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Rome and the Renaissance

Rome and the Renaissance became synonymous, but Rome was not the centre of theRenaissance from the very beginning: Flourishing commerce, particularly with the East,went hand in hand with cultural progress particularly around cities such as Venice and

Florence. Increased contact with the East coupled with the fall of Costantinople, the ancientcapital of the Roman Empire of the East, meant that much of the wealth and ancientlearning which had been lost to the West was now making a return. The "West" was finallyout of the Middle Ages and was now able to rediscover the heights of Classical culture whichhad been safeguarded through the ages by Constantinople. Hence the name "Renaissance"- rebirth.

In order to understand this period a little better it is important to remember that theRenaissance movement was principally one of science, thought and knowledge; an age ofdiscovery which found a direct and most tangible expression in art and architecture butexpressed itself in all aspects of culture.

With the end to French captivity of the Popes in 1377, the healing of the schism in 1417and the return to Rome of the Papacy; Pope Martin the fifth (1417-1431, Odone Colonna)and his successors undertook a programme of spiritual and political renovation of thechurch. Martin V and his successors also set to strengthening the churches claim on earthlypower. Their claim to earthly power was based on the bequeathment reputedly left byemperor Constantine on his death bed and later consolidated by the Frankish kings Pepinand Charlemagne during the Dark Ages of the eighth and ninth centuries.

By now, the whole of central Italy had become subject to the rule of the ecclesiasticalbureaucratic system & militia, under the direct control of the Pope and his Cardinals.Nepotism was common and positions of prestige were often granted to members of thePopes and Cardinals own families. The race for power set the various noble families ofRome into direct competition as each attempted to outdo the next in terms of magnificence.

This soon allowed Rome to compete with any of the other European cities in terms ofwealth, beauty and art and indeed to overtake those cities that hitherto had exhibited a fargreater cultural and economic development, such as Florence for example. The financing ofall this artistic and architectural work, as well as continuous wars and even an abortedcrusade, came from taxes, auctioning of ecclesiastical positions of importance and anincreasing traffic in indulgences. The population of the city at this time must have been inthe region of some 55,000 souls and it is calculated by some that professional prostitutesnumbered as many as 5000 of the total.

It was Martins successor Nicholas V (1447-1455) who really began much of the urbandevelopment of the renaissance. His election was somewhat of a surprise given that the bet

lay on the rich and influential Cardinal Prospero Colonna rather than this rather humble sonof a surgeon who had begun his career as a school teacher in a provincial town. Hisascension to power was based on the recognition of him as a man of erudition and greatlearning, particularly in the humanist field. It was said of him that there wasnt anything inthe world of sciences he didnt know and remember. He was a bibliophile (lover of books)and it was thanks to him that the Vatican library was founded and compiled to rival those ofFlorence and Venice. He also promoted men of learning to positions of prominence in aneffort to ensure that the church might retain a leading position in matters of learning and

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science. In so doing he created a receptacle of learning capable to receive and build uponthe learning which it was inheriting from the collapsing Constantinople (1453).

Nicholas was also a builder and restorer of Rome and it was under his orders that ancientacqueducts and water conduits were restored, repaired and extended throughout the cityaccording to its current needs. He also saw to the citys defences including amongst other

things. Castel St. Angelo was fortified further and the Vatican buildings and apartmentswere improved.

In this manner Rome became the centre of the Renaissance movement in Europe,attracting many if not all of the greatest and most gifted artists and architects of the age.Men such as Bramante, Michaelangelo and Rafael were given one commission after anotherto complete and beautify the city of God. The Popes and Cardinals spent lavish sums ofmoney on the construction of new churches and palaces as well as the assembly of works ofart and antiquities. The pace of construction and embellishment was so frenetic that noteven the terrible looting of Rome by Charles V in 1527, which was comparable in terms ofviolence to the barbarian looting of Rome in the fifth century, managed to put a temporarystop to it all.

The first museum, as we know them today, saw its birth in that period on the Capitoline hilland can still be visited. The Capitoline Museum was founded in 1471 with the art collectionof Pope Sixtus IV in the Palazzo dei Conservatori. The building was restored and remodelledaccording to plans laid out by Michaelangelo. The collection is wonderful.

This reminds us how the renaissance was a period of science and knowledge as much asone of art and architecture. The problem was the danger which such science and knowledgemight mean for the church. Hitherto, all knowledge and "science" had been the domain ofthe clergy who, it should be remembered, safeguarded it from the chaos of MedievalEurope. But now the monopoly was being lost and many new ideas threatened toundermine faith. Nicolas V had gone some way to ensuring that the church might keep pacewith the new learning but little could be done to prevent others outside the churchs sphereof influence from making their own potentially damaging contributions