The Renaissance, The Enlightenment and a Search for Knowledge

I often wonder why I have certain obsessions about particular eras and people through history. As if they call to me. As if perhaps I was there! Past lives and all. When this happens, I want to devour all the information I can find.

As much as I relate to the 18th Century, The Age of Enlightenment (or Reason), I also gravitate toward The Renaissance, particularly in England. The beginning of the Renaissance in England is often marked at 1485, with the Battle of Bosworth Field, ending the famous War of the Roses, and the introduction of the Tudor Dynasty. Though this movement formed more slowly in England, probably because of England's location away from the Continent, by the time of Elizabeth I, it was in full flower.

Interestingly enough, The Renaissance, or "The Rebirth", and The Enlightenment, or "Age of Reason", are similar in many ways. Both heralded major changes in art, culture, philosophy, science and mathmatics. But the Renaissance is more closely tied with advances in literature, architecture and of Humanism (Humanism marking the genius of man, and the remarkable ability of the human mind). One of the greatest Humanists was Sir Thomas More, at right, concerned with the law, faith and principle. Another famous Renaissance man, is William Shakespeare, poet and playwright, whose genius brought us the ability to look at man and man's common themes of  triumphs and frailties through comedy, tragedy and historic figures. No matter how much time passes, man is man, and his approach to love, friendship, problems, revenge, is nevertheless, the same.

The Age of Enlightenment is more concerned with science, industrialization, astronomy, rationality. The society in the 18th Century strived to assert the natural world as one giant, united machine to be disassembled, studied, and in turn, mastered. It was a more intellectual movement; the Renaissance more concerned with beauty, balance and harmony. And when I say beauty, I don't mean "pretty". There is a huge difference. An example of that kind of study and dissection, with regard to the human form, is shown below, by Leonardo Da Vinci, "The Vitruvian Man."

I read an interesting comparison of The Renaissance and The Enlightenment: "While The Renaissance was closely related to a search for the accumulation of past knowledge, The Enlightenment clearly involved a conscious effort to break with the past." Hence, it was an era of great exploration and invention, eventually giving birth to the Industrial Age.

An interesting fact: During the Age of Enlightenment, scientific knowledge began to be systematically categorized in ENCYCLOPEDIAS! Previously, dictionaries gave the general information in terms of understanding, but now the goal was to record all human knowledge in a comprehensive reference. The most well-known of this type of book was by Dennis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert's "Encyclopedie, ou dictionnaire raisonne des sciences, des arts et des metiers". Published in 1751, it was composed of thirty-five volumes and over 71,000 entries. By the 20th Century, information was being updated so as to require yearly publications of encyclopedias. Today these books can't keep up on a monthly basis, and so,...... the internet! But, I'm a bit "old"school". I still like to crack open a book and turn the actual page.