RENAN 



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RENNES 



petus was given, and a great desire for learn- 

 ing was created. This learning was sought in 

 a freer, broader spirit, unrestricted by the nar- 

 row limits previously imposed by the clergy 

 and conventionality. 



To enumerate the effects of the Renaissance 

 is to discuss the history of art, literature, sci- 

 ence, philosophy, poetry, even religion. In 

 every field of human activity there existed a 

 new spirit. Men were no longer content to 

 accept the answer of tradition to the question 

 of "why." The intellectual life of the world 

 had run in one groove for centuries; it was 

 now to jump back to the many-grooved life 

 of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and there 

 find inspiration for new paths. One of the 

 vital elements in the great movement was the 

 perception of man's dignity as a reasoning, will- 

 ing and knowing being. The new spirit may 

 be said to have humanized knowledge. 



In Italy, where the Renaissance first reached 

 its bloom, the scholars were soon fascinated 

 by study as an end; "art for art's sake" was 

 really the unexpressed motto of the Italians. 

 In the northern countries, Germany, the Neth- 

 erlands, England and even in France the Ren- 

 aissance- developed more naturally. Where in 

 Italy the New Learning gradually became af- 

 fectation, in the north it became a thing of 

 power. Particularly in Germany the Renais- 

 sance became the religious Reformation. In 

 France and England, as in Germany, the re- 

 vival of learning was intimately connected with 

 the Reformation. In these countries there was 

 instilled a new feeling for beauty and truth, 

 and there was a period of glory for the arts and 

 literature, but the Renaissance spirit gradually 

 became what we would to-day call a practical 

 one rather than a purely aesthetic one. F.ST.A. 



Related Subjects. In connection with the 

 subject of the Renaissance the reader is referred 

 to the following articles in these volumes : 

 Boccaccio, Giovanni More, Sir Thomas 

 Erasmus, Desiderius Petrarch, Francesco 

 Medici Reformation 



Middle Ages 



RENAN, rehnahN', ERNEST (1823-1892), a 

 French philologist and historian, known to gen- 

 eral readers chiefly for his Life oj Jesus. He 

 was born at Treguier, in Brittany, and after 

 the death of his father in 1828 was dependent 

 for guidance and in part for support upon his 

 sister Henriette, whose influence in his life can- 

 not be overestimated. At the ecclesiastical 

 school in Treguier and later at Saint Sulpice in 

 Paris he was trained for the priesthood, but he 



found himself unable to adopt the doctrines 

 of the Catholic Church, and in 1845 took a po- 

 sition in a boys' school. A General History oj 

 Semitic Languages met with such favor that he 

 was sent by the academy to study in Italy and 

 later in Syria, where his interest in languages 

 was confirmed. 



In 1862, after his return from Syria, Renan 

 was given the chair of Hebrew in the College 

 de France, but the unorthodox views which 

 he expressed in his very first lecture led to his 

 dismissal from this post, which was not re- 

 stored to him until 1871. The Life of Jesus ap- 

 peared in 1863, and was followed by other vol- 

 umes on the origin of Christianity and the 

 history of the Church. These included The 

 Apostles, Saint Paul, Antichrist, The Christian 

 Church and Marcus Aurelius. A volume on 

 Memories oj Childhood and Youth gives at- 

 tractive pictures of his early years. All the 

 honors which France could pay to a scholar 

 were given to him in his latter years. 



RENFREW, ren'froo, a town in Renfrew 

 County, Ontario. It is fifty-five miles by rail 

 west of Ottawa, on the Grand Trunk and Cana- 

 dian Pacific railways, and on the Bonnechere 

 River and Smith's Creek. Most of the territory 

 in the vicinity is good farming land, and the 

 town boasts of "the best creamery in Canada." 

 It also has flour and woolen mills, a separator 

 factory, and lumber, lath, sash and door fac- 

 tories. After the outbreak of the War of the 

 Nations it also acquired several munitions fac- 

 tories. The town owns and operates its power 

 plant (cost $200,000), waterworks (cost $165,- 

 000) and electric street-lighting system. The 

 army barracks; the opera house, built at a cost 

 of $75,000, and the Renfrew Temperance Ho- 

 tel, completed in 1914, are noteworthy struc- 

 tures. 



Renfrew was settled in 1895, and was incor- 

 porated as a town in the same year. It takes 

 its name from a borough and county of Scot- 

 land, and most of its residents are Scotch- 

 Canadians. Population in 1911, 3,634; in 1916, 

 estimated, 4,500. 



RENI, ra'ne, GUIDO. See GUIDO RENI. 



RENNES, ren, a city of France, the capital 

 of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, is situated 

 at the meeting of the Ille and Vilaine rivers, 

 about 234 miles southwest of Paris. As the 

 junction of several important railway lines be- 

 tween Paris and the northwest of France, the 

 city is in a location to command an extensive 

 commerce, which is further aided by good riv- 

 ers and canal navigation. It is also the center 



