Introduction

Renaissance and Reformation: Almanac presents an overview of the most significant revolution in Western history. Beginning with the Italian Renaissance in the mid-1300s and lasting until the end of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in the early 1600s, this revolution essentially turned the European world upside down. By the close of the seventeenth century, unprecedented changes had taken place in politics, religion, science, economics, education, the arts, and society throughout Europe. Scholars and teachers are still intrigued by this historical period, but the twenty-first century student might wonder, "Why should I want to read about the Renaissance and Reformation? How could anything that happened hundreds of years ago possibly be relevant to my life?" The answer to the first question is that it was a fascinating time, filled with dramatic events, interesting people, and great achievements. The answer to the second question is that we can understand more about the world today by studying this era, which historians consider the beginning of the modern age.

The Renaissance produced many innovations that are now ordinary facts of modern life. Among them was the printing press, which facilitated mass communication and became the first step in advanced information technology. Of even greater importance was the scientific revolution led by astronomers who used the newly perfected telescope to make observations of celestial bodies. Their discoveries paved the way for present-day knowledge about the universe. Renaissance scientists pioneered modern medicine, introducing chemical-based drugs and acquiring new knowledge about human anatomy. Navigators and explorers led the way for European settlement of the Americas, expanding the borders of the Western world to the other side of the globe. The Renaissance brought the rise of the middle class and the emergence of feminist thinking, which became hallmarks of Western society. Economic innovations included capitalism and global banking, which are now the basis of the world economy. The Protestant Reformation led to the founding of the Protestant faiths that still exist today, and the Catholic Reformation established Catholic Church policies that remained in place for more than four hundred years. Finally, the human-centered view of the world promoted by Italian humanists established individualism and secularism as dominant themes in modern Western culture.

The Renaissance and Reformation also set in motion political and social tensions that had a profound impact during the modern era. European settlement of the Americas ultimately resulted in the destruction of native cultures. The first worldwide war took place in Europe in the seventeenth century, setting the stage for conflicts that involved all the major world powers in the twentieth century. Anti-Semitism steadily increased, as did the expansion of the African slave trade: two developments that had tragic consequences in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. And throughout the three hundred years of the Renaissance and Reformation period, Europeans in the West and Muslims in the East became increasingly bitter enemies. The result was a widening gap between East and West that has continued into the present day.

Renaissance and Reformation: Almanac traces all of these developments, and more, with the goal of establishing a direct link between our twenty-first century world and the not-so-distant past.