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RENAISSANCE
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
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SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE
RENAISSANCE: ECONOMICS
Revival of trade: 11th
century
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Improved agricultural
techniques – increased crop
production
Population increase --- towns
and cities
New trade routes
Improved transportation (
especially shipbuilding)
Currency based economy (no
barter system)
A Renaissanceera
moneychanger
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SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE RENAISSANCE:
POLITICS
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City-states (Renaissance originate here)
Communes – associations of local merchant
guilds that took care of most city services
(such as building city walls and keeping civil
order)
New economic elite – nobles and merchants
who join as political allies, economic allies
and through intermarriage
The popolo - (“the people”)
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A group of
condottieri
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Artisans and lesser merchants; non citizens (didn’t
own property); taxed heavily; pushed for political
change
Run by Oligarchies and dictatorships
Condottieri – mercenary soldiers; provided
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defense and kept order
ITALIAN CITY-STATES
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ITALIAN CITY-STATES --- CONFLICT
Internal conflict
 External Conflict
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 Fought
for control of commercial trade routes;
natural resources; access to sea ports
 Fought over territory and fought for power
 Competed socially – tried to outdo each other in
terms of opulence, sophistication and artistic
achievement
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MILAN
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Northern Italy
Ruled by The Visconti
family
Territorial expansion –
used to gain power
Milanese ruler
Gian Galeazzo Visconti
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THE SFORZA FAMILY
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Ruled Milan, 1450–1535
Francesco Sforza (1401–
1466) – replaced last of
Visconti rulers
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Ludovico Sforza (1451–
1508)
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Francesco
Sforza
Hired to defend city but
used opportunity to attack
city and seize power
Great patron of the arts
Sponsored Leonardo da
Vinci
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VENICE
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Major center of
trade --- crossroads
b/w east and west
Doge – elected
ruler who oversaw
lesser officials
(figurehead; no real
power)
Merchant oligarchy
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Real rulers ---200
merchant families
Customs House and entrance to the Grand Canal (Venice)
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FLORENCE
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Center of banking and
textiles
Bankers for the papacy
and most of Europe
The gold florin –
recognized as
international currency
Basically a republic, but
controlled by an
oligarchy of bankers and
merchants
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THE MEDICI FAMILY
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Powerful bankers
Ruled Florence for most
of the 15th century
Cosimo de Medici
(1434-1464)
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Ruled Florence behind
the scenes
Patrons of the arts –
supported Donatello,
Brunelleschi; built first
library
Cosimo de Medici
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LORENZO DE MEDICI
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Grandson of Cosimo
Assumed power in 1469 at
age 21
“Lorenzo the Magnificent”
(1469-1492)
Held absolute power –
exercised power behind the
scenes
Great supporter of the Arts
(more than Cosimo)
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SAVONAROLA
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Dominican friar --Preached
against Florence’s
“sinfulness” and “immorality”
(especially the Medici)
Won followers that eventually
led to the expulsion of the
Medici (1494)
Once Medici were gone
Savonarola controlled life in
Florence.
Bonfire of the Vanities (1497)
– confiscated luxury items,
books by “immoral” writers
and “pagan” works of art and
burned everything in a huge
fire
Hanged and burned 1498
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ROME AND THE PAPAL STATES
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Renaissance
popes: both
religious and
political leaders
During the
Renaissance,
the Papacy
became more
political and
secular
A distant view of Vatican City in Rome
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POPES AND THE ARTS
DURING THE RENAISSANCE
Pope Nicholas V
Interior view of the Sistine Chapel
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PAPAL POLITICS
DURING THE RENAISSANCE
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Julius II
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POPE SIXTUS IV (1471–1484)
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Member of the della
Rovere family
Favoritism towards
relatives
Pazzi conspiracy
(attempt to overthrow
the Medici and replace
them with his nephew
Encouraged Venice to
attack Ferrara (wanted
to put another nephew
in charge)
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POPE ALEXANDER VI (1492–1503)
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Member of the Borgia family
Became Pope by bribing
cardinals
One of the most corrupt and
immoral popes
 Had a mistress, threw
scandalous parties, sold
church offices and took
property from nobles and
cardinal to make himself
wealthier
Put his son Cesare in charge of
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papal armies
POPE JULIUS II (1503–1513)
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Member of the della Rovere
family
The “warrior pope”
Restored territories in
Romagna, Perugia, and
Bologna to the Papal States
Orchestrated wars against
Venice and France
had St. Peter’s Basilica
constructed ;a patron to the
painter Raphael, artist and
architect Michelangelo, whom
he commissioned to paint the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
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CESARE BORGIA (1475–1507)
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Son of Pope Alexander VI
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Led Papal Armies in
campaigns in Romagna
Admired by Machiavelli for
ruthless efficiency
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Illegitimate
Once thought he might unify
all of Italy
Power declined after the
death of Alexander
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PATRONAGE
Financial support
of artists
Means for the
wealthy and
powerful to
compete socially
with one another
Types of patronage
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Commission artist
to create a specific
work
Artist could live in
patron’s house and
create several
works
Wealthy
Renaissance
merchants, as
depicted in a fresco
by artist Domenico
Ghirlandaio
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EDUCATION AND THOUGHT:
MACHIAVELLI
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The Prince (book)
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analyzed politics in
Renaissance Italy
offered advice on how to
rule
Admired Cesare Borgia
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MACHIAVELLI’S ADVICE
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“It is better to be feared than loved” (terror keeps people loyal; affection is
changeable)
“A prince should imitate the lion and the fox” (fox recognizes traps; lion
frightens wolves)
“A man forgets more easily the death of his father than the loss of money”
“Men are ungrateful, changeable pretenders, runaways in danger, eager for
gain”
“ By no means can a prudent ruler keep his word….If all men were good it
would be right to keep promises, but b/c they are bad and do not keep
promises to you, you likewise do not have to keep your promises to them.
The end justifies the means. If you have a good purpose, any way you go
about accomplishing it is all right
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MACHIAVELLIAN
To be Machiavellian you would be described as
unscrupulous, amoral, tricky and manipulative.
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COURTLY EDUCATION: CASTIGLIONE
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Libro del Cortegiano
(The Courtier)
Described ideal
behavior for social elites
Sprezzatura
Role of women
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WOMEN AND THE RENAISSANCE
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Isabella d’Este
Education
Roles as patrons
of the arts
Women political
leaders in Italy
Caterina Sforza
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THE ITALIAN WARS
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1494–1559
European powers
fought for control
of various Italian
city-states
Helped spread the
Renaissance to
western Europe
Entry of the French king Charles VIII into Florence
at the start of the Italian Wars
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CHARLES VIII OF FRANCE
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Charles VIII
1470–1498
Encouraged by
Ludovico Sforza to
invade Italy and lay
claim to Naples
France enters Italy in
1494
Charles takes
Naples, but is then
defeated by the
League of Venice
Ludovico Sforza
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LOUIS XII OF FRANCE
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1462–1515
Succeeded Charles VIII
Invaded Italy in 1499,
taking Milan and Genoa
Partitioned Naples with
King Ferdinand of Spain
Treaties of Blois (1504
& 1505)
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POPE JULIUS II
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1503: Romagna cities
annexed by Venice
1509: The League of
Cambrai—France, the Holy
Roman Empire, and the Papal
States vs. Venice
1510: The Holy League—The
Papal States, Venice, Spain,
and the Holy Roman Empire
vs. France
1516: Peace of Noyon
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HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR CHARLES V
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Grandson of Ferdinand of
Spain, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I
1521: War to take Milan
from France
1525: Battle of Pavia—
France defeated
1527: Sack of Rome
The Italian Wars finally end
in 1559, when France
renounces all claims in Italy
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THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
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Altarpiece for the Cathedral of St. Bavo in Ghent,
created by Northern Renaissance artist Jan van Eyck
More focused on
Christianity than
the Italian
Renaissance
Began late 15th
century/early
16th century
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THE PRINTING PRESS
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Invented by Johann
Gutenberg in the mid1400s
Made printed works
cheaper and more
readily available
Increased literacy in
Europe
Helped spread new
ideas
A replica of Gutenberg’s printing press32
CHRISTIAN HUMANISM
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Christian humanist
scholar Desiderius
Erasmus
Union of
classical
influences and
Christianity
Desiderius
Erasmus
(1466–1536)
Influence on
northern
Renaissance
art
A woodcut of Adam and Eve by
Albrecht Durer, a German
Renaissance artist
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RENAISSANCE POLITICS AND ECONOMICS:
LEGACY
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