Renaissance
| This article is about the cultural movement. You may be looking for Assassin's Creed: Renaissance. |
The Renaissance (Italian: Rinascimento, from ri - "again" and nascere - "be born") was a cultural movement that spanned throughout the 14th to (and including) the 17th century, of which historians estimate began in Florence, Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spread to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historic era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe, this is a general use of the term. As a cultural movement, it encompassed a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. Traditionally, this intellectual transformation has resulted in the Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, such as literature, philosophy, art, politics, science and religion, it also affected social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli, who inspired the term "Renaissance man."