The Italian Renaissance

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During the Middle Ages, much of

the progress of the western world had

fallen into sharp decline as cities,

libraries, instructions and the rest of

European society fell to outside

invaders. The Dark Ages, as

historians have called this period, was

marked by very little literacy or

educational achievement. The church,

which filled many of the voids that these invasions left in society came under intense scrutiny when it was unable to provide relief from the suffering society endured from the Bubonic Plague. Prolonged periods of warfare exacerbated the problems that medieval society was already ill-equipped to deal with.

Those who survived the decades of war and plague were left wanting to celebrate life and to remember the unlimited potential mankind was capable of achieving. As society regained its footing around 1400 AD, a new movement, the Renaissance, was beginning. The Renaissance would take a much more secular, or worldly tone, than theMiddle Ages had. Whereas the Middle Ages was dominated by the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, the Renaissance was dominated by the abandonment of such institutions.