THE MEDIAEVAL ATTITUDE 



word Renaissance, indeed, is now generally used to 

 denote not merely that revival of classical antiquity 

 which took place in the fifteenth century^ and to 

 which the word was first applied, but a whole com- 

 plex movement, of which that revival of classical 

 antiquity was but one element or symptom. For us the 

 Renaissance is the name of a many-sided but yet 

 united movement, in which the love of the things of 

 the intellect and the imagination for their own sake, 

 the desire for a more liberal and comely way of con- 

 ceiving life, make themselves felt."^ And he finds the 

 roots of this great outbreak of the human spirit reach- 

 ing far down into the Middle Ages themselves when, 

 then at last, began the care of the human body and 

 the love of beauty which should ultimately break 

 down the limits that the religious domination had im- 

 posed on the heart and the imagination ; the new-born 

 spirit, finally freed from ecclesiastical authority, 

 showed itself by that marvellous efflorescence in art, 

 literature, and erudition. Although many contribu- 

 tory causes for the Renaissance may be found, and 

 sociologists may try to trace it as a progressive evo- 

 lution, this complex movement still remains a mys- 

 tery; if it be an evolution, then there must have hap- 

 pened one of those rare cases when, with suddenly 

 aroused energy. Nature takes a leap and forsakes the 

 slow and painful gradations of change. We may ad- 

 mit and add together such contributory causes as 



8 Pater, The Renaissance, p. 2. 



I 95 1 



