Religious and Political Aspects of Renaissance in Europe

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Looking at the Renaissance The word Renaissance was first used and defined by French historian Jules Michelet (1798–1874), in his 1855 work, Histoire de France, whose literal translation from French into English is "Rebirth. The Renaissance was the humanistic revival of classical art, architecture, literature, and learning that originated in Italy in the 14th century and later spread throughout Europe. It profoundly affected the European intellectual life in the early modern period and marked the transition from medieval to modern times. Beginning in Florence, Italy during the Late Middle Ages and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence was felt in literature, philosophy, art, music, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. However, the changes were not uniformly experienced across Europe. Religious context Religion was one of the aspects of the Renaissance that changed drastically over a few centuries. Before the Renaissance, during the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was dominant in most states of Europe. The medieval thinkers believed that the most important responsibility of the people was to pray to God and aim at saving their souls. Society was believed to be full of evil temptations. The Pope was the singular most influential and feared bodies in politics. At this time, the church would be the center of all community life, especially because the clergymen were often the only people in a town who were literate. Before the Renaissance, the church was the undisputed dominant force of order. As the Renaissance was re-awakening, it was also a rebirth of thought. So various people began taking up their own views and opinions of the world and began questioning the church and the Pope. Renaissance thinkers believed sincerely that the people owed a responsibility to the society in which they lived. Society
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