To learn ancient Greek and Latin the humanists studied philology (the science of the meaning and history of words). Philology became one of the two principal concerns of the humanists. The other was history, which they saw as the study of great actions taken by courageous, noble, or wise men of classical antiquity.
Civilization.
The civilization of the Renaissance was the creation of cities or of monarchs able to draw substantial income from its urban subjects which England, France, and the Low Countries also did. The material foundation of the Renaissance was the therefore commerce which kept cities alive. Before the Renaissance was the exchange of luxury goods in the Mediterranean and a variety of other goods such as fish, furs, and metals in the northern seas. Trade slowly increased and moved inland which enlarged existing settlements and created new ones along its major routes, which steadily enriched it's inhabitants, and in the 12th and 13th centuries came to an early climax. The fact that the cities Italy, so strategically located between the Levant and Western Europe, were the oldest and wealthiest of the towns and helps to account for the leadership of Italy in the Renaissance. Riches started to build up by the merchants of these Italian cities and a host of lesser places made Italy's political and cultural achievements possible.
The Church and Religion.
Coogle 3.
The history of Christianity during the Renaissance presents sharp contrasts. In many ways the influence and prestige of the church were declining. The church was deeply rooted in older patterns of life and traditional ways of thought, however it slowly adapted to new conditions. It's leaderships were often inadequate to meet the challenges presented by the states and couldn't satisfy the spiritual needs of growing numbers of townsmen. The results were a series of defeats and failures, which discredited and weakened the church.
