The Renaissance was a time of great achievements and cultural change. This "re-birth" marked Europe's transition between the medieval times to modern Europe. According to The Renaissance, the Italian Renaissance began with the merchant class, many whom became patrons of the arts, and included the rediscovery of Greek and Roman science, art and literature (Hunt 8). This movement affected all of Western Europe, but it was Italy that it affected the most. As Sayre said, " the Renaissance was an age of intellectual exploration, in which the humanist strove to understand in ever so precise and scientific terms the nature of humanity and its relationship to the natural world" (Sayre 7). Although there was a re-birth in both Italy and Northern Europe, they did not occur around the same time. Italy was the first city to discover the Renaissance and the North soon followed. One of the major reasons the Renaissance in the North did not flourish as fast as Italy is because the North was further away from trade and culture than the rest of Europe. Once the North began to flourish, they too had a strong merchant class of their own just like Italy. The North was home to the Medici banking interest in the region (Sayre 87). The achievements both of these Renaissances accomplished were amazing. These two Renaissance have many similarities and differences. Similarities, such as where artists came from, common faith, and the guild system. Some of the differences between the two Renaissances were their different styles, motivation of movement, literature, and art. These similarities and differences are significant to the Renaissance culture because they were major influences that helped the Renaissance prosper.
Both the Italian Renaissance and Northern Renaissance had a common faith, until the Reformation of the North. The Reformation was the beginning of the Catholic Church and the protestant faith.