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[[File:Florence_Cathedral.jpg|thumbnail|370px|left|The Duomo in Florence, Italy built during the Italian Renaissance]]
The Italian Renaissance (1380s-1554) was one of the most exciting periods in human civilization. It witnessed a great flourishing of the arts, literature, philosophy, architecture, and politics. Many of the greatest figures in World Civilisation appeared during the Renaissance in Italy, including Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Raphael. The Renaissance’s days of glories occurred from approximately 1400-1500. However, several factors led to the end of the Renaissance and the end of one of the most creative periods in human history.
====What was the Renaissance?====
====When did the Italian Renaissance End?====
Defining when the Italian Renaissance ended occurred is somewhat difficult, but the most generous estimate goes from the 1380s to the 1550s. Typically, the Italian Renaissance has been tied to fortunes of Florence and Rome (especially Florence). At the end of the 14th century, after the collapse of the Florentine economy tied and Roman economies due the Little Ice Age, the disruption of trade by war, and the devastation of the Black Plague, Florence began to rebound. It was initially driven by artists such as Petrarch and Dante who began to question the Church and the previous beliefs.
Florence's decline and the eventual abandonment of the ideals of the Renaissance began with the invasion of Florence in 1494 by France and gained speed as Italy broke out into warfare between its city-states. Additionally, like most significant political and intellectual movements, it gave birth to a severe backlash. By the 1550s, many of the works of literature and art that help birth the Renaissance were banned. By the mid-1550s, the Italian Renaissance was essentially over. While the Renaissance died in Florence and Rome, its ideas, beliefs, and art had spread across Europe. These other Renaissances continued even as Florence's and Rome's rebirth stalled.
