Introduction
According to Kahoe, Damerow and Duvalle, Renaissance is a synonymous term for rebirth which is said to have begun in the early 1350 after the outbreak of the ‘Black Death’ pandemic that killed more than a third of Northern Italy population. This is said to be the initial sense of the rebirth. The rediscovery of the ancient Rome and the classical learning is said to be the second sense of the rebirth. The creativity aspect which is manifested through artistic work of the human marks the final sense of rebirth. As a result of many artistic works being done at Florence, it’s normally referred to as ‘the Athens of the renaissance’ (411).In their discussion for the transition from medieval culture to the rebirth, Cunningham and Reich expounds on how the fourteenth century was a painful transition. Besides the marked construction of cities among them Florence Duomo, the transition was much hit by disasters and wars (262).
Main Body
As Cunningham and Reich reviews, the notion that Europe was a ‘dead’ prior to the renaissance is attributed to the Black death ,a Bubonic plague which was caused by a bacterium known as Yersinia pestis.The pandemic is said to have started in the Central Asia and spread to Europe. The plague killed up to sixty percent of the Europe’s population. As a result of Europe being adversely hit by this plague, it’s said that, people shifted their general world’s view to Italy. As a result of the Black Death, pundits concentrated on their earthly lives and neglected their spiritual growth. As a result of the reduced population due to the Black Death, the workers acquired bargaining powers as compared to the rulers. The presence of the Black Death in the long run is said to have brought about the rebirth in Europe (256).
The rebirth was manifested through changes in various aspects. Some of these aspects included, mannerism, science, art, Religion and printing of press. Renaissance development was manifested through the art of work. Kahoe Damerow and Duvalle cites an example in which a renown painter by the name Jan Van Eyck painted a wedding scene and showed both the light and dark background contrasts(262).Printing of press is another development that took place in which the new Testament bible was printed. Science was articulated through the work of artist such as Leonardo da Vince who made observational drawings of anatomy and nature. Religion was manifested through ‘mannerism’, whereby some artists such as Michelangelo had the desire for salvation. He is said to have gone ahead in painting Jesus Christ’s crucifixion sculpture in emotionally exaggerated.
According to Adler and Pouwels Renaissance begun in Italy with the northern States being common (15). The cities included Milan, Florence and Pisa. The cities were well placed in terms of financial genius and trade. The cities were also headed by wealthy aristocrats who were wealthy learned and had a sense of pride. They thus practiced individualism in which men and women did not recognize the importance of Christianity. In terms of secularism, there was a shift from the eternally to worldly and earthly affairs. There was also the revival for classical values in which the pagans in the roman concentrated on art and culture. In general, the Italian renaissance was concerned with realization of earthly human being as the only sure way. They rejected the devotional middle age.
On the other hand, the Northern renaissance was in the north of the Alps and it focused on pietism, reformist and less pagan and self centeredness. Humanism was a common practice in the northern renaissance in which the scholars had the urge to gradually transform the church from corruption through Christian teachings. Its responsibility was to attempt to change the society and the state to a pure state in which Christians could understand their duties towards their fellow beings. The two types of renaissances however had similarities. In both cases, the power of intellect in finding the truth of an issue was of importance. Faith was recognized as opposed to dogma as an element in humanists (281).
Conclusion
As Adler and Pouwel records, the spirit of renaissance,’ rebirth’ began in Europe among the educated in the early fourteenth century. It was restricted to those people who were well placed in the society. Renaissance was thus based on either a shift in the social-economic status or culture/art based. Renaissance also differed based on geographical location. The south and the northern Alps renaissance thus existed. The south was mainly in Italy which was secular and ant clerical while the north which was composed of Europe focused on reforms in the religious sector together with less emphasis on personal excellence (279).
Works cited
Adler Philip and Randall Pouwell. World Civilizations: To 1700. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Cunningham Lawrence and Reich John. Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Kahoe Thomas, Damerow Herold and Duvall Marie. Exploring Western Civilization to 1648: A Work text for the Active Student. Dubuque, Iowa: Hunt Publishing, 1997