The Northern Renaissance is the term used to describe the Renaissance in northern Europe, or more broadly in Europe outside Italy.

Before 1450, Italian Renaissance humanism had had little influence outside Italy.

From the late fifteenth century the ideas spread around Europe.

The resulting German Renaissance, French Renaissance, English Renaissance, Renaissance in the Netherlands, Polish Renaissance and other national and localized movements have different characteristics and strengths, however.In France, King Francis I imports Italian art, commissions Italian artists (including Leonardo da Vinci), and builds grand palaces at great expense, beginning the French Renaissance.

Trade and commerce in cities like Bruges in the 15th century and Antwerp in the 16th increase cultural exchange between Italy and the Low Countries, however in art, and especially architecture, late Gothic influences remain present until the arrival of Baroque even as painters increasingly draw on Italian models.

Universities and the printed book help spread the spirit of the age spread through France, the Low Countries and the Holy Roman Empire, and then to Scandinavia and finally Britain by the late 16th century.

Writers and humanists such as Rabelais, Pierre de Ronsard and Desiderius Erasmus are greatly influenced by the Italian Renaissance model and are part of the same intellectual movement.

During the English Renaissance (which overlaps with the Elizabethan era) writers such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe compose works of lasting influence.

The Renaissance is brought to Poland directly from Italy by artists from Florence and the Low Countries, starting the Polish Renaissance.In some areas the Northern Renaissance is distinct from the Italian Renaissance in its centralization of political power.

While Italy and Germany are dominated by independent city-states, parts of central and western Europe begin emerging as nation-states.

The Northern Renaissance is also closely linked to the Protestant Reformation and the long series of internal and external conflicts between various Protestant groups and the Roman Catholic Church have lasting effects, such as the division of the Netherlands.