2. Italian City States

AP Eurochapter 2 Renaissance

View of Florence Across Arno River

Ponte Vecchio Bridge Across Arno River

Duomo of Florence

Façade of Duomo

Interior of Duomo

Venice

Basilica San Marco

Carnival

The Importance of Geography

• The road system in Europe was of poor quality. Road travel was also time consuming and dangerous (robbers).

• Travel by sea was much quicker.• Italy had a strategic advantage because it lay

along the Mediterranean Sea, which made for a natural gateway between East and West.

Note Italy’s close position in proximity to the Middle East.

Important Medieval Trading Cities of Italy:

• Venice• Genoa• Pisa

Capitalism

• The cities states of Italy thrived through trade.• They also prospered through banking as each

would loan money to foreign kings and to merchants

Growth via Diversion• A long lasting struggle had been taking place in

Europe. The Popes felt that God’s law and God’s church should not be under the control of Kings or Emperors. In fact, the church wanted to rule over the latter.

• The struggle primarily took form between the Popes and the kings of France and the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.

• Their struggle diverted attention away from northern Italy. Italian city states were able to grow and prosper virtually free of any outside control.

Urban• City states were urban as opposed to rural.• The societies of these city states moved within small

geographic areas. • People had to interact with different classes on a much

more consistent basis than if one lived in a rural one with its great distances.

• Their culture was also urban. Ideas could easily flow because of the close proximity between individuals.

• Also, “town air is free air”; that is, there were more personal liberties in towns and cities because nobles with their feudal privileges did not hold power over Italian cities.

The Five Major States of Renaissance Italy

• Duchy of Milan• Republic of Florence• Republic of Venice• Papal States• Kingdom of Naples.• They were in constant competition.

Merchant Oligarchies

• An oligarchy is the rule by the few as opposed to rule by one person “monarchy”

• Many of the Italian city states were merchant oligarchies, meaning merchants controlled the city states. There was no democracy.

Republics in Name• Republics are representative governments;

that is government in the hands of a legislative body, like a senate, whose members are representatives of the people and vote in the name of the people.

• Ancient Rome was the most famous of pre-14th century of a republican government.

• Because the Renaissance Italian city states sit in Rome, they typically called themselves “republics”, when in fact they were “republics” only in name.

At least they had experience• Despite the lack of democracy in the 21st

century sense, merchants of the oligarchies did have the rare opportunity to govern themselves. Unlike under the control of a noble, a merchant could run for public office, win popular favor, conduct foreign policy, make alliances., etc. In short, these merchants experienced what it was like to participate in government. Such participation had not occurred for centuries prior.

Domination of the Countryside

• The city states did not confine their political control simply to the area within the city walls.

• They dominated the surrounding countryside.• Some city states would conquer other cities.

Rise of Despotism• Within the cities, there was a great deal of

political strife as individuals schemed to maintain or take power from others.

• By the fifteenth century, many of the Italy city states had evolved into despotisms.

• Despots are rulers with unlimited powers. Their rule is often seen in a negative light.

The Venetian Exception

• Venice did not evolve into despotism• It was ruled by a merchant oligarchy. • Power was split between a senate composed

of 300 merchants and a judicial body (Council of Ten) which acted as a court of law and also suppressed revolts.

Florence: social class and conflict

• Had the most striking example of social class and conflict.

• Four distinguishable groups within the city: • 1. Grandi: old rich nobles and merchants who

traditionally ruled the city• 2. Popolo grasso or fat people: emergent new

rich class of merchants, capitalists and bankers.

• 3. middle rankers of guildmasters (individuals who had risen to the top ranks of guilds), shop owners, and professionals. All were smaller business people. They took the side of the new rich against the conservative policies of the old rich.

• 4. Popolo minuto or little people: they were the lower economic classes. In 1457, one third of Florence had no wealth.

• The social divisions in Florence produced conflict at every level of society. There was also a fear of foreign intrigue

Ciompi • Ciompi are the poor of Florence. They revolted in

1378 because three factors made life unbearable for them:

• 1. feuding between old and new rich• 2. social anarchy from Black Death that cut city’s

population in half• 3. collapse of two banking houses that left the

poor more economically vulnerable than ever. • The ciompi revolted and ruled Florence for four

chaotic years.

Stability and the Medici• Cosimo de’ Medici (1389-1464)

brought stability to Florence.• He was the richest Florentine from a

banking family• He controlled the city internally

from behind the scenes, skillfully manipulating the constitution and influencing elections.

• Florence was ruled by a council (Sigoria) composed of the leading guilds. Cosimo kept these council members loyal to him.

Lorenzo the Magnificent• Grandson of Cosimo

who ruled Florence in an almost totalitarian fashion from 1478-1492.

• He became an increasingly determined ruler after the pope and another family assassinated his brother.

Podesta• Despotism was less subtle in other Italian city states. • To prevent internal social conflict and foreign intrigue

form paralyzing their cities, the dominant groups cooperated to install a hired strongman or podesta. He was a despot.

• His purpose was to maintain law and order.• He was given executive, military, and judicial authority. • He had one mandate: permit the normal of business

activity so that the city could survive.• Podesta depended on condotierri to stay in power. • Podesta could be dismissed by oligarchies or assasinated.

Example of Milan• The Visconti family came to rule Milan as

despots. They stayed in power from 1278-1450.

• They were replaced by the Sforza. Machiavelli admired one of them Ludovico il Moro.

• Neither the Visconti nor the Sforza had to rule with any constitutional constraint or serious political competition.

Papal States• Central Italy was ruled by the Papal States. • There had been an effort in the 1400s to

curtail the power of the pope by vesting power in a church council which would be like a representative body with the pope having limited powers. This was called the Conciliar Movement. This effort failed.

• The Pope was the supreme head of the Papal States.

Important Renaissance Popes• Nickolas V (1447-1455) and Pius II (1458-

1464): accomplished scholars

Pope Alexander VI

• (1492-1503): member of the Spanish Borgia family. Exploited his office for the benefit of his relatives such as his son Cesare Borgia. His daughter Lucretia Borgia had a perhaps exaggerated reputation for depravity.

Pope Julius II in full armor

Pope Julius II• (1503-1513)• Nicknamed the warrior pope. Rode into battle in

full armor.• Rebuilt St. Peter’s and refounded the Papal

States.• Planned on raising money for his wars by selling

indulgences. • Commissioned Michelangelo to paint Sistine

Chapel

Pope Leo X• (1513-1521) superb patron of the

architects and painters like his father Lorenzo the Magnificent of Florence.

• Said “Now that God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it.” Concerned with artistic pleasure and sensual pleasures.

• Signed the Corcodat of Bologna so as to win French support against the Conciliar Movement.

• Authorized selling of indulgences in Germany.

The Birth of Diplomacy• The political chaos and warfare gave birth to

diplomacy.• By using diplomacy, the city states could keep an

eye on of foreign military developments and, if shrewd enough, gain power and advantage short of actually going to war.

• Most city states established the practice of resident ambassadors in the fifteenth century.

• The ambassadors not only represented their city state in negotiations but also became their watchful eyes and ears in rival courts.

Patronage• No matter the type of

government of an Italian city state, there was constant, vigorous promotion of Italian Renaissance culture. Each patronized the arts and letters.

• Why?• There was an abundance

of wealth.

Peace of Lodi• Since the Italian city states were not united into one

government, they depended on internal cooperation to resist foreign invasion.

• These cities feared invasion from the North (France and the Holy Roman Empire) and from the East (Ottoman Empire).

• After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, more Ottoman ships appeared in the Adriatic, heightening fears of an invasion.

• In the latter half of the fifteenth century, cooperation among Venice, Florence, and Milan took the form of a political alliance known as the Peace of Lodi (1454-1494). For four decades, peace reigned and Italy saw its greatest artistic achievements.

Ludovico’s Error

• 1494, Naples, Florence and Papal States led by Borgia Pope Alexander VI, prepared to attack Milan led by Ludovico.

• He made the mistake of asking for help from his neighbor, France.

• Unfortunately for Ludovico, France conquered Florence, Naples, and the Papal States.

Italian League• This created a balance of power among the

city states.• Whenever one of the city-states became

aggressive, the others joined together to restore power among the stronger city-states.

Savonarola• As the French arrived, the Medici

were overthrown and a Dominican friar Savonarola took control of Florence.

• He felt that France’s arrived was God’s vengeance on Florentine immorality.

• He instituted a theocratic government for four years until the Medici returned.

• Chaos went to a new high.

• Soon, Italy saw a corresponding Spanish invasion and foreign occupation. France and Spain warred against each other on Italian soil in what were called the Hapsburg-Valois Wars. City states also returned to fighting one another.

• In the end, Ludovico was imprisoned, Milan, Genoa, and Florence would slowly loose more and more independence.

• In 1527, even Rome was sacked by the army of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

• Only Venice remained independent.

Their Decline• Much infighting ensued as one city state

fought another.• A balance of power was sought between these

cities, but when one city rose in power, the others grew fearful and joined in alliances to fight.

• .

The Byzantine Factor

• Throughout the Middle Ages, cities in Italy thrived through trade with the Middle East.

• In 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople and became a new power in the Eastern Aegean and in the Middle East. They would soon push out Venice and other city states and dominate trade.

• 1453 impacted Italy because it limited trade thus causing city state to turn on city state.

Florence: mother of modern Europe

• Famous Florentines who were famous contributors to Renaissance:

• Petrarch--literature• Giotto and Masaccio--painting• Brunelleschi--architecture• Gilberti and Donatello--sculpture• Machiavelli--politics

Geography of Florence• Like other

Renaissance city states, it sits in northern Italy.

• Specifically, Florence sits in the region of Tuscany.

• Arno River flows through Florence to city of Pisa where there is sea access

Economics• Florence was a center of textile production:

cloth, woolens, and silk.• After conquering Pisa, Florence also became a

maritime power.

Florentine Social Structure

• Grandi (weathy merchants) at the top.

Important Dates• 1406, Florence conquers Pisa and

gains access to Mediterranean. • Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464)

becomes unofficial ruler of Florence

• Lorenzo the Magnificent (1440-1492) governed Florence as done before but was also a poet, connoisseur, and lavish benefactor of art and learning.