My favourite world was Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay of the 80s. It was explicitly early Renaissance, with analogues to France and the Empire, but also with the underlying darkness of the narrative that Chaos was sure to win in the end.
Brilliant! Thanks for the link. I did not play WRPG (though I know more than a bit of the lore from WFB and things like Mordheim) much but this resonates with some memories :)