How Renaissance and Reformation strengthened the state

Renaissance and Reformation
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Renaissance is a transitional movement in Europe originating in 14th century from Italy
which lasted into the 17th century. It striked a humanistic betterment of classical influence
expressed in literature and art and rise to modern science1. Reformation refers to the religious
movement of 16th century marked by rejection and modification of Catholic practices and
establishment of protestant Churches2. Renaissance and Reformation was based upon the vision
of humanism and was fuelled by printing revolution. These movements lead to the spread of
information and contributed in strengthening of the states. This essay will discuss the
Reformation and Renaissance and how these two helped in the strengthening of state.
Renaissance
Renaissance refers to birth period of European civilization which was marked by a
revival of classical wisdom and learning. It covers the 15th and 16th centuries transitioning from
the middle-ages to modernity. The traditional view of Renaissance concentrates on early modern
elements and also proclaims that it was a disruption form past3. However, the archivists today
concentrates more on its middle-age elements and also proclaims that it was a growth of middle
ages.
Reformation
Reformation refers to the movement within western Christianity in Europe in the 16th
century which posed a religious and political challenge to Catholic Church. Challenges were
presented in certain to Papal authority which arises from the perceptions of errors, abuses and
discrepancies by the Catholic Churches.
History of state
Renaissance and Reformation begin from the Italy. Europe suffered from plague and war
during the late middle ages. The people who survived from the disasters wanted to celebrate their
life and human spirit. This raised the questions on institutions which were unable to prevent the
1 Kristeller, Paul Oskar, 2021. Renaissance thought and the arts. Princeton University
Press.
2 Soloviev, Erikh Yu, 2018. "Paradoxes of the Reformation: From Independent Belief to
Independent Thought." Russian Studies in Philosophy. 56. No. 4 : 250-276.
3 Kristeller, Paul Oskar. X., 2021Rhetoric in Medieval and Renaissance Culture. Princeton
University Press.
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war to revive the suffering caused by plague in the middle-ages4. Some raised questions to the
Church from which the Christians to undergo suffering while they anticipated their winnings in
the heaven. The writers in Italy began to express their excitement and new spirit with different
styles of writing. These people changed the way Europeans saw themselves and their religious
and general world.
The movement initiated in Italy, which created huge blast of creativity in literature,
thoughts and art which lasted for a few centuries. This gave birth to Renaissance. People of Italy
wanted to bring the cultures of Rome and Greece back to their life while the people of
Renaissance created something new of their own5. This lead to contributions in innovative styles
of literature and art. These people also lead other towards new values like importance and
necessity of individualism. Then the Renaissance expanded from Italy to whole of the Europe
eventually.
The three advantages of Italy during middle ages such as booming cities, classical legacy
of both Greece and Rome and a rich merchant segment made it the origin of Renaissance. Efforts
of artists like Rapheal, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci showed the spirit of Renaissance.
This demonstrated an interest and excitement in classical culture, belief in human potential and a
curiosity about the world and the ideas about individuality6. Those ideas very highly appreciated
by the students, merchants and scholars who had visited Italy. Renaissance spread to Northern
Europe including England, France and Netherlands during the late 1400.
Renaissance helping in strengthening of state
By the 1450s people of northern Europe began to show growth declined from plague.
Cities grew rapidly after the destructive hundred years war ended in 1453. The urban merchant
were wealthy enough at that time to sponsor various artists. As the wealth of people grew,
patronage of artists started increasing as well. England was unified under strong monarchs during
4 Heinrichs, Erik A, 2017. Plague, Print, and the Reformation: The German Reform of
Healing. 1473–1573. Routledge.
5 Kristeller, Paul Oskar, 2021. "I. Humanist Learning in the Italian Renaissance." In
Renaissance Thought and the Arts, pp. 1-19. Princeton University Press.
6 Burckhardt, Jacob, and Samuel George Chetwynd Middlemore, 2019. The civilisation of
the Renaissance in Italy. Routledge.
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that period. The rulers of the state often sponsored arts through purchasing painting by artists and
writers to showed them their support7. Various Italian artists and architects were sponsored by
rulers to rebuild and redecorate their castles and buildings8. These castles, in turn became a
showcase for Renaissance art. Northern Renaissance developed its own character after the ideas
spread out of Italy. The artists were more interested in realism and individuality.
During 1494, as the new rulers claimed southern Italy and launched their invasions
throughout the northern Italy. The wars were dragged but the artists were left on a safer side.
These artists bought the styles and techniques of Italian Renaissance with themselves9. The
artists carried Renaissance ideas back to their home lands.
In between mid-1500s, Renaissance rolled out to whole England which was called as
Elizabethan age. Renaissance was an intense period during middle age for European cultural and
political factors10. Queen Elizabeth-1 was well-educated and spoke various languages. She
supported the development and growth of English literature and art.
Block printing reached form China to Europe during the 13th century. European printers
started using block printing to create full pages to bind into books. However, this process was too
slow and did not satisfy the urge for knowledge, books and information of the Renaissance. In
1440 craftsmen from Germany introduced new technologies which incorporated a lot of
technologies in new ways. Using these technologies, Bible was the first full sized printed book
printed with moveable type of technology11.
Legacy of Renaissance
Renaissance was a period of great social change and artistic change. It helped the state in
its strengthening and development. Changes resulted from Renaissance movement includes
changes in art and literature. Writers started using vernacular languages to express their ideas.
7 Panofsky, Erwin, 2018. Renaissance and renascences in Western art. Routledge.
8 Ramey, Valerie A, 2019. "Ten years after the financial crisis: What have we learned from
the renaissance in fiscal research?." Journal of Economic Perspective. 33. No. 2 : 89-114.
9 Goldstein, Brian D, 2017. The roots of urban renaissance. Harvard University Press.
10 Broomhall, Susan, and Andrew Lynch, eds, 2021. A Cultural History of the Emotions in
the Late Medieval, Reformation, and Renaissance Age. Vol. 3. Cultural Histories.
11 Price, David H, 2020. In the Beginning Was the Image: Art and the Reformation Bible.
Oxford University Press.
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