The Middle Ages was a dreadful time in human history, According to the Background Essay it states that, “During the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope were the primary players in Europe. The custodians of culture – that is, the people who owned most of the books and made handwritten copies of the Bible – were priests who often lived a closed existence inside the walls of monasteries. Schools were few. Illiteracy was widespread. “(Background Essay). With the creation of the printing press the Renaissance had started and made people more joyful.
What was mainly impacted in this era was art, literature, and science. Unlike The Middle Ages the Renaissance was an enlightenment period, allowing for education and creativity to spread quickly, with the creation of the printing press books were more affordable which allowed for more consumers. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the change of man’s view of The Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Art in The Middle Ages was intriguing and was mostly religious. All of it was 2d, sad, and plain. For instance, in Document A the painting on the left is made by Duccio Di Buoninsegna, it is religious, 2d, and boring.
Maybe it was religious to express the depression of that era, with a religious figure, it can lead the way to enlightenment. In the Renaissance, art was more detailed and 3d, “It was the clearest evidence of the break with the medieval culture comes from the visual arts. ” (Doc A). Perhaps the Renaissance was happier, thus having no more need for a religious figure to guide them. Evidence is demonstrated by Theodore Robb, who wrote the Last Days of the Renaissance and the March to Modernity, art created during the Renaissance. ” echoes broader movements and interests of the new age. (Doc A).
It’s saying that with no more need for religion being the main focus, creativity sparked and caused great works to be made. Another area that was improved was literature being one of the second focuses. The next area that displays change in views from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance was literature. In the Middle Ages everything was depressing, even the writing nothing was happy, thus causing the literature to be dreadful. In the expert from Everyman by an unknown author in 1485, “It carried a message right out of the middle ages” (Doc B).
In the poem Everyman, it states that “both strength, power, and beauty which were important to many people, would eventually fade and were not important. That sentence asks what the point of living is if everything will be gone one day. Another quote from the Everyman that demonstrates the medieval beliefs that displays the thoughts of people from Middle Ages was “For ye shall here, how our Heave – King Calleth Everyman to a general reckoning. “(Doc B). This quote describes Judgement Day, which is what Christians believe to be the pinnacle of life. Judgement day decides whether a soul will either go to heaven or to hell.
Overall, to the people of the medieval period life was a sacrifice in order to become worthy of heaven adversely the literature in the Renaissance contradicted that, “Both strength, pleasure, and beauty will fade thee as flower in May. ” The body will go away like a flower that blooms. ” (Doc B). Declaring that if you do pursuit happiness, you will remember everything beautiful you have done and you will cherish it. The main view that changed from man’s view was science. Science is still changing today. In The Middle Ages everything was based on predictions there was no proof for anything.
Ptolemy had a theory where the Earth was the center of the Solar System. (Doc C). Other scientists also had this theory when they were examining the stars and Earth’s rotation. But this was mostly based on predictions. But astronomy wasn’t the only thing being guessed upon, anatomy was being guessed upon to. Document D shows the zodiacs and how the stars lining up. Each sign of was believed to govern a specific part of the body. They had no explanation to present to the public, so they had to make up an explanation. In the Renaissance people had a somewhat understanding of astronomy, not a complete one though.
The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus lived from 1473-1543. Relying on mostly on mathematics and observation, he developed a different understanding of the universe. (Doc C). The purpose of this paper was to discuss the change of man’s view of The Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The Renaissance had changed man’s view significantly through art, literature, and most importantly science. The Middle Age’s was a dark time, there was no time for improvement making it a dark place. The Renaissance enlightened everyone making no more need for a religious figure guiding them.
According to the Background Essay it exclaims “The invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s gave the Renaissance and humanism even more momentum. Initially, the Renaissance was an upper-middle e Renaissance was an upper-middle class movement, but thanks to the mechanization of printing, shopkeepers and street sweepers were able to afford books and articles that discussed the new ideas spreading across Europe. As a result, people started to look at themselves in a new way. ” The Renaissance shaped the world into what it is now, a beautiful place for creativity, improvement, and advancements.
