Out of the misery of the Black Death came new ideas that stirred Europe. Starting around 1350 enthusiasm for art, literature, and trade increased throughout Northern Italy. This was the beginning of a period called the Renaissance which comes from the French word meaning "rebirth". Many Europeans saw this time as a rebirth of the classical periods of Greece and Rome. Although the Renaissance began in Italy, within a century it had spread to the rest of Europe.
The Renaissance is a time of great creativity. Central to the ideas of the Renaissance was a powerful interest in humanity. Humanism meant concern with human interests and values. People in the Middle Ages had often turned their thoughts toward the next world or heaven. People of the Renaissance were still usually very religious. However, they began to focus more on what people could achieve in this world
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