The Renaissance and the Reformation were two major movements symbolizing the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era. The values emphasizing human reason and individual faith later led to the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and democracy.
What the Renaissance Changed
- Art: From a “means” for depicting God to an “end” expressing human emotions and beauty
- Learning: The rise of empirical inquiry in philosophy, science, anatomy, geography, and other fields
- Language: The development of literature in national languages (vernaculars) instead of Latin → the formation of national cultures
- The democratization of knowledge through printing
Three Ways the Reformation Opened the Modern Era
①Freedom of individual faith: Emphasis on a direct relationship between individuals and God rather than the authority of the Church → the origin of freedom of conscience and religion
②Translations of the Bible into national languages: German Bibles and others → standardization of national languages, increased literacy, and the beginnings of nationalism
③Strengthening of secular power: States became independent from the Church → the beginning of the sovereign-state system and separation of church and state
①Freedom of individual faith: Emphasis on a direct relationship between individuals and God rather than the authority of the Church → the origin of freedom of conscience and religion
②Translations of the Bible into national languages: German Bibles and others → standardization of national languages, increased literacy, and the beginnings of nationalism
③Strengthening of secular power: States became independent from the Church → the beginning of the sovereign-state system and separation of church and state
The Door to the Modern Era
The humanism of the Renaissance developed into the Enlightenment thought of the 17th and 18th centuries (Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau), becoming the ideological foundation of the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The freedom of religion that emerged from the Reformation became one of the important pillars of modern human-rights thought.
Practice
- Give 2 reasons why the Renaissance is described as a “transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era.”
- Into what kind of right did the concept of “freedom of individual faith,” born from the Reformation, later develop?
- If you were to express the spirit shared by the Renaissance and the Reformation in one phrase, what would it be? Also state your reason.