Chapter 11 — History & Culture
What was the Renaissance?
A roughly 14th- to 17th-century European movement that revived classical learning and shifted focus toward human potential, observation, and perspective. It began in Italian city-states enriched by trade and banking, above all Florence.
Follow-up questions
Why did the Renaissance start in Italy?
Wealthy trading cities, surviving Roman ruins and texts, competition between city-states, and patrons like the Medici who paid for art and scholarship.
Who were the key Renaissance figures?
Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Machiavelli, Erasmus, and Galileo at its scientific edge.
How did the printing press change things?
Gutenberg's press from around 1450 cut the cost of books by orders of magnitude, spreading both classical texts and the Reformation far faster than manuscript culture allowed.
How did the Renaissance end?
It didn't stop sharply — it merged into the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Baroque as economic power shifted north and west.
Why did it start in Italy?
Wealth from trade, surviving Roman ruins as inspiration, patronage from families like the Medici, and the fall of Constantinople sent Greek scholars west.
What ended it?
The Reformation, religious wars, and the shift of trade routes away from the Mediterranean gradually superseded it.
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