CHAPTER VIII. 



CHARACTER OF THE REVIVAL. 



THUS far we have seen the advance in science made among- 

 the Greeks, the Arabs, and during the Middle Ages of Europe. 

 We have now to give special attention to the era called 

 the Revival, the general character of which it is important 

 to briefly indicate. One hundred and seventy- five years 

 roughly (1450 1625) may be estimated as the time con- 

 stituting this period. The intellectual movement of the 

 previous half-century tended to bring it about ; it certainly 

 prepared the Western world for it. We see this exhibited 

 in the development of modern languages, and the reviving 

 of the Greek language as early as 1395. Five years later 

 AURISPA brought to Italy two hundred and thirty-eight 

 Greek manuscripts including Plato and Pindar. The 

 imminent capture of Constantinople by the Turks induced,, 

 thus early too, numerous learned Greeks to leave that capital 

 and seek a safe asylum in Italy. The rapid advance of art 

 and science were other unmistakable indications of the bent 

 taken by the European mind. The Pope NICHOLAS V. 

 (1447 55) an d COSMO DE' MEDICI (142964), the first 

 by the foundation of the Vatican Library, the second by 

 his protection of artists, poets, scholars, and scientists, 

 represented the tendency of the age. But the Revival was 

 especially inaugurated by two decisive events, dissimilar 

 in kind but uniting their effects into one stream. The first 

 was the SEIZURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE by the Turks 

 (1453, May 29th) which caused a general flight of culti- 



