The RENAISSANCE

Renaissance means rebirth. It is a gradual process that has developed between the fourteenth and the seventeenth centuries. It was born first in Italy and then it moved to the north of Europe.

The Renaissance is the rebirth of classical culture. The medieval man felt suffocated by the divine presence and wanted to regain value to the body. For this Renaissance man is inspired mainly by Greek culture. The ancient Greeks had more gods and gave great importance to the body. Another concept derived from the classical past was the literary doctrine of “imitation”. Imitation does not consist in copying. The writers learned from the classical texts and resuscitating only values in line with their culture. The imitation was not only of classical writers, but also classical genres. At this time Europe experienced a golden age of theatre, led by great dramatists such as Shakespeare.

According to the Renaissance man, the universe was organized in a hierarchy. This is called the Great Chain of being. At the top of this chain was God, followed by angels, humans, animals and then from metals, stones and the four elements. The place that these groups had depends on the proportion between spirit and matter. Within these groups there were other hierarchies. In this period the human being was also seen as a microcosm that reflects the macrocosm that is the world. The world has the four elements: air, fire, water and earth, while the man has four moods. When a person gets sick, it means that his moods are disordered. The theme of disorder in the Renaissance was much in evidence. All things have a specific place in the universe and if this place is not respected is a disaster. However the Renaissance man believed in the elevation of man. A man could become angel through philosophical contemplation.

The ideal of the chain of being helped governments to maintain their power and increase their authority. The need for strong political rule had brought the end of feudalism. In Northern were born monarchies led by the king. In Italy were born the city-state.

The historical period of the Renaissance is preceded by the historical period of the Middle Ages. This period was characterized negatively by the men of the Renaissance. The Middle Ages were set in the “middle” of two much more valuable historical periods: antiquity and their own. Despite this, there is extremely important continuity from the Middle Ages.

The Renaissance is also a period of discovery: Copernicus attempted to prove that the sun was at the centre of the planetary system; Martin Luther and his followers broke with the Catholic Church in protest, hence they were known as Protestants. The most important tenet of Protestantism was the rejection of the Pope a spiritual leader. In the Protestant’s opinion Church could not grant salvation. Only the reading of the Bible could do that. This led to the disagreement among the many Christian sects. They may be precisely what distinguishes Renaissance from Medieval religion.

According to the Protestants read the Bible led to salvation and so, during the Renaissance, the Bible was translated into all languages, while keeping copies in the original language to work better translation. The Catholic Church was opposed to this. Thanks to these translations the Bible has become a renewed source of literary inspiration.