The 14th, 15th and part of 16th century was a glorious time for Europe, it was the reformation of many old ideas and the formation of many new, this was called the Renaissance. The Renaissance brought many changes to Europe, the economy was greatly boosted by of all the new explorations. The flourishing economy helped to inspire new developments in art and literature. And from that many new beliefs were formed. The European economy flourished during the Renaissance due to many factors. There was a large income coming in from over seas exploration.
Spain alone received added income from Christopher Columbus and when he stumbled across North America on his way to find a shorter rout to the Indies. The exploration down the coast of Africa also brought in a lot of extra income. This income came from the exploitation of the Africans by kidnapping them and selling them as slaves. Income also came from establishing colonies in Africa and setting up gold mines and mines for other needed metals. With all of this extra income coming into the European countries they had more money to help fund the arts.
During the Renaissance there were many drastic changes in the style of art. Giotto was a very influential painter, during the start of the Renaissance. In Giotto’s work he used three dimensional images, this was a drastic change from the classic art where depth was not used. His painting were very realistic and life like, unlike the previous centuries art. Giotto’s work inspired artists by the likes of Leonardo de Vinci, Raphael and Michaelango. Michaelango painted the Sistine Chapel, which is located in the Vatican in Rome. The Sistine Chapel depicted the book of Genesis.
The manner in which it was painted was unlike another at the time, all the characters in the Sistine chapel are very life like and realistic. Also it was one of the first times that religion was painted by the painters opinion of the events. The arts led to new ways of thinking. With the arts the artists began to think on their own and those movements began to spread. It was not just what the church said anymore that was right. Humanism, one of the new beliefs which was formed during the Renaissance, said that people should read the works of the greats and focus on writing, and the arts.
Humanists believed that they were equal with the ancient Greek and Roman writers and philosophers. Petrarch was the original humanist, and a writer who wrote many letters to the people of ancient Rome. In those letters he spoke as if he was an equal with them. Another of the new beliefs was scholasticism, which was the opposite of humanism. Scholastics thought that people should spend more time the sciences, they also wanted the church and science to be brought together as one. As new scientific discoveries were made many of the churches theories were beginning to be questioned.
Some of the new scientific discoveries consisted of theories which went against the churches beliefs. One theory which was proven true about the Earth revolving around the sun. This was contrary to the churches view that everything revolved around the Earth. This theory was proven true by Copernicus who is considered the father of modern astronomy. Kelper an astronomer and astrologer also discovered about the rotation of the planets. As the church began to be questioned more and more. And soon there were new religions forming. The major religion that was formed during the Renaissance was the Protestant religion.
The Protestant religion began to spread throughout Europe, at one point of time the official church of England was a Protestant church. This new and improved Europe was mainly came to be from the blustering economy, the explorations, art, literature, and new discoveries, but this new growth of a western power was not just a natural development, in fact it was inspired by a superior civilization, the Chinese. If it was not for the Chinese version of the Renaissance which occurred about a thousand years earlier there would be no European Renaissance. The Chinese had many useful inventions which the Europeans exploited unlike the Chinese.
One crucial Chinese invention was the compass, the Chinese had no need to exploit the invention because they had everything they needed right in China. The Europeans on the other hand would be nowhere without the compass, because it was an essential tool for their over seas exploration. Another key invention that the Europeans used to fuel their Renaissance was the printing press, this was also another Chinese invention that they had used a thousand years earlier. Many views about being civilized and a gentleman was a crucial part of the Renaissance.
Baldassare Castiglione wrote an influential book called The Courtier which was all about how to be a gentleman. Confucius a Chinese philosopher wrote about that same idea during the Chinese Renaissance. So in fact the European Renaissance was inspired by a superior civilization, the Chinese. Compared to the Middle Ages the Renaissance was a major step up in all aspects of life from the economy, which benefited from the explorations, the arts and literature and the new scientific discoveries and theories. So the Renaissance was a very beneficial period of time in European history.
During the late 1400’s, England became a country plagued by changes, both good and bad. Knights, who were once prominent in England faded away and became less popular. Soon after that, the Renaissance swept into and changed England dramatically. The Renaissance, which started in France and many other western European nations, was a time of prospering for literature, art, science and learning. At the same time the Renaissance was occurring, a religious revolution was beginning, which was known as the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation helped to influence and strengthen the Renaissance that was just arising in England.
Many people became instrumental in bringing about the Protestant Reformation like John Calvin and most importantly Martin Luther. Martin Luther and John Calvin were two of the men who wanted changes in the Roman Church. Martin Luther, who was a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg had protested against the Roman Catholic Church priciples. As stated in the encyclopedia, “on October 31, 1517, he posted on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg, his 95 theses, inviting debate on matters of practice and doctrine (Reformation, pg. 1). ” These 95 theses caused debate on matters of practice and doctrine.
These actions were not considered a revolt against the church because Luther wanted the church to only reform. John Calvin, whom many considered to be the greatest theologian of Protestantism, also helped in the Reformation. He wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion, which was published at Basal in 1536 (Reformation, Shoup 2 pg. 3). Calvin and Luther disagreed on only one principle, the Doctrine of Predestination, which means that God choose those to be saved. The impact that Both these men had helped to begin the reformation of the church that furthered the continuance of the Renaissance.
As the Reformation continued in England, a conflict formed between the Roman Catholic Church and King Henry VIII. King Henry VIII was married to a Roman Catholic named Catherine of Aragon. She was the widow of King Henry VIII’s brother, therefore making their marriage illegal under church law, but the Pope used special “papal dispensation”, which means the Pope allowed the marriage to happen (Reformation, pg. 1). Since Catherine could not produce any male offspring, King Henry VIII claimed the “papal dispensation” went against ecclesiastical law and that the marriage was therefore invalid (Reformation, pg. 1).
However, the Pope said the marriage was legal and did not annul it. At the same time this was happening, the King fell in love with a woman named Ann Boleyn and eventually married her. King Henry VIII then had the Archbishop of Canterbury announce his divorce from Catherine; thus forcing the pope to kick him out of the church In 1534, King Henry VIII created the Church of England from the Act of Supremacy (Act… , pg. 1). This established a separate church from the Catholics. The Church of England continued under the reign of King Edward VI, repealing any laws the Roman Catholic Church had passed against the Church of England.
Mary I tried to restore Roman Catholicism, but the people protested. Finally, under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Protestantism was restored, keeping the Church of England the main religion. Overall, the Protestant Reformation contributed greatly to the continuance of, and shaping of the Renaissance. The Renaissance gave a chance for people in England to reform the religion, mainly because many other things in England were changing also. Along with the Shoup 3 people wanting change many great theologians like Calvin and Luther wanted change too, and when the church refused to change, the Protestant Reformation began.