Was the Renaissance period a thing?

I do believe the Renaissance Period was a "thing". Although at the time, the Europeans did not know they were living in a time in history that would forever change the course of the world, it does not meant they weren't. As John Green described it, the renaissance period was "a lot of mutually interdependent things that occurred over centuries". This time period is not necessarily about the separate events themselves, but rather the impact they had on the the world around them to this very day.

The amount of "stuff" that actually happened in the Renaissance period was immense. There was the rediscovery of Greek and Roman texts and learning, which affected politics, literature, math, and science, which altered the way people thought. This new found information put an emphasis on people starting to reason and question why things were the way they were, and this slowly led to a movement away from the church. Although they moved slightly away from the church's commands to not question anything, a common misconception is that the people at this time were not religious, which we know is very untrue (the CONSTANT depiction of the Madonna in paintings). Anyway, this new way of thinking fueled the scientific revolution (heliocentric universe discovered by Copernicus around 1514), and also glorified the individual, in that they were allowed to focus more on worldly pleasures (like science or philosophy or art not dominated by the church). In addition, after the plague had ended, there were many agricultural advances which fueled trade, and in turn brought in a lot of money. As we know, the Renaissance period took place mainly in Italy, and trade with other countries which Italy had access to (Africa, Europe, the Islamic world) not only made them wealthier, but also developed connections around the world.

Long story short, yes, the Renaissance might not be 100% set in stone and the events that make it up might over a relatively long and random period of time; but there is no doubt that the Renaissance period was dense with progression and innovation that changed the course of math, science, literature, philosophy, and politics.