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The Renaissance Begins
Get Ready to Read
Section Overview
This section describes how Italian citystates grew wealthy and used their riches
to bring a rebirth of art and ideas to
Europe.
The Renaissance Begins
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• The wealthy urban society of the Italian
city-states brought a rebirth of learning
and art to Europe.
• Italy’s location helped its city-states grow
wealthy from trade and banking, but many
of the cities fell under the control of strong
rulers.
• Unlike medieval nobles, the nobles of the
Italian city-states lived in cities and were
active in trade, banking, and public life.
The Renaissance Begins
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Locating Places
• Florence (FLAWR·uhns)
• Venice (VEH·nuhs)
Meeting People
• Marco Polo (MAHR·koh POH·loh)
• Medici (MEH·duh·chee)
• Niccolò Machiavelli (NEEK·koh·LOH
MA·kee·uh·VEH·lee)
The Renaissance Begins
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Building Your Vocabulary
• Renaissance (REH·nuh·SAHNS)
• secular (SEH·kyuh·luhr)
• diplomacy (duh·PLOH·muh·see)
Reading Strategy
Summarizing Information Complete a
chart like the one on page 608 of your
textbook showing the reasons Italian citystates grew wealthy.
The Renaissance Begins
The Italian Renaissance
• Renaissance means “rebirth.”
• The Renaissance in Europe—a rebirth
of interest in art and learning—occurred
between 1350 and 1550.
• During the Renaissance, Europeans
believed that people could change the
world and make it better.
(pages 609–610)
The Renaissance Begins
The Italian Renaissance (cont.)
• Though they were still religious, they
celebrated human achievements and
became more secular, meaning they
were more interested in the world than
in religion.
• The Renaissance began in Italy.
• Italy had been the center of the Roman
Empire.
(pages 609–610)
The Renaissance Begins
The Italian Renaissance (cont.)
• The country had also become very
wealthy so it could afford to pay artists
to create art.
• Because Italy was still divided into small
city-states, individuals wanted to create
works that would increase the fame of
their cities.
• Florence and Venice were important
city-states during the Renaissance.
(pages 609–610)
The Renaissance Begins
The Italian Renaissance (cont.)
• More people in Italy lived in the citystates than in the country.
• The artists in the city-states had more
customers to buy their work.
(pages 609–610)
The Renaissance Begins
How did the rise of city-states help
the development of art during the
Renaissance?
The city-states competed with each
other. They commissioned works of
art to make their towns more
beautiful than others, which created
more work for artists and
craftspeople.
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The Rise of Italy’s City-States
• No one ruler was able to unite all of Italy.
• This did not occur, in part, because the
Catholic Church wanted to prevent a
strong ruler from controlling the pope
and the Church.
• Another factor was that the small citystates were equally powerful and wealthy.
(pages 611–613)
The Renaissance Begins
The Rise of Italy’s City-States (cont.)
• Italy was in a perfect location for trade.
• The Italians traded with the French,
Spanish, Dutch, English, Turks, Arabs,
and Byzantines.
• The Mongols helped promote trade in
Italy by protecting the Silk Road.
• Marco Polo, a merchant from Venice,
had published a book about his travels
to the East.
(pages 611–613)
The Renaissance Begins
The Rise of Italy’s City-States (cont.)
• Florence was the first city-state to grow
wealthy and is the most famous city of
the Renaissance.
• Florentine bankers became experts at
valuing coins.
• They began lending money
and charging
interest.
(pages 611–613)
The Renaissance Begins
The Rise of Italy’s City-States (cont.)
• Florence’s richest family, the Medici,
were bankers.
• Venice was the wealthiest city-state.
• Venice is built on a set of swampy
islands.
• Venetians navigated their city-state by
boat and became great sailors and
shipbuilders.
(pages 611–613)
The Renaissance Begins
The Rise of Italy’s City-States (cont.)
The Ducal
Palace today.
Pier and the Ducal Palace in
Venice during the Renaissance.
(pages 611–613)
The Renaissance Begins
Why did the Venetians become
expert sailors and shipbuilders?
Because Venice was built on
islands, Venetians used boats to
navigate their city. Over time, they
became experts at building and
sailing ships.
The Renaissance Begins
The Urban Noble
• Noble families moved into cities and
mixed with wealthy merchants there.
• Wealthy merchants copied the nobles’
manners, and soon the children of the
merchants and nobles were marrying
each other.
• These families became the urban upper
class.
• At first, the city-states were republics.
(pages 614–615)
The Renaissance Begins
The Urban Noble (cont.)
• Gradually the city-states gave power to
one man to run the government.
• In Venice, the doge had power.
• Later, the doge lost power to a small
group of nobles.
• In Florence, the Medici family gained
power and ruled for many years.
(pages 614–615)
The Renaissance Begins
The Urban Noble (cont.)
• To deal with other city-states, Italian
rulers developed diplomacy, which is
the art of negotiating or making deals.
• Niccolò Machiavelli, a diplomat in
Florence, thought people were too
greedy and self-centered.
• He thought rulers should not try to be
good, but should do whatever is
necessary to keep power and protect a
city.
(pages 614–615)
The Renaissance Begins
What were the duties of the rulers
of city-states?
Rulers had to keep the poor people
from rebelling, prevent other
wealthy people from gaining power,
negotiate with leaders from other
city-states, and make deals with
merchants, landlords, church
leaders, and mercenaries.
The Renaissance Begins
Why is the era from 1350 to 1550 in
Europe called the Renaissance?
because of a rebirth in art and
learning
The Renaissance Begins
Why did the Renaissance begin in
Italy?
Italy had been the center of the
Roman Empire, the city-states were
wealthy, and competed with one
another, and urban society promoted
new ideas and art.
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Economics Link How did
Renaissance cities gain their wealth?
Give several examples.
Florence: trade in wool and cloth
and banking; Venice: trade and ship
building
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Summarize Describe the
governments of Italian city-states
during the Renaissance.
Answers should be based on the
text.
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Analyze Who were the Medicis and
why were they important?
The Medicis were the richest family
in Florence. They ran the city for
decades and supported many
artists.
The Renaissance Begins
Persuasive Writing Write a letter
to the editor of a Renaissance
newspaper telling whether you
agree or disagree with Machiavelli’s
beliefs about rulers and power
during the Renaissance.
Letters will vary.
The Renaissance Begins
Make a list of nouns associated with the
cities of Venice and Florence.