Renaissance, Essay Example

Renaissance was a historic transformation, a physical and mental evolution from the ashes of the middle ages. It was like a silver lining in the dark clouds of despair and religious accentuation. The middle Ages were characterised by autocratic powers of the church. The religious dogmas prevented the scope of education, scientific and technological progress and swept the nation with unperturbed, orthodox vigilance. However, Renaissance established the authoritarian shift of church to political institutions; coupled with an expansion in trade, commerce and literacy. Why do you think was the reason of such change?

1. Firstly the rich Italian cities like Florence, Milan, Ferrara and Venice started to feel and spread the vibes of Renaissance. The affluent people began to spend money on painting, learning and infrastructural developments. As a consequence, learning flourished and the life of people felt the essence of development.
2. There was a paradigm shift from the church based orthodox ideology to modern liberal thinking. People were no longer restricted to discover, learn, paint and venture;
3. During Renaissance art receive great applaud… be it painting, sculpture or art… and artists were no longer degraded as mere artisans. They received their share of acknowledgement and emerged as great individual talents in the society. The artists used mathematics, science and technology to give a new dimension to the Renaissance art.
4. Renaissance opened the era of literacy…ordinary people could read and write unlike the medieval period, where only the priests and monks were educated. However it was possible because of the discovery of printing press; and the Europeans used the technology to print books. Thus books opened new dimension in the lives of people; and increased education as well as inter cultural exchange.
5. There was a metamorphosis of the society as well. People explored professions like : merchants, explorers, artists and so on. In the middle ages, people thought that serving the church was the ultimate goal; renaissance changed the orthodox outlook and made people look forward to a more progressive, developed and meaningful life.

Reference

Catholic Encyclopedia,(2007) Western Schism

The Open University Guide to the Renaissance,(2007) Defining the Renaissance