European Renaissance
"Renaissance," French for "rebirth," perfectly describes the intellectual and economic changes that occurred in Europe from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries.
During this era, Europe emerged from the economic stagnation of the Middle Ages and experienced a time of financial growth.Perhaps most importantly, the Renaissance was an age in which artistic, social, scientific, and political thought turned in new directions.
There was great resurgence in trade and commerce during this era. Tools developed in the Middle Ages for exploration continued to be used during the Renaissance. One of these was the astrolabe, a portable device used by sailors to help them find their way. By measuring the distance of the sun and stars above the horizon, the astrolabe helped determine latitude, an important tool in navigation. Another tool, the magnetic compass, which had been invented in the twelfth century, was improved upon during the Renaissance.
Maps, too, became more reliable as Portuguese map makers, called cartographers, incorporated information provided by travelers and explorers into their work. Shipbuilding also improved during the Renaissance, as large ships called galleons became common. These ships were powered by sail rather than by men using oars
Radical changes also emerged in the field of architecture. The recovery of ancient manuscripts showed the humanists how the Greeks and Romans employed mathematics to give structure to their art. The relationship between these two studies was evident in architecture, where numerical ratios were used in building spectacular designs. Proportions used by Renaissance artists, the golden mean, had also been used by the ancient Greeks in art and architecture. Often found in nature in the shape of a leaf or the spiral of a shell, the golden mean is thought to add harmonious composition to buildings and other structures.
The humanists also used the writings of Vitruvius, a Roman architect, to guide them in their architectural designs. Vitruvius extolled the virtues of proportion and symmetry in architecture, and he explained how the human body represented the beauty of proportion in nature.
Renaissance architects, especially those in Italy, also went to the ruins of ancient buildings to measure them and learn how proportion and symmetry were applied in real structures. The result of these studies was a new philosophy of beauty in building. Gothic spires and decorations imitating movement towards heaven were replaced by elegant symmetry demonstrating the intellect of man.
More information on the European Renaissance could be found at:
http://www8.georgetown.edu/departments/medieval/labyrinth/display.cfm
http://www.learner.org/interactives/renaissance/symmetry_sub.html