The first steps on the road to the global village we live in today
The invention of the printing press allowed knowledge and ideas to be exchanged across the whole of Europe
Humanism, with its curiosity, optimism, and belief in the individual, encouraged people to look beyond the world they knew
The rise of trade and business gave people the motivation to venture into the unknown
By the end of the Renaissance, Europeans had travelled to most of the continents of the world
For the first time in recorded history, the people of these continents had made contact with one another
Wherever the Europeans arrived, they imposed their religion, ideas, values, and economic system—their worldview
The Renaissance had an enormous impact on the way we live today