Renaissance Influence

The Renaissance was not an isolated movement in art and literature. There were many historical social and cultural factors that led to the renaissance, both in Italy and in Northern Europe. These events included the Black Plague, the rise of constitutional monarchy, the Hundred Year’s War, and the Avignon Papacy. The Black Death was the bubonic plague that spread throughout Europe killing an estimated one third of its population. The plague was brought from the Middle East to Europe through infected fleas and rats carrying the disease. It is believed to have originated from merchant ships that arrived at the ports in the Mediterranean, making them the primary point of its effects. It was so significant because it affected various people from
The barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta, forbidding him to tax without the consent of his council. This was a significant event because the Magna Carta asserted the supremacy of law over the will of the ruler, a principle that set the stage for constitutional monarchy. These events simultaneously initiated the decline of power in individual rulers and the rise in authority of the middle class. As early as the mid-13th century, English nobility had imprisoned King Henry III and encouraged middle-class representatives to participate in the Parliament (Great Council). By the end of the century, it was clear that the English had created the foundation for constitutional monarchy, which would consolidate the gap between modern democracy and medieval feudalism. This led to the Renaissance by allowing laborers and lower class individuals to exercise freedoms that had never before been allowed or protected by law. They were now able to demand rights and practice art and literature, things that only nobility had done
“This schism produced two conflicting claims to universal sovereignty and violent controversy within the Church” (“Landmarks in Humanities”). As each pope excommunicated the other, people began questioning the authority and legitimacy of the Church. Individuals soon distanced themselves from the Church and started focusing on expressing their own beliefs and opinions in writing and artistic creations. Without the negative effects of the Black Death, the Great Schism, and the Hundred Year’s War, the Renaissance would have probably never reached its full capacity. The decline of feudalism and church authority led to a rise in the middle class which altered all aspects of Western European life and culture. Vigorous individualism and an enthusiastic view of the human potential for knowledge redefined parts of humanism that left the world with many of its most unique