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The Idea of Humanism and the Renaissance
The Renaissance was an incredibly important turning point in Western
Intellectual and Cultural Tradition. All of these changes centered around
the idea of Humanism -- in which, people became less "God Centered" and
more "Human-centered". I have narrowed down these changes, and will
discuss in detail, these changes in three major categories: Political,
Education, and the Humanism of Arts.
The major pollical changes of the Renaissance were from the old Feudal
System of the Middle Ages into a more flexible and liberal class system.
This was most noticeable in Italy (particularly in Florence), where the
divisions consisted of the old rich, the new rich nobles, the middle class,
and the lower middle class(The poor didn't count). This created great
conflict between these social divisions. The new rich consisted of
successful merchants, capitalists, and bankers innovators of new systems of
making money. The Humanism philosophy was also a very popular with the
people and many political leaders rose to high positions with support of
these ideals. Three humanists even became chancellors of Florence -- they
used their rhetorical skills to strongly rally the people of Florence
against their enemies.
The great changes in Education of the Renaissance were inspired at
first, by the desire of Humanists to be wise and to speak eloquently. The
idea of useful education for the people, and very "well rounded" schooling
in many different fields of learning were the new defined goals of
Renaissance education. People all over (Especially in Florence) revived
the Ancient Greek studies of Plato, Aristotle, and many others. People
began seriously questioning what these people said and re-developed the
"Scientific Theory" in which you didn't just accept whatever was said to
you, but you tested the truth of it.
In the area of Humanism and the Arts, Renaissance Artists no longer
were subordinate to the interests and the values of the Clergy, and were
able to create anything of their "artistic will". Both men and women were
now able to appreciated arts beyond just religious themes. Artists could
also now take advantage of new techniques, such as oil painting and linear
perspective to enhance the quality of their works. All of the great
artists of the time used became who they were solely because of this new
artistic freedom that the Renaissance brought them. These artists also
created works that were more complex than before. Taking advantage of this,
artists such as Leonardo da Vinci -- the ultimate example of the
Renaissance man working in all types of educational fields, and
Michelangelo who was possibly the most famous artist and sculptor in
history.
As you can see, the Renaissance was to great extent and a major
turning point in history from the Middle Ages in just about every element
of the Society. The Renaissance have truly become the original roots of
our culture from the West. This was was the time when people questioned
the past, and decided to go back to the schools of learning taking the past
of the Greeks into their present to make a better future.
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