The Renaissance was a time a long time ago when people in Europe started to become interested in things like art, science, and education again after a period of time where they focused mostly on religion. It was a time of big changes and lots of new ideas. It's sort of like some people were asleep and then they woke up and started to think about lots of new things. People who lived during the Renaissance thought it was a really exciting time because they felt like they were part of a big change in the world.