The term “renaissance” means rebirth and is usually associated with cultural revival. While the most famous is the Italian Renaissance, primarily of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, there were both earlier ones (the Northumbrian and Carolingian Renaissances) and later (the Northern Renaissance). The fuel for these cultural explosions was frequently the interactions of diverse cultures. In the English Northumbrian Renaissance, for instance, Christian, Irish, Anglo-Saxon, and Roman cultures cross-pollinated to produce a true flowering of artistic and intellectual life in the 700s CE. With such interchange in mind, answer the following prompt(s).
How did the rediscovery of the works of ancient Greece and Rome influence European philosophy, art, and scientific inquiry during the Renaissance era? Where were many of these works found and why? What long term effects did it have on cultural and intellectual life in Europe?
