Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Renaissance
(18,500 words)

1. Concept

1.1. Renaissance as the rebirth of classical antiquity

“Renaissance” (Italian rinascità, rinascimento, “rebirth”) developed in the 15th century into a general term for the reception of classical antiquity (Antiquity, reception of) in Humanism. The Latin verb renasci (to be born again) is found as early as 1430 in the context of rhetoric in the …

Cite this page
Walther, Gerrit, Scattola, Merio, Pfisterer, Ulrich, Satzinger, Georg, Wiedner, Saskia and Meine, Sabine, “Renaissance”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 27 September 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_026583>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20210702



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