Answer: The term Renaissance means "rebirth" or "reawakening". The Renaissance was an avid cultural movement that took place between the late 13th and early 17th century. This movement spread from Italy to the rest of the European countries, it generated an interest in classical Greek and Roman learnings/values. The middle ages (or dark ages) began in the 5th and lasted till the 16th century, the beginning was marked by decline of western roman empire and the ending merged with the age of discovery and the Renaissance. The difference is that one was a cultural movement that eased the beginning of the modern era and the other was an era in European history characterized by declines in economic vitality, population, and the size of popular cities.