Was the renaissance a real thing? Why or why not? I need this by Tuesday it for a homework assignment and I'm clueless.

The word ''Renaissance'' means ''re-Birth.'' In order for there to be a 'rebirth' there has to have been a 'death' of sorts. Indeed, in 1348 - 1350 the most culturally shocking event happened to the peoples in Europe, and it began in Genoa and Venice. These were two important trading cities of the growing Italian city-states and had just begun to flush in their own right. Then, on an August afternoon in 1348, a number of rats made their way down the rope line from the merchant ships and into one of the worst moments in human history.