The Renaissance Era: Social Changes, Humanism, and Modernity's Rise

This essay discusses the major social changes of the Renaissance era, emphasizing the period's intense cultural and social transformation, including the invention of the printing press, the decline of feudalism, and the rise of a market economy. It explores whether these changes were a rejection of medieval trends, arguing that they served as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age. The essay further examines the influence of Humanism, a philosophical movement that significantly shaped art, writing, education, and intellectual inquiry during the Renaissance, contributing to the development of new perspectives and ideas that underpin aspects of modern life. It also highlights how Humanism influenced notable figures like Machiavelli and promoted a focus on neo-Platonism while respecting ancient philosophy and religious truths.

Running Head :SOCIOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY
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Author Note

SOCIOLOGY
Discuss the major social changes of the Renaissance era. Were these changes actually a
rejection of medieval trends? How did the idea of Humanism help drive the changes of
the Renaissance era that produced the Modern Age.
The period of the renaissance in the history of the Europe was characterized as the
period or the time of major cyltural and social change. Not only just the economic growth but
als the period was the intense cultural ferment (Wheeler, 2017). One of the greatest change
that can be illustrated was the development or the invention of the Printing Press by Johann
Fust, Guterberg and Peter Schoffer towards the experimentation of the movable type, use of
the paper and group of words. The period noticed the publication of the first book, the
Guterberg Bible in the year 1456.
One of the most prevelant changes during the era of renaissance was the sudden fall
of the feudalism and the rise of the market economy that is capitalist in nature. The era
showed increased level of the trade and the shortage of the labour force that was the result of
the black death, thus giving rise to the middle class.
The French term, renaissance meaning rebirth influenced the philosophy, the literature
,the politics and some of the other aspects of the intellectual enquiry. These changes were not
actually the rejection of the medieval trends but this transformation is generaly viewed as the
bridge among the modern era and the middle age including various instances of the
revolution together with the political and the social upheal.
The period of renaissance elaborated the rebirth of the culture and the science
highlighting and considering the middle age to be the period of the cultural decline. This
period revitalized the culture through the emphasizing of the philopsophies and the classical
texts with the creation of the developments of humanist philosophy, writing of the vernacular
language and more.

SOCIOLOGY
The renaissance in the culture and the art covers the period among the Modern Age
and the medieval period that roughly projects among 14th to 17th century (Asatryan, 2017).
The context of humanism, the philosophical movement had major of its influence on the
subject of the art in the period of renaissance.
The influence of the humanism towards the driving alteration in the renaissance era
towards the modern age shaped the writing, the art, the thinkers and the system of the
education that helped in the constructon of the aspects of the life (Usman, Shaharuddin &
Abidin, 2017). The writtings by Machiavelli during the era of the renaissance were also
affected by the concepts and the ideas of Humanism.
Humanism and the humanist movement were very important to the period of the
renaissance since they introduced new ideas of the perspecives of the education, and the ideas
of the evolution of the painting that focused on the themes of neo Platonism not disrespecting
the ancient philosophy and the truth related to the religion and the christianity.

SOCIOLOGY
Reference
Asatryan, G. (2017). Creative Potential of Humanism. Wisdom, 8(1), 31-36.
Usman, A. H., Shaharuddin, S. A., & Abidin, S. Z. (2017). HUMANISM IN ISLAMIC
EDUCATION: INDONESIAN REFERENCES. International Journal of Asia-Pacific
Studies, 13(1).
Wheeler, K. (2017). Victorian Perceptions of Renaissance Architecture. Routledge.