Information renaissance at the best
Renaissance means 'new birth.' The term refers to the revival of art and learning that occurred in Europe between the Fourteenth and Sixteenth centuries. This was an era when educated and talented people rediscovered the arts and learning of ancient Greece and Rome and developed new ideas about their world. ( the basics.com)
The term, Renaissance, comes from the Latin word 'rinascere' that means to be reborn. The Renaissance was a great cultural movement - - a period of renewal, revival, and growth. The Renaissance began in Italy during the early 1300's. By 1600 the cultural revival had spread to France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and other European countries. (42 explore2.com)
Many Renaissance scholars and artists studied the art and learning from ancient Greece and Rome, attempting to recapture the spirit of those cultures in their philosophies and their works of art and literature. Renaissance leaders began to reject many of the attitudes and ideas of the Middle Ages. For instance during those earlier times, the most important cultural institution was the Church and the important learning was theology, the study of God. Medieval thinking held that the world was filled with evil temptations. Renaissance thinkers began to emphasize people's responsibilities and duties to their society, a society that could civilize people rather than make them wicked.
The changes in thinking during Renaissance happened gradually. New ideas in art, astronomy, science, literature, mathematics, philosophy, religion, and politics were developed and advanced by a few individuals. But the influence of the Renaissance impacted and shaped the future, leading to a modern era.
Historical period: The new age began in Padua and other urban communes of northern Italy in the 14th century, where lawyers and notaries imitated ancient Latin style and studied Roman archaeology. The key figure in this study of the classical heritage was “PETRARCH”, who spent most of his life attempting to understand ancient culture and captured the enthusiasm of popes, princes, and emperors who wanted to learn more of Italy's past. Petrarch's success stirred countless others to follow literary careers hoping for positions in government and high society. In the next generations, students of Latin rhetoric and the classics, later known as humanists, became chancellors of Venice and Florence, secretaries at the papal court, and tutors and orators in the despotic courts of northern Italy. Renaissance humanisum became the major intellectual movement of the period, and its achievements became permanent.
Science:
No single philosophy or ideology dominated the intellectual life of the Renaissance. Early humanists had stressed a flexible approach to the problems of society and the active life in service of one's fellow human beings. In the second half of the 15th century, Renaissance thinkers such as Marsilio FICINO at the Platonic Academy in Florence turned to more metaphysical speculation. Though favored by the humanists, Plato did not replace Aristotle as the dominant philosopher in the universities. Rather there was an effort at philosophical syncretism, to combine apparently conflicting philosophies, and find common ground for agreement about the truth as did Giovanni PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA in his Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486). Renaissance science consisted mainly of the study of medicine, physics, and mathematics, depending on ancient masters, such as Galen, Aristotle, and Euclid. Experimental science in anatomy and alchemy led to discoveries both within and outside university settings.
( Web Museum, La: Renaissance)
References:
WebMuseum, (1995), Historical period, Retrieved from http://www.navigo.com/wm/paint/glo/renaissance/
ABC words, (2002), 42explore2, retrieved from http://www.42explore2.com/renaissance.htm