The book is arranged thematically, each chapter designed to provide information about a specific field of inquiry and also give an insight into the people of this era. J. R. Hale investigates how these people felt about their environment and the passage of time; their relationships with government and other institutions, from the Church to the family; their economic frameworks; the part religion played in their lives; and what cultural and intellectual pursuits were available to them.

Renaissance Europe compares our own attitudes to those of the Renaissance and vice versa, thereby enriching the readers understanding of everyday life in the past.