The history of the world is divided into several periods which show the main peculiarities of the time development. History knows Ancient Times, Antiquity, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Modern Era and other periods which had their own peculiarities and which characterized the special social and economical development of its time. Renaissance was the period when the cultural and economical life of the society began to renew after the Middle Ages and which was the major prerequisite for the Modern Era. The very name of the epoch, Renaissance, has the meaning “rebirth”.
Renaissance occupied XIV – XVII centuries and had very significant meaning in the history as the background for the Modern Era. The Renaissance is often called “birth of modernity” and there are a lot of reasons for it. The very meaning of the name of epoch symbolizes the renewal of some old traditions and ideology, and the base tradition was Antiquity, which main features were introduced in literature and art. During the Renaissance the people’s self-consciousness, culture and education were raised greatly. All the processes in the named period were connected with church and the necessity to learn Bible created the necessity to increase the level of education in the society. The human being was the center of the ideology of the Renaissance and all which was provided in the society had to meet the humanistic conception.
The development of knowledge influenced the development of different sciences. People became interested in the world construction and the place of the human being in this world. The great geographical discoveries, the studies of Nicolaus Copernicus have changed people’s conceptions about the Earth’s sizes and its place in the Universe. Scientists again began to be interested in the human structure, which opened the backgrounds for the scientific medicine and anatomy appearance.
Great changes appeared in the social sciences. Different historical and political processes began to be viewed as a result of interconnection of different groups of people and their interests. Literature, music, architecture and other types of art were also influenced by the surrounding social changes. The appearance of different social centers of culture and art, which activities were above the church ruling, also pushed the cultural development of the society.
The Renaissance preceded the Modern Era. It means that all discoveries in the Renaissance were not used fully and that was just the background for the Modern Era which followed after. All achievements of the Renaissance were used in the Modern Era which is why the developments and researches in the Modern Era were perceived better and considered greatly. It may be said that Renaissance cleared the way for the Modern Era developments. The Renaissance is called the “birth of modernity” as all the processes which were in the Modern Era, next after renaissance, were the continuation of the processes which appeared in the Renaissance epoch.
So, Renaissance was the epoch between Middle Ages and Modern Era, but at the same time did not belong to any of them. This was the specific phase, which became a sort of aesthetic cover, inside of which a really new culture was formed, the Modern Era. All these backgrounds, discussed above are the reasons why people call the Renaissance the “birth of modernity”. The processes and discoveries which were in the Renaissance time were supported and developed during the Modern Era.