Impact of the term "renaissance" on the continent of Europe.

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Most students know that the word "Renaissance" comes from the Latin/Italian literally translated as "again birth" or "rebirth". This term will generally lead one to ask, "why was a rebirth necessary" and "if society was to be reborn, what would it base its new life on?" Another question is "did society need to be reborn because it was somehow dead or was it reborn for aesthetic or other reasons?"

Historical background.

From roughly 500 BC to 500 AD Europe had been heavily influenced by the Greek and Roman civilizations. The Greeks gave Europe their ideals of democracy, philosophy, virtue and oratory. They gave Europe a common trade language that was to survive long after the Greek civilization had been swallowed up by Rome. The Romans in turn conquered most of Europe. They adopted Greek ideals that they saw as beneficial and blessed Europe with their own achievements such as a system of law, transportation and trade routes, aqueduct building, architecture and peace throughout Europe. For the wealthy, privileged, educated and ambitious this was a golden period in time.

Following the barbarian invasions that swept Europe in the mid first century, the Roman Empire was divided and the Western Roman Empire was soon swallowed up in a tide of barbaric violence that retarded societal growth and threatened to destroy civilization. The Eastern Empire centered in Constantinople would live on for several hundred more years before being swallowed by the Turks.

The only stabilizing force in Europe at this time was the Catholic Church which became both the spiritual and temporal leadership in Europe. Over time the Church began to stray from her role as the spiritual mentor of the faithful and began exercising more and more political, military and financial influence over European believers and unbelievers alike. As the administrative ...