NORTHER HUMANISM, NORTHERN RENAISSANCE AND RELIGIOUS REFORMATIONS
...n, Roman Catholics and Protestants. The Northern Renaissance occurred in Northern Europe and began in 1500, where literature experienced an amazing transformation as well. Michel de Montaigne was a judge and a writer who’s Essays portrayed the earliest work of moralism. His work attached little importance to Christianity ethics, since cruelty and barbarism were practiced in the name of religion. Montaigne for a moral principle that as centered on a human level and that no one could deny. Another important figure was William Shakespeare, an actor and playwright who mastered the three genres of history, comedy and of course tragedy. Art was directed towards new directions other than religion, for example: Albrecht Dûrer who painted a self portrait of himself as a Christ figure, such identification of his artistic portrait with Jesu’s divine power would have been unthinkable before the Renaissance. On the other hand, Pieter Bruegel the Elder became the first truly modern painter in northern Europe. He chose landscapes and country life scenes as artistic subjects for his works; but his most and memorable paintings are his scenes of peasant life. The freedom of expression was another important issue in this period because this is where people started to searched for other kind of fulfillment other than religion. The religious Reformation came to the surface when people started to looked to the past for inspiration and ideals, but instead of turning to the classical world of Greece and Rome, the religious leaders of this movement looked to the early Christian church to clarify their beliefs and to purify their practices. This created a conflict between the contemporary churc...