The Renaissance and its characteristics 

The study of the Renaissance might well center on five interrelated issues.

First, although Renaissance thinkers often tried to associate themselves with classical antiquity and to dissociate themselves from the Middle Ages, important continuities with their recent past, such as belief in the Great Chain of Being, were still much in evidence.

Second, during this period, certain significant political changes were taking place.

Third, some of the noblest ideals of the period were best expressed by the movement known as Humanism. Fourth, and connected to Humanist ideals, was the literary doctrine of "imitation," important for its ideas about how literary works should be created.

Finally, what later probably became an even more far-reaching influence, both on literary creation and on modern life in general, was the religious movement known as the Reformation.

Features in a nutshell

The Great Chain of Being  was a hierarchical chain where every existing thing in the universe had its proper place.

An object’s place depended on the relative proportion of his “spirit” and “matter”.

At the bottom there were inanimate objects like metal and stone. Higher up were various members of the vegetative class like trees and flowers. Then came animals, humans and angels. At the very top there was God.

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Reference to the political situation of the period is also important.

In the Middle  Ages the social and political organization was Feudalism. Feudalism was structured according to different social classes.

Differently from the  Middle Ages, in the Renaissance the consolidation of the Monarchy was recorded and  it became a  stronger power. 

The third feature was Humanism the transition period from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.

This  period is called Humanism because mankind was considered now at the centre of the universe ; so humanists started to re-discover classical literature ( ancient Romans and Greek) because in classical culture  the values people were looking for were best represented 

Humanism represented a shift from “contemplative life” to “active life”: during the Middle Ages people were expected to contemplate God waiting for the other world.

Humanism introduced the idea of active life: human life is dignified and a man can spend it in the better way if in relationship with other people; for this reason public involvement was encouraged and moral, social, political and public activities were useful.

Of course the Church’s values did not disappear but coexist with the new values.

The fourth feature is Imitation: it was very important because readers translated great works of the past , adapting them to a Christian society. An important effect of imitation is the revival of classical writers and ancient literary forms like epic satire, comedy and treagedy. 

The last one was Protestantism . A new religious movement was founded by Martin Luther. The

Protestant doctrine  rejected of the authority of the Church.

Protestant  faith believe that the Church as an institution could not grant salvation.