SUMMARY

o
o
lf)
I

o
o

c,

Politics as a FamilyAffair In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, politics centered

on the ambitions of great families. This was particularly the case in central Europe,
where five families competed for control of the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor
charles IV helped spark cultural renewal in central Europe. His Golden Bull contributed to political disintegration of the empire. Dynastic issues played a central role
in the Hundred Years'war. Early English successes gave way to eventual French victory. The monarchies of both France and England were damaged by the war. civil war
in England followed defeat in France, with the Tirdor family emerging triumphant.

IU

(,
UJ

o
o
cc
TIJ

F
J
rI

Lll

Life and Death in the Later Middle Ages Famine and disease decimated the population of Europe. Between 447 and 1352, the Black Death killed between one-third

CHAPTER

The ltalian
Renaissance

and one-haH of Europe's population. Responses to the plague varied widely. social
disruption followed demographic collapse. peasants and townspeople fought to hold
onto gains made in the aftermath of the plague. Events in Europe and abroad contributed to a decline in Italian economic power. The Hanseatic League dominated
the Baltic trade. Towns employed new measures to address poverty and crime.

IF

rW
I

The spirit of the Later Middle Ages The papacy declined in the fourteenth century. During the Avignon papacy, French popes concentrated the financial and legal
power of the church in the papal ofiice. The Great schism resulted in a divided
christendom and weakened the papary. Belief in witchcraft was widespread in the
Middle Ages, but witchcraft trials were rare. Disgust with the formal institutions of
the church stimulated a turn to private devotion, mysticism, and sometimes heresy.
John wycliffe and Jan Hus led important challenges to the church. The persecution
of Jews and Muslims in Spain grew out of religious and political anxieties. William
of Ockham challenged the Aristotelian foundations of medieval scholarship. The
vernacular literatures of the later Middle Ages explored the place of the individual
within a complex society.

Society

Art
ldeals
Politics of the ltatian City-States

e Society

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW

r. what social and political forces prevented both the Holy Roman Emperors
the French kings from uniting the lands they ruledl
z. How did disease transform social relations in fourteenth-century Europel
3. why did a division in the papacy mean both political chaos and spiritual
for Europeansl
4. How did the vernacular literature of Dante, chaucer, and christine de
represent a departure from previous literary traditionsl

the Renaissancel A French word

for an Italian phenomenon, renaissancerit-

word

c]pfures both the .*pr."r,, on humanity

that char_
i::::::f:':e
e thinking and the renewed fascination

with the classical world.

was an age rather than an event. There

is no moment at which
'Ages ended. Late medieval society
was artistically;;;;;;;;:U
diverse. yet eventually, the pace of
change accelerated,
to think of the Renaissance as an
era of rapii

ii: _IT:::1I

r35o and r55o,it passed tr,rougi "."rirJ*;;;;'"rrd

thr.. distinct phases. The
::j:.:T::l
to r4oo, was characterized by a dectining
p-oprl"tiorr, ,h";;:;;.r*g;;
a variety of art forns. rhe second
phase, from
[::::::'t:**"
:,
was distinguished by the
creation
go

ofa

set ofcurturar varues and artistic

and literary achievements that defined Renaissance style. The large ltalian city-states
developed stable and coherent forms of government and the warfare between them
gradually ended. In the final period, from r5oo to 1550, invasions from France and
Spain transformed Italian political life, and the ideas and techniques of Italian writers

and artists radiated to all points of the Continent.

Cities and Countryside

LLl

z
U)

z
ul
cc

z
l
F

;I

M
ffi

The Italian peninsula differed sharply from other areas of Europe in the extent to
which it was urban. By the late Middle Ages, nearly one in four Italians lived in a
town, in contrast to one in ten elsewhere. Not even the plague did much to change
this ratio. By r5oo, seven of the ten largest cities in the West were in Italy. Naples,
Venice, and Milan, each with a population of more than roo,ooo, led the rest. But it
was the numerous smaller towns, with populations nearer to t,ooo, that gave the
Italian peninsula its urban character. Cities dominated their regions economically,
politically, and culturally and served as convenient centers ofjudicial and ecclesiastical power. The diversified activities of their inhabitants created vast concentrations of wealth, and Italy was the banking capital of the world.
Although cities may have dominated Renaissance ltaly, by present standards
they were small in both area and population. A person could walk across fifteenthcentury Florence in less than half an hour. In :,427, its population was 37,ooo, only
half its pre-plague size.
Urban populations were organized far differently than rural ones. On the
farms the central distinctions involved ownership of land. Some farmers owned
their estates outright and left them intact to their heirs. Others were involved in a
sharecropping system by which absentee owners of land supplied working capital
in return for half of the farm's produce. A great gulf in wealth separated owners
from sharecroppers. Those who owned their land normally lived with surplus;
those who sharecropped always lived on the margin of subsistence.
In fie city, however, distinctions were based first on occupation, which largely
corresponded to social position and wealth. Cities began as markets, and the privilege
to participate in the market defined citizens. City govemments provided protection
for consumers and producers by creating monopolies through which standards for
craftsmanship were maintained and profits for craftsmen were guaranteed' These

monopolies were called guilds or companies. Each large city had its own hierarchy of
guilds. At the top were the important manufacturing groups-clothiers, metalworkers,
and the like. Just below them were bankers, merchants, and the administrators of civic
and Church holdings. At the bottom were grocers, masons, and other skilled workers.
Roughly speaking, all of those within the guild structure, from bottom to top, lived
comfortably. Yet the majority of urban inhabitants were not members of guilds. Many
managed to eke out a living as wage laborers; many more were simply destitute. As a
group, these poor people constituted as much as half of the entire population. Most
depended on civic and private charity for their very survival.

Examine the locations

of

:iiT**"
do yousuppose the aa.air..r."..,
"';.tr*:i1ruff;:$"iff:i;.:',n'#til:ff
,..,.,
^r"::::r:3,,Lly
:T:I1]..::::.1":u,op.rwr,,t*,,ilffi;:b*ffi.f;
:[Hili.i,lii.,
f;H?J*f

considered the cenicr

The disparities between rich

and poor were overwherming.
The concentration
of weatth in the hands
of
famitiel
and
favored guilds
:t
characterized every large city.
In Florence,6ro.*"*plu, ro percent
of
the families
9o percent of the wealth, ."ith
more extreme concentration
at

i: .l"r:l"r;;;;;r"up

,.f:filt'

"r, "u.n

Production and Consumption

The concentration of wealth
and the way

Renaissance economy, Economic

rife

supply and demand. The late

medieval

ternatio nat

ankins and

long_

in which it was used defined the

is bound up in the ,"r"ri"rirrip
between

il

isr;";" ".;;;;:l;*li,f

:r:.::".# ffi:,"j:;

producers: Between
7o and 9o percent or iurop"t population
was involved in
subsistence agriculture. Even
in it"ty, rt i.i.ontained
of urban areas in the wo1ld,.1eri.ril;;;;;oiri.,"t"a. the greatest concentration
The manufacture of crothing was the onry other significant
economic
Most of what was produced
local consumption rather th."
".,*rrr.
marketprace. Even in good
rimes,

:"

*t

;;;;

only the very wealthy could afford a live-in wet nurse, which would increase the
child's chances of survival. Again, daughters were more likely to be sent far from
home and least likdly to have their nursing supervised.
During the period between weaning and apprenticeship, Renaissance children
lived with their f?milies. sons could expect to be apprenticed to a trade, probably
, between the ages,gf ro and r3. Most, of course, leamed the crafts of their fathers,
ibut not necessarily in their father's shop. Sons inherited
the family business and its
most important possessions-tools of the trade or beasts of labor for the farm.

with food,
more than 8o percent of the population lived at subsistence level
the market
clothing, and shelter their only expenses. Therefore, when we discuss
of the Renaissance,
".orro*y
rather than the manY'

.llll"

"r.

discussing the circumstances of the few

population
The defining characteristic of the early Renaissance economy was
low for more than a cenchange. Recurring waves of plague kept population levels
growth. The geneconomic
depressed
*ry. ifri, dr"*Jc reduction in population
toward the end
increase
population
.r.i ..orro*y did not revive until the sustained
supply
of the fifteenth century. Until then, in both agriculture and manufacturing,
tl-l

a'l

U)

v)

zu.l
E

z
=
F

;I

F'

ffi
ffisM

outstripped demand.
on the farms, surviving farmers occupied the best land and enlarged their
who surholdings. In the shops, finished products outnumbered the consumers
commodities'
basic
vived the epidemics. Overproduction meant lower prices for
At the lowest levels of
and the decline in populati'on meant higher wages for labor'

to create a surplus
society, survivors found it easier to earn their living and even
improved'
masses
than had their parents. For a time the Iot of the
agriculture
But for investors, such economic conditions meant that neither
consumption
nor cloth making was particularly attractive. In such circumstances,
shortage
perceived
the
merely
not
it
was
but
was more attractive than investment,
conspicuous
in
increase
on
the
of profitable investment opporfunities that brought
cre:
during the iifteenth century. In the psychological atmosphere
consumption

iuxurious living seemed an ap:

ated by unpredictable, swift, and deadly epidemics,
p:tto11
houses
propriate response. Moreover, although tax rates increased'
i"d
investments:i'
attractive
goods
luxury
remained exempt, making

prop.rry normally

lo, tir.r.

reasons the production and consumption of luxuries soared'

The Experience of Life

Luxuryhelpedtoimprovealifethatforrichandpooralikewasshortand

lives governed by
nenaissance children who survived infancy found their

andbygender'Inparentage,thegreatdividewasbetweenthosewholivedwith
plrr,

*i

those

wht hved it subsistence' The first category encomPassed the we

their own farms or

iest bankers and merchants down to those who owned
dwellers were :
rural
and
urban
of
in small urban crafts. The vast majority

ofthesecondcategory.Aboutthechildrenofthepoorweknowverylittle,

favored; younger dau

than that their survival was unlikely. Eldest sons were

favoritism meant little
were disadvantaged. In poor families, however, this
labor in the count:
farm
city
or
the
in
to day labor
than early
"ppr.iti.eship
the family home'
from
far
frequent\ sent out as domestic servants
Girls were

for survival than did

Ghildhood. children of the wealthy had better chances
mightbeginwith"milkparents,"i
dren of the poor. Forthe better ofl cirlanooa
homeofthefamilyofawetnursewhowouldbreast-feedthebabythroughi

.t

and the Family. Expectations for daughters centered on their chances of

iage. For a girl, dowry was everything. If a girlt father could provide a handone, her future was secure; if not, the alternatives were a convent, which
take a small bequest, or a match lower down the social scale, where the qualof life deteriorated rapidly. Daughters of poor families entered domestic service
order to have a dowry provided by their masters. The dowry was taken to the
hold ofthe husband. There, the couple resided until they established their
separate family. If the husband died, it was to his parental household that the
ow returned.

women married in late adolescence, usually around the age of zo. Among the
; marriages were perceived as familial alliances and business transactions
than love matches. The dowry was an investment on which fathers expected
and while the bride might have some choice, it was severely rimited.
was not a central feature in matchmaking. Husbands were, on the
years
older than their wives and likely to leave them widows.
, ten

Men married later-near the age of z5 on the farms, nearer 3o in the cities
of the cost of setting up in trade or on the land. Late marriage meant
under the watchful eye of father or master, an extended period
adolescence and adulthood. Many men, even with families, never sucin setting up separately from their fathers or older brothers.
came of age at 30 but were thought to be old by 5o. Thus for men, marand parenthood took place in middle age rather than in youth. valued all
ives more highly than their sisters, male heads of households were the
of all power in their domiciles, in their shops, and in the state. They were
rsible for overseeing every aspect of the upbringing of their children. But
ves were essential partners who governed domestic life. women labored
at the hearth, but in the fields and shops as well. Their economic contri'to the well-being of the family was critical, both in the dowry they brought
and in the labor they contributed to the household. If their wives
with young children remarried quickly.
most cases, death came suddenly. Epidemic diseases, of which plague was
:virulent, struck with fearful regularity. They struck harder at the youngand adolescents, who were the majonty of the population-and hardest in
months, when other viruses and bacteria weakened the population,

Starvation was rare, less because offood shortage than because the serious\ undernourished were more likely to succumb to disease than to famine. In urban areas,
the government would intervene to provide grain from public storehouses at times
of extreme shortage; in the countryside, large landholders commonly exercised the

fostered. The Renaissance was not an event whose

causes were the resurt of the
efforts of the few or whose consequences were limited
to the priv'eged. In
fact, the $,enaissance was not an event at all, Family
values that permitted early

same function.

crafts from one generation to the next made possible

the skilled artists of the
Renaissance cities. The stress on the production
ofluxury goods praced higher
value'on individual skills and therefore on excellence
in workmanship. church
and state sought to express sociar values through
representational art. one of

The Quality of Life

i,
i

a
LI

i
l
:
U

ffi

Although life may have been difficult during the Renaissance, itwas not unfrlfilling.
Despite constant toil and frequent hardship, people ofthe Renaissance had reason to
believe that their lives were better than those of their ancestors and that their children's lives would be better still, On the most basic level, health improved and, for
those who survived plague, life expectancy increased owing to t}e relative surplus of
grain throughout the fifteenth century and the wider variety of foods consumed.
This diversification of diet resulted from improvements in transportation and communication, which brought more goods and services to a growing number of towns

in the chain that linked the regional centers to the rural countryside.
The towns and cities also introduced a new sense of social and political cohesiveness. The city was something to which people belonged. In urban areas, they
could join social groups of their own choosing and develop networks of support
that were not possible in rural environments. Blood relations remained the primary
social group. Kin were the most likely source of aid in times of need, and charity
began at home. Kin groups extended well beyond the immediate family, with both
cousins and in-Iaws laying claim to the privileges of blood. The urban family could
also depend on the connections of neighborhood. In some Italian cities, wealth or
occupation determined housing patterns. In others, like Florence, rich and poor
lived side by side and identified themselves with their small administrative unit and
with their local church. Thus they could participate in relationships with others both
above and below them in social scale. From their superiors they gained connection$
that helped their families; from their inferiors they gained devoted clients.
As in the Middle Ages, the Church remained the spatial, spiritual, and
center of people's lives. Though Renaissance society became more worldly in
look, this worldliness took place within the context of an absorbing devotional
The Church provided explanations for both the mysterious and the mundane.
clergy performed the rituals of baptism, marriage, and burial that measured the
sage of life. Religious symbols also adorned the flags of militia troops, the
of guilds, and the regalia of the city itself, The Church preserved holy relics
were venerated for their powel to protect the city or to endow it with particular
and resources, Through its holy days, as much as through its rituals, the
helped to channel leisure activities into community celebrations'
A growing sense of civic pride and individual accomplishment were

lying characteristics of the Italian Renaiss3nce, enhanced by the

of social cohesion and community solidarity that both Church and city

apprentiieships

in

surrogate households and emphasized the continuity

the chief'purposes of wall murals was to instruct

the unlettered

in

of

rerigion,

to help them visualize the central episodes in christian

history. The grandiose
architecture and statuary that adornld central places
were
designed to enhance
'civic
pride and communicate the protective power of public

inJtitutions.

"Renaissance Art
.y.v."e.,

artistic achievement represents a combination of individual

|f
talent and
ideals. Artists may be at the leading edge of the
society
in which
ffi:_li*i"lsocial
live, but it is the spirit
e.

of that society that they capture in word or song or

Artistic disciplines also have their own technical Jevelopment.
Individually,
ance artists were attempting to solve probrems
about perspective and three-

ionality that had defeated their predecessors. But

the particular techniques
riments that interested them owed as much to the
social context as they did
artistic one. For example, the urban character of Italian
government led to
need for civic architecture, public buildings
on a grand scare. The celebration of
to the explosive g-rou,th olportraiture. Not surprisingrn
technological breakthroughs were achieved in both
areas.
' This.relationship
between artist and social context was especially important
in
xena$sance, when artists were closely tied to the
crafts and trades of urban soci_
and to the demands of clients who commissioned
their work. erthough it was
p11e wno patronized art, it was skilled tradespeople
who produced it. Artists norfollowed the pattern of anycraftsman: en apprenticeship
begun as a teenager
long period of training and work in a master's shop.
this fJrm of education
aspiring artist a practical bent and a keen appreciation
for the business side
Studios were identified with particular styles and
competed for commissions
clients, especially the Church. Wealthy individuals
commissioned art as investas marks of personal distinction, and as displays
of public piety.
survival of so many Renaissance masterpieces
ailows us io reconstruct the
y'ictt the remarkable artistic achievements of this era took place.
advances were made in a variety of fields during
the Renaissan.", ,h.
areas were architecture, sculpture, and painting.
Few Renaissance
themselves to one area of artistic expression, and
many created
::"JIT9
enduring beauty in more than one medium.

i:*:3:lll.T:",led

ffi

ffi

Donatello's bronze st*)eJuditrt

a Painter
An Architect, a Sculptor, and

SbW

Holofernes symbdized the Rorentins'

love of liberty and hatred af tyranny.

ThecenturythatculminatedinMichelangelo'sextraordinaryachievementsbegan
one. another's develmasters who deeply influenced
with the work of three n"r."i*.
and Masaccio (raor-i428)' In

(13s0-a6o)
were the
discipline was aichitecture' Buildings
"nirri.*"fa make' and the technical knowledge neces-

opment Brunelleschi ft''irltooil'oona11\

the Renaissance, the

most expensiv.

do#n"rri

i"u"'t*ffitit""t

saryfortheirsuccessfulconst't'ctionwasimmense'Byr4oo'theGothicstyleofbuild-

inghaddominatedwestemEuropeforovertwocenturies.Itscharacteristicpointed
building by removing the
ul
O

z
(J)
ct)

z
LU

z
f
F

;I

ffi
W

heavy walls

spires had simplified

.,'u"g',

arches, vaulted

'"1;;*
ti support great structures'
that were formerly thought necessary

Gothic

constructionpermittedgreaterheight,acharacteristicthatwasespecia$desirablein
toward the heavens'
cathedrals, which stretched

It was BruneUt"t'i

*t'o

decisively challenged

;;;;;. ;"*.rrl *itt

*iose

architec-

of

E
ftullts .Gothic
of classical structures' Basing his

ture by recombining
and spheres as
Brunelleschi reintroduced planes
designs on geometri.;ndi;;,
begun
*"rr was the dome on the cathedral in Florence, artist
dominant motifs. His gi."*,
Renaissance
.r.ait"a wrth having been the first
in r4zo. Brunru.r.t i ir'g-";;"r.uy
put to
*"dt t"e of perspective' though it was immediately
to have understood
and painting'
more dramatic effect in sculpture
*"Ut"t*n
of
In sculpture, the survival Roman
oi't""i'"t a't' Donatello translated
influence
the direct

""i

*i

**lltlili'r;ll.lLl,"t* ";;
these classical styles

;;

ffiffirJJ#.,'rli,.i'u.*anded

;aturalistic

T:t:::"TyrT:*:l

for*r.

Donatello revived the freq*

rw hecause;il
because
greater attention to hurnan anatomv

*";;;;;' "l 'r*,r'a 'n",'*y1:l:1;"'::::::i:

in ;T;
for public
LT#ilil';;;';i"i.,-g.r,.rd

was viewed

fi"*

Gattamelata

square

Pac

(r445-r4t):T:1-:i:::::1T:Tff:
l,.T:IJffiiil'ffi;;;;;;s"r*;gi'use'o*inearperspectiveisarso
in
of the miracles of Saint Anthony !

rhis enormous bronze rtJtt" ""a rider

in Donatello's breathtakii;;1';; '"t""t'

*uth as a canvascast inbronze'
which resemble nothing'lo
the unmistak"bt: :qT:::":t.'::
These altar
were
"t"t'u;;
in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence
Masaccio. His frescoes
g:
of
by all of the great artists

"::l :l1tt::^:T;lItJ:
il:'::url#il;;;;;i*t:1o:1""1:1'::,T:i::::'ff
il':to
of linear perspective
io,ltnY:i:se
toa
tight
of

sketched

shading

ilffiil;

'h"

'i'"ao*""J
flat surface has three dimensions'

Renaissance StYle
By the middle of the

fifteento::,:::Ij ;::t:j,",".ti'ffJil:T;

:ffi.Iff ;;;;'*i','.::

umphed' 'Ihe outsra';X";;;11;;ng ('+s')

^": i:f
trea
se t:t
(t4o4-t472),rvhose
(t4o 4-t47 z), who

;;.;;j.ct

::'ji*

T:l i

the most
J,il"
remained
"

crated
consecrated
. r-r-^*+1. :i """_,:,-.:::;
iru.r,i
erti conse
t,1*. AIb
^6nrrr...
until the eighteentl t"ity-:^^r
+'am with aahun

:::l,l.'::?;;';H;;;"l"i**t" and inrused them

the classical dictum that a building, like a body, shourd have an even
of supports and, like a head, an odd number of openings. This furthered
geometric calculations in scale and design,
No sculptor challenged the preeminence of Donatello for another
5o years, but
ainting there were many contenders for the garlands worn by Masaccio. The
Piero della Francesca (ca. r4zo-r492), who broke new ground in his conthe visual unity of his paintings. Another challenger was sandro Botticelli
5ro), whose classical themes, sensitive portraits, and bright colors set him
the line of Florentine painters with whom he studied.
concern with beauty and personality is also seen in the paintings of

vinci (r452-r5r9), whose creative genius embodied the Renaissance

l'universal man." Leonardo's achievements in scientific, technical, and
read like a list of all of the subjects known during the Renaissance.
anatoniical drawings and the method he devised for rendering them,
'robservations, and his engineering inventions (including models for a
airplane) testify to his unrestrained curiosity. His paintings reveal a
flof the scientific application of mathematics to matters of proportion

da

to Alberti, from Masaccio to Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance

stamp upon visual culture. By reviving classical themes, geoand a spirit of human vitality, they broke decisively from the domfut became a source of individual and collective pride,

producedbymasters,butconsumedbyall'Citiesandwealthypatronscommlsbuildings rose everywhere'

ilJ gr""t *ork, of art for public display. New
of
murals that still stand as a testimony to generations
adomed with the statues and
artists.

Renaissance art served Renaissance society, reflecting

both
achievements and its visionary ideals. This art was a synthesis

)
a
(
o

f)

r
Z
{
.rl

=
JJ
I
F

ffi
M

culminated in the creative outpourThe artistic achievements of the Renaissance

he came from a
irrg, of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)' Uncharacteristically'
14; over the opposition of his
i"i.tfy of standin; in Florentine sotitty' At the age of
painter and spent his spare time in
father, he was apprenticed to a leading

among others'
Florentine churches, copying the works of Masaccio'
of Lorenzo de Medici' He
household
in
the
place
a
In r49o, ivtichelangJlo gii"ta

during this two-year period, a remarkable

claimed to have taught hinielf sculpturing
household he came into contact
feat considering the skills required. In the Medici
was on an ascending joumey
with leading Neoplatonists, who taught that humankind
of the heroic contoward God. These ideas can be seen as one source
"ip.rf."irU"ifiay
..i, of hu*.nity that Michelangelo brought to his work
his abilities as a sculptor brought
In 1496, Vfichelangelo *ou".d to Rorire, where
commissioned a classical work
him to the attention oi;".opo Galli, a banker. Galli

forhimself"ndp,o.u,edanotherforaFrenchcardinal,whichbecamethePieti. to
by the time Michelangelo returned
The pietti created a sensation in Rome, and
acknowledged as one ofthe great
Florence in r5or, at the age ofz6, he was already
sculptors of his day. He

i"s

immediately commissioned to work on an enormouf

blockofmarblethathadbeenquarriednearlyahalf-centu'y.b{o':.andhad
He worked continuously for three 1
defeated the talents of a series of carvers.
the union between classical
on his Dauid (r5or-r5o4), a piece that completed
Renaissance stYles'

ilG;#langelo

outstandirig work was

always believed

himserto

in the field of painting' In

be primarily a scutptor, his

r5o8,

t"p-t l't1Y: u

of the
and commissioned him to decorate the ceiling :^L^l^4
Michelanl
papal residence'
chapel that had been built next to the new
- -- ^-r^-r^l -.marirra hrrrnrn creation and those

*o*.

il;ili"

.ur.*onii

plan was to porrray,

il;;;"rrt,

tt.t

in an extendtl T1o*jl n:*1" :i::Y

birth of the savior' His representations

ro."shadowed the

th. fi"sers of God "."qli'* near\ toirclr,ilt-'T.:i

ffffi;;.ut;s,
in the temptation
from Adam's Jid', and the half-human
snake

t.g ,tili emergini

all maj esticallY evocative.

the
'Ihe Pietd,the Dauid, and the paintings of the Sistine Chapel were

youth. Michelangelo's crowning achievemenl P: l*1*,9,"1,S1]1t.:::::

peter's had.*.:ut o.*i
riork of ag.. rhe base work of saint
years t":|i1t.lt o.11tl:
Jo*irrg, for its completion had been made

i,;;;;; il

?o,

Mic}relangeloaiteredtheseplansinanefforttobringmorelightintothechurch
however'
majestic iacade outside' His main contribution'
provide

"-*or.

its

concrete

of old and

Michelangelo

LJ

design of the great dome, which centered the interior of

the church on saint peter,s
grave' More than the height, it is the harmony of Michelangelo,s
design that creates
the sense of the building thrusting upward like a Gothic cathedral
of oldluichelangelo
did not live to see the dome of Saint peter's completed.
new,

building on classical models, particularly in sculpture and

architecture, but adding
newly discovered techniques and skills. But Renaissance
artists did more than
construct and adorn buildings or celebrate and beautify
spiritual life. Inevitably,
their work e4pressed the ideals and aspirations of the society
in which they
lived-Jhe new emphasis on learning and knowledge, on
the here and now rather
the- hereafter, and, most important, on humanity and
its capacity for gror,vth
lhT
bnd perfection.

enaissance ldeals
isance thought went hand in glove with Renaissance
art. Scholars and philoso-

searched the works of the ancients to {ind the principles

on which to luita a
life. They scoured monastic libraries for forgotten manuscripts,
discovering,

; other things, Greek poetry history the worts of Homer and plato, and

'otle's Poetfcs. Their rigorous application of scholarly procedures

for the collecand collation of these texts was one of the most important contributions
of the
ilssance intellectuals who came to be known as humanists.
Although humanism
by no means antireligious, it was thoroughly secular
in outlook.
Humanists celebrated worldly achievements. pico della
Mirandola's oration on
)ignity of Man (as6) is the best known of a multitude
of Renaissance writings
ced by the discovery ofthe works ofplato. pico believed
that people could
their existence on earth because God had endowed humans
witi, trre capacdetermine their own fate. This emphasis on human potential
found expresr':the celebration of human achievement.
humanists studied and taught the humanities, the skills of
disciplines
philology, the art of language, and rhetoric, the art
of expression. Though
mostly lay people, humanists applied their learning to
both religious aid

Their interest in human achievement and human potential

must

their religious beliefs, As petrarch stated quite succinctry, ,,christ

is

'Cicero is the prince of the language I use.,,

and the LiberalArts

achievements of humanist scholars centered on ancient
texts. It
goal to discover as much as had survived from the
ancient world

texts of classical authors that were as fuil and accurate

as possibre.

Humanists furthered the secularization of Renaissance society through their

is on the study of the classical world. The rediscovery of Latin texts during
late Middle Ages spurred interest in all things ancient.
and Lorenzo Valla. The study of the origins of words, their meaning,
their proper grammatical usage may seem an unusual foundation for one of
most vital of all European intellectual movements. But philology was, in fact,
humanists' chief concern. This can best be illustrated by the work of Lorenzo
$4o7-t4y).Yalla entered the service of Alfonso I, king of Naples, and applied
training to affairs of state. The kingdom of Naples bordered on the
States, and its kings were in continual conflict with the papacy, The pope asthe right to withhold recognition of the king, a right that was based on the
ictional authority supposedly ceded to the papacy by the Emperor
in the fourth century-the so-called Donation of Constantine.
ng historical and philological critiques to the text of the Donation, Valla
beyond doubt that the Donation was a forgery and papal claims based on
without merit.

l"U

z
U)
U)

zlrj

cc

:
F

;:E

Valla's career demonstrates the impact of humanist values on

affairs. Although humanists were scholars, they made no distinction beactive and a contemplative life. A life of scholarship was a life of public

F
ffi

Thecreationo{AdamandEVe,adetailfromMichelangelo,sfrescoesonthoceilingoftheSistinechapel.l
SistinefrescoeshadbecomeobscuredbydirtandlayersoJVarnishandglueappliedatvarioustimesover
original colors'
yoars. ln the 1980s, they were cleaned to reveal their

was already known of the

Studying the Glassical World' Although much
classics,fewofthecentralworksofancientGreecehadbeenrecovered.Hurn
the Greek language and by
preserved this heritage by reviving the study -of
in r+g,Italy'lO
lating Greek authors into Latin. After the fall of lonstlntil3ple
Ottoman
the
fled
scholars
the c-enter for Greek studies as Byzantine

studying texts'
Humanists also introduced historical methods in
*l:tt,:f
principles for determining which of manY manuscript
,11
corrupted by their
was the oldest, the most accurate, and the least
new
emphasis on the humanistic disciplines fostered

humanist

and natural philosophy'

ideals. Along with the study of theology, logic,
tm1
u$rv e'drlr t humanist scholars stressed the
medieval university,
ihe
LIlc rlrsursv4r

I
h

dominated
oomlnalcu
They believed that thb
grammar, rhetoric, moral philosoihy, and history'
its own sake' This gave a]
these "liberal arts" should bt ""i"'t"ken for
that appeared
boost to the ideal of the perfectibility of the individual
other aspects of Renaissance culture'

This civic humanism is best expressed in the writings of Leon Battista

74o4-t472), whose treatise On the Family (1443) is a classic study of the
values, especially prudence and thrift. Alberti extolled the virtues of
the public good, and the benefit of all citizens."
own life might have served as a model for the most influential of
tracts, Castiglione's The Courtier (:.528). Baldesar Castiglione
directed his lessons to the public life of the aspiring elite. It was his
prescribe the characteristics that would make the ideal courtier, who
made as born. Castiglione's perfect courtier was an amalgam of all
of Renaissance society held dear. He was to be educated as a
was to be occupied as a soldier, and he was to serve his state as an

Science
the Renaissance looked back to the classical world and ahead to the
would come from the adaptation of ancient wisdom, so Renaissance
was focused in two directions. The first was text-based hnowledge
works mainly from classical Greece; the second was experiachieved through observation
sciences were given new life by the recovery of the writings of
Galen, Medicine became a subject for learned inquiry and the

w
wd

r qs was considered the greatest

at Padua
school ar
meslcar
medical ssrtuvr
to find treatU1isJases and attempting
Hippo.rrt", concemed diagnosing common ,.-----^-^, r^.-art
rhp
h:sis for a
basis
the
uoav, rediscovered, formed

]"-ryT:'^T::*::

:T"{::;il;"*il;;; ;ffi;;"
o--^L ^*o*iexperiment: T h:T* u:::'-t:lt-l*:3*",:to
red
and
;i""*v
AilH;;
ffiilTffir"r.J*"*tedge

setting broof anatomy' which led to advances in

ken bones and treating injuries'

,.i#.,

ity, and height

z
@
a
a
zul

:
F
;:tr
F

ffi*

ffi

in the
engineering were actually
'made
Most of the important advaices in
of
theory
a
da vinci a=ttempted to apply
service of military ventures. Leonardo
of
and he made drawings for the creation
mechanics to Renaissance warfare'
he was
flying machines such as airplanes. But
war machines such ., orrr., and
their
on
princes
modef' oi machines' in advising
expert in building *;t*;
conhis
All
in the art of gunnery'
fortifications, and suggesting improvements
tributionsweremadebyexperimentationratherthanthroughtext-based
built workshops to construct models
learning. Wherever it *t"t' ieo"ardo
results of his trials. This spirit of experimenand kept careful ,rot"toot , of the
in
of a recognizably scientific method
tation would ,rrti*rt.ivi."Jto tt. birth
the next century.

Machiavelli and Politics

drafting bytptt::,-f1t".t]r;':i::|;:i
1
At the same time that Castiglione was

:;'*;;;"h;;;';\i(i6s-r527)waslavingrherounallllijl::
mo
work has been more important or
sixteenth-century ruler' No Renaissance

Machriavelli' for better

Prince (r5r3)' With

controversial than Machiavelli's The
worse,beginsthe science of politics'
r r ,-r-Lr:^L ^ r-.{.
lasting
ruler who would establish a
The hinceis a handbook for a
and
examples
historical
,.;;;;Principles culled from

ment.It attemPts,"
aia itre n ii"
t e mp o rary events to

;iil.#;;'il;i;;
the prince

ii'.tl

11

* iYi"iis, 111,T:L1t:t*1:"T:ri,i' ll,,

and

ro:::y

'*n
might even control fortune. itself'

apprication' Machiave[i

Yn:t

T*,ti:':J:lt:^t"T:

to enliven debate over it' is that Machiavelli

consideratio"t.fi:T his analysis' Whethe:::i: ::i:

;lirtJ:.T;:;ilffi;;es
able to separate aU

"tttitat own expressed desire for realism, Machiavelli u

t1
prornisingly instructea ti'- *o"ra-uer:I"
i: l:t1,,T1,1ii"ir::||i
steeped,
murder enemies, and to deceive friends.
i;T';i1t"d;;;"
virtuo:
and
virtue
combination of
humanist ideals of fame and uirti-a
.r *l.a
placi
and
sought to reestablish ltalian rule
ability-he
and
character,
valor,
conflict a
basis ihat would end the perpetual
ernment on a stable

,r"J;ffiil;;;is

"it"iifit

the Italian citY-states.

The absence of a unifying central authority in ltary,

resurting from the coilapse of
the Holy Roman Empire and the papal schism, allowed
anciJnt guilJs and confra-

ternities to transform themserves into self-governing

societies. By the beginning
ofthe fifteenth century the ltarian city-states were thi
center of p#.r, *.alth, and
culture in the Christian world.
This dominion rested on several conditions. First, their
geographical position
1

texts'

to ancient
were advanced through attention
while the rife
and
experiences of Renaissance craftsmen
engineering developeJ through the
stabilpractical problems of proportion,
artists who were attempting to solve
domes that they built'
in trre uuitdi-ngs, bridges, and ,ritim"tely

Lll

The Politics of the ltalian City-States

'

favored the exchange ofresources and goods

between East and wesi A great circu_
encompassed the Bvzantin. r*pir., the North erri..o.o"rial
states, and
the Mediterranean nations of western Europe.

ft l"o:

The Italian peninsula dominated the

'circumference of that circle. Its port cities, Genoa and Venice especiany,
became
'great maritime powers through their trade in spices and
minerals. Moreover, just
to th3 norrh tay the vast
populou, t.*itori., of the Holy
"nd
.rRoman Empire. Their continuous need fo, **ui"ciured
goods, especialry croth

i:r::j *:,:ltyll

o1 r:"F
l,*il1f:,:il,1as.fi]ha
the city-states and their

caravans. that traveted from italy through

the Alps.
surrounding areas were agriculturalry seiisufticient.

Five Powers
ough there were dozens of Italian city-states,
by the early fifteenth century five
emerged to dominate the politics of the peninsura.
In the south was the king_
of Naples, the only city-state governed fy a hereditary

monarchy. its fohtics

mired in conflicts over its succession,
Bordering Naples were the papal states, whose
capital was Rome but whose
tories stretched far to the north and lay on both
sides of the spiny Afennine
in ctrain that extends down the center of the peninrut".
riooughout the
rth and early fifteenth centuries the territories
under the nominal contror
church were largely independent and included such
thriving city-states as
ra, Ferrara, and urbino. Even in Rome
the weakened papacy r,.a to contend
noble families for control of the city.

three remaining dominant city-states_Florence,

Milan, and Venice_

unched together in the north. Frorence, center

ofRenaissance curture, was
the wealthiest cities of Europe before the
devastations of the plague and

the
economic downturn of the rate fourteenth century.
Nominally, Frorence
rblic, but during the fifteenth century it
was ruled in effect uy it, prio.ifrt
the Medici.

north of Florence was the duchy of Milan, the major

city in Lombardy.

romic life was oriented northward to the swiss

and German
buyool
rd its major concem was preventing foreign invasions.
The most warlL of
cities, Milan was a despotism, ruled for nearly
two centuries by the visconti

to*,

of the five powe* was the repubric of venice, which

became the leading
until the fifteenth century Venice was ress interested in

wer of the age'

securing a landed empire than in dominating a seaborne one. The republic was ruled
by a hereditary elite, headed by an elected doge, who was the chief magistrate of
Venice, and a variety of small elected councils.

The political history of the Italian peninsula during the late fourteenth and
early fifteenth centuries is one of unrelieved turmoil. wherever we look, the governments of the city-states were threatened by foreign invaders, internal conspiracies, or popular revolts. In the r37os, the Genoese and venetians fought their fourth
war in little more than a century this one so bitter that the Genoese risked much of
their fleet in an unsuccessful effort to conquer Venice itself. Florence and Milan
were constantly at war with each other. Nor were foreign threats the only dangers.
In Milan, three visconti brothers inherited power. Two murdered the third, and
then the son of one murdered the other to reunite the inheritance. The Venetians
'executed one of their military leaders,
who was plotting treachery. one or another
ine family usually faced exile when governments there changed hands.

ul
O

z
U)

a
zl-rl

revolts channeled social and economic discontent against the ruling elites
Rome, Milan, and Florence. The revolt of the "ciompi" (the wooden shoes) in
nce in 1378 was an attempt by poorly paid wool workers to reform the city's

cc

ive guild system and give guild protection to the wage laborers rower down

=
F

;I

social scale.

By the middle of the fifteenth century however, two trends were apparent
this political chaos. The first was the consolidation of strong centralized govwithin the large city-states. These took different forms but yielded a simresult: internal political stability. The return of the popes to Rome after the
Schism restored the pope to the head of his temporal estates and began a
period of papal dominance over Rome and its satellite territories. In Milan,

t--

bfthe great military leaders ofthe

day, Francesco Sforza (14or-1466), seized the

'of power after the failure of the Visconti line. The succession of King Alfonso I

ended a half century of civil war. In both Florence and Venice, the grip of
litical elite over high offices was tightened by placing greater power in small
iory councils and, in Florence, by the ascent to power of the Medici famiry. In
this process is known as the rise of signorial rule.

rise of the signories made possible the second development of this peestablishment of a balance of power within the peninsula. sforza's con-

of power in Milan initially led to warfare, but ultimately it formed the

of the Peace of Lodi (ra5a). This established two balanced alriances, one be-

TTALY 1494
at the end of the {ifteenth century'
Notice how Italy was organized into city-states
r.:T _*:rt .yscePtibleto foreign'
which were the largest city-statesi which city-states
for trade? When the wars of Italy begai
invasionl Which states rti ,rt. i"t, positioning
wi}
in r4e4 (discussed later i" tttit trt"ptir), France-sided
lvli?n ",9i:Y
combatants, what do you think
the
of
poritiors
papal
.
tt
on
n.r.J
States.
and the
invasionl which city-states could the
have been the likeliest route for thi French

):llit'it"*X
.

avoid fighting?

Florence and Milan and the other between venice and Naples. These states,
the papacy, pledged mutual nonaggression, a policy that lasted for
40 years.
Peace

of Lodi did not bring peace. It only halted the long period in
major city-states struggled against one another. Under cover of the
the large states continued the process of swallowing up their smaller
and creating quasi-ernpires. Civilian populations were oyerrun, local
were exiled or exterminated, tribute money was taken, and taxes were

levied. Each of the five states either increased its mainland territories or
strengthened its hold on them. Venice and Flor'ence especially prospered.

a growing threat that ultimately resulted in the fall of constantinople

(1453) and the
end of venetian trading privileges. outposts in Dalmatia and the
Aegean came under
assault from both the Thrks and fie king of Hungary cutting h.*ity

ir,to the compli-

cated system by whic-h goods were circulated byvenetian merchants.

It was not long

Venice: A Seaborne EmPire

Venice owed its prosperity to trade rather than c6nquest. Its position at the head of
the Adriatic permitted access to the raw materials of both East and West' The rich
Alpine timberland behind the city provided the hardwoods necessary for shipbuitding. The inhabitants of the hinterland were steady consumers of grain, cloth,
J

,)

iz

c
a

(
j

I
u

I
EW

ffisffi

and the new manufactured goods-glass, silk, jewelry and cottons*that came
onto the market in the late Middle Ages.
pouring
But the heart of Venetian success lay in the way in which it organized its trade
and its govemment. The key to Venetian trade was its privileged position with the
Byzantine Empire. venice had exchanged with the Byzantines military support for tax
with the
concessions that gave Venetian traders a competitive edge in the spice trade
it'
to
accommodate
built
East. The spice trade was so lucrative that special ships were

navy in
These galleys were constructed at public expense and doubled as the Venetian
the spice
tirnes of war. By controlling these ships, the govemment strictly regulated
in other
did
they
it,
as
to
dominate
trade. Rather than allow the wealthiest merchants
them
at aucin
cities, Venice specified the number of annual voyages and sold shares

gain
tion based on a fixed price. This practice allowed big and small merchants to
from the trade and encouraged all merchants to find other trading outlets.
uke its trade, venetian government was also designed to disperse Power.

republic inthe
Although itwas known as the Most Serene Republic,Venice was not a
govemment by a restricted
sense that we use the wordl it was rather an oligarchy-a
mernbership had been
whose
council
Great
group. Political power was vested in a
Great Council, which
of
the
ii*.i at tt . end of the thirteenth*century. From the body
chosen the Senate,
numbered about z,5oo at the end of the fifteenth century was
a one-year term' It was
a council about one-tenth the size, whose members sewed
the doge, who
from the Senate that the true officers of government were selected:
administered'
who
small councils,
was chosen for life, and members of a number of

were chosen by secret balot

affairs and advised the doge. Members of these councils
random' Terms
in an elaborate process by which nominators were selected at
and to p
factionalism
limit
to
office on the councils were extremely short in order

power'
vent any individual from gaining too much

Withitsmercantilefamiuesfirrrrlyincontrolofgovernmentandtrade,

the thirteenth and fourteenth

created a vast overseas empire in the East during
the Venetians to offer protection to strategic
turies. Naval supremacy

pottt

i"

"llowed

return fo, either privileges or-tribute' Sut

i *:,*:1T::T1'

began a
in a dramatic reversal of its centuries-old policy, it
reasons t::
of conquest in lta\ itself. There were several
"::t"^11:
power that tt oY
Venetian navy was no longer the unsurpassed
\ad.
OttomanTurirs in the East
drained ,.rouitt', and the revival of the

lr*.J*.r*ard.
Genoa had

**

b::i'

before Portuguese competition affected the most lucrative of all the

comrnodities
traded by the venetians: pepper. perhaps more important, mainland
expansion offered new opportunities for venice. Not all venetians were traders,
and the new industries that were being developed in the city could readily benefit
from control of
mainland markets. Most decisive of all, opportunitywas knocking. In
Milan,visconti
nrle was weakening, and the Milanese territories were ripe for picking.
venice reaped a rich harvest. From the beginning of the ffieenth century
to the
Peace of Lodi, the Most serene Republic engaged in unremitting
warfare. Its successes
were remarkable. It pushed out to the norlh to occupy all the lands
between the city and
the Habsburg territories; it pushed to the east until it straddled the
entire head of the
Adriatic; and it pushed to the west almost as far as Milan itself The
westem conguests,
in particular, brought large populations under venetian control,
which, along with their
potential as a market, provided a ready source of taxation,
By the end of the fifteenth
century the mainland dominions ofvenice were contributing nearly
4o percent of the
city's revenue at a cost far smaller than that of the naval empire
a centuryearlier.

'Florenc", Spinning Cloth into Gold

prosperity was built on banking and wool. Beginning in the thirteenth
cenFlorentine banlers were among the wealthiest and most powerful in
the world.
ntine financiers established banks in all the capitals of Europe and
the East In
Middle Ages, bankers served more functions than simply h*aut g
and exchangmoney' Most were also tied to mercantile adventures and underwrote
industrial
ty. So it was in Florence that intemational bankers purchased
high-guality wool
manufactured into the world's finest woven cloth.
The-activities of both commerce and cloth manufacture depended
on exterconditions, and so the wealth of Florence was potentially unstable. In
the
ffteenth century instability came with the plague that devastated the city.
4o percent of the entire population was lost in the single year r34g, and
outbreaks continued to nvage the survivors. Loss of workers and mar-

disrupted manufacturing. By r38o, cloth production had fallen to

a qrrarter of pre-plague levels. on the heels of plague came

wars. The
created a massive public debt. Every Florentine of means owned

this debt, and the republic was continually devising new methods for
i'and staving off crises of repayment
ed a city whose prosperity was based on manufacturing, Florence
had a

hadition. The most important guilds were associated with banking

and
but they included the crafts and food processing trades as well.
could participate in government, electing the nine Srgnona who

and domestic policy' ilke that of

administered laws, set tax rates, and directed foreign
and like venice, it deoligarchy,
Venice, Florentine govemment was a republican
by lot to avoid factionalism'
pended on rotated Jhort periods in ofiice and selections
longer than its history of republi
But Florence had a history of factionalism that was
altered so that powerful famcan government. Its format structures were occasionally
the small councils and
power'
ilies could gain control of the real centers of political
Conservative leadership
assemblies through which the Signoria govemed'
emergency

drawnfromtheupPelranlaofFlorentinesocietyguidedthecitythroughthewarsof

leaders of its greatest familiesthe early fourt..ntl, ..rrtury. But soon afterward, the
Florentine politics into factions'
the Albizzi, the Pazzi, arrd the Medici-again divided

STheabilityoftheMedicitosecureacentury-longdynastyinagovernment
surrounding the his-

Z
U

H
=
Z.
4
:r
fu
ffi

mysteries
that did not have a head of state is just one of the
one of the richest
(1389-1454)was
Medici
de
remarkable family. cosimo
i"ry
a brief exile. His
"iirrir
:.434
after
vr
city
*.r, ir, christendom when he returned to the
to gain a conable
were
i""ai"g position in government rested on supporters who
banishing his
tro[in! irrfl,-,"rr." on tfre Signoria. Cosimo built his party carefu]ly,
he employed, and even
Albizzi enemies, recruiting iollow.r, among the craftsmen
Most important' emereligibility'
paying delinquent taxes to maintain his voters'
of citizens qualified to vote for
sencv powers were invoked to reduce the number
the majority were Medici backers'
it.
"* Si*rrori" until
;t";;;,, gr.rrdroo, Lorenzo Q44g-t4gz),held strong humanist

values instilled

inhimbyhismother,LucreziaTornabuoni,whoorganizedhiseducation.He
broughttvti.h.l"rrguloandotherleadingartiststohisgarden;hebroughtPico
dellaMirandolaandotherleadinghumaniststohistable.Lorenzo'sPlwer11
diplomatic abilities were the key to
based on his personality and reputation. His
and the pap
Almost immeiiately after Lorenzo came to power' Naples
survival.
began a war with Florence,

*'$:[Ti[1;"1'3;;:T:iff itrHff
There
is some doubt whether
bestowed

ffilfj:?H.tlffi

ubil; ;;,*d;i:

hr;;;;rrd

be remembered by the
titre ,,the

"''i'; ;;;Fiil##ill,f

:ffi :#;T:Hil:;;Tij*

tion in government changed

forever the
deemably corrupting it,
There i, ,ro

.h;;;;",

In 1494' two years after Lorenzo's

dea&, tt
tumed it from the center
of European

Lorenzo

Jtr ill,ii

came at the

;n*X#

of Frorentine repubricanism,
irre_

;' ; fi;;i iut tr,. i.s..,,*,.rr.Jii'

;;;;;;il::'J"r,'trffI#rfflil:3i:
p-.lrtrru

;ad;;;

into

was prunged into the wars

that
a satellite

region.

fihe End of ltalian Hegemon y,1450_1527

the course of the Renaissance wFcrarn

r,,-^*^

__

jl:
all others.The ducatand theflorin,
ffH
ililr;;;; "ffi."#ffi:r:iil
llns' were universally accepted

;',:f
tilT*;{::",:T,:!:.'i,T:,';:::.TJlT*"ffi'*,:::;,:ilH;
-'s, such
as M'anese arti uery, Fror."itllJo,'
r age
rge when every petty
Dettv prince
nrin^o minted his
-;-*^-r r-,^

own-rh"""ffiJJilH::t
ilJi.T

j:rl'*,guic*vspreadacrosstheArps,
;'il:r:1.'*';',:r#*:;:i1
bvthe recent invention
"rp'r",r.g r*';ffi;;JI":T:: ;:ffi"t',tl:
isance standards of artistic
achievement were known
ffi
*"dd;il
everyth:1.il"11**
""d
weu. rhe compass and the
,frT:i#:#:lllT:3:.1
n
projection maps, doubte
."r,T1;""idffi;,
"l"o
profoundly influenced what
"i.lilfi:il:l.,il:
could b. ;";;;;.
and M'ritary unrest' But

both taxati
a war that was costly to the Florentines-in

andlostterritory.Int4Tg,LorenzotraveledtoNaplesandpersonallyconvincedt

restored the rtarian barance

orpower

it

was not

in

Ita.ry that the rewards

of

such

ji::.:iTiporiti.it,,*olandmlitaryimpe_
ano milltary impecombined
;ilJ"TTi,lt*:T:":
with the rise of the ottoman;;;; '""'"'r

J:ffi :J.il';
t;;;;;;ffi:ffi1?l;
.*p..t"d til

1ilffi
[ltT;,Y:"1'*:,::*:1'h.;!;;-;;ffi
to enlarge their mainland
empires.

begin a peninsurawide
;::T:,:::T1,ry.11"
gemony and took the stepS
"th.;;"
that urtimatery
ensured the contest. Eacri
dream of recapturing the glory
that was *"*.. ,""g years
of siege and
had militarized
the Italian city_states.

A view of Florence in 1490.

Successive popes pleaded in vain for holy wars to halt the advance of the
Ottoman Turks. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 was an event of epochal proportions for Europeans; many believed that it foreshadowed the end of the world. Yet

it was Italians rather than Ottomans who plunged the peninsula into the wals from
which it never recovered.
The Wars of Italy $4g4-t5zg) began when Naples, Florence, and the Papal states
united against Milan. At fust tlis alliance seemed little more than another shift in the
balance of power. But rather than call on Venice to redress the situation, the Milanese
leader, Ludovico Sforza, sought help from the French. An army of French cava\ and
Swiss mercenaries, Ied by Charles VIII of France (1483-1498), invaded the peninsula in
Milanese support, the French swept all before them. Florence was forced to

494.With

surrender Pisa, a humiliation that led to the overthrow of the Medici and the establishment of French sovereignty. The Papal States were next to be occupied, and wifiin
a year Charles had conquered Naples without engaging the Italians in a single significant battle. Unfortunately, the Milanese were not the only ones who could play at
the game of foreign alliances. The Venetians and the pope united and called on the
services of King Ferdinand of fuagon and the Holy Roman Emperor. Italy was now a
battleground in what became a total European war for dynastic suPremacy. The citystates used their foreign allies to settle old scores and to extend their own mainland
empires, At the tum of the century Naples was dismembered. In r5o9, the Pope conspired to organize the most powerf.rl combination of forces yet known againstVenice.
All of the mainland possessions of the Most Serene Republic were lost, but by a com-

bination of good fortune and skilled diplomacy, Venice itself survived. Florence was
less fortunate, becoming a pawn first of the French and then of the Spanish. The final
blow to Italian hegemony was the sack of Rome kr $27 by German mercenaries'

SUMMARY
Renaissance Society ltaly was far more urban than
other parts of Europe. urban
populations were organized by occupation, which largely
corresponded to social
position and wealth. city governments reflected the centrality
oi commerce and
trade to city life. Economic conditions promoted the production
and consumption
of luxury items. Renaissance children who survived infancy
found their lives governed by parentage and by gender. Most city dwellers
lived at subsistence. For
many people, life improved in the aftermath of the plague.
Towns and cities introduced a new sense of social and poritical cohesiveness.
The church remained the
spatial, spiritual, and social center of people,s lives.
Renaissance

Art

The social, economic, and political context of Renaissance Italy

shaped the era's remarkable artistic achievements. In painting,

sculpture, and archi_

tecture, Renaissance artists challenged old models, developed

new techniques, and
created a new style' By reviving crassical themes, geometric
principles, and a spirit of
human vitality, artists broke decisively from the dominant

medieval traditions. The

artistic achievements of the Renaissance culminated in
the creative outpourings of
Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Renaissance Ideals It was the humanists'goal to discover
as much as had survived from the ancient world and to provide texts of
classical authors that were as
firll and accurate as possibre. The humanist emphasis on
the humanistic disciplines

i fostered new educational ideals. Humanists furthered the secularization

of
i Renaissance society through their emphasis on the study of the classical world.
Although humanists were scholars, they made no distinction
between an active
and a contemplative life' castiglione tried to define the perfect
Renaissance courtier,
Renaissance scientific inquiry focused on analysis of
classical works and experiment-based knowledge. Machiavelli's The prince set down
rules for attaining and
,maintaining power.

friiitrffi
##ilH##

Politics of the Italian city-states At the beginning of the

fifteenth cenrury
Italian city-states were the center of pow!., wealth, and
culture in the
stian world. Five city-states dominated Italy: Naples,
venice, Florence,

Milan,

the Papal states. venice's wearth and power were initially

based on seaborne
with the East. venetian government was designed to disperse
power. In the
rth century Venice turned west and engaged in wars of
corrquust.

Florentine

rity was built on banking and cloth manufacture. The Medici

came to
ate Florence. The peace of Lodi did not end competition
between the
city-states. Invasion by France and spain marked the
beginning of Italian