The document provides an overview of key developments during the Renaissance period from roughly 1400 to 1600. It discusses how humanism led to a new view of mankind where man was seen as infinitely great and valuable rather than existing purely for God. Important figures like Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, and philosophers like Descartes, Spinoza, and Locke contributed new ideas around individualism, empiricism, and the geocentric vs heliocentric world views. Inventions like the compass, firearms, and printing press helped enable the spread of new Renaissance ideas.