The Renaissance was a cultural movement which saw a flowering of education, literature, art and sciences. The Renaissance saw an inflow of new ideas and new practices and left a profound cultural legacy.
The Renaissance was enabled by scientific discoveries, most notably, the development of the printing press by J. Gutenberg, which allowed the mass production of books. The heart of the Renaissance is considered to have started in Florence during the early 14th Century. This was helped by financial and cultural support from the dominant Medici family, and later from the Vatican.