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THE RENAISSANCE
Italy (1300-1600)
A New Beginning
• The disorder and chaos of the late Middle Ages
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seemed to mark the beginning of a long-term
decline for Europe.
But the expansion of trade (due to the Crusades
and Black Death), the re-discovery of Ancient
learning (brought back from Muslim lands and
hidden in monastic libraries), and new political
structures lead to a rebirth centered in Italy in
the late 14th century.
Northern Italian Economy
• Cities developed international trade: Genoa,
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Venice, Milan.
First large scale urban societies since Roman
Empire.
popolo (middle class) took power in 13th
century; republican gov’t short-lived in most.
signori (despots) or oligarchies (rule of
merchant aristocracies) by 1300
commenda: Contract between merchant and
“merchant-adventurer” who agreed to take
goods to distant locations and return with the
proceeds (for 1/3 of profits) – fostered trade.
Italian City States, 1454
Politics of Italian City-States
• Republic of Florence (Included Republic
of Genoa) – Medici family
• Important Banking center.
• Cosimo De’Medici (1389-1464): allied
with other powerful families of Florence
and became unofficial ruler of the republic
• Lorenzo the Magnificent
(1449-1492): lavish patron
of the arts
Politics of Italian City-States
• Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) –
theocracy in Florence 1494-98; (predicted
French invasion due to paganism and
moral decay of Italian city-states); burned
at the stake Charles VIII (1483-1498)
• Began the decline of Florence.
• French invasions of Italy - Italy became
battleground for international ambitions
Politics of Italian City-States
• Duchy of Milan -- Sforza family (Caterina
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Sforza (1463-1509), great art patron)
Rome, the Papal States – papacy
(“Renaissance popes”)
Venetian Republic –
– Trade power on the Adriatic Sea
– Oligarchy headed by the doge
• Isabella d’Este (1474-1539): most famous
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Renaissance female ruler (ruled Mantua)
condottieri: leaders of private armies hired by
cities for military purposes
Humanism
• Humanism -- Revival of antiquity (Greece
and Rome) in literature
• Individualism/ secularism: “man is
the measure of all things”
• virtú: the quality of being a great
man in whatever noble pursuit
• Education: (emphasis on Latin and Greek)
Humanism
• Petrarch—(1304-1374) “Dark Ages”
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metaphor; “father of humanism” and
1st modern writer, literature no longer
subordinate to religion
Dante – Divine Comedy
Boccacio – Decameron: aimed to impart
wisdom of human character and behavior.
Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) Oration
on the Dignity of Man; Platonic academy
Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) – The
Book of the Courtier
Humanism
• Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444) – wrote
history of Florence; division of historical
periods; narrative form; civic humanist;
first to use term “humanism”
• Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457)—On the
False Donation of
Constantine (1444); study of Latin
• Niccolo Machiavelli
(1469-1527) -- The Prince
(1513) – Cesare Borgia