7/18/2019 3 Early Modern Italy, And Why the Renissance Started There

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Renaissance Italy

“Italy” is a tangled mess of 6+ states sprawled all over the Italian Peninsula.

So, whyd the Renaissance happen in Italy! Several reasons"

#$s long as %uropean trade centered on the &editerranean, Italy is going tocapitali'e on it. (hich they have. $s far as the people of %urope, )orth $frica, and

the &iddle %ast are concerned, the &editerranean is the center of the world, and 

the most important trade is the trade with the %ast *down the sil road to hina and

India-, which is controlled *in the (est- y /enoa, 0enice, and *Im 123 sure the

professor said Islam here, ut it might have een &ilan-. 4hat monopoly maes

them a 54 of money. 4he 0enetians and the /enoese have struc up a 7woring

relationship with Islam which enales them to maintain their 8lac Sea trading

posts, which maes them some of the richest people in the west. $nd 49$4 wealth

spreads out throughout the Italian city:states. So that puts a lot of currency in

circulation in Italy, and a lot of rich merchants. Rich merchants of peasantacgrounds, who displace the rule of the )oility in Italy. $nd then the &ercantile

class ecomes the most wealthy, prestigious, and powerful class in Italy. ;lorence,

for e<ample, is ruled y an ligarchy composed of the =22 wealthiest families in

;lorence *in their terms theyre a Repulic, ut language drift happened-. 4his is

pretty much novel for %urope. “%uropean >iplomacy” starts here and now.

#4he Renaissance view of human nature, of the world, and other stu? is pretty

much a @A2 from the mentality of &edieval %urope *which was largely the product

of a rather pessimistic hurch, who was all aout renouncing worldly things and

focusing on the state of your soul and on your death-. 4he Renaissance vie is

9B/%5C di?erent *i.e. 7oration on the dignity of man is all 7we are /ods estcreation and 7we have unlimited potential, which you 8%44%R R%$5ID% >$&&I4-.

Renunciation goes right out the window" responsile people contriute to the

welfare of their city *7cause its Italy-. Renunciation 0s Participation. $lso unlie

&iddle $ges stu?, the Renaissance is willing to celerate individuals who ma<imi'e

their potential *which is why Renaissance artists are so much etter nown than

&edieval artistsE they were legends in their own time as wellE 8ig:deal soldiers,

diplomats, and politicians also got ig props.

#4he &ercantile lass in Italy *and the church- spent that money on 8eautiful

 4hings. 4he ;lorence athedral, the ceiling of the Sistine hapel, that 0enus

painting, etc. $rchitecture was raised to an art form y the competition.

#$nd 49%) theres the Revival of /reco:Roman culture angle. (hile this is neither

the Frst nor the last instance of /reco:Roman enthusiasm in %urope, this is the

most important. Its not merely aout art and architecture *although it IS largely

aout thoseE a 54 of Renaissance art is mythical Gread" /reco:RomanH rather than

Religious Gread" hristianH-, though, theres a lot of interest in the wors of /ree

and Roman philosophers *especially Plato-. Roman literature in general gets a

7/18/2019 3 Early Modern Italy, And Why the Renissance Started There

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revival, in fact. Petrarch started this all rollingE he perceived that he was living in

an age that was going to e the heir to the &iddle $ges *he coined the term >ar

$ges, in fact-, so he umps to the /rees and Romans for inspiration. In doing all

this, they invent 4he 9umanities *stuadia humanitatis-.

(ith all that stu? added up, you get a 8rave )ew Italy, which is the precursor to a8rave )ew %urope, all funded y the Italian &erchants and the hurch *at least

FscallyE doctrinally and theologically theyre in a it of a death spiral-.