Editing Renaissance (section)

===France===
{{main|French Renaissance|French Renaissance architecture}}

[[File:Chateau de chambord.jpg|thumb|left|[[Château de Chambord]] (1519–1547), one of the most famous examples of [[Renaissance architecture]]]]

The word "Renaissance" is borrowed from the French language, where it means "re-birth". It was first used in the eighteenth century and was later popularized by French [[historian]] [[Jules Michelet]] (1798–1874) in his 1855 work, ''Histoire de France'' (History of France).<ref name="Michelet, Jules 1847">Michelet, Jules. ''History of France'', trans. G.H. Smith (New York: D. Appleton, 1847)</ref><ref name="Cronin2011">{{cite book|author=Vincent Cronin|title=The Florentine Renaissance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aU8z-Sge6WgC|year= 2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1446466544}}</ref>

In 1495 the [[Italian Renaissance]] arrived in France, imported by King [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]] after his invasion of Italy. A factor that promoted the spread of secularism was the inability of the Church to offer assistance against the [[Black Death]]. [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] imported Italian art and artists, including [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Francesco Primaticcio|Primaticcio]], [[Rosso Fiorentino]], [[Niccolò dell'Abbate]] and [[Benvenuto Cellini]] and built ornate palaces at great expense, like the [[Palace of Fontainebleau]] and the [[castle of Chambord]]. Writers such as [[François Rabelais]], [[Pierre de Ronsard]], [[Joachim du Bellay]], and [[Michel de Montaigne]], painters such as [[Jean Clouet]] and [[François Clouet]], and musicians such as [[Jean Mouton]] also borrowed from the spirit of the Renaissance. French Renaissance sculptors include [[Michel Colombe]], [[Jean Goujon]], [[Pierre Bontemps]], [[Ligier Richier]] and [[Germain Pilon]] while important architects of the time were [[Pierre Lescot]], who built the Henri II aisle of the [[Louvre Palace|Louvre]], [[Philibert de l'Orme|Philibert Delorme]] and [[Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau]].

In 1533, a fourteen-year-old [[Catherine de' Medici]] (1519–1589), born in Florence to [[Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino]] and [[Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne]], married [[Henry II of France]], second son of King Francis I and Queen [[Claude of France|Claude]]. Though she became famous and infamous for her role in the [[French Wars of Religion]], she made a direct contribution in bringing arts, sciences, and music (including the origins of [[ballet]]) to the French court from her native Florence.