Just the Facts: The Renaissance

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No period of history can boast of greater beauty than The Renaissance. This was the period, from approximately early 14th century to late 16th century, that gave us Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Shakespeare.

The word ‘renaissance’ is a French word which means ‘rebirth’. The people credited with beginning The Renaissance were deliberately trying to imitate the classical models of Ancient Greek and Rome. They were attempting to return to that golden age that they felt represented a high point for civilization.

This was an age when the world seemed to come alive with invention, creativity, imagination and curiosity. It was an age of exploration marked by the voyages of Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Ponce de Leon, Balboa, De Soto and Marco Polo. It was a time when Venice was the world’s busiest seaport and Florence was the heart of great art. At the beginning of The Renaissance, Italy, just as in the golden age of Ancient Rome, was again the center of world culture. Genoa, Milan, Venice, Rome, Verona and Florence were economic, trade and financial leaders for Europe. The Renaissance movement quickly spread all over the continent.

The invention of the Gutenberg printing press in 1450 is a milestone which marks the beginning of The Renaissance. It allowed the spread of ideas possible at a faster rate and in a broader geographical sense. It made The Renaissance possible as a European-wide phenomenon.