From14th century to17th century, Europe was in the stage of disintegration of feudal society and the rise of capitalism. Agriculture, handicrafts and commodity economy have further developed. In some areas along the Mediterranean coast and northwest Europe, capitalist relations of production have sprouted, the early stage of capitalist mode of production-workshop handicraft industry has risen, and capitalist relations of production have gradually developed in rural areas.

2. Political aspects

In Europe from 14 to 16, with the decline of the feudal system, the anti-feudal struggle became an important part of politics, including not only the peasants' anti-feudal struggle, such as the German peasant war, but also the bourgeois revolution that the bourgeoisie and new noble demanded to seize power. /kloc-the Dutch revolution in the late 6th century was the first successful bourgeois revolution, and/kloc-the Netherlands, which was independent in 0/7, became the first century.

3. Ideological and cultural aspects

14 ~ 16 th century, with the germination of capitalism, the emerging bourgeoisie in the ideological and cultural fields tried to break through the traditional concepts and thoughts of the Catholic church and feudalism.

Initiated the Renaissance Movement and the Religious Reform Movement, which lifted the spiritual shackles for the development of European capitalism.

4. International relations

Around (1)16th century, human history took a major turning point. Before that, human beings basically lived in isolated areas. After the opening of the new air route, the links between different parts of the world have been further strengthened, and the history of all ethnic groups has gradually merged into a unified human history. With the opening of new sea routes, the colonialists represented by Spain and Portugal stepped up their colonial expansion in Asia, Africa and Latin America and became an important means of primitive accumulation of capital in Europe. Specific historical events in western Europe: Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment. The original meaning of the word "Renaissance" refers to "the rebirth of classical Greek and Roman culture". However, the cultural revolution movement of the emerging bourgeoisie in western European countries at that time included a series of major historical events, including the rise of humanism, the renewal of artistic style, the emergence of utopian socialism, the beginning of modern natural science development, the application of printing and the dissemination of scientific and cultural knowledge. This series of major events is not so much "the rebirth of classical culture" as "the beginning of modern culture"; It is not so much "revival" as "innovation". The Renaissance marked a great turning point in the history of human civilization. It is a new culture, a reflection of the new political and economic requirements of the society at that time, and an anti-feudal struggle of the emerging bourgeoisie in the ideological and cultural field. Simply put, the essence of the Renaissance is the bourgeois ideological emancipation movement. The core idea of the Renaissance is humanism. Humanism originated in Italy in the second half of the14th century, and then spread throughout western Europe. Humanists use "humanity" to oppose "divinity" and "human rights" to oppose "theocracy". They put forward the slogan "I am a human being, and I am everywhere in all human characteristics". They are very dissatisfied with the church's control over the spiritual world. They demand that man is the center, not God. They praise human wisdom and strength, praise the perfection and loftiness of human nature, oppose religious autocratic rule and feudal hierarchy, advocate individual liberation, equality and freedom, advocate individual development, demand secular happiness and human joy, and advocate scientific and cultural knowledge. Therefore, the concept of humanism focuses on "human", which is the exertion of "human instinct" and the driving force for "human" to pursue truth, goodness and beauty. The historical role of the Renaissance: Engels once spoke highly of the progressive role of the Renaissance in history. He wrote: "This is the greatest and most progressive change that mankind has never experienced. It is an era that needs giants and produces giants-giants in terms of thinking ability, enthusiasm and personality, versatility and erudition. " First of all, it is human discovery. In the Middle Ages, the ideal man should be inferior, passive and inactive, and his significance in the world is not commendable. Renaissance discovered man and his greatness, affirmed his value and creativity, and put forward that man should be liberated and his personality should be free. (1) attaches great importance to people's value, requires giving full play to people's intelligence and creative potential, opposes a passive attitude towards life, and advocates a positive and adventurous spirit. (2) Pay attention to the worldly life and despise the illusory myth about the afterlife or heaven, so as to pursue material happiness and sensory satisfaction and oppose religious asceticism. In literature and art, people's feelings are required to be expressed and hypocrisy is opposed. Such as: Petrarch's Song Collection, Boccaccio's decameron. (3) Attach importance to scientific experiments and oppose apriorism; Emphasize the use of human reason and oppose blind obedience; Require the development of personality and oppose the imprisonment of human nature; In terms of moral concept, it requires indulgence and opposes self-restraint; Advocate "civic morality" and think that success and wealth are moral behaviors. (4) Advocating an optimistic attitude towards life. These irresistible thirst for knowledge, the spirit of getting to the bottom of the matter, and the optimistic enterprising spirit of striving to create secular happiness liberated people from the shackles of Christian theology in the Middle Ages. It was in this spirit that the bourgeoisie created the modern capitalist world. Secondly, the Renaissance broke the situation that religious mysticism dominated the whole country, effectively promoted and influenced the religious reform movement, and provided an important boost for this movement. Renaissance advocated attaching importance to secular life and opposing authority, which aroused contemporary people's doubts and antipathy to the Catholic Church and theology. Renaissance humanists satirized and exposed the corruption and ugliness of the Catholic church through literature, art and other forms. Thirdly, the Renaissance broke the unification of scholasticism with theology as the core, cleared the way for ideological liberation and progress in the future, and made various secular philosophies rise. Among them is British empirical materialism (Bacon). It also promoted the development of political theory, Machiavelli laid the foundation for the later Enlightenment, and a large number of thinkers such as Hobbes and Locke developed theories such as "natural rights", "social contract", "people's sovereignty" and "separation of powers". Fourth, the feudal privilege was denied. In the Middle Ages, feudal privileges were granted and the concept of family status was deeply rooted. Renaissance made these things lose the weight of the measure of people in the past. People's nobility has been given a new connotation. Petrarch said: "True nobility is not innate, but self-made." In the social life of Italy at that time, talent, means and money replaced birth, and everyone from any birth climbed the high-level ladder of society. Fifth, get rid of superstition and emancipate the mind. The Renaissance restored rationality, dignity and the value of thinking. Although the Renaissance achieved little in philosophy, it destroyed the rigid scholasticism system, advocated scientific methods and experiments, and put forward that "knowledge is power", which created a new atmosphere for exploring people and the real world. People firmly believe in their eyes and brains, and believe that experiments and experience are reliable sources of knowledge. This realistic attitude, way of thinking and scientific method laid a solid foundation for the great development of natural science from 17 to 19 century. Sixth, during the Renaissance, a large number of fascinating and exquisite works of art and literary masterpieces were created, which became priceless in the treasure house of human art.