Renaissance

Literally, the term denotes the rebirth of classical antiquity. French: rebirth, from Italian: rinascenza, rinascimento. Highly complex construct, indicating the development of Western societies from the Middle Ages to modern times.

The great flowering of art, architecture, politics and the study of literature, usually seen as the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern world, which came about under the influence of Greek and Roman models. It began in Italy in the late 14th century, culminated in the High Renaissance in the early 16th century (the period of Michelangelo and Machiavelli), and spread to the rest of Europe in the 15th century and afterwards. Its emphasis was humanist: that is, on regarding the human figure and reason without a necessary relating of it to the superhuman (i.e. God).

Source

• Oxford Companion to English Literature