The medieval mind, as described in Manchester's A World Lit Only By Fire, is god-centered and lacks ego or sense of pride. The Renaissance shattered the medieval mind. Many factors contributed to the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. The rise in Humanism, and the sudden interest in art, literature, and exploration, are factors that led to the shattering of the medieval mind. These factors opposed medieval beliefs and represented a break with the medieval mind.

The printing press developed by Johann Gutenberg raised the education level of medieval people, by allowing them to be easily exposed to literature. Printing in vernacular or local languages also furthered the education of the medieval mind by making literature available to people who didn't speak Latin. Humanism was partly a product of the revival of ancient Greek and Roman classical literature. Scholars began translating the ancient...