Key Points

• There is a consensus that the Renaissance began in Florence, Italy, in the 14th century, most likely due to the political structure and the civil and social nature of the city. The Renaissance encompassed the flowering of Latin languages, a change in artistic style, and gradual, widespread educational reform.
• The development of conventions of diplomacy and an increased reliance on observation in science were also markers of the Renaissance.
• The Renaissance is probably best known for its artistic developments and for the development of “Humanism,” a movement that emphasized the importance of creating citizens who were able to engage in the civil life of their community.
• Some historians debate the 19th-century glorification of the Renaissance and individual culture heroes as “Renaissance men.”
• Some have called into question whether the Renaissance was a cultural “advance” from the Middle Ages, instead seeing it as a period of pessimism and nostalgia for classical antiquity.