Business & Politics

By: Lorenzo, Hayoung, Valerie, & Sabrina

The Italian States

• The lack of a centralized government allowed for city-states to develop.

• Milan

• Venice

• Florence

Milan

• Located in northern Italy at the crossroads of the main trade routes.

• One of the richest city states in Italy.

• The Visconti family established themselves as dukes of Milan.

• After the last Visconti ruler died, Francesco Sforza became ruler.

• Both these two family worked to build a strong government and made large sums of money through taxes from the government.

Venice

• Became an international power because it linked Asia and western Europe.

• It officially was a republic with a leader called a doge.

• But actually a small group of rich merchants ran the government of Venice for their own interests.

Florence

• Cultural center of Italy

• The Medici family controlled the government from around themselves.

• Savonarola was in power for a short period of time before government.

Machiavelli

• Niccolo' Machiavelli wrote the book The Prince.

• The Prince is about how to gain and maintain political power.

Renaissance Society: The Nobility

• The Book of the Courtier explains what was expected if you were a noble.

A noble was born, not made. They were expected to have character, grace, and talent.

Noble needed to be a warrior and be educated.

Nobles needed to follow a certain code of conduct.

Renaissance Society: The Peasants and Townspeople

• The Urban Societyo Patricians: They dominated economically,

socially, politically.

• Burghers: Shopkeepers, artisans, guild masters.

• Workers: Poor class. They earned pitiful wages and lived miserably.

Renaissance Society: Family and Marriage.

• Parents arranged marriages

• Dowry: was a sum of money paid to the family of the husband by the wife's family.

• Father / Husband controlled the lives of everyone in the household.

• Fathers had to go to court to free his children.This is when adulthood came about.

Key Terms

• Guild: a type of trade association

• Apprentice: a young person being trained in craft

• Capitalism: based on trade and capital

• Commercial Revolution: New business methods and models