Italian Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment
The Italian Renaissance began in the early 15th century--the Reformation began in 1517--the Scientific Revolution began in the mid-16th century--the Enlightenment began in the early 18th century.
The Italian Renaissance provided education inspired by the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome. The introduction to new information inspired art, literature, and general thinking. New modern values of individualism, skepticism, secularism, and humanism grew out of the Renaissance thinking. These values gave way to the Reformation beginning with Martin Luther's 95 Theses criticizing the Catholic Church and their methods of making money. With more people leaving the Catholic Church, the rules of science were no longer applicable. The Scientific Revolution allowed scientists to begin questioning the structure of nature and investigating in ways not allowed by the Church prior to the Reformation. The ideas of reason and logic grew out of the Scientific Revolution which inspired social and political thinkers to reevaluate society during the Enlightenment.