What do you know about the Renaissance?

CAIRO – 13 January 2022: The Renaissance, which means "rebirth" in French, refers to the period in European history from 1400 to 1600 AD. However, many historians claim that it might have started earlier or ended later, depending on the country.

The Renaissance is closely related to Italy, as it began there in the 14th century, although countries such as Germany, England and France went through many of the same cultural changes and phenomena.

While the Renaissance brought about some positive changes to Europe, the geographical exploration that flourished during this time had negative effects on the population of the Western Hemisphere. European conquest and colonization brought epidemics and slavery to the indigenous people who lived there and in Africa. 

The Renaissance also witnessed the birth of the transatlantic slave trade. Blacks were shipped from Africa to the Western Hemisphere to work as slaves in European colonies, according to Live Science.

According to New York University in Brooklyn, intense interest in and learning about classical antiquity was "reborn" after the Middle Ages, when ancient classical eras were largely ignored or forgotten. 

Renaissance thinkers considered the Middle Ages to be a period of cultural decline and sought to revitalize their culture by re-emphasizing classical texts and philosophies, expanding and interpreting them, and creating their own style in art, philosophy, and scientific research.

Some of the major developments of the Renaissance have taken place in the fields of astronomy, humanistic philosophy, printing, vernacular writing and painting, the technique of sculpture, exploration of the world, and writing. The works of Shakespeare followed in the late Renaissance period.