What’s the Connection? Previously, you learned about life

in medieval Europe. In this section,you will see how Europeans began tolook to the ideals of the ancientGreeks and Romans as they left theMiddle Ages behind.

Focusing on the • The wealthy urban society of the

Italian city-states brought a rebirth oflearning and art to Europe. (page 609)

• Italy’s location helped its city-statesgrow wealthy from trade and banking,but many of the cities fell under thecontrol of strong rulers. (page 611)

• Unlike medieval nobles, the nobles ofthe Italian city-states lived in citiesand were active in trade, banking,and public life. (page 614)

Locating PlacesFlorence (FLAWR•uhns)Venice (VEH•nuhs)

Meeting PeopleMarco Polo (MAHR•koh POH• loh)Medici (MEH•duh•chee)Niccolò Machiavelli (NEE•koh•LOH

MA•kee•uh•VEH• lee)

Building Your VocabularyRenaissance (REH•nuh•SAHNS)secular (SEH•kyuh• luhr)diplomacy (duh•PLOH•muh•see)

Reading StrategySummarizing Information Completea chart like the one below showing thereasons Italian city-states grew wealthy.

c. 1350Renaissancebegins in Italy

1434Medici family beginsrule of Florence

1513Machiavelli writesThe PrinceRome

Florence

Genoa Venice1350 1450 15501350 1450 1550

608 CHAPTER 17 The Renaissance and Reformation

The The RRenaissance enaissance BBeginsegins

Wealth Grows in City-States

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Chamberlin Trimetric projection200 km0

200 mi.0

25°E15°E10°E5°E

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TyrrhenianSea

Adriat ic Sea

Po R.

M e d i t e r r a n e a nS e a

Corsica

Sicily

Sardinia

AL P S

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PENNI N

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MilanVenice

Genoa Mantua

Pisa

Siena

Florence

Rome

Naples

609

The Italian RenaissanceThe wealthy urban society of the

Italian city-states brought a rebirth of learning andart to Europe. Reading Focus Hollywood makes many of theworld’s movies. Why is it the center of the movie indus-try? Read to learn why the city-states of Italy becamethe center of art during the Renaissance.

Renaissance (REH • nuh • SAHNS) means“rebirth.” The years from about 1350 to1550 in European history are called theRenaissance because there was a rebirth ofinterest in art and learning.

In some ways the Renaissance was arebirth of interest in the same subjects the

Greeks and Romans had studied. After thehorrible years of the Black Death, Europeansbegan looking to the past when timesseemed better. They wanted to learn how tomake their own society better.

During the Renaissance, Europeans alsobegan to stress the importance of the indi-vidual. They began to believe that peoplecould make a difference and change theworld for the better.

People were still very religious duringthe Renaissance, but they also began to cel-ebrate human achievements. Peoplebecame more secular (SEH •kyuh • luhr). Thismeans they were more interested in thisworld than in religion and getting toheaven.

Italy c. 1500c. 1500

FerraraFlorenceGenoaLuccaMantuaMilanModenaTwo SiciliesPapal StatesSienaVenice

KEY

Many Italian city-states prosperedduring the Renaissance.1. In which territory was Rome

located?2. Why do you think the city-state

of Venice spread out along thecoastline?

Find NGS online map resources @www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

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Why did the Renaissance begin in Italy?First of all, Italy had been the center of theRoman Empire. Ruins and art surroundedthe Italians and reminded them of theirpast. It was only natural that they becameinterested in Greek and Roman art andtried to make their own art as good.

Another reason the Renaissance beganin Italy was because by the 1300s, Italy’scities had become very wealthy. Theycould afford to pay painters, sculptors,architects, and other artists to producenew works.

A third reason was because the regionwas still divided into many small city-states.Florence (FLAWR •uhns), Venice (VEH •nuhs),Genoa, Milan, and Rome were some of themost important cities of the Renaissance.

The Italian city-states competed witheach other. This helped bring about the

Renaissance. Wealthy nobles and mer-chants wanted artists to produce works thatincreased the fame of their cities.

In most of Europe, the vast majority ofpeople lived in the country, including theknights and nobles who owned estates. InItaly’s city-states, the population wasbecoming more urban. That means morepeople were living in the city, rather than inthe country. So many people living togetherin a city meant more customers for artistsand more money for art.

The large number of people living incities also led to more discussion and shar-ing of ideas about art. Just as the city-statesof ancient Greece had produced many greatworks of art and literature, so too did urbansociety in Italy.

Explain Why did theRenaissance start in Italy?

The cathedral’s dome measures

140 feet (42.7 m) across. New techniques

allowed the tall, massive dome to be built without

the supports used in earlier Gothic

cathedrals.

The large, round windows in the

base of the dome, called the drum, allow in plenty of light.

Florence, Italy, was one of the centers of the Renaissance. TheFlorence Cathedral became a symbol of the city, as well as oneof the finest examples of Renaissance architecture. What wereother important Italian Renaissance cities?

Florence CathedralFlorence CathedralThe FlorenceCathedral today

akg-

imag

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CHAPTER 17 The Renaissance and Reformation 611

The Rise of Italy’s City-StatesItaly’s location helped its city-states

grow wealthy from trade and banking, but many ofthe cities fell under the control of strong rulers. Reading Focus Do you have a bank account? Whatare banks for? Read to learn how banking helped tomake the Italian city-states wealthy and powerful.

During the Middle Ages, no ruler wasable to unite Italy into a single kingdom.There were several reasons for this. First ofall, the Roman Catholic Church did every-thing it could to stop the rise of a powerfulkingdom in Italy. Church leaders wereafraid that if a strong ruler united Italy, thatsame ruler would be able to control thepope and the Church.

At the same time, the city-states thatdeveloped in Italy were about equal instrength. They fought many wars and oftencaptured territory from each other, but nostate was able to defeat all the others.

Probably the most important reason thecity-states stayed independent was becausethey became very wealthy. With their greatwealth, they could build large fleetsand hire people to fight in theirarmies. A person who fights in anarmy for money is called a mercenary.The city-states also loaned money tothe kings of Europe. The kings left thecity-states alone so they could borrowmore money in the future.

Italy’s City-States Grow WealthyThe Italian city-states becamewealthy through trade. The geogra-phy of the long Italian peninsulameant that most of the city-states hada coastline and ports where merchantships could dock. They were also per-fectly located on the MediterraneanSea. Spain and France lay to the west,

and the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires layto the east. North Africa was only a short tripto the south.

From the Byzantines, Turks, and Arabs,the Italians bought Chinese silk and Indianspices and sold them to people in WesternEurope for very high prices. At the sametime, from the Spanish, French, Dutch, andEnglish, they bought goods such as wool,wine, and glass that they could sell in theMiddle East. The Italian cities also hadmany skilled artisans, who could take rawmaterials the merchants bought and makegoods that could be sold for high prices.

Geography was not the only reason forthe success of the Italians. Several eventsled to trade becoming even more importantin the city-states. First, the Crusades broughtItalian merchants into contact with Arabmerchants. Second, the rise of the MongolEmpire united almost all of Asia into onevast trade network.

The Mongols encouraged trade and pro-tected the Silk Road from China to theMiddle East. This made it cheaper and easierfor caravans to carry goods from China and

This painting shows a wealthy Italian family during theRenaissance. How did competition between the city-states lead to great works of art?

Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy/M. Magliari/Bridgeman Art Library, London/SuperStock

608-615 CH17 S1-824133 3/23/04 12:00 PM Page 611

India to Muslim and Byzantine cities. Asmore and more silk and spices were shippedfrom Asia, the price of these goods fell. MoreEuropeans could afford the luxuries, anddemand for the items greatly increased. Inturn, business for Italian merchants contin-ued to grow.

Who Was Marco Polo? Europeans werefascinated with Asia and its goods afterreading a book written by Marco Polo(MAHR •koh POH • loh), a merchant from thecity of Venice. In the 1270s, Marco Polowent on an amazing journey with his fatherand uncle to China. They set off to meetKublai Khan, the ruler of the MongolEmpire.

When the Polo family finally made it tothe khan’s court, the great emperor wasimpressed with Marco Polo. He sent MarcoPolo on business all over China. MarcoPolo asked many questions and learnedmore about Asia than any other European.When he returned to Europe, he publisheda book about his travels. His storieshelped increase interest in China andmade many people want to buyChina’s goods.

The Wealth of Florence No city wasmore famous in the Renaissance thanFlorence. It was the first to grow wealthy,and it produced many famous artists. It sat on the banks of the Arno River sur-rounded by beautiful hills. It was walledand had many tall towers for defense. Itspeople were known for their love of elegantclothing.

At first, Florence’s wealth came fromtrading cloth, especially wool. The city’smerchants sailed to England to get sheep’swool. Artisans in Florence then wove it intofine fabrics. Florentines also found anotherway to make money—banking.

With goods pouring into Italy fromaround the world, merchants needed toknow the value of coins from differentcountries. Florentine bankers became theexperts. They used the florin, the gold coinof Florence, to measure the value of othermoney. Bankers also began lending moneyand charging interest. Florence’s richest

612 CHAPTER 17 The Renaissance and Reformation

Lorenzo de’ Medici

This painting shows bankers in Florence doing business at a counter topped withbrightly embroidered cloth. Why didbanking become so important in Florence?

Scala/Art Resource, NY

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CHAPTER 17 The Renaissance and Reformation 613

family, the Medici (MEH • duh • chee), werebankers. They had branch banks as faraway as London.

The Rise of Venice The wealthiest city-state of all was Venice, where Marco Polowas born. Venice is at the northern end ofthe Adriatic Sea. The Venetians were greatsailors and shipbuilders. They built theircity on many small, swampy islands just offthe coast. Early Venetians learned how todrive long wooden poles into mud to sup-port their buildings.

Instead of paving roads, the Venetianscut canals through their swampy islandsand used boats to move about. Even today,

many of the streets in the older parts of Venice are canals and waterways.Gondolas—a type of long, narrow boat—still carry people along these canals.

Some of Venice’s wealth came frombuilding ships. Artisans worked on ships ata shipyard known as the Arsenal. Teams of workers cut the wood, shaped it intohulls, caulked (or sealed) the wood, andmade sails and oars. Sometimes Venetiansneeded ships quickly. When the Turks triedto take a Venetian colony in theMediterranean, the Arsenal built 100 shipsin only two months to prepare for battle.

Describe How did Florenceand the Medici family become so wealthy?

The Ducal Palace today

This painting from Renaissance Italy shows the busy pier and the DucalPalace in Venice. What industry provided some of Venice’s wealth?

(l)Scala/Art Resource, NY, (r)Kindra Clineff/Index Stock

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The Urban NobleUnlike medieval nobles, the nobles of

the Italian city-states lived in cities and were activein trade, banking, and public life.Reading Focus How does our society measurewealth? Before the Renaissance, wealth was based onthe amount of land a person owned. Read to learn howthat changed during the Renaissance.

The wealthy men of the Italian city-states were a new type of leader—the urbannoble. Before this time, European nobles gottheir wealth from land, not trade. In fact,

they looked down on trade and believedthemselves to be above the town merchants.

In the Italian city-states, old noble fami-lies moved to the cities. They mixed withwealthy merchants and decided that moneyfrom trade was just as good as money fromland.

Meanwhile, wealthy merchants copiedthe manners and lifestyle of noble families.Soon, the sons and daughters of nobles andrich merchants were marrying each other.Eventually, the old nobles and wealthymerchant families blended together tobecome the upper class of the city-states.

How Were Italian City-States Run? Atfirst, many of the city-states were republics.A republic is a government controlled by itscitizens. Not everyone was a citizen, how-ever, only the artisans and merchants whohad membership in the city’s guilds.

From your study of the ancient Romans,you might recall that when their cities facedwar or rebellion, they gave power to a dic-

tator. The Italian city-states did some-thing similar. In many cases, the citieswere ruled by one powerful man whoran the government.

In Venice, the head of state was theduke, or doge (dohj). At first, the dogehad great power over his council ofnobles. Later, he lost power to a smallgroup of nobles.

In Florence, the powerful Medicifamily gained control of the govern-ment in 1434. The Medici ran Florencefor many decades. Lorenzo de’ Mediciruled the city from 1469 to 1492.

Known as “the Magnificent,” Lorenzo usedhis wealth to support artists, architects, andwriters. Many of Italy’s Renaissance artistsowed their success to his support.

Politics in Italy was complicated. Withineach city, the rulers had to keep the poor from

614 CHAPTER 17 The Renaissance and Reformation

The PrinceIn Machiavelli’s masterpiece, he explains histheories about human nature.“You should consider then, that there are two ways of fighting, one with laws and the other with force. The first isproperly a humanmethod, the secondbelongs to beasts.But as the firstmethod does notalways suffice [meetyour needs], yousometimes have toturn to the second.Thus a prince mustknow how to makegood use of both thebeast and the man.”

—Niccolò Machiavelli,The Prince

Why must a good leader know more thanone way to fight?

NiccolòMachiavelli

Archiv/Photo Researchers

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Reading SummaryReview the • A rebirth of learning called the

Renaissance began in wealthyItalian city-states in the 1300s.

• Italian city-states, includingFlorence and Venice, grewwealthy through trade,manufacturing, and banking.

• In the Italian city-states, a noble’swealth was based on trade, ratherthan the amount of land owned.

1. Why is the era from 1350 to1550 in Europe called theRenaissance?

2. Why did the Renaissance beginin Italy?

Critical Thinking3. Organizing Information Draw

a diagram like the one below.Add details about the character-istics of the Italian Renaissance.

4. Economics Link How didRenaissance cities gain theirwealth? Give several examples.

5. Summarize Describe the gov-ernments of Italian city-statesduring the Renaissance.

6. Analyze Who were theMedicis and why were theyimportant?

7. Persuasive Writing Write a letter to the editor of aRenaissance newspaper tellingwhether you agree or disagreewith Machiavelli’s beliefs aboutrulers and power during theRenaissance.

What Did You Learn?

Homework Helper Need help with the material in this section? Visit jat.glencoe.com

CHAPTER 17 The Renaissance and Reformation 615

rebelling and prevent other wealthy peoplefrom seizing power. They had to make dealswith merchants, bankers, landlords, churchleaders, and mercenaries. At the same time,they had to deal with the leaders of the othercity-states.

To deal with the other states aroundthem, the Italians developed diplomacy(duh •PLOH •muh • see). Diplomacy is the artof negotiating, or making deals, with othercountries. Each city-state sent ambassadorsto live in the other city-states and act as rep-resentatives for their city. Many of the ideasof modern diplomacy first began in Italy’scity-states.

How could a ruler maintain power inthe Italian city-states? Niccolò Machiavelli(NEE • koh • LOH MA • kee • uh • VEH • lee), adiplomat in Florence, tried to answer thisquestion when he wrote The Prince in 1513.Machiavelli claimed that people were

greedy and self-centered. Rulers should nottry to be good, he argued. Rather, theyshould do whatever is necessary to keeppower and protect their city, including killingand lying. Today when we say someone isbeing Machiavellian, we mean they are beingtricky and not thinking about being good.

Compare How weremedieval and Renaissance nobles different?

Italian Renaissance

This palace served as a government building in Rome for hundreds of years. What form ofgovernment did many of the city-states have atfirst?

Araldo de Luca/CORBIS

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616

The Value of City-StatesThe Value of City-States

During the Renaissance, Italy was

divided into more than 20 city-states.

Some people think that the city-state form

of government was a good idea. The lead-

ers and wealthy nobles of the city-states

encouraged the arts and sciences. This pro-

duced masterpieces by Michelangelo,

Raphael, Leonardo, and others. Would

this rebirth of arts and sciences have

happened if Italy’s independent city-

states had not existed?

Other people, such as Girolamo

Savonarola, were against the city-state

form of government. After the fall of

the Medici family in Florence,

Savonarola spoke out in favor of a new

type of leadership:

“I tell you that you must select a good

form for your new government, and above

all no one must think of making himself

head if you wish to live in liberty.”—Girolamo Savonarola,

“This Will Be Your Final Destruction”

Examine the advantages and disad-

vantages of the city-state form of gov-

ernment. Then decide whether you

think this system is primarily benefi-

cial or primarily harmful.

Advantages:

• Because of their independent

governments, each territory on

the Italian peninsula was able to

have its own culture.

• Some city-states were led by

wealthy families, but most were

led by a single leader. Almost

all supported cultural and sci-

entific advancement. The com-

petition among city-states also

encouraged the development

of art and science.

• City-state rulers helped pre-

serve the values and teach-

ings of the ancient Greeks

and Romans. They gave

their own artists, architects,

scholars, and writers oppor-

tunities to study classical

works and interpret them

in their own ways.616

A detail from the ceiling of the SistineChapel painted by Michelangelo

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617

Checking for Understanding1. Do you think that the art of the

Renaissance would have been cre-ated if Italy had not been dividedinto individual city-states? Why orwhy not?

2. Do you think Italian artists hadmore artistic freedom under thisform of government? Why orwhy not?

3. Would you have enjoyed livingduring the Renaissance? Wouldyou have wanted to be a ruler,noble, artist, or commoner? Why?

C17-98P

Renaissance nobles

Disadvantages:

• Many city-states were led by one

man. The common people were

often mistreated until they revolted

and threw out their leaders. This

happened to Florence’s Medici

family in 1527.

• The divided city-states were weaker

than a united Italy would have been,

so they were often invaded by

foreign groups.

• Smaller territories did not always

have enough soldiers to defend their

cities and land. They hired mercenar-

ies—generals and armies from outside

their city—to help them fight. Some-

times mercenaries took over the city-

states that had hired them.

• Many Italians were poor because

they had to pay high taxes. This

created a lower class and an upper

class, but no middle class. It also

caused the commoners to revolt

against the rich.

• Wealthy families often battled with

each other for control of the city-states.

• Some city-state rulers became even

wealthier by overseeing banking and

trade. These leaders lived in luxury,

while many citizens were very poor.

• Many citizens liked their city-state

and wanted to help it. This encouraged

patriotism.

• Some rulers were generous to the citi-

zens of their city-states. For example,

Duke Federigo da Montefeltro

(1422–1482), a popular ruler in Urbino,

built schools, hospitals, churches, and a

library with his own money. He was

known for talking to the commoners

and helping the poor.

• The city-states helped bring an end

to feudalism by making merchants,

as well as landowners, wealthy and

ending the relationship between lords

and vassals.

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