History Shorts: Dante's Inferno and the Renaissance (1321)

The Renaissance, or rebirth, of European culture began in the early 14th century and continued into the 17th. It produced a rediscovery of classical learning as well as an artistic explosion. Some consider Dante's Inferno as the beginning of the Renaissance. In the work, also known as The Divine Comedy, is political satire through the use of an allegorical afterlife. The Renaissance pulled the west out of the Middle Ages and provided the cultural and intellectual bridge to the modern era.

The World's Oldest surviving feature length film (1911):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS4We4MDheg

An animated version (2010):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw8bDRa6Lt4