Origins of the Renaissance

Paper Summary:

This historiography paper contrasts the opinions of four historians on the topic of the origins of the Renaissance in Europe. It divides the historians into two camps, those who favor periodization and those who perceive continuity. It looks at how some historians have classified the Italian Renaissance, originating in the fifteenth century, as unique since it is believed to be the birth of the modern state while other historians argue that the Italian Renaissance is simply a continuation of the Middle Ages, since characteristics associated with it can be found in earlier centuries. The historians studied are Jacob Burkhardt, Erwin Panofsky, Johan Huizinga and Charles Homer Haskins.

From the Paper:

"Historians favouring periodization, like Burckhardt, argue the Renaissance was, at least in part, the result of the dynamic political structure emerging, occurring primarily in Italy, whereas those believing in continuity from the medieval period, like Haskins, tend to maintain that many states were experiencing a rise in bureaucracy, but did not embark upon large scale cultural revolutions. In Burckhardt's opinion the feudalism of medieval France, Spain and England naturally evolved into a monarchy, and that in Germany feudal lords continued to maintain unity in the empire, but Italy was different in that the remnants of feudalism were almost gone."

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