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T
he Renaissance—a cultural
“rebirth” of extraordinary
creativity in Europe—began
in 14th-century Florence. It was to
spread across Europe, lasting until
the 17th century, and it is now
viewed as the bridge between the
medieval and modern periods.
Marked by a renewed interest in the
whole of Greek and Latin Classical
culture—not just the philosophical
and mathematical texts assimilated
by medieval Scholasticism—it was
a movement that viewed humans,
not God, at its center. This new
humanism was reflected first in the
art and then the political and social
structure of Italian society; republics
such as Florence and Venice soon
abandoned medieval feudalism
in favor of plutocracies where
commerce flourished alongside
the new scientific discoveries.
By the end of the 15th century,
Renaissance ideas had spread
across Europe and virtually eclipsed
the Church’s monopoly of learning.
Although Christian philosophers
such as Erasmus and Thomas More
had contributed to the arguments
within the Church that had sparked
the Reformation, a purely secular
philosophy had yet to emerge.
Unsurprisingly, the first truly
Renaissance philosopher was a
Florentine – Niccolò Machiavelli –
and his philosophy marked a
definitive movement from the
theological to the political.The Age of Reason
The final nail in the coffin of the
Church’s authority came from
science. First Nicolaus Copernicus,
then Johannes Kepler, and finally
Galileo Galilei showed that thePtolemaic model of the universe
with Earth at its center was
mistaken, and their demonstrations
overturned centuries of Christian
teaching. The Church fought back,
ultimately imprisoning Galileo for
heresy, but advances in all the
sciences soon followed those in
astronomy, providing alternative
explanations for the workings of
the universe, and a basis for a new
kind of philosophy.
The victory of rational, scientific
discovery over Christian dogma
epitomized the thinking of the
17th century. British philosophers,
notably Francis Bacon and Thomas
Hobbes, took the lead in integrating
scientific and philosophical
reasoning. It was the beginning
of a period that became known as
the Age of Reason, which produced
the first great “modern” philosophersINTRODUCTION
1513
1517
1620
1633
1543 1641
1593 1644
Francis Bacon’s
New Organon is
published, proposing
a new approach to
investigating nature.Martin Luther nails his
95 Theses to the door of
Castle Church in
Wittenberg, triggering
the Reformation.Nicolaus Copernicus proposes
that Earth orbits the Sun,
in opposition to the Christian
view that Earth lies at the
center of the universe.René Descartes
writes his Meditations.The Edict of Nantes
is issued by Henri IV,
granting Protestants rights
within Catholic France.The last ruling
dynasty of
China, the Qing
(Manchu) dynasty,
takes power.Niccolò
Machiavelli
publishes
The Prince.Galileo Galilei is
excommunicated by the
Church and imprisoned
for life, for upholding
the theory that Earth
revolves around the Sun.