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Introduction
Western civilization consists of the regions of Europe and the Mediterranean. The Roman Empire and the Medieval Western Christendom also come under the umbrella of Western Civilization. The Western Civilization was very much influenced by the teachings of Christianity and Judaism and the practices being followed were of mixed nature. The Fall of Rome proved to be very important even after which, the Catholic Church took charge of the society and religion. There was great hold of the Church on power and politics as well (Perry, 2015).
The civilizations of Ancient Rome and Classical Greece are considered the most influential societies in the history of the West. The period starting from 500 AD till date is considered very important as the West went through many moderations and developments during this time period, in terms of cultural, industrial and economic aspects. These changes were titled as the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, scientific revolution and the introduction of liberal democracy. Among all of these, the Renaissance was the most critical event that completely transformed Western Civilization and brought many positive changes in the arts, cultural, intellectual and scientific spheres of society. The following piece of writing will discuss the significance of the Renaissance for the Western Societies and how it left a powerful impact on the Western Civilization.
Discussion
Renaissance means Rebirth or the complete transformation of any event or thing. As Western Civilization went through many changes during the medieval time periods, many areas underwent changes including, science, arts, culture, commerce, and industry. Renaissance is considered as the period of a political, cultural, economic, scientific and intellectual explosion in Europe. After the Fall of Rome, it is regarded as the most profound period in human development. Although the flowering of art and culture had informally started in the 12th century, the region of Europe experienced it formally from the 14th century. The Renaissance took place majorly in Italy from the 14th century to the 17th century.
The Renaissance impacted almost every area of human life, starting from daily living to patterns to the big long-term decision; it even affected the thinking patterns or techniques of war. The techniques of war were mainly inspired by Ancient Rome and Medieval Greek civilizations. The Renaissance had almost a kind of snowball effect; every new development paved the way for further advancement. Filippo Brunelleschi, one of the prominent architects of Italy is considered as the founder of the Renaissance. Some of the other notable names that contributed exceptionally during the era of Renaissance were Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Donatello and Raphael who showed extraordinary creativity in their pieces of arts like paintings, tales, architectural figures, statues, poems, and theories, etc. about Gods, heroes, and ideas.
The 14th century is considered as the most critical era in for the Renaissance as it provided a rich ground for cultural development. The region of Europe had recently come out of the curse of Cholera, also known as the Black Death, and was steadily recovering from it's after effects. Cholera became the cause of death of millions of people, killing almost one in three people during 1346and 1353. It resulted in the concentration of wealth and resources in limited hands and arousal in the wages. This gave birth to a new form of rulers who had a great interest in showing off their wealth, such as Medici of Florence.
The aspect of intellect was significantly enriched during the Renaissance, during which the philosophers, scientists and other intellectuals developed multiple theories and presented many ideas regarding various subjects. For example, the topic of human anatomy was revisited, and many new dimensions were presented. On another note, the area of light and shadow were also studied under the discipline of Physics. The intellects encouraged the people to think more and more and research deeply about vague ideas. The era of renaissance urged the people to push their boundaries and look forward to achieving beyond their comfort zone.
The famous painting of Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa, also came into existence during the Renaissance (Panofsky, 2018). It also happened during the period of Renaissance that the long-acknowledged fact that the Sun revolved around the Earth was shunned and it was discovered that actually, Earth revolved around the Sun. This shocking discovery was made by Copernicus and Galileo who worked on the solar system and studied the position of different planets in the cosmos.
One of the most significant advancements of the Renaissance era was the development of the printing press. The printing press was invented by Gutenberg in 1440, which assisted greatly in the mass-production of the literature, including books, newspapers, and scripts. A single printing press churned out approximately 3600 pages per day, which resulted in the explosion of information, literature, and ideas unprecedented in history. The printing press had given out more those 20 million copies by 1500 in Western Europe which rose to a whopping 200 million by 1600.
The area of music also saw a surge during the era of Renaissance as the musicians and composers started getting much fame and acclamation as compared to their medieval predecessors. All this was a result of an instant surge of individualism during the Renaissance (Martin, 2016). The printing technology facilitated the musicians to distribute their work widely and eased the study of music for the people. The genre of secular music started getting popularity as compared the previous times and, even in the dominance of spiritual music, more and more musicians began working on it. Many musical instruments were revamped and improved in order to produce a better quality of music. The genre of instrumental music also gained much popularity and musicians worked on many new dimensions of instrumental music.
During the 15th century, the late period of Renaissance started when Rome was sacked, and the artists had the leave their original places to relocate to various other places like Spain, Italy, and France. This era is also known as Mannerism. During the age of Mannerism, the artist reverted towards odd themes of art, and rough display of emotions and feelings was displayed. Painters preferred to paint people, mostly nudes, in awkward positions and poses that were sometimes grotesque. Only Michelangelo remained alive to experience this era of the Renaissance.
The period of the Renaissance was closely followed by Reformation. The Reformation was a movement that affected the religious aspects of society and changed the concepts of people about spiritual prospects. The Reformation period resulted in the termination of the religious unity of the West and the hold of Catholic Church over the spheres of the economic and cultural sectors of the society, especially politics.
Conclusions
Shortly, it can be seen that undoubtedly, the era of the Renaissance was the most significant and impacting period of Western Civilization. Not only it contributed to transforming the arts and culture of the society, but it also helped greatly in reforming the religious views, improving the intellectual level of the people and bringing economic prosperity in their lives. The period of Renaissance impacted each and every area of life and society, one could think of, and the world witnessed great changes taking place in Europe during this era. It can be said that the Renaissance laid the foundations for the modern world.
References
Martin, J. (2016). Myths of Renaissance individualism. Springer.
Panofsky, E. (2018). Renaissance and renascences in western art. Routledge.
Perry, M. (2015). Western civilization, a brief history. Cengage Learning.
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