Do you know what the word renaissance means? It is the French word for “rebirth.” The Renaissance was a period of rebirth that took place in Europe between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.

During the Middle Ages which preceded it, a great many things in life had been neglected. During the Renaissance, learning was revived. Commerce, art, music, literature, and science flourished. The Renaissance changed the whole way of life in Europe.

Before the Renaissance, most people lived on large estates, called manors. There were few towns or cities. All social life centered in the manor, in the nobleman’s castle, or in the bishop’s palace. Europe was divided into countless small states, each ruled by a prince or a nobleman.

During the Renaissance, this way of living changed completely. Towns and cities grew rapidly as commerce, industry, and trade developed. Wealthy merchants became important. Instead of numerous small states, larger units of government grew up and became nations. People began to use coined money.

People also began to question their old beliefs. They became more interested in the affairs of this world and less concerned about life in the next. This was when the revolt against the practices and ideas of the Roman Catholic Church took place, which resulted in the Reformation and the establishment of the Protestant religion.

The Renaissance didn’t begin suddenly, though sometimes the date for its beginning is given as 1453 when Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks, or 1440, when printing was invented. The forces that brought it about had been at work for many years before.

The Renaissance reached its height first in Italy before spreading to the other countries of Europe. In Italy there was gathered a great group of brilliant artists, among them Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Cellini, and others whose work we still admire today.