When the medieval ends why was it called the Renaissance?

Answer 1

AnswerRenaissance means "rebirth" in french. This period was known as the rebirth of knowledge. The emphasis was turning from god, to man, and science and art were becoming more and more important. AnswerThe terms medieval and Middle Ages were invented by people of the Late Middle Ages, who felt very self important, to distinguish themselves from the people of the Early Middle Ages, who they considered barbaric, and the High Middle Ages, who they considered uncouth. They wanted to stress their connection to the learning of the Roman Empire. In time, the term was usurped by people of what we call the Renaissance, who did precisely the same thing, but included the people of the Late Middle Ages among the barbaric and uncouth. Their derivative connection to Rome was termed a Renaissance, or rebirth of Roman values.

Our view of the Middle Ages is largely determined by detractors from the Middle Ages who lived in the Renaissance. We accept their view that the people of the Middle Ages (who were not particularly into witch burning, but did spread the Arabic numerals and algebra through Europe and founded the first universities) were superstitious, but the people of the Renaissance, Reformation, and Counter Reformation (who burned witches by the thousands and banned the works of Galileo) were scientific. I believe a more rational view of the Middle Ages leads inevitably to the conclusion that they are misrepresented in common history. Anyway, that is my opinion.