Renaissance

• The Renaissance was a period between c.1300-c.1700 CE, when Western European Countries rediscovered the art, technology and culture of Classical Antiquity.
• The Italian Renaissance occurred between the 15th and 16th centuries CE.

History

• Between 380-395 CE, the old Greek and Roman Religion and traditions of the Classical World were forbidden as being Pagan. They were replaced by the values of the Christian Church when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as the State Religion.
• Nevertheless, some of the values of Classical Rome and Greece were maintained through the Latin language and classical Latin texts.
• Then from 1300 CE onwards, a popular revival of ideas from the Classical World took place.
• The Renaissance is considered to have started in Florence, Italy, in the 14th century CE, when scholars started to search for the old classical Latin texts in monastic libraries.
• The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 CE accelerated the Renaissance due to the mass exodus of Greek scholars and monks with their ancient books.
• Up to this point, the ancient Greek classical texts had been lost in the West, and this resulted in a renewed interest in Homer, Greek Plays, Greek Literature, Greek Art and Greek History, which had previously been ignored.
• Initially, the revival of Classical Literature and Culture in the Renaissance complemented and promoted Christianity.
• However, the surge of new ideas led to the values and ideals of the Catholic Church being challenged, culminating in the Reformation in 1517 CE.

Vitruvius

• Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (c.88-c.26 BCE) was a Roman Engineer who described in ten books called De Architectura, how the Romans built their Aqueducts and other Great Works including a description of the machines that built them. In book I he described Roman town planning.
• This knowledge was lost until he was rediscovered during the Renaissance.

Eras

• Classical Antiquity (800 BCE-600 CE)
  • Also known as the Classical Era, the Classical Period or the Classical Age, covers the Period between 800 BCE to 600 CE of the Mediterranean Civilisation of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.
• Middle Ages (500-1500 CE)
  • The Middle Ages starts with the Fall of the Roman Empire and ends with the Age of Discovery (1400-1700 CE)
• The Renaissance (1400-1600 CE)
  • This is the Transitional Period which ended the Middle Ages and brought in the Modern Era.
• Modern Era (1500 CE to today)
  • Early Modern Period (1500-1800 CE)
  • Late Modern Period (1800 CE to today)

Florence