Introduction
Culture can be termed as the beliefs, customs, values and knowledge that are held by a group of people. It is through culture that a society is able to distinguish itself from other societies. The European culture and social values between the years 700 to 1600 can easily be differentiated form other cultures by the renaissance. It is through this that most of the European cultural and social values in the time can be traced. It included social activities that were engaged in by people in Europe.
The social and cultural values in Europe at this time were transformed. European culture was transformed into another era, as there was artistic and cultural innovation. This came in form of an extraordinary wave where people in the society stared adopting new values and practices. There was discovery by artists who made it possible to paint in three dimensions. They, therefore, had the capabilities of adding new life and realism in their subjects.
The society began breaking ways from the values, religious and cultural beliefs of the medieval world. They then turned into developing absolutely new types of art that had plenty of emotion and drama. Social values of the way people viewed the world were being transformed. This was done by way of art where new techniques such as painting in oils were being realized. This was done by some of the renowned artists in Europe such as Gozzoli, Michelangelo and Botticelli.
It was during this are that saw the society engage in activities that they did not prior to the renaissance. The classical past acted as a source of inspiration to the people of Europe. This consequently resulted to invention of new societal values that governed perspective and proportion. The societal had started changing its values towards the cultural beliefs that were held prior to the rebirth. It was the desire of people to study the natural world and they no longer wished to only rely on the teachings of the church.
The society held values that allowed them to have freedom of discovering on their own the wonders of the universe. The rebirth of Europe saw the development of a world of debate accompanied by decadence of the church and corruption. Cultural beliefs were contradicted and violated and there was development of a revolution in faith. This, consequently, divided the Christian population. Gingrich, A. (2006).
The era saw the development of social values that promoted trade with other regions of the world. Such include trade between Europe and some of the Asian countries such as china. Trade with china became a social norm where people in Europe became aware of goods in china. This wealth of goods in china was learned of by Europeans by some of the journals that Marco Polo had published. Social activities had become very essential and it was expected that citizens would participate in such affairs. The society had developed values which allowed selling of goods by merchants. Other activities in the society involved tournaments that featured knights from all corners of Europe.
Conclusion
This can be termed as a period in Europe that was characterized by diverse cultural and social values. People in Europe began to adopt practices that they were not involved in prior to the renaissance.
Reference:
Gingrich, A. (2006), ‘Neo- Nationalism and the Reconfiguration of Europe’, Social Anthropology 14, no. 2: 195 – 217.
