The Renaissance as a Distinct Period of Time

The Renaissance as a Distinct Period of Time The Middle Ages was a time in history where everyone was faithful to religion as well as others. Also, in the Middle Ages, people were encouraged to always try their best; they were encouraged to fight for the highest achievement possible and to never give up. The Renaissance, however, was more focused on becoming matured and finding a way to be successful at everything one does. During this era, people fought to become all-sided men, also known as; renaissance men.

This means they are not only successful in one type of art but in all types of art, as well as math, science, and literature. The Renaissance was a distinct period in time that was separated from the Middle Ages and began a new era. The writers and thinkers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries believed that they took part in a completely different era than the Middle Ages. They believed that they were part of a more modern and current era known as the Renaissance. These people considered the Renaissance to be a new beginning of the Middle Ages (Ferguson Doc. 1).

Renaissance means ”rebirth” in french, which means is a whole new period of time. The art and literature of the Renaissance offered a “rebirth” of hope, and interest in life and how it was represented. During the Renaissance, religion was seen through a new perspective, the renaissance men found the scientific answers that were against the church heresies. Kepler, an astronomer, used observation and mathematics to prove his thesis. He did not accept what he was told by the church or the ancients. Instead, he proved his theories (Document 7). People were expanding their horizons, art and science was in full splendor.

The philosophy of humanism also came about. The middle ages areknown for being limited in their artistic ideas because humans weren’t supposed to practice many hobbies of the flesh. The renaissance men wanted to be unique, to stand out, to be different and make an impression on others. Da Vinci, a complex man of the renaissance was interested in anatomy and the realistic portrayal of the human body. He was the ideal man of the renaissance due to his many talents and interests (document 6). During the renaissance, protestantism came about and their churches were much more simplistic.

Although catholic and orthodox churches were still stereotypically adorned heavily. The renaissance men were interested and concerned with things of this world, unlike believers, and leaders of the church, who were concerned about heaven. Burchhardt identified a difference between the medieval man, who was controlled by faith throughout his life, and the renaissance man, who fought for the highest individual development (Document 2). The beginning of the Renaissance in the mid-fourteenth century was marked by a turn from medieval life and values dominated by the Church toward the philosophical principles of humanism.

The Renaissance was a distinct period in time that was separated from the Middle Ages and began a new era. It was during this time that literacy started to become more widespread and that art really started to take form. Paintings became more realistic, and elements created by the Greeks and the Romans were brought back into paintings; society began to organize itself in a similar way to how it works today. Knowledge and writings that were common to the Greeks and Romans that had lost their importance to the Europeans during the Middle Ages were restored in the Renaissance.