The era around the year 1500 – the "quatrocento" in Italian or generally the 15th century – represents the Renaissance period which took its time to spread across the rest of Europe.
Florence emerged first from the Middle Ages, liberating itself from feudalism and dependence on religion, putting the individual and his right to freedom of thought at the centre of all concerns. Europe began to think like the Florentines…except in a little part of Saxony, in Wittenberg…

This episode sheds light on the Reformation and its standard bearer : Martin Luther. The Reformation represented a renewal that is just as deep and lasting as the Renaissance. The Lutheran protestation set the foundations of the modern world: rejection of the domination of the Church, of the state, of nationalism, capitalism…The dawning 16th century bears the seal of the Reformation. Whereas the Renaissance is a period in history that has been described from many angles, the ramifications of the Reformation are not well known. With the Reformation, the centre of gravity of the West moved progressively North: Germany, Holland, England and then, by migration, North America.

AVAILABLE FOR SCREENING: 2 x 50' English version