Download Renaissance: The term means “rebirth” and was first penned by

Notes on the Renaissance
Renaissance: The term means “rebirth” and was first penned by
historian and art critic Jacob Bruckhardt in 1860 in his book Civilization of
the Renaissance in Italy.
 Many historians look to this period as the birthplace of the modern
world
 Generally accepted that the Renaissance began to take shape in
Italy
 Italians believed they witnessed a rebirth of Greco-Roman
civilization (also referred to as antiquity)
 Important to understand that the continuity in political, economic
and social life from the High Middle Ages to the Renaissance
Political life
 Italy undertook two major developments: The rise of despots in
place of republican governments and the expansion of larger citystates at the expense of the less powerful ones
 Five major powers on the Italian peninsula: the duchy of Milan,
Venice, Florence, The Papal States, and the kingdom of Naples
o North: Milan and Venice
o Tuscany: Florence
o Central Italy: The Papal States
o South: The kingdom of Naples
 Peace of Lodi (1454): ended a half-century of war between the
powers of the Italian Peninsula.
 Introduction of the balance of power concept that would dominate
the European continent for centuries.
o Alliance system (Milan, Florence, and Naples vs. The Papal
States and Venice): The birth of modern diplomacy
o System was keeping states at bay until French (led by Charles
VIII) and Spanish (led by Ferdinand of Aragon) intervention
occurred around 1494.
o Italy would not unify again until 1870 some 400 years later
Economic Life
 After the Black Plague, Europe experienced a period of economic
recovery and expansion marked by increases in manufacturing and
trade.
 The development of a money economy and a capitalist system
begin due to the vast amounts of wealth accumulated by traders,
manufacturers, and bankers.
 Two main trading fleets existed in Europe
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o Hanseatic League: 80 cities in northern Europe (Germany and
Flanders) among the Baltic and North Seas formed to protect
their trading vessels from pirates and competition from rival
Scandinavian cities.
o Venetian Flanders Fleet: Maintained a direct route from
Venice to England and the Low Countries. They lost much of
their dominance in the north to the Hanseatic League. They
experienced restrictive pressures from the Ottoman Turks
(Formerly the Byzantine Empire) in the east.
o The city of Bruges becomes a crossroads for trade between
Hanseatic League and Venetian Flanders Fleet
 Industries during this period included:
o Woolen goods (textiles)
o Luxury items (lace, silk, and glassware)
o Printing
o Mining (copper, iron, and silver)
o Metallurgy (led to the development of powerful firearms)
 Banking
o Florence becomes a banking center in part to the Medici
family (with branches in Venice, Milan, Rome, Avignon,
Bruges, London, and Lyons)
o The Medici’s were so successful because they were the
principal bankers for the papacy.
o The fall of the Medici family is attribute to Lorenzo de’ Medici
(1469-1492) because of poor decision-making.
Social Life
 A tripartite departure from feudalism
o Clergy
 The Church no longer had the ability to assert their
authority over temporal governments as the had in the
Middle Ages.
 The popes focused on running the Papal States and
recovering from the Great Schism
 The Schism had created complications in collecting
money for the church
 Indulgences were sold to help secure peoples positions
in heaven (money was needed to fund the rebuilding
of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome)
o Nobility
 Composed about 2 to 3 percent of the population
 Dominated society and held important political posts
and served as advisors to kings
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 Education is pursued as a means to maintain their role
in government
 Chivalry became more flamboyant and emphasized
showmanship
 The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione best
expressed the ideals of a noble or aristocrat
o Peasants
 85-90 percent of the population
 The most noticeable trend was the decline of the
manorial system and the continuing elimination of
serfdom. (The opposite was happening in Eastern
Europe)
 Social classes emerge
 Patricians: wealth from capitalistic enterprises in
trade, industry, and banking
 Petty burghers: shopkeepers, artisans, guild
masters, and guildsmen who provided local
goods
 Propertyless workers and unemployed:
constituted as much as 30 to 40 percent of the
urban population and suffered greatly from
poverty
 Slaves: first re-emerged in Spain as a result of the
Reconquista. Slaves were gained from the
eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea region, and
parts of Africa.
 Family life played a central role in Renaissance Italy
o Included extended household: parents, children, servants,
grandparents, widowed mothers, and even unmarried sisters
o Crimes committed by an individual would reflect poorly upon
an entire family and would result in retaliation from the
offended family often resulting in bloody family feuds.
 Marriages were often arranged to maintain and strengthen families
positions in society
o The dowry was an important factor in arranging marriages.
o In Florence circa 1427 the average distance in age between
husband and wife was thirteen years.
o Arranged marriages promoted extramarital affairs.
o Prostitution flourished since many young men wouldn’t marry
until their thirties.
 A father’s authority over his children remained absolute until he
died or formally freed them and children only became adults once
their father went before a judge and formally emancipated them.
(Anywhere from early teens to late twenties)
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