The Renaissance Essay -- History Renaissance Europe

During the 1400s and 1500s in mainly Italy there was a major change that took place in all aspects of life. This was called the Renaissance and was a movement that helped give rebirth to culture and the arts. This movement went away from the medieval times that had forced a feudalist system on its people. The Medieval times were a dark period in European history that saw a major decline in arts and government. This declining can be attributed to a number of different reasons. One of which was the Bubonic Plague that spread throughout Europe and Asia and killed millions of its inhabitants. This was the final nail in the medieval coffin. Throughout these times the major focus for government and the arts were all religion oriented. The Black Death killed with no discrimination and took the lives of priest and thieves alike. This caused many to question their religion. After all, how could one preach that good people will be held in high regards with their lord when they can die from the same vicious disease as hookers or evil people? The Black Death was also somewhat of a cleansing for many societies. Although it was a horrible epidemic it took care of the rapid population expansion and just like a with brush clear-cut the undergrowth to allow for more growth to occur. This in fact did happen and after the Plague has resided new ideas and policies grew from it. There were now more areas that people could be skilled in and housing and work were in great need which caused and economic boom. With this prosperity allowed more time for positive thinking and this thinking lead people to go back and study their humanity and to see how they could improve themselves. The rebirth started in northern Italy and gave rise to many great improve... ...eans saw it first in action during this time. The Renaissance saw many improvements in everything from conditions of living to ideals and perception. This time was exactly that, a shift in perspective. It demonstrated how growth is good and how crisis's can turn out to be helpful in the long run although they may see tragic at the time they occur. During the Medieval period, there were two focal points to European society: feudalism and the Church; the first to govern the material world, the second to govern the spiritual world. Both feudalism and the Church were highly-structured and rigid systems, intolerant of change, and both clearly supported the proposition that the rights of the individual be lower than the rules of society. The thing that eroded the power of these institutions, and was central to the Renaissance, was the rebirth of the individual in society.