Spirit of the Renaissance

The Renaissance was to a large degree a revolt against the dogmatism and other-worldliness of the Middle Ages, when scholars concentrated on theology and religious matters and almost ignored the classical heritage from Greece and Rome. The Renaissance was a general flowering of the human spirit that brought more concern with man and his earthly interests than with theological abstractions. The scholars who held this viewpoint are called humanists. They believed with the ancient Greek philosopher Protagoras that “man is the measure of all things.”

The new spirit powerfully championed the importance of free inquiry. Under its impulse astronomy was eventually reformed by Copernicus and Galileo, and science began assuming its modern form. Feudalism, which had grown weaker in the late Middle Ages, died out and was replaced by a trend toward nationalism and statism (concentration of power under strong monarchs). National languages began to flourish and Latin became less important. The invention of printing made books a common and potent means of spreading knowledge.

The discovery of America and the exploration of the Far East also stimulated the movement. The fall of Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire to the Turks in 1453 sent many classical scholars into western Europe, where they helped to promote the revival of learning already in progress.