Renaissance

The Renaissance was a  in  marking the transition from the  to  and covering the 15th and 16th centuries. In addition to the standard periodization, proponents of a long Renaissance put its beginning in the 14th century and its end in the 17th century. The traditional view focuses more on the aspects of the Renaissance and argues that it was a break from the past, but many historians today focus more on its medieval aspects and argue that it was an extension of the Middle Ages.

The intellectual basis of the Renaissance was its version of, derived from the concept of Roman  and the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of , who said that "Man is the measure of all things." This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science and literature. Early examples were the development of in  and the recycled knowledge of how to make. Although the invention of sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century, the changes of the Renaissance were not uniformly experienced across Europe: the very first traces appear in Italy as early as the late 13th century, in particular with the writings of  and the paintings of.

As a cultural movement, the Renaissance encompassed innovative flowering of and vernacular literatures, beginning with the 14th-century resurgence of learning based on classical sources, which contemporaries credited to ; the development of linear perspective and other techniques of rendering a more natural reality in ; and gradual but widespread. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of, and in science to an increased reliance on observation and. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such s as and, who inspired the term "Renaissance man".

The Renaissance began in the 14th century in,. Various theories have been proposed to account for its origins and characteristics, focusing on a variety of factors including the social and civic peculiarities of Florence at the time: its political structure, the patronage of its dominant family, the, and the migration of and their texts to Italy following the  to the. Other major centres were northern such as, , , , and finally  during the.

The Renaissance has a long and complex, and, in line with general scepticism of discrete s, there has been much debate among historians reacting to the 19th-century glorification of the "Renaissance" and individual culture heroes as "Renaissance men", questioning the usefulness of Renaissance as a term and as a historical delineation. The  observed of this resistance to the concept of "Renaissance":

"It is perhaps no accident that the factuality of the has been most vigorously questioned by those who are not obliged to take a professional interest in the aesthetic aspects of civilization – historians of economic and social developments, political and religious situations, and, most particularly, natural science – but only exceptionally by students of literature and hardly ever by historians of Art."

Some observers have called into question whether the Renaissance was a cultural "advance" from the Middle Ages, instead seeing it as a period of pessimism and for, while social and economic historians, especially of the , have instead focused on the continuity between the two eras, which are linked, as Panofsky observed, "by a thousand ties".

The term rinascita ('rebirth') first appeared in 's  (c. 1550), anglicized as the Renaissance in the 1830s. The word has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the (8th and 9th centuries),  (10th and 11th century), and the.

Overview
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence was felt in, , , , ,  and , politics, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism and human emotion in art.

s such as sought out in Europe's monastic libraries the Latin literary, historical, and oratorical texts of, while the  (1453) generated a wave of émigré  bringing precious manuscripts in , many of which had fallen into obscurity in the West. It is in their new focus on literary and historical texts that Renaissance scholars differed so markedly from the medieval scholars of the, who had focused on studying and  works of natural sciences, philosophy and mathematics, rather than on such cultural texts.

In the revival of Renaissance humanists did not reject ; quite the contrary, many of the greatest works of the Renaissance were devoted to it, and the Church patronized many works of Renaissance art. However, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were brought back from to Western Europe and engaged Western scholars for the first time since late antiquity. This new engagement with Greek Christian works, and particularly the return to the original Greek of the New Testament promoted by humanists and, would help pave the way for the.

Well after the first artistic return to classicism had been exemplified in the sculpture of, Florentine painters led by strove to portray the human form realistically, developing techniques to render  and light more naturally. , most famously, sought to describe political life as it really was, that is to understand it rationally. A critical contribution to Italian Renaissance humanism, wrote the famous text  (Oration on the Dignity of Man, 1486), which consists of a series of theses on philosophy, natural thought, faith and magic defended against any opponent on the grounds of reason. In addition to studying classical Latin and Greek, Renaissance authors also began increasingly to use languages; combined with the introduction of, this would allow many more people access to books, especially the Bible.

In all, the Renaissance could be viewed as an attempt by intellectuals to study and improve the and worldly, both through the revival of ideas from antiquity, and through novel approaches to thought. Some scholars, such as, play down the Renaissance in favour of the earlier innovations of the in the , which married responsive government, Christianity and the birth of. This analysis argues that, whereas the great European states (France and Spain) were absolutist monarchies, and others were under direct Church control, the independent city republics of Italy took over the principles of capitalism invented on monastic estates and set off a vast unprecedented commercial revolution that preceded and financed the Renaissance.

Origins
Many argue that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in late 13th-century, in particular with the writings of (1265–1321) and  (1304–1374), as well as the paintings of  (1267–1337). Some writers date the Renaissance quite precisely; one proposed starting point is 1401, when the rival geniuses and  competed for the contract to build the bronze doors for the  of the  (Ghiberti won). Others see more general competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti,, and for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, and why it began when it did. Accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins.

During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand. Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia and Europe. Silver mining in increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the, increased the prosperity of Genoa and Venice.

defined the 16th-century as a period in Europe's cultural history that represented a break from the Middle Ages, creating a modern understanding of humanity and its place in the world.

Latin and Greek phases of Renaissance humanism
In stark contrast to the, when Latin scholars focused almost entirely on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural science, philosophy and mathematics. Renaissance scholars were most interested in recovering and studying Latin and Greek literary, historical, and oratorical texts. Broadly speaking, this began in the 14th century with a Latin phase, when Renaissance scholars such as, (1331–1406),  (1364–1437) and  (1380–1459) scoured the libraries of Europe in search of works by such Latin authors as , ,  and. By the early 15th century, the bulk of the surviving such Latin literature had been recovered; the Greek phase of Renaissance humanism was under way, as Western European scholars turned to recovering ancient Greek literary, historical, oratorical and theological texts.

Unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. Ancient Greek works on science, maths and philosophy had been studied since the in Western Europe and in the medieval Islamic world (normally in translation), but Greek literary, oratorical and historical works (such as, the Greek dramatists,  and ) were not studied in either the Latin or medieval Islamic worlds; in the Middle Ages these sorts of texts were only studied by Byzantine scholars. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity.

Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered and the. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into and, which became important centers for this transmission of ideas. From the 11th to the 13th century, many schools dedicated to the translation of philosophical and scientific works from to  were established in Iberia. Most notably the. This work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history. The movement to reintegrate the regular study of Greek literary, historical, oratorical and theological texts back into the Western European curriculum is usually dated to the 1396 invitation from Coluccio Salutati to the Byzantine diplomat and scholar (c. 1355–1415) to teach Greek in Florence. This legacy was continued by a number of expatriate Greek scholars, from to.

Social and political structures in Italy
The unique political structures of late  have led some to theorize that its unusual social climate allowed the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence. Italy did not exist as a in the early modern period. Instead, it was divided into smaller and territories: the  controlled the south, the  and the  at the center, the ese and the  to the north and west respectively, and the  to the east. Fifteenth-century Italy was one of the most areas in Europe. Many of its cities stood among the ruins of ancient Roman buildings; it seems likely that the classical nature of the Renaissance was linked to its origin in the Roman Empire's heartland.

Historian and political philosopher points out that  (c. 1114–1158), a German bishop visiting north Italy during the 12th century, noticed a widespread new form of political and social organization, observing that Italy appeared to have exited from Feudalism so that its society was based on merchants and commerce. Linked to this was anti-monarchical thinking, represented in the famous early Renaissance fresco cycle  by (painted 1338–1340), whose strong message is about the virtues of fairness, justice, republicanism and good administration. Holding both Church and Empire at bay, these city republics were devoted to notions of liberty. Skinner reports that there were many defences of liberty such as the (1406–1475) celebration of Florentine genius not only in art, sculpture and architecture, but "the remarkable efflorescence of moral, social and political philosophy that occurred in Florence at the same time".

Even cities and states beyond central Italy, such as the at this time, were also notable for their merchant, especially the. Although in practice these were, and bore little resemblance to a modern , they did have democratic features and were responsive states, with forms of participation in governance and belief in liberty. The relative political freedom they afforded was conducive to academic and artistic advancement. Likewise, the position of Italian cities such as Venice as great trading centres made them intellectual crossroads. brought with them ideas from far corners of the globe, particularly the. Venice was Europe's gateway to trade with the East, and a producer of fine, while Florence was a capital of textiles. The wealth such business brought to Italy meant large public and private artistic projects could be commissioned and individuals had more leisure time for study.

Black Plague
One theory that has been advanced is that the devastation in caused by the, which hit  between 1348 and 1350, resulted in a shift in the world view of people in 14th-century Italy. Italy was particularly badly hit by the plague, and it has been speculated that the resulting familiarity with death caused thinkers to dwell more on their lives on Earth, rather than on and the. It has also been argued that the Black Death prompted a new wave of piety, manifested in the of religious works of art. However, this does not fully explain why the Renaissance occurred specifically in Italy in the 14th century. The Black Death was a pandemic that affected all of Europe in the ways described, not only Italy. The Renaissance's emergence in Italy was most likely the result of the complex interaction of the above factors.

The plague was carried by fleas on sailing vessels returning from the ports of Asia, spreading quickly due to lack of proper sanitation: the population of England, then about 4.2 million, lost 1.4 million people to the bubonic plague. Florence's population was nearly halved in the year 1347. As a result of the decimation in the populace the value of the working class increased, and commoners came to enjoy more freedom. To answer the increased need for labor, workers traveled in search of the most favorable position economically.

The demographic decline due to the plague had economic consequences: the prices of food dropped and land values declined by 30–40% in most parts of Europe between 1350 and 1400. Landholders faced a great loss, but for ordinary men and women it was a windfall. The survivors of the plague found not only that the prices of food were cheaper but also that lands were more abundant, and many of them inherited property from their dead relatives.

The spread of disease was significantly more rampant in areas of poverty. s ravaged cities, particularly children. Plagues were easily spread by lice, unsanitary drinking water, armies, or by poor sanitation. Children were hit the hardest because many diseases, such as typhus and syphilis, target the immune system, leaving young children without a fighting chance. Children in city dwellings were more affected by the spread of disease than the children of the wealthy.

The Black Death caused greater upheaval to Florence's social and political structure than later epidemics. Despite a significant number of deaths among members of the ruling classes, the government of Florence continued to function during this period. Formal meetings of elected representatives were suspended during the height of the epidemic due to the chaotic conditions in the city, but a small group of officials was appointed to conduct the affairs of the city, which ensured continuity of government.

Cultural conditions in Florence
It has long been a matter of debate why the Renaissance began in, and not elsewhere in Italy. Scholars have noted several features unique to Florentine cultural life that may have caused such a cultural movement. Many have emphasized the role played by the, a banking family and later , in patronizing and stimulating the arts. (1449–1492) was the catalyst for an enormous amount of arts patronage, encouraging his countrymen to commission works from the leading artists of Florence, including, , and. Works by, Botticelli, da Vinci and had been commissioned additionally by the Convent of San Donato in Scopeto in Florence.

The Renaissance was certainly underway before Lorenzo de' Medici came to power – indeed, before the Medici family itself achieved hegemony in Florentine society. Some historians have postulated that Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance as a result of luck, i.e., because "" were born there by chance: Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo were all born in. Arguing that such chance seems improbable, other historians have contended that these "Great Men" were only able to rise to prominence because of the prevailing cultural conditions at the time.

Humanism
In some ways, was not a philosophy but a method of learning. In contrast to the medieval mode, which focused on resolving contradictions between authors, Renaissance humanists would study ancient texts in the original and appraise them through a combination of reasoning and. Humanist education was based on the programme of 'Studia Humanitatis', the study of five humanities:, , , and. Although historians have sometimes struggled to define humanism precisely, most have settled on "a middle of the road definition... the movement to recover, interpret, and assimilate the language, literature, learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome". Above all, humanists asserted "the genius of man ... the unique and extraordinary ability of the human mind".

Humanist scholars shaped the intellectual landscape throughout the early modern period. Political philosophers such as and  revived the ideas of Greek and Roman thinkers and applied them in critiques of contemporary government. wrote the "manifesto" of the Renaissance, the , a vibrant defence of thinking. (1406–1475), another humanist, is most known for his work Della vita civile ("On Civic Life"; printed 1528), which advocated, and for his influence in refining the to the same level as Latin. Palmieri drew on Roman philosophers and theorists, especially, who, like Palmieri, lived an active public life as a citizen and official, as well as a theorist and philosopher and also. Perhaps the most succinct expression of his perspective on humanism is in a 1465 poetic work La città di vita, but an earlier work, Della vita civile, is more wide-ranging. Composed as a series of dialogues set in a country house in the Mugello countryside outside Florence during the plague of 1430, Palmieri expounds on the qualities of the ideal citizen. The dialogues include ideas about how children develop mentally and physically, how citizens can conduct themselves morally, how citizens and states can ensure probity in public life, and an important debate on the difference between that which is pragmatically useful and that which is honest.

The humanists believed that it is important to transcend to the afterlife with a perfect mind and body, which could be attained with education. The purpose of humanism was to create a universal man whose person combined intellectual and physical excellence and who was capable of functioning honorably in virtually any situation. This ideology was referred to as the , an ancient Greco-Roman ideal. Education during the Renaissance was mainly composed of ancient literature and history as it was thought that the classics provided moral instruction and an intensive understanding of human behavior.

Humanism and libraries
A unique characteristic of some Renaissance libraries is that they were open to the public. These libraries were places where ideas were exchanged and where scholarship and reading were considered both pleasurable and beneficial to the mind and soul. As freethinking was a hallmark of the age, many libraries contained a wide range of writers. Classical texts could be found alongside humanist writings. These informal associations of intellectuals profoundly influenced Renaissance culture. Some of the richest "bibliophiles" built libraries as temples to books and knowledge. A number of libraries appeared as manifestations of immense wealth joined with a love of books. In some cases, cultivated library builders were also committed to offering others the opportunity to use their collections. Prominent aristocrats and princes of the Church created great libraries for the use of their courts, called "court libraries", and were housed in lavishly designed monumental buildings decorated with ornate woodwork, and the walls adorned with frescoes (Murray, Stuart A.P.)

Art
Renaissance art marks a cultural rebirth at the close of the Middle Ages and rise of the Modern world. One of the distinguishing features of Renaissance art was its development of highly realistic linear perspective. (1267–1337) is credited with first treating a painting as a window into space, but it was not until the demonstrations of architect (1377–1446) and the subsequent writings of  (1404–1472) that perspective was formalized as an artistic technique.

The development of was part of a wider trend towards  in the arts. Painters developed other techniques, studying light, shadow, and, famously in the case of,. Underlying these changes in artistic method was a renewed desire to depict the beauty of nature and to unravel the axioms of, with the works of Leonardo, and  representing artistic pinnacles that were much imitated by other artists. Other notable artists include, working for the Medici in Florence, , another Florentine, and in Venice, among others.

In the, a particularly vibrant artistic culture developed. The work of and  was particularly influential on the development of painting in Italy, both technically with the introduction of  and canvas, and stylistically in terms of naturalism in representation. Later, the work of would inspire artists to depict themes of everyday life.

In architecture, Filippo Brunelleschi was foremost in studying the remains of ancient classical buildings. With rediscovered knowledge from the 1st-century writer and the flourishing discipline of mathematics, Brunelleschi formulated the Renaissance style that emulated and improved on classical forms. His major feat of engineering was building the dome of the. Another building demonstrating this style is the church of St. Andrew in, built by Alberti. The outstanding architectural work of the was the rebuilding of, combining the skills of , , ,  and.

During the Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns, s, and as an integrated system. The Roman orders types of columns are used: and. These can either be structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or purely decorative, set against a wall in the form of pilasters. One of the first buildings to use pilasters as an integrated system was in the Old Sacristy (1421–1440) by Brunelleschi. Arches, semi-circular or (in the style) segmental, are often used in arcades, supported on piers or columns with capitals. There may be a section of entablature between the capital and the springing of the arch. Alberti was one of the first to use the arch on a monumental. Renaissance vaults do not have ribs; they are semi-circular or segmental and on a square plan, unlike the vault, which is frequently rectangular.

Renaissance artists were not pagans, although they admired antiquity and kept some ideas and symbols of the medieval past. (c. 1220–c. 1278) imitated classical forms by portraying scenes from the Bible. His Annunciation, from the, demonstrates that classical models influenced Italian art before the Renaissance took root as a literary movement

Science
Applied innovation extended to commerce. At the end of the 15th century published the first work on, making him the founder of.

The rediscovery of ancient texts and the invention of the democratized learning and allowed a faster propagation of more widely distributed ideas. In the first period of the, humanists favoured the study of over  or , and their reverence for classical sources further enshrined the  and  views of the universe. Writing around 1450, anticipated the  worldview of, but in a philosophical fashion.

Science and art were intermingled in the early Renaissance, with polymath artists such as Leonardo da Vinci making observational drawings of anatomy and nature. Da Vinci set up controlled experiments in water flow, medical dissection, and systematic study of movement and aerodynamics, and he devised principles of research method that led to classify him as the "father of modern science". Other examples of Da Vinci's contribution during this period include machines designed to saw marbles and lift monoliths, and new discoveries in acoustics, botany, geology, anatomy, and mechanics.

A suitable environment had developed to question scientific doctrine. The in 1492 of the  by  challenged the classical worldview. The works of (in geography) and  (in medicine) were found to not always match everyday observations. As the and  clashed, the  showed a decisive shift in focus from Aristotelean natural philosophy to chemistry and the biological sciences (botany, anatomy, and medicine). The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements.

Some view this as a "", heralding the beginning of the modern age, others as an acceleration of a continuous process stretching from the ancient world to the present day. Significant scientific advances were made during this time by, and. Copernicus, in  (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), posited that the Earth moved around the Sun.  (On the Workings of the Human Body) by, gave a new confidence to the role of , observation, and the view of anatomy.

Another important development was in the process for discovery, the, focusing on and the importance of , while discarding Aristotelian science. Early and influential proponents of these ideas included Copernicus, Galileo, and. The new scientific method led to great contributions in the fields of astronomy, physics, biology, and anatomy.

Navigation and geography
During the Renaissance, extending from 1450 to 1650, every continent was visited and mostly mapped by Europeans, except the south polar continent now known as. This development is depicted in the large world map Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula made by the Dutch cartographer in 1648 to commemorate the.

In 1492, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain seeking a direct route to Asia. He accidentally stumbled upon the Americas, but believed he had reached the East Indies.

In 1606, the Dutch navigator sailed from the East Indies in the  ship  and landed in. He charted about 300 km of the west coast of in Queensland. More than thirty Dutch expeditions followed, mapping sections of the north, west and south coasts. In 1642–1643, circumnavigated the continent, proving that it was not joined to the imagined south polar continent.

By 1650, Dutch cartographers had mapped most of the coastline of the continent, which they named, except the east coast which was charted in 1770 by.

The long-imagined south polar continent was eventually sighted in 1820. Throughout the Renaissance it had been known as, or 'Australia' for short. However, after that name was transferred to New Holland in the nineteenth century, the new name of 'Antarctica' was bestowed on the south polar continent.

Music
From this changing society emerged a common, unifying musical language, in particular the style of the  school. The development of made distribution of music possible on a wide scale. Demand for music as entertainment and as an activity for educated amateurs increased with the emergence of a bourgeois class. Dissemination of s, s, and throughout Europe coincided with the unification of polyphonic practice into the fluid style that culminated in the second half of the sixteenth century in the work of composers such as, ,  and.

Religion
The new ideals of humanism, although more secular in some aspects, developed against a Christian backdrop, especially in the. Much, if not most, of the new art was commissioned by or in dedication to the. However, the Renaissance had a profound effect on contemporary, particularly in the way people perceived the relationship between man and God. Many of the period's foremost theologians were followers of the humanist method, including, , , , and.

The Renaissance began in times of religious turmoil. The late was a period of political intrigue surrounding the, culminating in the , in which three men simultaneously claimed to be true  of. While the schism was resolved by the (1414), a resulting reform movement known as  sought to limit the power of the pope. Although the papacy eventually emerged supreme in ecclesiastical matters by the (1511), it was dogged by continued accusations of corruption, most famously in the person of, who was accused variously of ,  and fathering four children (most of whom were married off, presumably for the consolidation of power) while a cardinal.

Churchmen such as Erasmus and Luther proposed reform to the Church, often based on humanist of the. In October 1517 Luther published the, challenging papal authority and criticizing its perceived corruption, particularly with regard to instances of sold. The 95 Theses led to the, a break with the Roman Catholic Church that previously claimed hegemony in. Humanism and the Renaissance therefore played a direct role in sparking the Reformation, as well as in many other contemporaneous religious debates and conflicts.

came to the papal throne (1534–1549) after the, with uncertainties prevalent in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation. Nicolaus Copernicus dedicated ' (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) to Paul III, who became the grandfather of, who had paintings by , , and , as well as an important collection of drawings, and who commissioned the masterpiece of , arguably the last major , the '.

Self-awareness
By the 15th century, writers, artists, and architects in Italy were well aware of the transformations that were taking place and were using phrases such as modi antichi (in the antique manner) or alle romana et alla antica (in the manner of the Romans and the ancients) to describe their work. In the 1330s referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua (ancient) and to the Christian period as nova (new). From Petrarch's Italian perspective, this new period (which included his own time) was an age of national eclipse. was the first to use tripartite in his History of the Florentine People (1442). Bruni's first two periods were based on those of Petrarch, but he added a third period because he believed that Italy was no longer in a state of decline. used a similar framework in Decades of History from the Deterioration of the Roman Empire (1439–1453).

Humanist historians argued that contemporary scholarship restored direct links to the classical period, thus bypassing the Medieval period, which they then named for the first time the "Middle Ages". The term first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas (middle times). The term rinascita (rebirth) first appeared, however, in its broad sense in 's , 1550, revised 1568. Vasari divides the age into three phases: the first phase contains, , and ; the second phase contains , , and ; the third centers on and culminates with. It was not just the growing awareness of classical antiquity that drove this development, according to Vasari, but also the growing desire to study and imitate nature.

Spread
In the 15th century, the Renaissance spread rapidly from its birthplace in Florence to the rest of Italy and soon to the rest of Europe. The invention of the by German printer  allowed the rapid transmission of these new ideas. As it spread, its ideas diversified and changed, being adapted to local culture. In the 20th century, scholars began to break the Renaissance into regional and national movements.

England
In England, the sixteenth century marked the beginning of the with the work of writers, , , , , , as well as great artists, architects (such as  who introduced Italianate architecture to England), and composers such as , , and.

France
The word "Renaissance" is borrowed from the French language, where it means "re-birth". It was first used in the eighteenth century and was later popularized by French  (1798–1874) in his 1855 work, Histoire de France (History of France).

In 1495 the arrived in France, imported by King  after his invasion of Italy. A factor that promoted the spread of secularism was the inability of the Church to offer assistance against the. imported Italian art and artists, including, and built ornate palaces at great expense. Writers such as, , and , painters such as , and musicians such as  also borrowed from the spirit of the Renaissance.

In 1533, a fourteen-year-old (1519–1589), born in Florence to  and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, married, second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude. Though she became famous and infamous for her role in France's religious wars, she made a direct contribution in bringing arts, sciences and music (including the origins of ) to the French court from her native Florence.

Germany
In the second half of the 15th century, the Renaissance spirit spread to and the, where the development of the printing press (ca. 1450) and Renaissance artists such as  (1471–1528) predated the influence from Italy. In the early Protestant areas of the country became closely linked to the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation, and the art and writing of the  frequently reflected this dispute. However, the and medieval scholastic philosophy remained exclusively until the turn of the 16th century. Emperor of  (ruling 1493–1519) was the first truly Renaissance monarch of the.

Hungary
After Italy, Hungary was the first European country where the Renaissance appeared. The Renaissance style came directly from Italy during the to Hungary first in the Central European region, thanks to the development of early Hungarian-Italian relationships—not only in dynastic connections, but also in cultural, humanistic and commercial relations—growing in strength from the 14th century. The relationship between Hungarian and Italian Gothic styles was a second reason—exaggerated breakthrough of walls is avoided, preferring clean and light structures. Large-scale building schemes provided ample and long term work for the artists, for example, the building of the Friss (New) Castle in Buda, the castles of Visegrád, Tata and Várpalota. In Sigismund's court there were patrons such as Pipo Spano, a descendant of the Scolari family of Florence, who invited Manetto Ammanatini and Masolino da Pannicale to Hungary.

The new Italian trend combined with existing national traditions to create a particular local Renaissance art. Acceptance of Renaissance art was furthered by the continuous arrival of humanist thought in the country. Many young Hungarians studying at Italian universities came closer to the humanist center, so a direct connection with Florence evolved. The growing number of Italian traders moving to Hungary, specially to, helped this process. New thoughts were carried by the humanist prelates, among them, archbishop of , one of the founders of Hungarian humanism. During the long reign of emperor the  became probably the largest  palace of the late. King (r. 1458–1490) rebuilt the palace in early Renaissance style and further expanded it.

After the marriage in 1476 of King Matthias to, became one of the most important artistic centres of the Renaissance north of the. The most important humanists living in Matthias' court were and the famous Hungarian poet. set up a printing press in Buda in 1472. Matthias Corvinus's library, the, was Europe's greatest collections of secular books: historical chronicles, philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century. His library was second only in size to the. (However, the Vatican Library mainly contained Bibles and religious materials.)

In 1489, Bartolomeo della Fonte of Florence wrote that Lorenzo de' Medici founded his own Greek-Latin library encouraged by the example of the Hungarian king. Corvinus's library is part of UNESCO World Heritage.

Matthias started at least two major building projects. The works in Buda and began in about 1479. Two new wings and a were built at the royal castle of Buda, and the palace at Visegrád was rebuilt in Renaissance style. Matthias appointed the Italian and the Dalmatian  to direct these projects.

Matthias commissioned the leading Italian artists of his age to embellish his palaces: for instance, the sculptor and the painters  and  worked for him. A copy of Mantegna's portrait of Matthias survived. Matthias also hired the Italian military engineer to direct the rebuilding of the forts along the southern frontier. He had new monasteries built in style for the  in Kolozsvár,  and Hunyad, and for the  in Fejéregyháza. In the spring of 1485, travelled to  on behalf of Sforza to meet king Matthias Corvinus, and was commissioned by him to paint a.

Matthias enjoyed the company of Humanists and had lively discussions on various topics with them. The fame of his magnanimity encouraged many scholars—mostly Italian—to settle in Buda. Antonio Bonfini,, , and spent many years in Matthias's court. This circle of educated men introduced the ideas of to Hungary.

Like all intellectuals of his age, Matthias was convinced that the movements and combinations of the stars and planets exercised influence on individuals' life and on the history of nations. Galeotto Marzio described him as "king and astrologer", and Antonio Bonfini said Matthias "never did anything without consulting the stars". Upon his request, the famous astronomers of the age, and, set up an observatory in Buda and installed it with s and s. Regiomontanus dedicated his book on navigation that was used by  to Matthias.

Other important figures of Hungarian Renaissance include (poet),  (poet),  (composer and lutenist), and  (fresco painter).

Netherlands
Culture in the Netherlands at the end of the 15th century was influenced by the Italian Renaissance through trade via, which made Flanders wealthy. Its nobles commissioned artists who became known across Europe. In science, the  led the way; in, 's map assisted explorers and navigators. In art, ranged from the strange work of  to the everyday life depictions of.

Northern Europe
The Renaissance in Northern Europe has been termed the "Northern Renaissance". While Renaissance ideas were moving north from Italy, there was a simultaneous southward spread of some areas of innovation, particularly in. The music of the 15th-century defined the beginning of the Renaissance in music, and the  of the, as it moved with the musicians themselves into Italy, formed the core of the first true international style in  since the standardization of  in the 9th century. The culmination of the Netherlandish school was in the music of the Italian. At the end of the 16th century Italy again became a center of musical innovation, with the development of the polychoral style of the, which spread northward into Germany around 1600.

The paintings of the Italian Renaissance differed from those of the Northern Renaissance. Italian Renaissance artists were among the first to paint secular scenes, breaking away from the purely religious art of medieval painters. Northern Renaissance artists initially remained focused on religious subjects, such as the contemporary religious upheaval portrayed by. Later, the works of influenced artists to paint scenes of daily life rather than religious or classical themes. It was also during the Northern Renaissance that brothers  and  perfected the  technique, which enabled artists to produce strong colors on a hard surface that could survive for centuries. A feature of the Northern Renaissance was its use of the vernacular in place of Latin or Greek, which allowed greater freedom of expression. This movement had started in Italy with the decisive influence of on the development of vernacular languages; in fact the focus on writing in Italian has neglected a major source of Florentine ideas expressed in Latin. The spread of the printing press technology boosted the Renaissance in Northern Europe as elsewhere, with Venice becoming a world center of printing.

Poland
An early Italian humanist who came to in the mid-15th century was. Many Italian artists came to Poland with of Milan, when she married King  in 1518. This was supported by temporarily strengthened monarchies in both areas, as well as by newly established universities. The Polish Renaissance lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and was the of. Ruled by the, the (from 1569 known as the ) actively participated in the broad European Renaissance. The multi-national Polish state experienced a substantial period of cultural growth thanks in part to a century without major wars – aside from conflicts in the sparsely populated eastern and southern borderlands. The spread peacefully throughout the country (giving rise to the ), while living conditions improved, cities grew, and exports of agricultural products enriched the population, especially the nobility () who gained dominance in the new political system of. The Polish Renaissance architecture has three periods of development.

The greatest monument of this style in the territory of the former is the  in.

Portugal
Although Italian Renaissance had a modest impact in Portuguese arts, Portugal was influential in broadening the European worldview, stimulating humanist inquiry. Renaissance arrived through the influence of wealthy Italian and Flemish merchants who invested in the profitable commerce overseas. As the pioneer headquarters of, flourished in the late 15th century, attracting experts who made several breakthroughs in mathematics, astronomy and naval technology, including , ,  and. Cartographers, , and  made crucial advances in mapping the world. Apothecary and physicians  and  collected and published works on plants and medicines, soon translated by Flemish pioneer botanist.

In architecture, the huge profits of the financed a sumptuous composite style in the first decades of the 16th century, the, incorporating maritime elements. The primary painters were, and. In music, and  produced four songbooks, including the. In literature, introduced Italian forms of verse. developed, plays by fused it with popular culture, reporting the changing times, and  inscribed the Portuguese feats overseas in the epic poem . especially flourished:, , , , , and , among others, described new lands and were translated and spread with the new printing press. After joining the Portuguese exploration of Brazil in 1500, coined the term, in his letters to.

The intense international exchange produced several cosmopolitan humanist scholars, including, and , a friend of Erasmus who wrote with rare independence on the reign of King. and made relevant teaching reforms via France. Foreign news and products in the Portuguese in  attracted the interest of Thomas More and Albrecht Dürer to the wider world. There, profits and know-how helped nurture the and, especially after the arrival of the wealthy cultured Jewish community expelled from Portugal.

Russia
Renaissance trends from Italy and Central Europe influenced Russia in many ways. Their influence was rather limited, however, due to the large distances between Russia and the main European cultural centers and the strong adherence of Russians to their and.

Prince introduced  to  by inviting a number of architects from, who brought new construction techniques and some Renaissance style elements with them, while in general following the traditional designs of. In 1475 the Bolognese architect came to rebuild the  in the, which had been damaged in an earthquake. Fioravanti was given the 12th-century as a model, and he produced a design combining traditional Russian style with a Renaissance sense of spaciousness, proportion and symmetry.

In 1485 Ivan III commissioned the building of the royal residence,, within the Kremlin, with as the architect of the first three floors. He and other Italian architects also contributed to the construction of the and. The small banquet hall of the s, called the because of its facetted upper story, is the work of two Italians,  and, and shows a more Italian style. In 1505, an Italian known in Russia as or Aleviz Fryazin arrived in Moscow. He may have been the Venetian sculptor, Alevisio Lamberti da Montagne. He built twelve churches for Ivan III, including the, a building remarkable for the successful blending of Russian tradition, Orthodox requirements and Renaissance style. It is believed that the Cathedral of the in, another work of Aleviz Novyi, later served as an inspiration for the so-called octagon-on-tetragon architectural form in the  of the late 17th century.

Between the early 16th and the late 17th centuries, an original tradition of stone architecture developed in Russia. It was quite unique and different from the contemporary Renaissance architecture elsewhere in Europe, though some research terms the style 'Russian Gothic' and compares it with the European of the earlier period. The Italians, with their advanced technology, may have influenced the invention of the stone tented roof (the wooden tents were known in Russia and Europe long before). According to one hypothesis, an Italian architect called may have been an author of the Ascension Church in, one of the earliest and most prominent tented roof churches.

By the 17th century the influence of resulted in  becoming slightly more realistic, while still following most of the old icon painting, as seen in the works of , , ,  and other  of the era. Gradually the new type of secular portrait painting appeared, called parsúna (from "persona" – person), which was transitional style between abstract iconographics and real paintings.

In the mid 16th-century Russians adopted from Central Europe, with  being the first known Russian printer. In the 17th century printing became widespread, and s became especially popular. That led to the development of a special form of known as  printing, which persisted in Russia well into the 19th century.

A number of technologies from the European Renaissance period were adopted by Russia rather early and subsequently perfected to become a part of a strong domestic tradition. Mostly these were military technologies, such as  adopted by at least the 15th century. The, which is the , is a masterpiece of Russian cannon making. It was cast in 1586 by and is notable for its rich, decorative. Another technology, that according to one hypothesis originally was brought from Europe by the, resulted in the development of , the national beverage of Russia. As early as 1386 Genoese ambassadors brought the first ("water of life") to  and presented it to. The Genoese likely developed this beverage with the help of the s of, who used an -invented to convert   into. A Moscovite monk called used this technology to produce the first original  c. 1430.

Spain
The Renaissance arrived in the Iberian peninsula through the Mediterranean possessions of the and the city of. Many early Spanish Renaissance writers come from the, including and. In the, the early Renaissance was heavily influenced by the Italian humanism, starting with writers and poets such as , who introduced the new Italian poetry to Spain in the early 15th century. Other writers, such as, , , and , kept a close resemblance to the Italian canon. 's  is credited as the first Western novel. Renaissance humanism flourished in the early 16th century, with influential writers such as philosopher, grammarian and natural historian.

Later Spanish Renaissance tended towards religious themes and mysticism, with poets such as, and , and treated issues related to the exploration of the , with chroniclers and writers such as  and , giving rise to a body of work, now known as. The late Renaissance in Spain produced artists such as and composers such as  and.

Conception
The Italian artist and critic (1511–1574) first used the term rinascita in his book  (published 1550). In the book Vasari attempted to define what he described as a break with the barbarities of : the arts (he held) had fallen into decay with the collapse of the and only the  artists, beginning with  (1240–1301) and  (1267–1337) began to reverse this decline in the arts. Vasari saw ancient art as central to the rebirth of Italian art.

However, only in the 19th century did the French word renaissance achieve popularity in describing the self-conscious cultural movement based on revival of Roman models that began in the late-13th century. French  (1798–1874) defined "The Renaissance" in his 1855 work Histoire de France as an entire historical period, whereas previously it had been used in a more limited sense. For Michelet, the Renaissance was more a development in science than in art and culture. He asserted that it spanned the period from to  to ; that is, from the end of the 15th century to the middle of the 17th century. Moreover, Michelet distinguished between what he called, "the bizarre and monstrous" quality of the Middle Ages and the values that he, as a vocal, chose to see in its character. A French nationalist, Michelet also sought to claim the Renaissance as a French movement.

The historian  (1818–1897) in his  (1860), by contrast, defined the Renaissance as the period between  and  in Italy, that is, the 14th to mid-16th centuries. He saw in the Renaissance the emergence of the modern spirit of, which the Middle Ages had stifled. His book was widely read and became influential in the development of the modern interpretation of the. However, Buckhardt has been accused of setting forth a linear view of history in seeing the Renaissance as the origin of the modern world.

More recently, some historians have been much less keen to define the Renaissance as a historical age, or even as a coherent cultural movement. The historian Randolph Starn, of the, stated in 1998:

"Rather than a period with definitive beginnings and endings and consistent content in between, the Renaissance can be (and occasionally has been) seen as a movement of practices and ideas to which specific groups and identifiable persons variously responded in different times and places. It would be in this sense a network of diverse, sometimes converging, sometimes conflicting cultures, not a single, time-bound culture."

Debates about progress
There is debate about the extent to which the Renaissance improved on the culture of the Middle Ages. Both Michelet and Burckhardt were keen to describe the progress made in the Renaissance towards the. Burckhardt likened the change to a veil being removed from man's eyes, allowing him to see clearly.

"In the Middle Ages both sides of human consciousness – that which was turned within as that which was turned without – lay dreaming or half awake beneath a common veil. The veil was woven of faith, illusion, and childish prepossession, through which the world and history were seen clad in strange hues."

- Jacob Burckhardt

On the other hand, many historians now point out that most of the negative social factors popularly associated with the medieval period—poverty, warfare, religious and political persecution, for example—seem to have worsened in this era, which saw the rise of, the , the corrupt Popes, and the intensified s of the 16th century. Many people who lived during the Renaissance did not view it as the "" imagined by certain 19th-century authors, but were concerned by these social maladies. Significantly, though, the artists, writers, and patrons involved in the cultural movements in question believed they were living in a new era that was a clean break from the Middle Ages. Some prefer to describe the Renaissance in material terms, holding the view that the changes in art, literature, and philosophy were part of a general economic trend from  towards, resulting in a  class with leisure time to devote to the arts.

(1872–1945) acknowledged the existence of the Renaissance but questioned whether it was a positive change. In his book , he argued that the Renaissance was a period of decline from the, destroying much that was important. The, for instance, had evolved greatly from the classical period and was still a living language used in the church and elsewhere. The Renaissance obsession with classical purity halted its further evolution and saw Latin revert to its classical form. Robert S. Lopez has contended that it was a period of deep. Meanwhile, and  have both argued that  progress was perhaps less original than has traditionally been supposed. Finally, argued that the Renaissance led to greater gender dichotomy, lessening the agency women had had during the Middle Ages.

Some historians have begun to consider the word Renaissance to be unnecessarily loaded, implying an unambiguously positive rebirth from the supposedly more primitive "", the Middle Ages. Most historians now prefer to use the term "" for this period, a more neutral designation that highlights the period as a transitional one between the Middle Ages and the modern era. Others such as Roger Osborne have come to consider the Italian Renaissance as a repository of the myths and ideals of western history in general, and instead of rebirth of ancient ideas as a period of great innovation.

Other Renaissances
The term Renaissance has also been used to define periods outside of the 15th and 16th centuries. (1870–1937), for example, made a case for a. Other historians have argued for a in the 8th and 9th centuries, and still later for an  in the 10th century. Other periods of cultural rebirth have also been termed "renaissances", such as the, , , or the. The term can also be used in cinema. In animation, the Disney Renaissance is a period that spanned the years from 1989 to 1999 which saw the studio return to the level of quality not witnessed since their Golden Age.