Late in the Middle Ages, new ways of looking at life took hold in Europe and soon affected human affairs of all kinds as a new spirit of optimism, confidence, and creativity developed. This remarkable period began in the fourteenth in the city-states of Italy and lasted into the sixteenth century. It is known as the Renaissance, from the French word for "rebirth."
Renaissance scholars were interested in Greek and Roman learning. This developed into the study of the humanities--subjects concerned with humankind and culture, as opposed to science. Enthusiasm for ancient Greece and Rome spread from scholars to the rest if the Italian upper classes.
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