... of the Church causing it to lose credibility and the subsequent failure of Gnosticism. The cumulative effect of the Black Death proved that the Church was not powerful enough to help the people overcome crisis or improve lives, and highlighted the limitations of medieval knowledge in handling problems. This catalyzed the emergence of secular curiosity as people looked to books and ... were more printers in Italy and this abundance of books greatly contributed to their popularity. These books not only could be mass-produced and used to spread humanities such as literature and philosophy,...

• Word Count: 738
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Graduate

... practical purposes and exemplified the Renaissance values of wisdom, morality, and virtue. At the beginning of the Renaissance, humanist educators revived the study of the classics and humanities to help students attain salvation. Humanist educators rejected medieval scholasticism, a system of thought in which clerics applied reason to theological and philosophical questions. Humanists believed that the study of humanities was ... lies therein." Each of these Renaissance humanists affirmed the key role of the classics in attaining knowledge. Despite this emphasis on the pagan classics, a ...

• Word Count: 1240
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Graduate