Out of the misery of the Black Death came new ideas that stirred Europe. Starting around 1350 enthusiasm for art, literature, and trade increased throughout northern Italy.

This was the beginning of a period called the Renaissance (REN uh sahns), from the French word meaning "rebirth."

Many Europeans saw this time as a rebirth of the classical periods of Greece and Rome. Although the Renaissance began in Italy, within a century it had spread to the rest of Europe.

The Renaissance was a time of great creativity. Central to the ideas of the Renaissance was a powerful interest in humanism (HYOO muh niz um). Humanism meant concern with human interests and values. People in the Middle Ages had often turned their thoughts toward the "next world," or heaven. People of the Renaissance were still usually very religious. However, they began to focus more on what people could achieve in this world.