Renaissance
Warning
The Renaissance started in Italy in the 14th century and ran into the 17th. People call it a rebirth because artists, scholars, and thinkers started digging up the classical traditions of ancient Greece and Rome again. Humanism came back with it. Human beings and what they can do actually matter. Things shifted toward individualism and secularism, and art, literature, and science took off. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo made some of their most famous work then. Shakespeare and Cervantes wrote masterpieces people still read. But how did the renaissance start?
Europe had lost its classical texts in the Middle Ages. In the 14th and 15th centuries, scholars started finding ancient Greek and Roman literature and philosophy again, and interest in classical ideas and values came back with them. That went hand in hand with the rise of humanism. Humanists believed people could shape their own destinies, and that thinking and making art mattered just as much as religion or politics.
Money and politics helped. Italian city-states like Florence, Venice, and Rome were growing and getting rich. Wealthy patrons started paying for art and literature, so artists and writers got more independent from the church and the aristocracy.
My favorite part is this. Surprisingly, the Renaissance wasn't born in peace and prosperity. It emerged after periods of great suffering and upheaval, including the Black Death and political instability. Perfectly antifragile.
The bubonic plague swept through Europe in the Middle Ages and killed an estimated 25 million people. That's the Black Death. It caused widespread fear and panic, and it shook the economy and society hard. It was a devastating tragedy, yet it helped shape parts of Renaissance humanist thought. A big humanist idea is believing in the power and agency of human beings, and the plague put that belief to the test. The disease was deadly and caused widespread suffering and death, but humanists saw individuals and communities overcome it and help others. They also stressed reason and scientific inquiry, exactly what you need to understand and fight a plague.
Whenever I studied European history, I felt this event was telling me something. Spiritual development always comes in the face of challenges and adversity. Living day to day is difficult. As I navigate the challenges and uncertainties of daily life, I think of the artists of Florence and the Renaissance. Let's embrace humanistic ideals like the value and agency of the human being and the importance of reason and scientific inquiry. Most importantly, let us firmly believe in ourselves and be confident that we can be brilliant. That firm belief has led to some of the most beautiful times in history. When faced with adversity, be strong and creative. The most beautiful futures bloom from the pain of the present.