Praise for the previous edition:
"...offers an excellent introduction to the period...and does so succinctly and with some of the breadth usually found in longer works. It is profusely illustrated...Recommended." - Choice
"...doing research on [this] subject has just gotten easier with Facts On File's outstanding volume Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe...there is great detail under each topic...Everything is written in a direct, easy style that is accessible to good junior-high students and high-school and college students...Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe is an outstanding reference book that will introduce high-school and college students to this complex topic." - Booklist
"...well-organized...This is an excellent introduction to the Renaissance, and will be especially useful to students researching a particular aspect of the period." - School Library Journal
"...an excellent reference book for this period." - Calliope
The word renaissance means "rebirth," and the most obvious example of this phenomenon was the rediscovery of Europe's classical Roman roots. The Renaissance began in northern Italy in the late 14th century and culminated in England in the early 17th century. Emphasis on the dignity of man (though not of woman) and on human potential distinguished the Renaissance from the previous Middle Ages. In poetry and literature, individual thought and action were prevalent, while depictions of the human form became a touchstone of Renaissance art. In science and medicine, the macrocosm and microcosm of the human condition inspired remarkable strides in research and discovery, and the Earth itself was explored, situating Europeans within a vast world of possibilities.
Organized thematically, Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe, Second Edition, spans two centuries of European discovery, from 1400 to 1600, and covers all aspects of life in Renaissance Europe. Coverage includes history, religion, art and visual culture, architecture, literature, language, music, warfare, commerce, exploration and travel, science and medicine, education, and daily life. This second edition includes updated information on animal husbandry, Ottoman influences, the concept of "race," shipbuilding, textile trade, and women rulers and artists during the Renaissance.