ere the chief causes of the movement:

(_a_) The Crusades

(_b_) The Fall of Constantinople, 1453

(_c_) The introduction of the mariner's compass

(_d_) The invention of gunpowder

(_e_) The invention of the printing press

(_f_) The overthrow of the feudal system

(_g_) The desire for knowledge stimulated by the universities

(_h_) The failure of the schools of the Middle Ages to meet the demands
and needs of the times

4. The relation of each of these causes to the New Learning must be
shown. In dealing with the Crusade movement as a cause, it will be
necessary to help the children to see the effect produced on the people
of northern Europe by their coming into contact with the more highly
cultivated people in southern Europe; and the effect produced on the
people of Europe by their mingling with the nations of the luxurious
East--the Greeks of Constantinople and the brilliant Mohammedan scholars
of Palestine. The Crusades made the people dissatisfied with the
conditions that had prevailed so long in Europe, and this fact alone
gave an impetus to the New Learning.

The relation of printing to the spread of the movement is evident. The
introduction of printing meant the cheapening of books, their more
general use, and the spread of education. This was followed by a growing
independence of thought, and a desire for greater political and
religious freedom.

The other causes may be similarly treated.

5. The New Learning was represented in England by a group of scholars of
whom Erasmus, Colet, and More were the chief. The great churchmen, too,
were its patrons. Men of every rank were interested, and the movement
affected the whole life of the people. A new interest was taken in
education, in art, in religion, and in social reform. Old methods of
instruction were superseded by more rational ones. Hundreds of new
schools were established for the benefit of the middle classes. The
whole tendency of the New Learning was toward a higher intellectual and
more moral life.

6. Its effects:

(_a_) It awakened a desire for an intellectual life and for social
reform;

(_b_) It made possible the Reformation;

(_c_) It led to the establishment of schools and libraries and to the
extension of the usefulness of the universities;

(_d_) It aroused the desire for liberty and the spirit of enterprise,
and encouraged commercial activity;

(_e_) It inspired some of the world's greatest artists in painting,
sculpture