Dbq Renaissance

The Renaissance has Changed Man’s View of Man The Renaissance challenged the status quo of the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the Church had authority over most people. These people also had limited rights. All of this changed during the Renaissance. This period of time focused on the philosophy of humanism, which embodied the idea that humans were a significant part of the world. The Renaissance changed man’s view of man through the institutions of literature, astronomy, anatomy, and art. A change in man’s view of man during the Renaissance could be seen through literature. For example, in Hamlet, William Shakespeare wrote, “in apprehension how like a god!” (Doc B). During the Middle Ages, humans were considered to be sinners, and they were portrayed in a dark and negative way. During the Renaissance, however, people were viewed as god-like and as works of art. In addition, Shakespeare wrote, “in form and moving how […] admirable!” (Doc B). In the eyes of many during the Renaissance, humans were beginning to be seen as admirable creatures. This showed how humans were becoming independent. All in all, literature changed man’s view of man by idolizing people as being perfect and god-like. Through astronomy during the Renaissance, man’s view of man was changed. For instance, Copernicus’s idea of a, “Heliocentric Universe” (Doc C) challenged the Middle Ages view of a geocentric universe. The universe during the Middle Ages was considered to be geocentric, meaning that all the planets and the sun revolved around the earth. The emergence of the idea of a heliocentric universe, meaning that everything revolved around the sun, challenged the Church, which said that the earth came before the sun. This challenge to church authority loosened the Church’s grip on people. Furthermore, Copernicus, “relying mostly on mathematics, developed a very different understanding of the universe” (Doc C). The Renaissance embodied reason and rationality.