Why did the Renaissance start?

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that initially
began in Florence, Italy, but later spread throughout Europe. It started around 1350 and
ended around 1600. During the Renaissance (a word that means "rebirth"), people
experienced changes in art, learning, and many other things. Prior to the Renaissance,
Europe experienced the Medieval Times, otherwise known as the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages
were characterized by war, famine, and disease, and many people disliked this. During
the Dark Ages, Humanists emerged, which were people who believed that the individual had
important contributions to make in the world (rather than just relying on the church).
Humanists got their ideas from the ancient Greeks and Romans, which inspired their new
ideas and artistic feats.

There are many causes to the
Renaissance, the first is the Bubonic Plague, also known as "The Black Death." The
plague spread throughout Europe like wildfire during the 1300s but ultimately led to
good changes in business and trade in places like Italy. Italy moved away from meager
grain sales to the sales of fine items like wine, oil, cheese, and leather goods.
 Italy's central location made it a great hub for business and trade with the countries
of Northern Europe. (I realize that Italy was not actually called Italy during the
Renaissance; however, it is the easiest way to picture it since that is what we call it
now). 

Another cause of the Renaissance was the new idea
that social class didn't have to dictate your wealth. For the first time, people
realized that they could work hard to earn money and then rise in society, rather than
to let the class they were born into dictate their financial
freedom.

Overall, the Renaissance was a time when people
began to think for themselves and to attempt new artistic feats. The trade of fine items
and ideas would eventually lead the Renaissance to spread throughout Northern Europe,
and for the first time the working class emerged as
wealthy.

I have provided the Crash Course
History-Renaissance video. The narrator speaks a bit fast, but he does a good job
covering all of the basics!