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Historians generally date the Renaissance to the period from 1300 to 1600. In fact, the Renaissance did not start or end at a particular time. Nor did it represent a clear break with the past. Many of the changes that took place during this period had their roots in the late Middle Ages. The Renaissance did not just happen; like a good meal, several ingredients or factors had to occur and come together over time to make the Renaissance a possibility.
By 1300, Europe was moving out of the feudal age. Increased trade and commerce were generating new wealth, prosperity, and urban growth. Universities in Paris, Oxford, and other cities had emerged as centers of higher learning. National monarchies and city-states were gaining more power. The Catholic Church was still a dominant force, but it was losing some of its control over cultural and political life.
How did the events of the Middle Ages create the conditions for change to occur?
The Crusades
The Crusades
The Crusades were a series of wars between Christian fighters from all over Europe and Muslim fighters in the Middle East. These several wars lasted from 1095 to 1291 and led to massive changes in political and religious power both in Europe and the Middle East. One of the largest and most important impacts of the Crusades was the increase of trade which was stimulated within Europe and between Europe and the Middle East. Goods from the Middle and Far East flowed into Europe for the first time since the fall of Rome. Roman roads, long unused in Medieval Europe, were bustling with trade and travel by the end of the Crusades.
The increase in trade would help bring about the end of feudalism. Trade necessitated the growth of towns, and towns lay outside the manor system and outside the control of lords. Towns were under the control of kings, and kings gained substantial power over lords as a result.
The Black Death
The Black Death
The Black Death occurred between 1347 and 1351 and killed about one-third of Europe's population. This event devastated whole regions and populations and shrank the labor force; but it also helped destroy feudalism and create new possibilities for change. Large numbers of peasants escaped from serfdom when landowners and towns, needing laborers, offered them freedom in exchange for work.
A rise of urban society brought secular views of the world and increased wealth led to more leisure time for education, art, and the investigation of ideas. People began to emphasize individual ability and achievements. The skilled artisans who worked in these small industries produced a wide range of luxury goods and machinery. From this artisan class came many of the craft workers, artists, architects, and other creative individuals who powered the Renaissance.
The Western Schism
The Western Schism
The Schism, which lasted from 1378 to 1417, was a time in which there were two Popes, one in France and one in Rome, who each claimed authority over the Catholic Church. This period damaged the Church and made people loss faith in both the papacy and the Church. A Church council in 1417 ended the Schism when a new Pope was elected and accepted by all. However, the Church has lost much of its political power and the Pope could no longer claim supremacy over the state. Although Christianity remained central to life, the papacy and the Church lost much of their authority as people lost faith. The Schism contributed to the end of the Church's Medieval control and ultimately laid the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
The effects of the Schism combined with the flow of new ideas coming from a new philosophy called Humanism, created a new way for people to look at the world. This philosophy balanced religious faith with a secular point of view. It emphasized the dignity and worth of the individual. As humanists, the Renaissance thinkers studied classical art and literature for their insights into human life, rather than spiritual matters.
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