Renaissance
• the rebirth of art and culture from antiquity (Ancient Greece and Rome)
Growth of Cities
Description:•As trade revived so did cities•Merchants settled in the old Roman cities•Artisans then followed •had the skills to make the items that merchants could sell
Let’s review …
• What were medieval towns like? • Write down one characteristic of medieval
towns. Turn to your partner, and share your characteristic. Write down your partner’s characteristic.
• Be prepared to share both!
Medieval Towns
Space:•crowded within the walls•streets were narrow•second and third story of buildings reached over the streets
Medieval Towns
Fire:•danger was great•buildings were mostly wood•candles and wood fires were used for light and heat
Medieval Towns
Pleasantness:•not pleasant•dirty and smelled from human and animal waste•wood fires created air pollution
Medieval Towns
Manufacturing Center:•a variety of crafts were manufactured in the houses•ex. cloth, metalwork, shoes, and leather goods
Growth of Cities
New Cities and Towns:•founded in northern Europe•a group of merchants built a settlement near a castle on a trade route•the lord would offer protection•walls were built to protect it•medieval cities were small
Growth of Cities
Bourgeoisie:•the merchants and artisans of these cities •from the German word burg, which means “a walled enclosure”
Guilds
• business associations• twelfth century• organized by craftspeople• played a leading role in urban economic life• by the thirteenth century almost every craft
had a guild
Italian States
Examples:•larger Italian cities– Venice, Florence, Milan, and Genoa– were small compared to Constantinople or
Baghdad
Italian States
Effect:•played crucial roles in the Italian politics of the time•prospered from trade with the Byzantine, Islamic, and Mediterranean civilizations•set up trading centers in the east due to the Crusades•exchanged goods with merchants in England and the Netherlands
The Republic of Florence
• dominated the Tuscany region• in the fourteenth century a wealthy group of
merchants controlled the Florentine government
• led a series of successful wars against their neighbors, and established Florence as a major city-state
Stop and Think!
• Why do you think the Renaissance began in Italian cities, particularly Florence?
Medici Family
Rise of the Medici’s:•in 1434 Cosimo de’ Medici took control of Florence•Cosimo then his grandson Lorenzo, dominated Florence when it was the cultural center of Italy•The Medici family encouraged the development of the arts
The Powerful Medici family of Florence, Italy
Cosimo de Medici
Medici Family
Girolamo Savonarola:•late 1440s – economy declined because of English and Flemish
competition for the cloth market– a Dominican preacher named Girolamo Savonarola
condemned the Medicis’ corruption and excesses
•many people followed Savonarola– caused the Medicis to give up control of Florence
•people grew tired of Savonarola’s regulations•no gambling, swearing, dancing, painting
Medici Family
Effect:•Savonarola convicted of heresy– executed in 1498 after
criticizing the pope.
•Medicis returned to power
Machiavelli
Description:•authored The Prince •one of the most influential works on political power in the Western world•how to get and keep political power
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved. The reply is, that one ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one of the two has to be wanting. For it may be said of men in general that they are ungrateful, voluble [changeable], dissemblers [liars], anxious to avoid danger, and covetous of gain; as long as you benefit them, they are entirely yours; they offer you their blood, their goods, their life, and their children, as I have before said, when the necessity is remote; but when it approaches, they revolt. And the prince, who has relied solely on their words, without making preparations, is ruined.
1.How does Machiavelli describe human nature? 2.Summarize his advice for rulers. (What is he telling a prince to do in order to keep power?)
Machiavelli
Old Political Thought:•previous authors stressed that princes should be ethical and follow Christian principles
Machiavelli
Machiavelli’s Political Thought:•argued the prince’s attitude toward power should be based on understanding that human nature is self-interested•a prince should not act on moral principles but on behalf of the interests of the state
Machiavelli
Impact:•first to abandon morality as the basis for analyzing political activity•influenced political leaders who followed
Stop and Think!
• How do Machiavelli’s ideas reflect changes from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?
