renaissance was a cultural movement and time period in the History of
Europe, considered to mark the end of the Middle Ages. The Renaissance is
usually considered to have begun in the 14th century in Italy and the 16th
century in northern Europe. It is also known as "Rinascimento" (in Italian).

"Renaissance" is a French word coined by Burckhardt in the 19th century that
literally means rebirth. This name has been historically used in contrast to
the Dark Ages, a term coined by Petrarch to refer to what we now call the
Middle Ages. Following Petrarch's lead, the term had long been considered
appropriate because during the Renaissance, the literature and culture of
the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome were adopted by scholars and
artists in Italy, and widely disseminated through printing. During the last
quarter of the 20th century, however, more and more scholars began to take a
view that the Renaissance was perhaps only one of many such movements. This
was in large part due to the work of historians like Charles H. Haskins, who
made convincing cases for a "Renaissance of the 12th century," as well as by
historians arguing for a "Carolingian renaissance." Both of these concepts
are now accepted by the scholarly community at large; as a result, the
present trend among historians is to discuss each so-called renaissance in
more particular terms, e.g., the Italian Renaissance, the English
Renaissance, etc. This terminology is particularly useful because it
eliminates the need for fitting "The renaissance" into a chronology that
previously held that it was preceded by the Middle Ages and followed by the
Reformation, which was sometimes patently false. The entire period is now
more often replaced by the term 'Early Modern' in the practice of
historians. See periodization.

The following article discusses the Renaissance in its most traditional
form, as a cultural and scientific rebirth that began in 14th c. Italy,
where one of its main centers was Florence, and then spread throughout
Europe. In science, theology, literature and art, the Renaissance began with
a rediscovery of and focus on older Greek texts which had disappeared from
the West in the latter years of the Roman Empire. Towards the end of the
Renaissance, scientists increasingly began to reject Greek (and biblical)
sources in favor of new discoveries. Theologians continued to focus on the
Greek, as well as on the relatively new study of Hebrew and Aramaic. The
second half of the Renaissance is also the period of the Reformation.

Rinascimento is also considered as a sort of natural evolution of Italian
Umanesimo.

Some historians mark the end of the Renaissance as May 6, 1527, when Spanish
and German troops sacked Rome. In music history the end date is usually
given as 1600, or even 1620.

Important Renaissance Political Leaders:

   * Italian Renaissance
        o Leonardo Bruni
        o Isabella d'Este
        o Francesco Foscari
        o Cosimo de Medici
        o Lorenzo de Medici (a.k.a. Lorenzo il Magnifico)
        o Coluccio Salutati
        o Francesco Sforza
   * Northern European Renaissance
        o Francis I of France
        o Henry VIII of England
        o Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Important Renaissance Religious Figures:

   * Pope Nicholas V
   * Pope Pius II
   * Pope Sixtus IV
   * Pope Alexander VI
   * Pope Julius II
   * Pope Leo X
   * Girolamo Savonarola
   * Martin Luther

Important Renaissance authors:

   * Andrea Alciato
   * Ludovico Ariosto
   * Leonardo Bruni
   * Giovanni Boccaccio
   * Erasmus
   * Michel de Montaigne
   * Petrarch, Francesco Petrarca
   * Baldassare Castiglione
   * Coluccio Salutati
   * Francois Rabelais
   * William Shakespeare
   * Thomas More

Important Renaissance artists:

   * Fra Angelico
   * Giotto di Bondone
   * Hieronymus Bosch
   * Pieter Brueghel the Elder
   * Pieter Brueghel the Younger
   * Jan Brueghel the Elder
   * Jan Brueghel the Younger
   * Filippo Brunelleschi
   * Donatello
   * Sandro Botticelli
   * Albrecht DŸrer
   * Michelangelo
   * Raphael, Raffaello Sanzio
   * Leonardo da Vinci
   * Jan van Eyck
   * Rogier van der Weyden

See also: Early Renaissance paintings, Art History

Important Renaissance scientists:

   * Tycho Brahe
   * Copernicus
   * Johannes Kepler
   * Paracelsus

Important Renaissance philosophers:

   * Nicholas of Cusa
   * Marsilio Ficino
   * Niccolo Machiavelli
   * Francesco Guicciardini

Important Renaissance composers:

   * Josquin Des Prez
   * Johann Fux

Important Renaissance dancemasters:

   * Domenico da Piacenza
   * Fabritio Caroso
   * Thoinot Arbeau