histoy G-10 E

9. Renaissance

Introduction

The word Renaissance means rebirth. The
historians use this word to mean the wide
transformation that took place in the fields of
art and science from the 14th to 16th centuries
A.D. in Europe.

The period in which ancient Greek and
Roman civilizations existed is called the
Pristine age in the history of Europe. The
period of around thousand years that followed
the downfall of ancient Rome civilization in
the 5th century is called the mediaeval period
in Europe. Once again an interest grew in
studying literature, art and philosophy that
existed in the ancient Greek and Roman
civilizations in the latter part of the mediaeval
era in Europe. As a result of it, the European
society experienced a broad transformation
as the Europeans utilized the art styles that
were used in the ancient Greek and Roman
civilizations once again and tended to study
literature and philosophy in depth. By this,
the above mentioned ancient civilizations
were revived. It is called the Renaissance. Due
to the transformations that occurred during
the Renaissance in every field, the mediaeval
period died out and the modern era of the
European history started.

9.1 The Reasons for the Renaissance

 Surrendering the city of Constantinople by

the Turks

Constantinople, which was a very advanced

trade city during the final part of the mediaeval

era, attracted the attention of the scholars. The

Greek and Roman literature books were stored

in libraries in the city of Contantinople and a

number of Greek and Roman scholars were

engaged in studying there. But, the Islamic

Turks surrendered this city in 1453 A.D. and

therefore, the Roman Catholic scholars found it

difficult to stay in the city any longer. Therefore,

these scholars fled to other European countries

with those books and propagated the Greek

and Roman literature and languages in those

cities. As a result, the Greek and Roman cultures

revived.

 Growth in Trade and Origin of a New Group

of Rich

There was a growth of trade and commercial

affairs between the Eastern and Western

countries in the 12th century A.D. Therefore,

a new group of rich people originated in the

cities like Venice and Genoa in Italy with the

money they earned from trade, production and

bank affairs. Since these wealthy people did not

depend on the ancient feudal nobles, they had a

free mind to pay their attention to artistic work

and also a financial power to support it. As there

were a number of small kingdoms in Italy then,

the wealthy people who live in them offered to

support artistic affairs. It was a predominant

reason for the origin of the Renaissance from

Italy. The family called Medici who lived in the