TheRenaissancewasaculturalmovementthatspannedroughlythe14thtothe17thcentury,beginninginFlorenceintheLateMiddleAgesandlaterspreadingtotherestofEurope.Thetermisalsousedmorelooselytorefertothehistoricera,butsincethechangesoftheRenaissancewerenotuniformacrossEurope,thisisageneraluseoftheterm.Asaculturalmovement,itencompassedaresurgenceoflearningbasedonclassicalsources,thedevelopmentoflinearperspectiveinpainting,andgradualbutwidespreadeducationalreform.Traditionally,thisintellectualtransformationhasresultedintheRenaissancebeingviewedasabridgebetweentheMiddleAgesandtheModernera.AlthoughtheRenaissancesawrevolutionsinmanyintellectualpursuits,aswellassocialandpoliticalupheaval,itisperhapsbestknownforitsartisticdevelopmentsandthecontributionsofsuchpolymathsasLeonardodaVinciandMichelangelo,whoinspiredtheterm"Renaissanceman".Thereisageneral,butnotunchallenged,consensusthattheRenaissancebeganinFlorence,Tuscanyinthe14thcentury.Varioustheorieshavebeenproposedtoaccountforitsoriginsandcharacteristics,focusingonavarietyoffactorsincludingthesocialandcivicpeculiaritiesofFlorenceatthetime;itspoliticalstructure;thepatronageofitsdominantfamily,theMedici;andthemigrationofGreekscholarsandtextstoItalyfollowingtheFallofConstantinopleatthehandsoftheOttomanTurks.TheRenaissancehasalongandcomplexhistoriography,andtherehasbeenmuchdebateamonghistoriansastotheusefulnessofRenaissanceasatermandasahistoricaldelineation.SomehavecalledintoquestionwhethertheRenaissancewasacultural"advance"fromtheMiddleAges,insteadseeingitasaperiodofpessimismandnostalgiafortheclassicalage,whileothershaveinsteadfocusedonthecontinuitybetweenthetwoeras.Indeed,somehavecalledforanendtotheuseoftheterm,whichtheyseeasaproductofpresentism–theuseofhistorytovalidateandglorifymodernideals.ThewordRenaissancehasalsobeenusedtodescribeotherhistoricalandculturalmovements,suchastheCarolingianRenaissanceandtheRenaissanceofthe12thcentury.