[video of fountain in front of church, narrator speaking:] It was here in northern Italy, that the first noticeable changes in the medieval way of doing things started to occur, right around the dawn of the fourteenth century. This was the beginning of the Renaissance. During the medieval era, the study of Theology: The study of God, was the most important branch of learning, [picture of religious fresco] but during the Renaissance people began to pay more attention to earthly life, and the study of humanity, or Humanism, became a major focus of scholarly attention. [picture of statue] Renaissance humanist relied purely on reason, as opposed to such things as mysticism, or astrology. To investigate subjects they believed might help them understand human life, and solve the problems that faced mankind. To do this they actively studied the civilization of ancient Greece, and Rome,[picture of stained glass window] because they believed that these civilizations had excelled in humanistic subjects. They dug through ruins for anything that remained of the long [picture of ruins] forgotten classical cultures, and marveled at the fabulous works of art and architecture they discovered. [picure of relief] Renaissance humanist traveled to distant monasteries in search of ancient books, [picture of papyrus] for they believed that the wisdom of the past would provide the insights they needed to better understand mankind, the world, and the universe.