The Renaissance

“The Renaissance was a new development, strikingly different from the preceding Middle Ages.” A lot of opinions can be formed from this statement. A person could support Burckhardt in his idea that it was a huge change in society, but for every opinion an opposite opinion is formed. The historian Burke believed that the Renaissance was not what its name says it is, that it was just a gradual change as time went on.
During the time period called the Renaissance, which took place from the 14th to the 16th centuries, trade became a huge factor in the lives of people and the economy. During the middle ages, which took place from the 6th to 12th century, people were isolated from the world around them. People grew up and lived on their lord’s manor, doing enough to survive to the next day. As the Renaissance emerged trade increased, thus expanding people’s eyes about the world. As trade increased new products and resources also spread through the once isolated Europe. ...