this life, and their yearning for fuller expansion of the soul, for
more knowledge and joy on this side of the grave.

Another cause was the influence of Greek literature newly discovered
in the fifteenth century by the western world. In 1423 an Italian
scholar brought 238 Greek manuscripts to Italy. In 1453 the Turks
captured Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and
the headquarters of Grecian learning. Because of the remoteness of
this capital, English literature had not been greatly influenced by
Greece. When Constantinople fell, many of her scholars went to Italy,
taking with them precious Grecian manuscripts. As Englishmen often
visited Italy, they soon began to study Grecian masterpieces, and to
fall under the spell of Homer and the Athenian dramatists.

The renewed study of Greek and Latin classics stimulated a longing for
the beautiful in art and literature. Fourteenth-century Italian
writers, like Petrarch and Boccaccio, found increasing interest in
their work. Sixteenth-century artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci,
Michael Angelo, and Raphael show their magnificent response to a world
that had already been born again.

Many of the other so-called causes of the Renaissance should strictly
be considered its effects. The application of the modern theory of the
solar system, the desire for exploration, the use of the mariner's
compass, the invention and spread of printing, were more effects of
the new movement than its causes.

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), inspired by the spirit of the
Renaissance, wrote in Latin a remarkable book called _Utopia_ (1516),
which presents many new social ideals. In the land of Utopia, society