SUMMARY ABOUT THE RENAISSANCE

The Renaissance is a gradual process which covered the period from the XIV to the XVII century. It developed first in Italy and after in northern Europe, ending in the mid-seventeenth century (earlier in Italy). It consists of a revival of learning and many discoveries (geographical and cosmological), besides its main features can be identified into five interrelated topics on different levels.

The predominant view of the society was that everything could take place in a chain vertically extended according to a hierarchical order which put at the bottom inanimate objects and then plants, animals, humans, angels and God. This system was called the Great Chain of Being and had the aim to find a balance between the human being’s four humours, related with the four elements the world was made up of.

On the political aspect the Chain of Being implied a progressive fear of disorder (an imbalance between the humours caused diseases), so political rulers could cement their positions taking advantage from the situation. In this period the feudalism ended asserting the rise of monarchies in the north, while Italy was headed by oligarchic families.

As for philosophy the man became the centre of the investigation (humanism): he needed to find new answers to his questions from classics, rejecting the ideals of the Middle Ages which didn’t assure a balance between soul and body: so the vision of world was not only from a religious point of view.

On the cultural level the period was characterized by the rise of the doctrine of imitation, which meant the rewriting of the only literary works from classical antiquity as the only which expressed definitive moral values. Imitation of classical genres implied a revival of learning and significant literary forms.

On the religious field Protestants took position against medieval form of Christianity: their reform was based on rejection of the Pope as a spiritual leader and the Church’s authority. The Reformation’s literary ramifications were linked with Bible, considered as the main authority despite of the Church: so its translation became more common to let everyone read it in different languages