Brief Look at the Renaissance The Renaissance, which began in Italy in 1300s, was one of the largest periods of growth and development in Western Europe. The increase in trade caused a abundance in wealth that resulted in the focusing of the arts. Such things as literature, paintings, sculptures and many more works are known to have blossomed from the period known as the Renaissance. Many other important occurrences , such as the Reformation and split of the Roman Catholic Church caused by the opposing views of Martin Luther and more of a focus on humankind called humanism, also the eight crusades to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims, played key rolls in the period of the Renaissance. The Crusades which took place before the period of the Renaissance are a major factor in the coming about or "birth" of the Renaissance. The eight Crusades were the efforts to take back Jerusalem from the Muslims. These Crusades introduced to Western Europe the new tastes of art, fine quisines and new types of cloth, including silk.. With this the need for trade with the Far East increased drastically. This increase in trade caused an abundance of wealth in Western Europe which intern brought new products and goods to Western Europe. In the year 1305 the Roman Catholic Church was relocated from Rome to France. With this the power of the papal states was divided among the region's leading families. Starting near the year 1300 the demand for reform began to grow at a rapid pace. By the 1600's close to half of the practicing Catholics in western Europe had left the Church to join one of the new reformer religious groups. This reform brought about new ways of thought and new attitudes towards religion and the human race. The young German scholar realized that the way to salvation was "justification by faith." Martin Luther's beliefs were deemed to be heretic in nature and he was hidden away by a German prince. The word Renaissance means a "rebirth". This is ...
