How Did The Renaissance Affect The Future World

The Renaissance began after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. This event would be one of the first to mark off the beginning of a new revolution in Europe, affecting the future world tremendously. The humanist movement of the European Renaissance the Protestant Reformation transformed Western Culture by developing a successful printing press, revoking traditional methods and ideas, and strengthening forces through intellectual reforms. The upheavals of the Catholic and Protestant reformations sparked wars of religion in Europe until the mid-1600s. At that time, issues of religion began to give way to issues of national power. Catholic and Protestant rulers often made decisions based on political interests rather than for purely religious reasons. Long term causes include: the Roman Catholic Church becoming more worldly, humanists urging a return to simple religion, and strong national monarchs emerging. Immediate causes include: Johann Tetzel sells indulgences in Wittenberg, Martin Luther posts 95 Theses, Luther translates the Bible into German, printing press allows spread of
reform ideas, and Calvin and other reformers preached against the Roman Catholic traditions. Immediate effects of the Protestant Reformation include: the peasants’ revolt, founding of Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican, Presbyterian, and other Protestant churches. the weakening of the holy Roman Empire, and Luther calls for Jews to be expelled from Christian lands. Long term effects include: religious wars in Europe, Catholic Reformation, strengthening of the Inquisition, Jewish migration to Eastern Europe, and an increase in antisemitism. Today, approximately one fourth of Christians are Protestant, and religious conflicts still reside in Northern Ireland. The development of the printing press fostered a communications revolution.
Information once available to a small percentage of people could now spread to vast numbers. Today, thanks to new communications revolution, information can be spread around the world instantaneously. Faxes, instant messaging, and email all speed up our communication process. We can now share knowledge, experiences and emotions with people around the world. Consequently, the world today may seem no larger than a small village of Renaissance times. The printing revolution brought immense changes. Printed books were cheaper and easier to produce than hand-copied works. With books more readily available, more people learned to read. Readers gained access to a broad range of knowledge, from medicine and law to astrology and mining. Printed books exposed educated Europeans to new ideas, greatly expanding their
horizons. Furthermore, the rapid advance in science and technology that began in the 1500s has continued to this day. Thinkers like Bacon, Descartes, and Newton applied the scientific method to the pursuit of knowledge. Their work encouraged others to search for scientific laws governing the universe. Such ideas opened the way to Enlightenment of the 1700s and a growing belief in the human progress. The Renaissance changed European culture and society as well as western civilization as it developed a rise of humanism around the Middle Ages when individuals who devoted their lives to the church above all else broke free from medieval tradition to put focus on personal interests instead of religious demands. It also spurred a spreading of knowledge as the printing press became popular and developed into an increasingly informed society, and the realism of art. Artists focused more on painted studies of the human body in detail instead of religious figures and events. The Reformation led to a permanent schism in the western church, led to religious persecution, gave a fillip to education, strengthened nationalist and monarchical forces and contributed to the development of individualism and the rise of modern national state. In conclusion, the humanist movement of the European Renaissance the Protestant Reformation transformed Western Culture by developing a successful printing press, revoking traditional methods and ideas, and strengthening forces through intellectual reforms. European scholars were more accepting of theories and open practices, which allowed for a broader change in aspects. More community members were exposed to intellectual as well as social reforms. This boosted the specialties in not only scholars and politics, but the common man as well.