Renaissance is a French word that means "rebirth". It refers to a period that followed after the Middle Ages and is characterized by a surge of interest in classical knowledge and values. It is a vibrant period of European cultural, artistic, political and scientific rebirth. Most of humanity's greatest thinkers, authors, statemen, scientists and artists thrive during this era. It was an incredible age of beauty blossoming with creativity and curiosity, the discoveries masterpieces and development in different areas of sciences have gone down as some of the most greatest creations in the history of man.
It is hard to imagine what will happen if the renaissance didn't take place in human history, but think about it for a moment. What if this is splendid era didn't exist in the past? Will the word look different from what it is today? Will history change significantly? How will the absence of Renaissance affect the world?.
This is what will happen if humanity never had the Renaissance period.
There will be no Humanist Movement
Humanism is a major intellectual movement during the Renaissance that started in the early 14th century and became a dominant intellectual movement in the 16th century. Humanist sought to a create a citizenry who's able to write and read in order to influence all of society to be capable of engaging in civic life and committing virtuous actions. They also aim to revive the legacies of classical antiquity by empowering the people with the knowledge of its cultural and literary legacies including its moral philosophies.
Assuming that the Renaissance didn't happen the humanist movement will be non-existent. The society itself will remain clueless about the ancient knowledge of the Romans and the Greeks. The study of humanity will remain as the least of people's concerns probably for some centuries and religious knowledge will probably prevail causing a significant halt to Europe's cultural and intellectual development. One's worldview will be based on scholasticism instead of using a rational point of view that is based on logic.
Although the Humanist movement started before the Renaissance during the prime days of Dante, Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio who were considered to be the first humanists, no more humanist will definitely follow their footsteps due to the absence of a major cultural breakthrough in Europe, which in our case— is the Renaissance. Without the Renaissance there will be no Humanist movement and without the Humanistic moment there will be no intellectual enlightenment and the foundation for the age of reason that will come centuries later will not be laid out.
Renowned Renaissance men may become nonexistent.
Assuming that the Renaissance didn't took place and the Godfathers of Renaissance which is the Medici family simply didn't exist or just hated the idea of propagating arts, this will mean that there will be no perfect atmosphere for artists like Michelangelo to create a masterpiece considering the fact that most of Renaissance masterpieces are created as a form dedication to the Medici. The Medici family laid the groundwork for cultural prosperity during the Renaissance by funding the works of different artists and "renaissance men". Their patronage of politics, arts, science and architecture help catalyze the renaissance into a fully fledged cultural movement.
Without the Renaissance and the Medici's support, we wouldn't be reading anything about Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo, Donatello or even Niccolo Machiavelli in our history books, although some of this renowned individuals might still thrive and produce great works thanks to their innate talents, their contributions will not be a significant like their works during the Renaissance. Most artworks created during the Renaissance would be non-existent including those most famous ones like Monalisa, The Creation of Adam, The Last Supper, The Kiss of Judas and others. The iconic Pieta and David will also be erased in the epochs of history and we we won't be enjoying the beautiful sight of Sistine Chapel's ceilings.
Arab and Far East Nations will be the center of the World
Without the Renaissance, Europe will be plunged into decades of wars among city-states contending for power in Europe. This never ending feud between different city-states will hinder cultural development preventing any sort of cultural awakening from ever happening. In the East, on the other hand, is a stable era with a longstanding peace in the Middle East under the rule of the highly esteemed Ottoman Empire and the geographically remote Safavid Persia.
Meanwhile in the Far East the proud and shining empires of China and other regional powers of East and Southeast Asia is in the middle of a major cultural exchange and economic empowerment due to constant trades with the West and Arab nations through the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Route.
Assumingly if the Renaissance didn't happen in Europe the knowledge and ideas of the Greek classics would probably remain in the Middle East. This includes the philosophies from Greek World especially the Aristotelian philosophies, the arabic text about astronomy, mathematics, medicine and science wouldn't find it's way towards Europe so there would be no transformation of philosophical disciplines in the latin world as all knowledge are highly contained and the Arab World. Due to this reasons; technological and scientific innovations would not happen and the invention of the printing press would never take place in Europe but instead would be invented in the Arab World or in East Asia. Without any of its ideas, text and philosophies being distributed in Europe the Arab Nations might as well undergo in a second Islamic Golden Age while Europe continues to crawl in the darkness.
Without the Renaissance to equal the greatness of the Arab World, it will in turn become the trade center of the known world instead of Europe and would remain as the cultural center of the globe where the east and the west meet. The Far East Nations and Arab Nations would be the one benefiting in the absence of the Renaissance. This cultures would flourish more than those of Europe and might possibly be the one who will likely shape the world. The Far East and Middle East will most likely be the world's center of hegemony.
There's a possibility of A Muslim Conquest in Europe
There will be a huge chance that without the Renaissance the Islamic conquest led by the Muslims might succeed in conquering territories in the Mediterranean Rim further pushing its advanced towards Europe. Europe would be busy fighting amongst themselves to even check what's happening outside their borders, causing them to be completely vulnerable to Muslim invasion due to the absence of strong and formidable cities who can fight off the Islamic Conquest.
The absence of a Renaissance in Italy for an instance will hugely affect other European Nations, there would be no such a thing as French Renaissance and English Renaissance, therefore powerful and organized institutions and empires like the Carolingian Empire wouldn't emerge. Without any cultural, political and economic "awakening" kingdoms in Europe would never be as strong as they truly were during the Renaissance thus completely turning into a weak prey for the Ottoman empire or other Muslim Empires the thrived during the 14th and 17th century.
This might led into the possible demise of Christianity, or if not— into a century long war between the Europeans and Muslims. A type of war probably worse than the Crusades that may halt any sort of development in Europe for the centuries to come, and by development— I mean, Cultural and Intellectual development.
The Reformation will not happen
The Reformation is a major religious movement in Western Christianity during the Renaissance, it posed a formidable religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church. Martin Luther, the father of Protestantism and the one who spearheaded the Reformation publicly despised Papal Authority which enrage the Roman Catholic Church more. The Reformation arise due to the abuses committed by the church including the culture of simony that was prevalent during that particular time; the selfishness of the priests and bishops; the horrid corruption within the order and unholiness among the clerics. Without the existence of Renaissance the reformation wouldn't emerge.
If the Renaissance never happened "medievalism" will still thrive by the beginning of 14th century. Different thoughts, views and ideas regarding the secrets of the cosmos, the study of society and humanity won't be influenced by the scientific method of thinking and secularism. Knowledge would still be based upon superstitions and religious beliefs instead of logic and reasoning. Without the Humanists of the Renaissance, Scholasticism will prevail and in the absence of such radical thinkers, people like Luther wouldn't be inspired to challenge the teachings of the Church and none will dare ask for reforms.
The absence of Renaissance means that Humanist philosophers would not exist to inspire generations of thinkers causing a scholasticism to remain the general approach into answering questions and explaining phenomenas. Also, as I mentioned earlier the exclusion of Renaissance in history would cause great minds like Michelangelo to vanish and be non-existent which means that the chances of the Saint Peter's Basilica being built is low considering the fact that all "Renaissance men" like Michelangelo himself, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and other architects who designed and built the Basilica will virtually not exist. Basically, without the Basilica Johann Tetzel will never set foot in Wittenberg selling indulgence, which definitely would mean that he won't ever meet Martin Luther, thus preventing Luther from nailing his revolutionary 95 theses at a church door in Wittenberg.
Without the rise of Protestantism, the peasants of Germany would't be inspired to revolt against the landlords (Peasant War), there will be no Peace of Ausburg and England will remain Catholic. The Franciscan friars and the Jesuits will be completely nonexistent as the counter reformation will never happen. Europe will remain as the Roman Catholic Church's haven while Eastern Orthodoxy thrives in the East. Europe will never be religiously divided and establishments of different states in favor of a certain Christian denomination will likely never happen.
Europeans wouldn't be the major players in the Age of Exploration
There is a huge possibility that without the Renaissance the Europeans would't be able to spearhead the Age of Exploration. The start of Europe's race to colonial imperialism begun due to the factors that Renaissance brought which includes curiosity about the lands still uncharted especially in the Far East where Asia lies. Without the Renaissance the imaginations of the Europeans about the splendid beauty of Asia and their desire to reach China would remain as an unattainable dream. The Europeans would not be capable of such voyage due to their backwardness and will completely be denied the chance to discover the New World.
The Arab (Turks) and the Asians would be the one exploring the high seas, if the Arabs and the Asians decide to only utilize the sea routes for initiating trade amongst themselves and didn't bother to check what's beyond the atlantic ocean, then, the undisturbed Mesoamerican cultures would flourish further if remained isolated from the West. Empires that emerged during the 1400's in both South and North America will most likely have their own Golden Ages. The entire history of indigenous American cultures would not be altered and diminished by the Europeans and if that indeed happen we would still be marveling the beauty of many Pre-Columbian civilizations, our understanding their culture and history wouldn't be as vague as today because most historical text will survive from being burned by the Catholic friars.
The Missipian people of North America would likely have their own distinct empire if they remained undisturbed for centuries. The empires of South America may even equal the grandiose of China possibly turning into a highly matured regional power identical to those of the immortal empires of Mesoamerica. A large portion of the New World's original population would never have to feel first hand the cruelty of the Europeans and would likely never have face a total annihilation from typhus, malaria and forceful genocide.
But this doesn't mean that the cultures present in the New World's would not never be discovered , the discovery of America will still take place but in a much slower pace. Without the Renaissance, The Asian and Arab civilizations will be the one dominating the globe today and the memorable circumnavigation of Magellan will not take place, giving enough opportunity for the nations in the Orient to establish long lasting empires of their own. The Columbian Exchange wouldn't happen and the horrific slave trade wouldn't be etched in the pages of history. The painful legacy of century long brutality of the white man to the black and brown man would never occur in the absence of Renaissance, although the Arabs and Asians do have a slave trade of their own it wouldn't be as horrible like the Europeans did.
No Scientific Revolution
The Scientific Revolution is the offshoot of Renaissance which influenced the people to discover new things. It set the pace for the Age of Enlightenment to occur decades later which led to an extensive cultural and intellectual breakthrough in Europe. Philosophies and Theories that were developed during this time is the foundation of the Modern World. Without the Renaissance there will be no Scientific Revolution and we would still believe that Earth is flat disk inside a done till the late 1800s, not until some random Arab, Hindu or Chinese astronomer would rebuke such claims. European scientists and inventors such as Galileo and Newton will not be written in the pages of history books.
Our history books wouldn't be filled with European thinkers and we would be studying Arab scientist instead. Some findings that exist and discovered during the Renaissance will be rediscovered in a much slower pace and the others might not be in a couple of centuries. Development in natural, cosmic and other disciplines in the science spectrum will be facilitated by Arab scholars and the absence of Locke, Descartes and Bacon might create room for Chinese and Hindu philosophers to fill the void. Their philosophies will be more influential and greater if left without any competition from the Giants of Classical Greek and Renaissance philosophers.
Classical music from Bach, Mozart and even Beethoven would nit exist and we would be listening to Arabic and Chinese music instead (Apparently because piano would not get invented). Imagine yourself listening to an Arab music with a belly dance melody or in a chinese loud vocals with pitch so high that it would rupture your eardrums, that would be a sight.
It's hard to imagine a world without the Renaissance but one thing is certain. The world without a doubt will never be what it is today without the Renaissance period, the period that laid the foundation of the modern world, the age of human empowerment. An era where strong and courageous men sailed into the violent seas to establish what we know today as the "known world". The era of reason where curious intellectuals sought to find the answers for the Earth's most bizarre phenomenas and the time of realization where humans delve deeper into themselves trying to understand their nature and the essence of their very existence.
Renaissance is the era where man sailed past beyond the pillars of Hercules, the time where man explored the worlds edge and discovered his own boundless limits, a journey towards mankind's endless possibilities.
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I don't agree with the Reformation, although I can say that the exact Reformation wouldn't happen without the Renaissance, still a revolution or call for change against the Catholic will still happen regardless of what timeline it is and what important parts of the history will be erased. Yes the Reformation might happen but that doesn't mean that there will be no religious uprising that'll took place, the people isn't that dumb to not see the misgivings of the Church.
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