by Heather A. Fowler

Created on: September 18, 2011   Last Updated: September 19, 2011

The Renaissance, which spanned from approximately the 14th to 17th centuries, was a period when the collective imaginations of Europeans blossomed and they reached for heights of knowledge and creativity heretofore unknown in recorded history. The term refers not only to the era itself, but to the rebirth and expansion of intellectual and creative endeavor, which was reflected in literature, science, art, religion, and politics,  along with a rebirth of learning based on classical sources.

During this era, secular humanism began to have a greater influence on thought than the deeply religious, Church-dictated beliefs of the Middle Ages. This resulted in a stronger dedication to the experience of this current, mortal life, since there was not such an absolute certainty of another. People questioned the accepted borders of their reality -  mental, spiritual, and physical. For example, Copernicus (1473-1543) set out to prove that the sun was the center of the galaxy, rather than the Earth as had been previously believed. This was one of the major Renaissance ideas that brought about radical changes in the perception of human beings’ place in the universe.

In addition to the more noble pursuits of artists and academics, a change in the distribution of wealth and power also contributed to the atmosphere of exploration. While the majority of money and land belonged to the Church and the landed gentry during the Middle Ages, as the Renaissance began, trade merchants and “lower” nobles began to gain increasingly more money and influence. The public had more disposable income as well, and so demand for foreign imports grew, opening larger markets for merchants. They therefore reinvested their capital in expanding trade routes, which was one of the major reasons for undertaking the massive exploratory journeys of the period.  

The journeys of Marco Polo in the late 13th century stimulated growing curiosity in cultures, people, and lands outside the limited European experience. Beyond the continent and Mediterranean, Europeans had lost much of the knowledge they possessed about the world in Roman times. Polo’s father and uncle had traveled extensively in Asia, and Polo followed in their footsteps, spending almost a quarter of a century in Asia before returning home and sharing accounts of his explorations. The book recounting his explorations, ‘Il Milione’, sparked great interest in Central Asia and China. Europeans wanted

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