Download Causes of the Renaissance

Causes of the Renaissance
Muslim Scholarship and Conquest
While Europe was steeped in the Dark Ages after the fall of Rome, having lost many of the Classical
works of Rome and Greece, the Muslims were making advancements in science, technology, art and
literature. Due to trade with the Byzantine Empire, they gained access to many of these works and
preserved them. If it was not for the Muslims preserving these great works, many would have been
lost forever.
The scribes of Constantinople preserved Greek ideas when Europe was in the Dark Ages. They kept
the scrolls of Aristotle, Socrates, and other Classical writers in libraries. In 1453 Constantinople fell
due to invasions from the Muslims. The scholars fled to Western Europe with the Greek scrolls. Most
of these scrolls went to Italy.
The Crusades
The Crusaders contributed to the increase of trade by demanding more of the goods found in Asia.
This increased demand, in turn, led to yet more trade with the Muslim world. Using what they had
learned, such as navigation techniques, Europeans then sought trade with civilizations on other
continents. Contacts with Muslim scholars and their preserved Greek and Roman texts brought the
Europeans a wealth of knowledge about medicine, art and government, much of which contributed to
the change and learning during the Renaissance.
Wealth of Italian City-States
While England and France were locked in the 100 Years’ War, Italy was benefiting from trade on the
Mediterranean Sea and especially the influx of gold from Africa. This led to the rise of a wealthy
merchant class (middle class) in city-states such as Milan, Florence, and Venice. Unlike nobles,
merchants did not inherit their social rank. Their success depended entirely upon their own abilities to
make money. As a result, many successful merchants believed they deserved power and wealth
because of their individual merit. Individual achievement was to become an important theme in the
Renaissance.
A few powerful, merchant families stood out from the rest in Italy. The Medici family, for example,
dominated politics in Florence. Families like these, as well as the Church, became the primary patrons
of art in Italy. They hired famous artists to create a paintings and sculptures for their vast estates. The
Catholic Church commissioned artists to create pieces for local cathedrals especially the ones in
Rome.
Classical Heritage
Scholars and artists in Italy during this time looked down on art and literature from the Middle Ages
and wanted to return to the glory days of Classical Rome and Greece. One reason the Renaissance
began in Italy is that artists and scholars drew inspiration from the ruins of Rome that surrounded
them. They could walk down the avenues and see Roman statues, buildings, and fountains that had
been built by the Romans.
In the 1300s, scholars studied ancient Latin manuscripts, which had been preserved in monasteries.
Then, when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Byzantine scholars fled to Rome with
ancient Greek manuscripts – which Italian scholars had assumed were lost forever.