Renaissance
The Renaissance
approx. 1300 – 1600 (texts vary)
• Means “rebirth,” specifically the rebirth of
classical knowledge (ancient Greece & Rome)
• “Birth” of the modern world (beginning of
modern European history)
• Bridges the Middle Ages to Modern Times
• Begins in northern Italy (Florence) & spreads
to the Italian city-states & then northern
Europe (c.1450)
By contrast to continental Europe, the
Renaissance did not begin in England
until the 16th century & lasted until the early 17th century (the time of Shakespeare)
Renaissance vs. the Middle Ages
• Renaissance was secular, not religious • Individual, not the group, was emphasized during the Renaissance
• Renaissance occurred in urban ($), not
rural, areas
• It was the awakening of the human spirit
- feelings & thoughts
The Renaissance begins in Italy
• Center of Greco-Roman civilization • Centrally located • Advantages of northern Italian city-states
– Large urban centers
– Wealth from trade
– Merchants as patrons of the arts
Rise of the Italian City-States
• Northern Italian cities (centrally located) developed international trade which was
linked to the Crusades & the Spice Trade
– Cities included Genoa, Venice, Milan – The Renaissance started in Florence and followed the success of the Medici family which built their power on great wealth from
banking & the manufacture & commerce of
textiles
Politics among the Italian
City-States
• Competition among the city-states meant that Italy did not unify politically which
would lead to their downfall in the late 15th
and early 16th centuries when French &
Spanish armies invaded Italy
• Before their downfall, an early balance-ofpower pattern emerged
• Italy would not unite until the mid-19th c.
Major city-states & figures
1. Republic of Florence
- Center of the Renaissance in the 14th & 15th Cs - Dominated by the Medici family
- most powerful: Cosimo de’ Medici
- Lorenzo de’ Medici (the “Magnificent”)
- significant patron of the arts - son of Cosimo
2. Duchy of Milan – ruled by the Sforza family after 1450
- major enemy of Venice & Florence
- Peace of Lodi (1454) creates a 40-yr
period of peace which was, in part, a
response to concerns over the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (1453)
- this conquest threatened trade for
western Europe
3. Rome, the Papal States
- popes served as both religious & political leaders
- controlled much of central Italy
4. Venice, Venetian Republic
- longest lasting of the Italian states
(did not fall to a foreign power until Napoleon conquered it in
the early 1800s)
- greatest maritime power in Italy
5. Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
- only Italian city-state to officially have a king
- controlled first by France and then by
Spain after 1453
• Renaissance Italy was largely the product of
an urban society:
– City-states became the centers of Italian political,
economic, & social life.
– A secular spirit emerged as increasing wealth created
new possibilities for the enjoyment of worldly things.
– Large urban centers helped promote wealth from trade
which led merchants to become patrons of the arts which
in turn helped promote literature, art, & science
• Above all, the Renaissance was an age of
recuperation from the calamitous 14th century.
• As Italy & the rest of Europe recovered
from the Black Death, political disorder, &
economic recession, there was a rebirth of
interest in classical antiquity.
• Linking to their own historical past, Italian intellectuals became fascinated w/ the
Greco-Roman culture
Renaissance Characteristics
• Was high culture: applied mainly to the upper class
• Was not religious or scientific but moral &
personal, ie. individualistic
• Basis for the Renaissance – economic
growth
More Characteristics
• There was a revived emphasis on individual ability and that each person had
dignity and worth (ex. Portrait painting and
autobiographies)
• People began to view life as worthwhile for its own sake, not a preparation for the hereafter
• Emphasized reason and a questioning
attitude (contrasts w/ faith, authority, & tradition)
Even More Characteristics
• Marriage vows were business arrangements
which promoted increased wealth
• The popolo (poor class) hated their position
and used force to take over the cities
• The popolo could not retain power and were
later replaced by despots (signori) or
oligarchies (merchant aristocracies)
• Despots showed their wealth by patronizing the arts – Medici family was an example
• Individual was loyal to their own city-state
(recall ancient Greece)
• Five city-states dominated the peninsula:
Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States, and the Kingdom of Naples
• Cesare Borgia (Machiavelli’s hero and son of
Pope Alexander VI) tried to unite the
peninsula
• While Northern Europe was uniting - Italy
remained fragmented (like a jigsaw puzzle)
• Signing and breaking alliances was common
Decline of Italian city-states
• French invasions began in 1494 under
Charles VIII
– This was the beginning of foreign invasions
throughout the Italian peninsula
Decline cont’d
• Florence
– Medici family lost power when they attempted to appease the French
– Though the Medici would return to power years
later, Florence was already severely weakened
– Enter Girolamo Savonarola
• Girolamo Savonarola of Florence, a
Dominican friar, became the unofficial leader b/t 1494-1498.
• He pledged to rid Florence of its decadence & corruption
• In effect, he established a theocracy
- Initially people supported him but later he was burned
Italy became a battleground in a series of power struggles between Spain &
France
Political developments in Italy were observed
by Niccolo Machiavelli
The Prince by Machiavelli
• For Machiavelli, a “good” government was
an effective government
• His work rests on 2 principles:
– Permanent social order reflecting God’s will is
impossible
– Politics should be considered a science
• First modern treatise on government • Supported absolute power of the monarchy
• Provided guidelines for the acquisition &
maintenance of power:
– “it was better to be feared than to be loved”
– the ruler must act swiftly & decisively
– the “end justifies the means,” ie. right or wrong
does not matter
– do good if possible, evil when necessary
– build the power of the state
The Sack of Rome
• The 1527 sack of Rome by armies of the
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (who was
also king of Spain) symbolized the end of
the Renaissance in Italy
Renaissance
Developments
• The Renaissance was characterized by a
self-conscious awareness that Italians were living in a new era
• One of the founders of this movement was
Petrarch who coined the term “Dark Ages”
• The Renaissance was seen as the light after the gloom of the Dark Ages
• The Roman Empire was seen as the peak of human civilization, and the Renaissance
was a type of revival for the classics
