As explorers learned more about these new found lands, they learned that they had many unfamiliar valuables which challenged Europe and forced them to expand their horizons. They were scared of their surroundings and did not venture much further than their own home. Magellan's exploration enabled people to realize that there was much more to the world than just Europe and that the world was in fact round. Magellan's exploration changed Europe greatly it brought the people into what is know as the age of exploration; or the Renaissance. .
Manchester describes the peasants of the Middle Ages as barbaric and unhappy people who worked brutally hard. Although a peasants life was not pleasant they did have many days to relax. According to most historians, peasants had about 100 days of rest per year due to the frequency of holidays. Holidays meant church festivals, wrestling, bobbing for apples, dancing, and all sorts of celibacy. The life of a Middle Ages peasant was not much worse than the life of a Renaissance peasant, which Manchester fails to mention. There are other flaws in Manchester's comparison between people of the Middle Ages and people of the Renaissance. He fails to mention the Gifted and Book of Gospels, yet he analyzes the great authors and artists of the Renaissance. Manchester hardly mentions the exquisite architecture of the Middle Ages, like the beautiful gothic works of art such as Notre Dame. .
Not only does Manchester compare the Middle Ages with the Renaissance in his book, he also lightly touches upon the Middle Ages in comparison to Roman civilization. Both the Roman Civilization and the Middle Ages had great appreciation for law and order. The form of government for the Middle Ages was Clearly the feudal system, where as the form of government for the Roman Civilization was a republic. Along with law and order they both had the same religious zeal. The middle aged peoples and the people of the Roman Civilization both believed in the Roman Catholic religion as their solitary religion.
