Question: where did the renaissance began and what countries did it spread to

title: Renaissance
text: Johan Huizinga ( 1872 -- 1945 ) acknowledged the existence of the Renaissance but questioned whether it was a positive change . In his book The Autumn of the Middle Ages , he argued that the Renaissance was a period of decline from the High Middle Ages , destroying much that was important . The Latin language , for instance , had evolved greatly from the classical period and was still a living language used in the church and elsewhere . The Renaissance obsession with classical purity halted its further evolution and saw Latin revert to its classical form . Robert S. Lopez has contended that it was a period of deep economic recession . Meanwhile , George Sarton and Lynn Thorndike have both argued that scientific progress was perhaps less original than has traditionally been supposed . Finally , Joan Kelly argued that the Renaissance led to greater gender dichotomy , lessening the agency women had had during the Middle Ages .