The Renaissance Collection Six Silver Coin Set
The Renaissance Collection Six Silver Coin Set Image shows typical coins, not to scale, listed from left to right: Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Austria The European Renaissance was a cultural movement that bridged the gap between the High Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution, comprising a sea of change in thought that influenced literature, philosophy, art, music, politics, science, religion, and all other intellectual pursuits. It began in Italy in the 14th century, spreading to the rest of Europe over the next 250 years, and changed forever how we look at the world. Historians still debate the causes of the Renaissance. Some argue that a marked increase in trade and finance exposed Europeans to the more advanced cultures of the Middle East and Asia. Others cite the influence of the powerful Medici family in Florence, who financed much of the art for which the period is known. Then there was the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans and the resulting influx of scholars to Florence and other Italian cities, as well as the efforts of Pope Nicholas V, who sought to compete with the lavish Eastern Orthodox Church by building great cathedrals. Finally, the Black Death, which wiped out half the population of Florence in 1347 alone, altered the prevailing worldview, inspiring a more humanist approach to scientific inquiry. Whatever the reason, the Renaissance had an undeniable and pervasive impact on Western endeavor. A list of famous figures from the period is a veritable Who’s Who of European accomplishment: Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Dante, Copernicus, Machiavelli, Francis Bacon, Thomas Moore, Walter Raleigh, Christopher Columbus, and Michelangelo.
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