The Renaissance. 79 



aside by the individual. Individualism is therefore the outcome of this 

 movement towards emancipation. The inevitable result of this liberation 

 from the restraints of tradition and authority was an immediate outburst 

 of intelligence, a rapid development in politics, art, letters, science, 

 adventure and almost every form of human activity. This outburst was 

 so great in its depth and comprehensiveness that it has never been 

 equalled not even by Athens at her zenith. 



Though there is a cause for every event in History, it does not 

 follow that the cause is always easy to find ; this is particularly true in 

 the case of a movement so indefinite and so vague as the Renaissance. 

 Five reasons can however be given, any one of which or possibly all of 

 them to a larger or smaller extent, may have been responsible for the 

 movement. They are : 



(1) Inventions. A number of important inventions were, for some 

 reason or other, made, and while many of them may be looked upon as 

 parts some of them were contributory causes. Such inventions as those 

 of the compass, telescope, gunpowder and printing must of necessity 

 have had a highly stimulating effect, and have paved the way for further 

 developments in science and learning. 



(2) City States. City States have always been favourable to refine- 

 ment. One has only to glance at the histories of Athens, Corinth, Milan, 

 Venice, Florence, etc., to be convinced of this fact. Perhaps political 

 independence has a stimulating effect, perhaps it is the fact of self- 

 government which stimulates men and brings out the best qualities that 

 are in them. At this time City States were springing up all over Italy. 

 The country was divided into a number of small territories, each con- 

 sisting of a city which dominated the country round about, and usually a 

 few other small towns. 



(3) Greek Influence. In the 15th century the advance of Mahome- 

 danism was threatening Europe. Christendom was divided into the 

 Greek Church of the East and the Latin Church of the West. In view 

 of the progress of Islam, an attempt was made to reconcile the two, 

 and a Council for this purpose was summoned at Florence. The real 

 object was a failure, but advantage was taken of the presence of so 

 many Greek-speaking men of letters to stimulate the taste for the study 

 of Greek language and philosophy, which had been impossible on account 

 of the absence of proper teachers in Italy. 



(4) Fall of Constantinople. The Turks captured Constantinople in 

 1453. Constantinople was practically the only city in Europe where 

 culture had survived the middle ages, better known as the Dark Ages. 

 What with the inroads of barbarians, and the long period of strife and 

 warfare, there had been no time for anything so unpractical as the pursuit 

 of art and learning. The glories of the golden age of the Roman Empire 

 which had inherited the civilization of Greece, centred therefore in Con- 

 stantinople, As the Turks advanced, the men of learning fled westward, 



