Answer:
During the Medieval Era, the study of theology (the study
of God) was the most important branch of learning; but
during the Renaissance, people began to pay more attention
to earthly life and the study of humanity, or humanism,
became a major focus of scholarly attention. Renaissance
humanists relied purely on reason (as opposed to
such things as prayer or astrology) to investigate subjects
they believed might help them understand human life,
and solve the problems that faced mankind. To do this,
they actively studied the civilizations of ancient Greece
and Rome because they believed that these civilizations
had excelled in humanistic subjects. They dug through
ruins for anything that remained of the long-forgotten
classical cultures and marveled at the fabulous works of
art and architecture they discovered. And Renaissance
humanists traveled to distant monasteries in search of
ancient books, for they believed that the wisdom of the
past would provide the insights they needed to better
understand mankind, the world, and the universe.