Renaissance

What is a "Renaissance Man"?
I apologize for probably needing a brief explanation of this time with your answer in order to understand its meaning.

or a quick overview of the Renaissance, check this out www.best.com/ ~natalew/Timeline.html-

Following the "dark ages", exploration, art, archietecture, science, mathematics, metallurgy, music, navigation and just about everything else
came booming back "into fashion". Many people became accomplished in certain disciplines, and some became highly accomplished in many of them. Today, someone with a good deal of ability in different arenas (cooking, music, computers, business savvy, gardening, mechanics, etc.) might be referred to as a "Renaissance Man". (Works for women too, of course).

The word Renaissance, used for a particular period in history, interprets literally as rebirth. A renaissance man would then be a man who has been re-born - like the Danny DeVito character in the film of the above name. Changed career to teaching and was re-born as a better person - out of ignorance and into the light of knowledge - etc and so on and so forth.