what were the main characteristics of the renaissance
General Characteristics of the Renaissance Renaissance literally means rebirth.. It refers especially to the rebirth of learning that began in Italy in the fourteenth century, spread to the north, including England, by the sixteenth century, and ended in the north in the mid-seventeenth century (earlier in Italy).et the Renaissance was more than a rebirth.. It was also an age of new discoveries, both geographical (exploration of the New World) and intellectual. Both kinds of discovery resulted in changes of tremendous import for Western civilization.