Jules Michelet
The word "Renaissance" is a French word, whose literal translation into English is "Rebirth". The term was first used and defined by French historian Jules Michelet (1798–1874) in his 1855 work "Histoire de France" (History of France). Jules Michelet defined the 16th-century Renaissance in France as a period in Europe's cultural history that represented a break from the Middle Ages, creating a modern understanding of humanity and its place in the world. As a French citizen and historian, Michelet also claimed the Renaissance as a French movement. His work is at the origin of the use of the French word "Renaissance" in other languages.