The Renaissance, said to have begun in the 14th century in Northern Italy, was a cultural movement that brought about a period of scientific and artistic transformation. It is the transitional period between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age.

Renaissance is a French word that literally means rebirth. Rebirth is used in two ways. First, it means rediscovery of ancient classical texts and learning and their applications in the arts and sciences.

Second, it means that the results of these intellectual activities created a revitalization of European culture in general. Therefore, we can speak of the Renaissance in two different but meaningful ways: A rebirth of classic learning and knowledge through the rediscovery of ancient texts, and a rebirth of European culture in general.

The fundamental characteristic of the Renaissance can be traced to the birth of what has become known as Humanism.

Renaissance humanism was a cultural movement that revived and refined the study of language, in particular Greek, science, philosophy, art and poetry of classical antiquity.

The emphasis on art and on the senses marked a great change from the medieval values of humility, introspection and passivity. Beauty was held to represent a deeper inner virtue and value.

The crisis of Renaissance humanism came with the trial of Galileo as it forced the choice between basing the authority of belief on observation or upon religious teaching. The trial made the contradictions between humanism and religion visible and made humanism a dangerous doctrine.

At the time, this movement was an aristocratic one and had political ramifications in the struggles of the aristocracy for greater freedom from Church controls.

This movement would play a pivotal role in the continuing democratization of Europe.

As with many cultural movements this one also reached France through the instrumentality of war.

It was Charles VIII of France who, in an attempt to claim the kingdom of Naples, invaded Italy in 1494. Although he had initial success and was indeed crowned king of Naples in February of 1495, his success was short lived.

He was defeated by a coalition of Italian city states and forced to flee Italy after the destruction of his army at the battle of Fornova in 1495.

Though his reign left France in debt and politically isolated, his excursion into Italy cultivated contacts between Italian and French Humanists which energized the arts in France and laid the foundation for the French Renaissance.

This foundation was further strengthened by the continued wars initiated by Charles VIII successor, Louis XII. Even though Louis XII met with many of the same results politically, the continued cultural exchange between French and Italian artists continued. With the ascension to the French throne of Francis I the French Renaissance found its full flowering.

By the time Francis I ascended the throne in 1515 the Renaissance had clearly arrived in France, and Francis I was an important supporter of the change. Francis I became a major patron of the arts. He lent his support to many of the great artists of his time and encouraged them to come to France.

It is during the reign of Francis I that the magnificent art collection of the French kings, which can still be seen in the Louvre, had begun.

Francis I set an important precedent by opening his library to scholars from around the world in order to facilitate the diffusion of knowledge.

Francis I was an impressive builder and he poured vast amounts of money into new structures.

Francis I rebuilt the Louvre, transforming it from a gloomy medieval fortress into a building of renaissance splendour. He financed the building of a new City Hall (H�tel de Ville) for Paris in order to have control over the building's design.

The initial artistic changes in France were often carried out by Italian and Flemish artists, such as Jean Clouet (and his son Fran�ois Clouet) and the Italians Rosso Fiorentino, Primaticcio and Nicol� dell'Abate, of the so-called first School of Fontainebleau (from 1531).

Leonardo da Vinci was also invited to France by Fran�ois I, but, other than the paintings which he brought with him, including the Mona Lisa, he produced little for the French king.

The art of the period from Fran�ois I-Henri IV was inspired by late Italian pictorial and sculptural developments commonly referred to as Mannerism, associated with Michelangelo and Parmigianino, among others, and characterized by elongated and graceful figures and a reliance on visual rhetoric, including the elaborate use of allegory and mythology.

There are a number of French artists of incredible talent in this period, including the painter Jean Fouquet of Tours and the sculptors Jean Goujon and Germain Pilon.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the French Renaissance was the construction of the Ch�teaux of the Loire Valley. No longer conceived of as fortresses, these pleasure palaces took advantage of the richness of the rivers and lands of the Loire region and they show remarkable architectural skill.

The artistic and intellectual foment of the Renaissance continued to flourish during the remainder of the reign of the Valois dynasty in France.

But war, which was in many ways responsible for the migration of ideas throughout northern Europe, would also be responsible for their curtailment, as well.

These wars, however, were not battles over land, but, over religious ideas.