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How Important Was Religion in the Development of the Renaissance

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Submitted By henryabhill
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Religion was one of the aspects of the Renaissance that changed drastically over a few centuries.

Before the Renaissance, during the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was dominant in most states of Europe. The Pope was the singular most influential and feared bodies in politics. At this time, the church would be the center of all community life, especially because the clergymen were often the only people in a town who were literate. Before the Renaissance, the church was the undisputed dominant force of order.

As the Renaissance started to blossom, the church was still the center of life and a refuge from the horrors of war and plague.

However, by this time various factors had begun to act against the church's influence. As the Renaissance was re-awakening, it was also a rebirth of thought. So various people began taking up their own views and opinions of the world and began questioning the church and the Pope. The major facts that were weakening the church's influence included the Rise of Humanism, the invention of the Printing Press, the awareness of corruption in the church, and the work of individual Reformers.

Humanism

The rediscovery of Humanism in probably the most influential force that powered the Renaissance. The basic concept of Humanism is the belief that all human concept of Humanism is the belief that all human beings have a capacity to reason. Humanism shows a reverend respect for the beauty of the human body and power of an individual's mind. It saw the awesome potential in each person to achieve great things, and the potential to develop his mind and body. This belief originated in ancient Greek times, in the Golden Ages when personal development and broadening of the self was seen as imperative.

When, before the Renaissance, Archaeologists discovered manuscripts and relics of ancient classical times, these new ideas of personal

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