How was the Renaissance different from the Dark Ages?
2 min read•july 11, 2024
The Renaissance vs. The Dark Ages
Worldliness 🌍
After the first major outbreak Black Death ended (1347-1349), life expectancies became longer.
People gained an increased interest in the quality of their lives.
This lead to wealthier classes, like merchants, patronizing art, creating more opportunity for secular subjects.
Before the Renaissance, life was centered on afterlife concerns.
Individualism☝
Creators were allowed to take credit for their work (artists, architects, scientists, etc.).
Society moved towards valuing individuals and their ambitious goals.
Dark Ages society, modeled after the Church, rarely emphasized the individual. Christian Europe was taught to attribute nearly everything to God and his designs.
Classical Interests 📜
Inspired by Petrarch, Greco-Roman texts, art, and literature regained a high level of respect.
Much of Renaissance artwork and architecture emulated the classical style, while still incorporating religious subjects.
Greco-Roman ideas were largely overlooked and would have been rejected in the Dark Ages because of their paganism, which was irreconcilable with The Bible.
Learning 📚
Schooling diversified from the Dark Age canon of language skills and art to encompass classical texts, philosophy, and scientific subjects like astronomy.
Both Humanists and later Catholic Counter-Reformists (especially orders like the Jesuits) opened universities and other educational centers dedicated to teaching new ideas.
Schooling also became available to more people, although most still remained illiterate and out of reach.