-
8/9/2019 Renaissance, 247 271
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o
o
lf)
I
o
o
c,
SUMMARY
Politics
as a FamilyAffair
In the
fourteenth
and
fifteenth
centuries,
politics
centered
on
the ambitions
of
great
families.
This
was particularly
the
case
in
central Europe,
where five
families
competed
for
control
of
the
Holy
Roman
Empire.
Emperor
charles
IV helped
spark cultural
renewal
in
central
Europe.
His
Golden
Bull
con-
tributed
to
political
disintegration
of the empire.
Dynastic
issues played
a
central role
in
the Hundred
Years'war.
Early
English successes
gave
way
to
eventual
French
vic-
tory. The
monarchies
of
both
France
and England were damaged
by
the war.
civil
war
in
England
followed
defeat
in
France,
with
the Tirdor
family
emerging
triumphant.
Life
and Death
in
the
Later Middle
Ages
Famine
and disease
decimated
the
popu-
lation
of Europe.
Between
447
and
1352,
the
Black
Death killed
between
one-third
and
one-haH
of
Europe's
population.
Responses
to the plague
varied
widely.
social
disruption
followed
demographic
collapse.
peasants
and
townspeople
fought
to hold
onto gains
made
in
the
aftermath
of the
plague.
Events
in Europe
and
abroad
con-
tributed
to
a
decline
in
Italian
economic
power.
The
Hanseatic
League
dominated
the Baltic
trade.
Towns
employed
new measures
to
address
poverty
and
crime.
The
spirit
of
the
Later
Middle
Ages
The
papacy
declined
in
the fourteenth
cen-
tury. During
the
Avignon
papacy,
French popes
concentrated
the financial
and legal
power
of the
church
in
the
papal
ofiice.
The
Great schism
resulted
in
a divided
christendom
and
weakened
the
papary.
Belief
in witchcraft
was
widespread
in
the
Middle
Ages,
but witchcraft
trials
were
rare.
Disgust
with
the
formal
institutions
of
the church
stimulated
a
turn
to
private
devotion,
mysticism,
and
sometimes heresy.
John
wycliffe
and
Jan
Hus led
important
challenges
to the
church.
The
persecution
of
Jews
and
Muslims
in
Spain
grew
out of
religious
and
political
anxieties.
William
of Ockham
challenged
the
Aristotelian
foundations
of
medieval
scholarship.
The
vernacular
literatures
of
the
later
Middle
Ages
explored
the
place
of
the
individual
within a complex
society.
QUESTIONS
FOR
REVIEW
r. what
social
and political
forces
prevented
both
the Holy
Roman
Emperors
the French
kings
from
uniting
the lands
they
ruledl
z.
How did
disease transform
social
relations
in
fourteenth-century
Europel
3.
why
did
a division
in
the
papacy
mean
both political
chaos
and spiritual
for
Europeansl
4.
How
did the
vernacular
literature
of Dante,
chaucer,
and
christine
de
represent a
departure
from
previous
literary
traditionsl
a
IU
(,
UJ
J
o
o
cc
TIJ
F
J
Lll
rI
IF
I
rW
CHAPTER
The
ltalian
Renaissance
Society
Art
ldeals
Politics
of
the ltatian
City-States
the
Renaissancel
A French
word
for
an
Italian
phenomenon,
renaissancerit-
i::::::f:':e
word
c]pfures
both
the
.*pr."r,,
on
humanity
that
char_
e
thinking
and
the
renewed
fascination
with
the
classical
world.
was
an
age
rather
than
an
event.
There
is
no
moment
at
which
'Ages
ended.
Late
medieval
society
was
artistically;;;;;;;;:U
ii:
_IT:::1I
diverse.
yet
eventually,
the
pace
of
change
accelerated,
to
think
of
the
Renaissance
as
an
era
of
rapii
"."rirJ*;;;;'"rrd
::j:.:T::l
r35o
and
r55o,it
passed
tr,rougi
thr..
distinct
phases.
The
go
to
r4oo, was
characterized
by
a
dectining p-oprl"tiorr,
,h";;:;;.r*g;;
[::::::'t:**"
:,
a
variety
of
art
forns.
rhe
second
phase,
from
e
Society
was
distinguished
by
the
creation
ofa
set
ofcurturar
varues
and
artistic
-
8/9/2019 Renaissance, 247 271
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LLl
O
z
U)
a
z
ul
cc
z
l
F
;
IF
M
ffi
and literary
achievements that
defined
Renaissance
style. The
large
ltalian
city-states
developed
stable
and coherent
forms of
government
and
the
warfare
between
them
gradually
ended. In
the
final
period, from r5oo
to 1550, invasions
from France
and
Spain
transformed
Italian
political
life, and
the
ideas
and techniques of Italian writers
and
artists
radiated
to
all
points
of
the Continent.
Cities
and Countryside
The
Italian
peninsula differed
sharply
from
other
areas
of
Europe
in
the
extent
to
which
it
was urban.
By
the
late
Middle
Ages,
nearly
one
in four
Italians
lived
in
a
town,
in contrast
to
one
in ten
elsewhere. Not
even the
plague
did
much to
change
this ratio.
By r5oo,
seven
of the
ten largest cities
in
the
West
were in Italy.
Naples,
Venice,
and
Milan,
each
with a
population
of
more than
roo,ooo, led the
rest.
But
it
was the numerous
smaller
towns,
with
populations nearer to
t,ooo, that
gave
the
Italian
peninsula its urban
character. Cities
dominated
their regions
economically,
politically,
and
culturally and
served as
convenient
centers
ofjudicial
and
ecclesias-
tical
power. The
diversified activities
of their
inhabitants
created vast
concentra-
tions
of wealth,
and
Italy
was
the
banking capital of
the
world.
Although cities
may have
dominated
Renaissance
ltaly, by
present standards
they were
small
in
both
area and
population. A
person could walk across
fifteenth-
century
Florence
in
less
than
half
an
hour.
In
:,427,
its
population
was
37,ooo,
only
half its
pre-plague
size.
Urban
populations
were
organized
far differently than
rural ones.
On the
farms the
central distinctions
involved ownership
of land.
Some
farmers
owned
their
estates
outright
and
left them
intact to their heirs.
Others were
involved in
a
sharecropping
system
by
which
absentee owners
of land
supplied
working
capital
in return
for half
of the farm's
produce.
A
great gulf
in
wealth separated
owners
from sharecroppers.
Those who owned
their
land normally
lived with surplus;
those
who sharecropped
always
lived
on the margin of
subsistence.
In
fie
city, however,
distinctions were
based
first
on
occupation,
which
largely
corresponded
to social
position and wealth.
Cities began
as markets, and
the
privilege
to
participate in the
market defined
citizens.
City
govemments
provided
protection
for
consumers
and
producers
by
creating
monopolies through which
standards
for
craftsmanship
were
maintained
and
profits for craftsmen were
guaranteed'
These
monopolies
were
called
guilds or
companies. Each
large
city had its own hierarchy
of
guilds. At
the
top were the important
manufacturing
groups-clothiers,
metalworkers,
and
the
like.
Just
below
them
were bankers,
merchants, and
the
administrators of
civic
and
Church
holdings. At
the
bottom
were
grocers, masons,
and
other
skilled
workers.
Roughly
speaking, all
of those within the
guild
structure,
from bottom
to
top,
lived
comfortably.
Yet
the
majority
of
urban
inhabitants
were
not members of
guilds.
Many
managed
to
eke
out
a
living
as
wage laborers;
many more
were
simply
destitute.
As
a
group, these
poor
people
constituted
as much
as
half of the
entire
population. Most
depended
on
civic and
private
charity for
their very
survival.
Examine
the
locations
of
f;H?J*f
"';.tr*:i1ruff;:$"iff:i;.:',n'#til:ff
:iiT**"
considered
the cenicr
^r"::::r:3,,Lly
do
yousuppose
the
aa.air..r."..,
,..,.,
:T:I1]..::::.1":u,op.rwr,,t*,,ilffi;:b*ffi.f;
:[Hili.i,lii.,
The
disparities
between
rich
and
poor
were
overwherming.
The
concentration
f
weatth
in
the
hands
:t
i:
.l"r:l"r;;;;;r"up
of
famitiel
and
favored
guilds
haracterized
every
large
city.
In
Florence,6ro.*"*plu, ro
percent
of
the
families
,.f:filt'
9o
percent
of
the
wealth,
."ith
"r,
"u.n
more
extreme
concentration
at
Production
and
Consumption
The
concentration
of
wealth
and
the
way
in
which
it
was
used
defined
the
enaissance
economy,
Economic
rife
is
bound
up
in
the
,"r"ri"rirrip
between
upply
and
demand.
The
late
medieval
".;;;
ernatio
nat
b
ankins
and
long_
d
isr;";"
il
;:l;*li,f
:r:.::".#
ffi:,"j:;
roducers:
Between
7o
and
9o
percent
or
iurop"t
population
was
involved
in
ubsistence
agriculture.
Even
in
it"ty,
rt
i.i.ontained
the greatest
concentration
f
urban
areas
in
the
wo1ld,.1eri.ril;;;;;oiri.,"t"a.
The
manufacture
of
croth-
ng
was
the
onry
other
significant
economic
".,*rrr.
Most
of
what
was
produced
:"
*t
local
consumption
rather
th."
;;;;
marketprace.
Even
in
good
rimes,
-
8/9/2019 Renaissance, 247 271
3/12
tl-l
a'l
z
U)
v)
a
z
u.l
E
z
=
F
;
I
F'
ffi
ffisM
more
than
8o
percent
of
the
population
lived
at subsistence
level
with
food,
clothing,
and
shelter
their
only
expenses.
Therefore,
when
we
discuss
the
market
".orro*y
of the
Renaissance,
.llll"
"r.
discussing
the
circumstances
of
the
few
rather
than
the
manY'
The
defining
characteristic
of
the
early
Renaissance
economy
was
population
change.
Recurring
waves
of
plague
kept
population
levels
low for
more
than
a
cen-
*ry.
ifri,
dr"*Jc
reduction
in
population
depressed
economic
growth.
The
gen-
.r.i
..orro*y
did
not revive
until
the
sustained
population
increase
toward
the
end
of
the
fifteenth
century.
Until
then,
in
both
agriculture
and
manufacturing,
supply
outstripped
demand.
on
the
farms,
surviving
farmers
occupied
the
best
land
and
enlarged
their
holdings.
In
the
shops,
finished
products
outnumbered
the
consumers
who
sur-
vived
the epidemics.
Overproduction
meant
lower
prices
for
basic
commodities'
and the
decline
in
populati'on
meant
higher
wages
for
labor'
At the
lowest
levels
of
society,
survivors
found
it
easier
to
earn
their
living
and
even
to create
a
surplus
than
had
their
parents.
For
a time
the
Iot
of
the
masses
improved'
But
for
investors,
such
economic
conditions
meant
that
neither
agriculture
nor
cloth
making
was
particularly
attractive.
In such
circumstances,
consumption
was
more
attractive
than
investment,
but it
was
not merely the perceived
shortage
of
profitable
investment
opporfunities
that
brought
on
the
increase
in
conspicuous
consumption
during
the
iifteenth
century.
In the
psychological
atmosphere
cre:
ated
by
unpredictable,
swift,
and
deadly
epidemics,
iuxurious
living
seemed
an
ap:
propriate
response.
Moreover,
although
tax
rates
increased'
houses
i"d
p:tto11
prop.rry
normally
remained
exempt,
making
luxury
goods
attractive
investments:i'
.t
lo,
tir.r.
reasons
the
production
and
consumption
of
luxuries
soared'
The
Experience
of
Life
Luxuryhelpedtoimprovealifethatforrichandpooralikewasshortand
nenaissance
children
who
survived infancy
found their
lives
governed
by
andbygender'Inparentage,thegreatdividewasbetweenthosewholivedwith
plrr,
*i
those
wht
hved
it
subsistence'
The
first
category
encomPassed
the
we
iest
bankers
and
merchants
down
to
those
who
owned
their
own
farms
or
in
small
urban
crafts.
The
vast
majority
of
urban
and
rural
dwellers
were
:
ofthesecondcategory.Aboutthechildrenofthepoorweknowverylittle,
than
that
their
survival
was
unlikely.
Eldest
sons
were
favored;
younger
dau
were
disadvantaged.
In
poor
families,
however,
this
favoritism
meant
little
than
early
"ppr.iti.eship
to
day labor
in
the
city or
farm
labor
in
the
count:
Girls
were
frequent\
sent
out
as
domestic
servants
far
from
the
family
home'
Ghildhood.
children
of the
wealthy
had
better
chances for
survival
than
did
dren
of
the
poor. Forthe
better
ofl
cirlanooa
mightbeginwith"milkparents,"i
l
homeofthefamilyofawetnursewhowouldbreast-feedthebabythroughi
months,
when
other
viruses
and
bacteria
weakened
the
population,
only
the
very wealthy
could
afford
a
live-in
wet nurse,
which
would
increase
the
child's
chances
of
survival.
Again,
daughters
were
more
likely
to
be
sent
far from
home
and least
likdly
to
have
their nursing
supervised.
During
the period
between
weaning
and apprenticeship,
Renaissance
children
lived
with
their
f?milies.
sons
could expect
to
be apprenticed
to a
trade,
probably
,
between
the ages,gf
ro
and
r3.
Most,
of
course,
leamed
the
crafts
of
their
fathers,
ibut
not necessarily
in
their father's
shop.
Sons
inherited
the family
business
and
its
most
important
possessions-tools
of
the
trade
or beasts
of labor
for
the
farm.
and the
Family.
Expectations
for
daughters
centered on
their chances
of
iage.
For
a
girl, dowry
was
everything. If
a girlt
father
could
provide
a
hand-
one, her
future
was
secure;
if not,
the
alternatives
were a
convent,
which
take
a
small
bequest,
or a match
lower
down
the
social
scale,
where
the
qual-
of
life
deteriorated
rapidly. Daughters
of
poor
families
entered
domestic
service
order
to
have
a dowry provided
by their
masters.
The
dowry
was
taken
to
the
hold
ofthe
husband.
There,
the couple
resided
until they
established
their
separate
family.
If
the husband
died, it was
to
his
parental
household
that
the
ow
returned.
women
married
in late
adolescence,
usually
around
the
age
of
zo.
Among the
;
marriages
were perceived
as familial
alliances
and
business
transactions
than
love
matches.
The dowry
was an
investment
on which
fathers expected
and
while the
bride
might
have
some
choice,
it
was
severely
rimited.
was
not
a central
feature
in
matchmaking.
Husbands
were,
on
the
,
ten
years
older
than their
wives
and likely
to
leave
them
widows.
Men
married
later-near
the
age
of z5 on
the
farms,
nearer
3o
in the
cities
of the
cost
of
setting up
in
trade
or on the
land.
Late
marriage
meant
under
the
watchful
eye of father
or master,
an
extended
period
adolescence
and
adulthood.
Many
men,
even
with families,
never
suc-
in
setting
up
separately
from
their fathers
or
older
brothers.
came
of
age
at
30
but were
thought
to be old by
5o.
Thus
for
men,
mar-
and
parenthood
took place
in
middle
age
rather
than
in
youth.
valued
all
ives
more
highly
than
their
sisters,
male
heads
of
households
were
the
of
all
power
in
their
domiciles,
in
their
shops,
and in
the state.
They
were
rsible
for
overseeing
every
aspect
of the upbringing
of their
children.
But
ves
were
essential partners
who governed
domestic
life.
women
labored
at the
hearth,
but in
the
fields
and
shops
as well.
Their
economic
contri-
'to
the
well-being
of the
family was
critical,
both
in the
dowry
they brought
and
in
the
labor
they
contributed
to
the
household.
If
their
wives
with
young
children
remarried quickly.
most
cases,
death
came
suddenly.
Epidemic
diseases,
of
which plague
was
:virulent,
struck
with
fearful
regularity. They struck harder
at
the
young-
and
adolescents,
who were
the majonty
of the
population-and
hardest
in
-
8/9/2019 Renaissance, 247 271
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)
i
,
D
i
a
LI
c
i
l
:
U
I
w
ffi
Starvation
was
rare, less because
offood
shortage
than because
the serious\
under-
nourished
were
more likely
to
succumb
to disease
than to
famine.
In urban areas,
the
government
would
intervene to
provide
grain
from
public
storehouses
at times
of extreme
shortage;
in the countryside,
large landholders
commonly
exercised
the
same function.
The
Quality
of
Life
Although
life
may have been
difficult
during the
Renaissance,
itwas
not
unfrlfilling.
Despite
constant toil
and
frequent
hardship,
people
ofthe
Renaissance
had
reason to
believe that
their
lives
were
better
than those
of their
ancestors
and
that
their chil-
dren's
lives
would
be
better still,
On the
most
basic level,
health
improved
and,
for
those who
survived
plague,
life
expectancy
increased
owing to t}e
relative
surplus
of
grain
throughout
the
fifteenth
century and
the
wider
variety
of
foods consumed.
This
diversification
of
diet resulted
from
improvements
in transportation
and
com-
munication,
which
brought
more
goods and
services
to a
growing number
of
towns
in the
chain that
linked
the regional
centers to the rural
countryside.
The towns
and cities
also
introduced
a new
sense
of
social
and
political cohe-
siveness.
The
city was something
to which
people
belonged.
In urban
areas,
they
could
join
social
groups
of
their
own choosing
and develop
networks
of
support
that were
not
possible in rural environments.
Blood
relations remained
the
primary
social
group.
Kin were the
most
likely
source
of aid
in
times
of
need, and
charity
began
at home.
Kin
groups
extended
well
beyond
the
immediate
family, with
both
cousins and
in-Iaws
laying claim
to
the
privileges of
blood.
The
urban
family
could
also depend
on the
connections
of
neighborhood.
In some
Italian cities,
wealth
or
occupation
determined
housing
patterns.
In
others,
like
Florence,
rich and
poor
lived
side
by
side and
identified themselves
with
their small administrative
unit
and
with their
local
church.
Thus
they
could
participate in relationships with
others
both
above
and
below
them
in social
scale. From
their
superiors they
gained connection$
that helped
their
families;
from their inferiors
they gained
devoted
clients.
As
in
the
Middle
Ages, the
Church
remained the spatial,
spiritual,
and
center of
people's lives. Though
Renaissance
society
became
more worldly
in
look, this
worldliness
took
place
within
the context of
an
absorbing
devotional
The Church
provided explanations
for both
the mysterious
and
the mundane.
clergy
performed
the
rituals of baptism,
marriage,
and
burial
that
measured the
sage
of
life.
Religious
symbols
also adorned the
flags of
militia
troops,
the
of
guilds,
and
the
regalia of the
city
itself,
The Church
preserved holy
relics
were
venerated
for
their
powel to
protect the city
or
to endow
it with
particular
and resources,
Through
its holy days,
as
much
as
through its
rituals, the
helped to channel
leisure activities
into community
celebrations'
A
growing
sense
of civic pride
and
individual
accomplishment
were
lying
characteristics
of
the Italian
Renaiss3nce,
enhanced
by the
of social
cohesion
and
community
solidarity
that both
Church
and
city
enduring
beauty
in
more
than
one
medium.
fostered.
The
Renaissance
was
not
an
event
whose
causes
were
the
resurt
of
the
efforts
of
the
few
or
whose
consequences
were
limited
to
the
priv'eged.
In
fact,
the
$,enaissance
was
not
an
event
at
all,
Family
values
that
permitted
early
apprentiieships
in
surrogate
households
and
emphasized
the
continuity
of
crafts
from
one
generation
to
the
next
made
possible
the
skilled
artists
of the
Renaissance
cities.
The
stress
on
the production
ofluxury
goods
praced
higher
value'on
individual
skills
and
therefore
on
excellence
in
workmanship.
church
and
state
sought
to
express
sociar
values
through
representational
art.
one
of
the chief'purposes
of wall
murals
was
to
instruct
the
unlettered
in
rerigion,
to
help
them
visualize
the
central
episodes
in
christian
history.
The
grandiose
architecture
and
statuary
that
adornld
central
places
were
designed
to
enhance
civic
pride
and
communicate
the protective
power
of public
inJtitutions.
"Renaissance
Art
|f
.y.v."e.,
artistic
achievement
represents
a
combination
of
individual
talent
and
ffi:_li*i"lsocial
ideals.
Artists
may
be
at
the leading
edge
of
the
society
in
which
live,
but
it is
the
spirit
of
that
society
that they
capture
in
word or
song
or
e.
Artistic
disciplines
also
have
their
own
technical
Jevelopment.
Individually,
ance
artists
were
attempting
to
solve probrems
about
perspective
and
three-
ionality
that
had defeated
their predecessors.
But
the particular
techniques
riments
that
interested
them
owed as
much
to
the
social
context
as
they
did
artistic
one.
For
example,
the
urban
character
of
Italian
government
led
to
need
for
civic
architecture,
public
buildings
on
a
grand
scare.
The
celebration
of
i:*:3:lll.T:",led
to
the
explosive
g-rou,th
olportraiture.
Not
surprisingrn
technological
breakthroughs
were
achieved
in
both
areas.
'
This.relationship
between
artist
and
social
context
was
especially
important
in
xena$sance,
when
artists
were
closely
tied
to
the
crafts
and
trades
of
urban
soci_
and
to the
demands
of
clients
who
commissioned
their
work.
erthough
it
was
p11e
wno
patronized
art,
it
was
skilled
tradespeople
who
produced
it.
Artists
nor-
followed
the pattern
of
anycraftsman:
en
apprenticeship
begun
as a
teenager
long
period
of
training
and
work
in
a
master's
shop.
this
fJrm
of
education
aspiring
artist
a
practical
bent
and
a keen
appreciation
for
the
business
side
Studios
were
identified
with
particular
styles
and
competed
for
commissions
clients,
especially
the
Church.
Wealthy
individuals
commissioned
art
as invest-
as
marks
of
personal
distinction,
and
as displays
of
public
piety.
survival
of so
many Renaissance
masterpieces
ailows
us
io
reconstruct
the
p
y'ictt
the
remarkable
artistic
achievements
of this
era
took place.
advances
were
made
in
a
variety
of
fields
during
the
Renaissan.",
,h.
areas
were architecture,
sculpture, and
painting.
Few
Renaissance
::"JIT9
themselves
to one
area
of
artistic
expression,
and
many
created
ffi
ffi
-
8/9/2019 Renaissance, 247 271
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LU
E
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f
F
;
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ffi
W
An
Architect,
a
Sculptor,
and
a
Painter
ThecenturythatculminatedinMichelangelo'sextraordinaryachievementsbegan
with
the
work
of three
n"r."i*.
masters
who
deeply
influenced
one.
another's
devel-
opment
Brunelleschi
ft''irltooil'oona11\
(13s0-a6o)
and
Masaccio
(raor-i428)'
In
the
Renaissance,
the
do#n"rri
"nirri.
discipline
was
aichitecture'
Buildings
were
the
most
expensiv.
i"u"'t*ffitit""t
*"fa
make'
and
the
technical
knowledge
neces-
saryfortheirsuccessfulconst't'ctionwasimmense'Byr4oo'theGothicstyleofbuild-
inghaddominatedwestemEuropeforovertwocenturies.Itscharacteristicpointed
arches,
vaulted
.,'u"g',
'"1;;*
spires
had
simplified
building
by
removing
the
heavy
walls
that
were
formerly
thought
necessary
ti
support
great
structures'
Gothic
constructionpermittedgreaterheight,acharacteristicthatwasespecia$desirablein
cathedrals,
which
stretched
toward
the
heavens'
It
was
BruneUt"t'i
*t'o
decisively
challenged
E ftullts
of
.Gothic
architec-
ture
by
recombining
;;;;;.
;"*.rrl
*itt
*iose
of
classical
structures'
Basing
his
designs
on
geometri.;ndi;;,
Brunelleschi
reintroduced
planes
and
spheres
as
dominant
motifs.
His
gi."*,
*"rr
was
the
dome
on
the
cathedral
in
Florence,
begun
in
r4zo.
Brunru.r.t
i
ir'g-";;"r.uy
.r.ait"a
wrth
having
been
the
first
Renaissance
artist
to
have
understood
""i
*"dt
t"e
of
perspective'
though
it
was
immediately
put
to
more
dramatic
effect
in
sculpture
and
painting'
In
sculpture,
the
survival
of
Roman
*i
*"Ut"t*n
T:t:::"TyrT:*:l
i
**lltlili'r;ll.lLl,"t*
the
direct
influence
oi't""i'"t
a't'
Donatello
translated
these
classical
styles
;;
";;
;aturalistic
for*r.
Donatello
revived
the
freq*
rw
hecause;il
ffiffirJJ#.,'rli,.i'u.*anded
greater
attention
to
hurnan
anatomv
because
was
viewed
fi"*
*";;;;;'
"l
'r*,r'a
'n",'*y1:l:1;"'::::::i:
;T;
LT#ilil';;;';i"i.,-g.r,.rd
Gattamelata
for
a
public
square
in
Pac
rhis
enormous
bronze
rtJtt"
""a
rider
(r445-r4t):T:1-:i:::::1T:Tff:
l,.T:IJffiiil'ffi;;;;;;s"r*;gi'use'o*inearperspectiveisarso
in
Donatello's
breathtakii;;1';;
'"t""t'
of
the
miracles
of
Saint
Anthony
in
which
resemble nothing'lo
*uth
as
a
canvascast
inbronze'
These
altar
"t"t'u;;
the
unmistak"bt:
:qT:::":t.'::
Masaccio.
His
frescoes
in
the
Brancacci
Chapel
in
Florence
were
sketched
by
all
of
the
great
artists
of
'h"
"::l
g:
:l1tt::^:T;lItJ:
il:'::url#il;;;;;i*t:1o:1""1:1'::,T:i::::'ff
il':
shading
of
tight
toa
'i'"ao*""J
io,ltnY:i:se
of
linear
perspective
to
ilffiil;
flat
surface
has
three
dimensions'
Renaissance
StYle
By
the
middle
of
the
fifteento::,:::Ij
;::t:j,",".ti'ffJil:T;
:ffi.Iff
;;;;'*i','.::
^":
i:f
"
::'ji*
J,il"
T:l
mphed'
'Ihe
outsra';X";;;11;;ng
('+s')
remained
the
most
i
(t4o4-t472),rvhose
trea
.
r-r-^*+1.
^6nrrr...
iru.r,i
consecrated
t4o
4-t47
z),
who
se
t:t
i
"""_,:,-.:::;
:- t,1*. AIb
erti
conse
crated
;;.;;j.ct
until
the
eighteentl
t"ity-:^^r
+'am with ahun
:::l,l.'::?;;';H;;;"l"i**t"
and
inrused
them
with
a
fut
became
a
source
of
individual
and
collective pride,
Donatello's
bronze
st*)eJuditrt
SbW
Holofernes
symbdized
the Rorentins'
love
of
liberty
and hatred
af
tyranny.
the
classical
dictum
that
a building,
like
a
body,
shourd
have
an
even
of
supports
and,
like
a
head,
an odd
number
of openings.
This
furthered
geometric
calculations
in scale
and
design,
No
sculptor
challenged
the preeminence
of Donatello
for
another
5o
years,
but
ainting
there
were
many
contenders
for
the garlands
worn
by
Masaccio.
The
Piero
della Francesca (ca.
r4zo-r492),
who
broke
new ground
in his
con-
the
visual
unity
of
his
paintings.
Another
challenger
was
sandro
Botticelli
5ro),
whose
classical
themes,
sensitive portraits,
and
bright
colors
set him
the
line
of Florentine painters
with whom
he studied.
concern
with
beauty
and personality
is
also
seen
in
the paintings
of
da
vinci (r452-r5r9),
whose
creative genius
embodied
the
Renaissance
l'universal
man."
Leonardo's
achievements
in
scientific,
technical,
and
read
like
a list
of
all
of
the
subjects
known
during
the
Renaissance.
anatoniical
drawings
and
the
method
he
devised
for
rendering
them,
'robservations,
and his
engineering
inventions
(including
models
for
a
airplane)
testify
to his
unrestrained
curiosity.
His paintings
reveal a
flof
the
scientific
application
of mathematics
to
matters
of
proportion
to
Alberti,
from
Masaccio
to
Leonardo
da Vinci, Renaissance
stamp
upon visual
culture. By
reviving
classical themes,
geo-
and
a
spirit
of human
vitality, they
broke
decisively
from
the
dom-
-
8/9/2019 Renaissance, 247 271
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7
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producedbymasters,butconsumedbyall'Citiesandwealthypatronscommls-
ilJ
gr""t
*ork,
of
art
for
public
display.
New
buildings
rose
everywhere'
adomed
with
the
statues
and
murals
that
still
stand
as a
testimony
to
generations
of
artists.
Michelangelo
sculptors
of
his
day.
He i"s
immediately
commissioned
to
work
on
an enormouf
blockofmarblethathadbeenquarriednearlyahalf-centu'y.b{o':.andhad
defeated
the
talents
of
a
series
of
carvers.
He
worked
continuously
for
three
1
on
his
Dauid
(r5or-r5o4),
a
piece
that
completed
the
union
between
classical
The
artistic
achievements
of
the
Renaissance
culminated
in
the
creative
outpour-
irrg,
of
Michelangelo
Buonarroti
(1475-1564)'
Uncharacteristically' he
came
from
a
i"i.tfy
of
standin;
in
Florentine
sotitty'
At
the
age
of
14;
over
the
opposition
of
his
father,
he
was
apprenticed
to
a
leading
painter
and
spent
his
spare
time
in
Florentine
churches,
copying
the
works
of
Masaccio'
among
others'
In
r49o,
ivtichelangJlo
gii"ta
a
place
in
the
household
of
Lorenzo
de
Medici'
He
claimed
to
have
taught
hinielf
sculpturing
during
this
two-year
period,
a remarkable
feat
considering
the
skills
required.
In
the
Medici
household
he
came
into
contact
with
leading
Neoplatonists,
who
taught
that
humankind
was
on
an
ascending
joumey
"ip.rf."irU"ifiay
toward
God.
These
ideas
can
be
seen
as
one
source
of
the
heroic
con-
..i,
of
hu*.nity
that
Michelangelo
brought
to
his
work
In
1496,
Vfichelangelo
*ou".d
to
Rorire,
where
his
abilities
as
a sculptor
brought
him
to the
attention
oi;".opo
Galli,
a
banker.
Galli
commissioned
a
classical
work
forhimself"ndp,o.u,edanotherforaFrenchcardinal,whichbecamethePieti.
The
pietti
created
a
sensation
in
Rome,
and
by
the
time
Michelangelo
returned
to
Florence
in
r5or,
at the
age
ofz6,
he
was
already
acknowledged
as one
ofthe
great
Renaissance
stYles'
ilG;#langelo
always
believed
himserto
be
primarily
a
scutptor,
his
outstandirig
work
was
in
the
field
of
painting'
In
r5o8,
t"p-t l't1Y:
u
il;ili"
4
*o*.
and
commissioned
him
to
decorate
the
ceiling
of the
:^L^l^-
.ur.*onii
chapel
that
had
been
built
next
to
the
new
papal
residence'
Michelanl
-
--
^-r^-r^l
-.marirra
hrrrnrn creation and
those
plan
was
to
porrray,
in an
extendtl
T1o*jl
n:*1"
:i::Y
il;;;"rrt,
tt.t
ro."shadowed
the birth
of the
savior'
His
representations
ffffi;;.ut;s,
th.
fi"sers
of
God
"."qli'*
near\
toirclr,ilt-'T.:i
t.g
,tili
emergini
from
Adam's
Jid',
and
the
half-human
snake
in the
temptation
all
maj
esticallY
evocative.
'Ihe
Pietd,the
Dauid,
and
the
paintings
of
the
Sistine
Chapel
were
the
youth.
Michelangelo's
crowning
achievemenl
P: l*1*,9,"1,S1]1t.:::::
i,;;;;;
il
riork
of ag..
rhe
base
work
of
saint
peter's
had.*.:ut
o.*i
Jo*irrg,
for
its
completion had been
made
?o,
years
t":|i1t.lt
o.11tl:
Mic}relangeloaiteredtheseplansinanefforttobringmorelightintothechurch
provide
"-*or.
majestic
iacade
outside'
His
main
contribution'
however'
texts
of
classical
authors
that
were
as
fuil and
accurate
as
possibre.
design
of
the great
dome,
which
centered
the
interior
of
the
church
on
saint
peter,s
grave'
More
than
the
height,
it is
the
harmony
of
Michelangelo,s
design
that
creates
the
sense
of
the
building
thrusting
upward
like
a Gothic
cathedral
of oldluichelangelo
did
not live
to
see the
dome
of
Saint
peter's
completed.
-
Renaissance
art
served
Renaissance
society,
reflecting
both
its
concrete
achievements
and
its
visionary
ideals.
This
art was
a
synthesis
of
old
and new,
building
on
classical
models,
particularly
in
sculpture
and
architecture,
but
adding
newly
discovered
techniques
and
skills.
But
Renaissance
artists
did
more
than
construct
and adorn buildings
or
celebrate and
beautify
spiritual
life.
Inevitably,
their
work
e4pressed
the
ideals
and
aspirations
of
the
society
in
which
they
lived-Jhe
new
emphasis
on
learning
and
knowledge,
on
the
here
and
now
rather
lhT
the-
hereafter,
and,
most
important,
on humanity
and
its
capacity
for
gror,vth
bnd
perfection.
enaissance
ldeals
isance
thought
went
hand
in
glove
with
Renaissance
art.
Scholars
and
philoso-
searched
the
works
of
the
ancients
to
{ind
the principles on
which to
luita
a
life.
They
scoured
monastic
libraries
for
forgotten
manuscripts,
discovering,
;
other
things,
Greek
poetry
history
the
worts
of
Homer
and
plato,
and
'otle's
Poetfcs.
Their
rigorous
application
of
scholarly
procedures
for
the
collec-
and
collation
of
these
texts
was
one
of
the
most
important
contributions
of
the
ilssance
intellectuals
who
came
to
be
known
as
humanists.
Although
humanism
by
no
means
antireligious,
it
was
thoroughly
secular
in
outlook.
Humanists
celebrated
worldly
achievements.
pico
della
Mirandola's
oration
on
)ignity
of
Man (as6)
is
the
best
known
of a
multitude
of
Renaissance
writings
ced
by
the
discovery
ofthe
works
ofplato.
pico
believed
that
people
could
their
existence
on
earth
because
God
had
endowed
humans
witi,
trre
capac-
determine
their
own
fate.
This
emphasis
on
human
potential found
expres-
r':the
celebration
of
human
achievement.
humanists
studied
and
taught
the
humanities,
the
skills
of
disciplines
philology,
the
art
of
language,
and
rhetoric,
the
art
of expression.
Though
mostly
lay
people,
humanists
applied
their
learning
to
both religious
aid
Their
interest
in
human
achievement
and
human
potential
must
their
religious
beliefs,
As
petrarch
stated
quite
succinctry,
,,christ
is
'Cicero
is
the prince
of the
language
I use.,,
and
the
LiberalArts
achievements
of humanist
scholars centered
on ancient
texts.
It
goal
to discover
as
much
as
had
survived
from
the
ancient
world
-
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boost
to the
ideal
of the
perfectibility
of
the
individual
that
appeared
Humanists
furthered the
secularization
of Renaissance
society
through
their
is
on
the study
of the
classical
world. The
rediscovery
of
Latin
texts during
late
Middle Ages
spurred
interest
in
all things
ancient.
and Lorenzo
Valla.
The study
of
the
origins
of words,
their
meaning,
their proper
grammatical
usage
may seem
an unusual
foundation
for
one of
most
vital
of
all European
intellectual
movements.
But
philology
was,
in
fact,
humanists'
chief concern.
This
can
best
be illustrated
by the
work of
Lorenzo
$4o7-t4y).Yalla
entered the
service
of
Alfonso I,
king
of
Naples,
and
applied
training
to affairs of
state.
The
kingdom
of
Naples
bordered on
the
States,
and its kings
were
in
continual
conflict
with
the
papacy,
The
pope
as-
the right
to
withhold
recognition
of
the
king,
a
right that
was based
on
the
ictional
authority
supposedly
ceded
to
the
papacy
by
the Emperor
in
the fourth
century-the
so-called
Donation
of
Constantine.
ng
historical
and philological
critiques
to the text
of the Donation,
Valla
beyond
doubt
that the
Donation
was a forgery
and papal
claims
based
on
without
merit.
Valla's
career demonstrates
the impact of humanist
values on
affairs.
Although
humanists
were
scholars,
they made
no
distinction
be-
active
and a
contemplative
life.
A
life of
scholarship
was a life
of
public
This
civic
humanism
is best
expressed
in
the
writings
of Leon
Battista
74o4-t472),
whose treatise
On the Family
(1443)
is
a classic
study
of
the
values,
especially prudence
and thrift. Alberti
extolled
the virtues
of
the
public
good,
and the
benefit of
all citizens."
own
life
might have
served
as a
model
for
the
most influential
of
tracts,
Castiglione's
The
Courtier
(:.528).
Baldesar
Castiglione
directed
his
lessons
to the
public
life
of
the aspiring
elite.
It
was his
prescribe
the characteristics
that
would make
the
ideal
courtier,
who
made
as
born.
Castiglione's
perfect courtier
was an
amalgam
of
all
of
Renaissance
society
held
dear.
He
was
to
be educated
as
a
was to
be
occupied
as a
soldier,
and he
was
to
serve his
state
as an
Science
the
Renaissance
looked
back
to
the classical
world
and ahead
to
the
would come
from the adaptation
of
ancient
wisdom,
so Renaissance
was focused
in
two
directions.
The
first
was
text-based
hnowledge
works mainly
from
classical
Greece;
the
second
was experi-
achieved
through observation
sciences
were given
new
life by
the recovery
of
the
writings
of
w
wd
Thecreationo{AdamandEVe,adetailfromMichelangelo,sfrescoesonthoceilingoftheSistinechapel.l
SistinefrescoeshadbecomeobscuredbydirtandlayersoJVarnishandglueappliedatvarioustimesover
yoars. ln the
1980s,
they
were
cleaned
to
reveal
their
original
colors'
Studying
the
Glassical
World'
Although
much
was
already
known
of
the
classics,fewofthecentralworksofancientGreecehadbeenrecovered.Hurn
preserved
this
heritage
by
reviving
the
study
-of
the
Greek
language
and
by
lating
Greek
authors
into
Latin.
After
the
fall of
lonstlntil3ple
in
r+g,Italy'lO
the c-enter
for Greek
studies
as
Byzantine
scholars
fled
the
Ottoman
Humanists
also
introduced
historical
methods
in
studying
texts'
principles
for
determining
which
of
manY
manuscript
*l:tt,:f
,11
was
the
oldest,
the
most
accurate,
and
the
least
corrupted
by
their
humanist
emphasis
on
the
humanistic
disciplines
fostered
new
ideals.
Along
with
the
study
of
theology,
logic,
and
natural
philosophy'
dominated
ihe
medieval
university,
humanist
scholars
stressed
the
tm1
oomlnalcu
LIlc
rlrsursv4r
u$rv
e'drlr
t
grammar,
rhetoric,
moral
philosoihy,
and
history'
They
believed
that
thb
these
"liberal
arts"
should
bt
""i"'t"ken
for
its
own
sake'
This
gave a]
other
aspects
of
Renaissance
culture'
Galen,
Medicine
became a
subject for
learned
inquiry
and
the
-
8/9/2019 Renaissance, 247 271
8/12
Lll
O
z
@
a
a
z
ul
E
z
:
F
;
:tr
F
ffi*
ffi
ken
bones
and
treating
injuries'
while
the
rife
,.i#.,
were
advanced
through
attention
to
ancient
texts'
engineering
developeJ
through the
experiences
of
Renaissance
craftsmen
and
artists
who
were
attempting
to
solve
practical
problems
of
proportion,
stabil-
ity,
and
height
in
trre
uuitdi-ngs,
bridges,
and
,ritim"tely
domes
that
they
built'
Most
of
the
important
advaices
in
engineering
were
actually
'made
in
the
service
of
military
ventures.
Leonardo
da
vinci
a=ttempted
to
apply
a
theory
of
mechanics
to
Renaissance
warfare'
and
he
made
drawings
for
the
creation
of
war
machines
such
.,
orrr.,
and
flying
machines
such
as
airplanes.
But
he
was
expert
in
building
*;t*;
modef'
oi
machines'
in advising
princes
on
their
fortifications,
and
suggesting
improvements
in
the
art
of
gunnery'
All
his
con-
tributionsweremadebyexperimentationratherthanthroughtext-based
learning.
Wherever
it
*t"t'
ieo"ardo
built
workshops
to
construct
models
and
kept careful
,rot"toot
,
of the results of his trials.
This spirit
of
experimen-
tation
would
,rrti*rt.ivi."Jto
tt.
birth
of
a
recognizably
scientific
method
in
the
next
century.
medical
school
at
Padua
was
considered
the
greatest
]"-ryT:'^T::*::
eslcar
ssrtuvr
ar
r
qs
isJases
and
attempting
to
find
treat-
Hippo.rrt",
concemed
diagnosing
common
U1
,.-----^-^, r^.-art
rhp h:sis
for a
:T"{::;il;"*il;;;
;ffi;;"
uoav,
rediscovered,
formed
the
basis
for
a
o--^L
^*o*i-
AilH;;
;i""*v
and
red
to
experiment:
T
h:T*
u:::'-t:lt-l*:3*",:-
ffiilTffir"r.J*"*tedge
of
anatomy'
which
led
to
advances
in
setting
bro-
Machiavelli
and
Politics
At
the
same
time
that
Castiglione
was
drafting
1
bytptt::,-f1t".t]r;':i::|;:i
:;'*;;;"h;;;';\i(i6s-r527)waslavingrherounallllijl::
sixteenth-century
ruler'
No
Renaissance
work
has
been
more
important
or
mo
controversial
than
Machiavelli's
The
Prince
(r5r3)'
With
Machriavelli'
for
better
'
worse,beginsthe
science
of
politics'
-
r
r
,-r-Lr:^L ^ r-.{.
The
hinceis
a handbook
for
a
ruler who would
establish a
lasting
ment.It
attemPts,"
,.;;;;Principles
culled
from
historical
examples
and
t e
mp
o rary
events
to
aia
itre
n
ii"
11
*
iYi"iis,
111,T:L1t:t*1:"T:ri,i'
ll,,
;iil.#;;'il;i;;
ii'.tl
'*n
and
ro:::y
apprication'
Machiave[i
the
prince
might
even
control
fortune.
itself'
Yn:t T*,ti:':J:lt:^t"T:
;lirtJ:.T;:;ilffi;;es
to
enliven
debate
over
it'
is
that
Machiavelli
able
to
separate
aU
"tttitat
consideratio"t.fi:T
his
analysis'
Whethe:::i:
::i:
,r"J;ffiil;;;is
own
expressed
desire
for
realism,
Machiavelli
u
prornisingly
instructea
ti'-
*o"ra-uer:I"
t1
i: l:t1,,T1,1ii"ir::||i
i;T';i1t"d;;;"
murder
enemies,
and
to
deceive
friends.
steeped,
humanist
ideals
of
fame
and
uirti-a
combination
of
virtue
and
virtuo:
.r
*l.a
valor,
character,
and
ability-he
sought
to
reestablish
ltalian rule
and placi
ernment
on
a
stable
"it"iifit
basis
ihat
would
end
the
perpetual
conflict
a
the
Italian
citY-states.
The
Politics
of
the
ltalian
City-States
The
absence
of a
unifying
central
authority
in
ltary,
resurting
from
the
coilapse
of
the
Holy
Roman
Empire
and
the
papal
schism,
allowed
anciJnt
guilJs
and
confra-
ternities
to
transform
themserves
into
self-governing
societies.
By
the
beginning
ofthe
fifteenth
century
the
ltarian
city-states
were
thi
center
of
p#.r,
*.alth,
and
culture
in
the
Christian
world.
1
This
dominion
rested
on
several
conditions.
First,
their
geographical
position
favored
the
exchange
ofresources
and goods
between
East
and
wesi
A great
circu_
ft
l"o:
encompassed
the
Bvzantin.
r*pir.,
the
North
erri..o.o"rial
states,
and
the
Mediterranean
nations
of
western
Europe.
The
Italian
peninsula
dominated
the
'circumference
of
that
circle.
Its port
cities,
Genoa
and
Venice
especiany,
became
'great maritime
powers
through
their
trade
in
spices
and
minerals.
Moreover,
just
i:r::j
*:,:ltyll
to th3
norrh
tay
the
vast
"nd
populou,
t.*itori.,
of
the
Holy
.rRoman
Empire.
Their
continuous
need
fo,
**ui"ciured
goods,
especialry
croth
l,*il1f:,:il,1as.fi]ha
o1
r:"F
caravans.
that
traveted
from
italy
through
the
Alps.
the
city-states
and
their
surrounding
areas
were
agriculturalry
seiisufticient.
ough
there
were
dozens
of
Italian
city-states,
by
the
early
fifteenth
century
five
emerged
to
dominate
the
politics
of
the peninsura.
In
the
south
was
the
king_
of
Naples,
the
only
city-state
governed
fy
a
hereditary
monarchy.
its
fohtics
mired
in
conflicts
over
its
succession,
Bordering
Naples
were
the
papal
states,
whose
capital
was
Rome
but
whose
tories
stretched
far
to the
north
and
lay
on
both
sides
of the
spiny
Afennine
in
ctrain
that
extends
down
the
center
of
the
peninrut".
riooughout
the
rth
and
early
fifteenth
centuries
the
territories
under
the
nominal
contror
church
were
largely
independent
and
included
such
thriving
city-states
as
ra,
Ferrara,
and
urbino.
Even
in
Rome
the
weakened
papacy
r,.a
to contend
Five
Powers
noble
families
for control
of the
city.
three
remaining
dominant
city-states_Florence,
Milan,
and
Venice_
the
Medici.
unched
together
in
the
north.
Frorence,
center
ofRenaissance
curture,
was
the
wealthiest
cities
of
Europe
before
the
devastations
of
the
plague
and
the
economic
downturn
of
the
rate
fourteenth
century.
Nominally,
Frorence
rblic,
but
during
the
fifteenth
century
it
was
ruled
in
effect
uy it,
prio.ifrt
north
of Florence
was the
duchy
of
Milan,
the
major
city
in
Lombardy.
romic
life
was
oriented
northward
to the
swiss
and
German
to*,
buyool
rd
its
major
concem
was
preventing
foreign
invasions.
The
most
warlL
of
cities,
Milan
was
a despotism,
ruled
for
nearly
two
centuries
by
the
visconti
of
the
five
powe*
was
the
repubric
of
venice,
which
became
the
leading
wer
of the
age'
until
the
fifteenth
century
Venice
was
ress
interested
in
-
8/9/2019 Renaissance, 247 271
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ul
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U)
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a
z
l-rl
cc
z
=
F
;
I
t--
W
TTALY
1494
Notice
how
Italy
was
organized
into
city-states
at
the
end
of
the
{ifteenth
century'
which
were
the
largest
city-statesi
which
city-states
r.:T
_*:rt
.yscePtibleto
foreign'
invasionl
Which
states
rti
,rt.
i"t,
positioning
for
trade?
When
the
wars
of
Italy
begai
in r4e4
(discussed
later
i"
tttit
trt"ptir),
France-sided
wi}
lvli?n ",9i:Y ):llit'it"*X
and
the
papal
States.
n.r.J
on
tt
.
poritiors
of
the
combatants,
what
do
you
think
have been
the likeliest route for
thi
French
invasionl
which
city-states
could
the
.
securing
a
landed
empire
than
in
dominating
a seaborne
one.
The
republic
was
ruled
by a
hereditary
elite,
headed
by
an elected
doge,
who
was the
chief
magistrate
of
Venice,
and
a variety
of small
elected
councils.
The
political
history
of
the
Italian peninsula
during
the
late fourteenth
and
early
fifteenth
centuries
is one
of
unrelieved
turmoil.
wherever
we look,
the gov-
ernments
of the
city-states
were threatened
by
foreign
invaders,
internal
conspira-
cies,
or
popular
revolts.
In the
r37os,
the
Genoese
and
venetians
fought
their
fourth
war in little
more
than
a
century
this
one so bitter
that
the
Genoese
risked
much
of
their fleet
in
an unsuccessful
effort
to
conquer Venice
itself.
Florence and
Milan
were constantly
at war
with
each
other.
Nor
were
foreign
threats
the
only
dangers.
In Milan,
three
visconti brothers
inherited
power.
Two
murdered
the
third,
and
then
the
son
of one
murdered
the
other
to
reunite
the
inheritance.
The
Venetians
'executed
one
of their
military
leaders,
who
was
plotting
treachery.
one
or another
ine
family
usually faced
exile
when
governments
there
changed
hands.
revolts
channeled
social
and economic
discontent
against
the
ruling
elites
Rome,
Milan,
and Florence.
The
revolt
of
the
"ciompi"
(the
wooden
shoes)
in
nce in
1378
was an
attempt
by
poorly
paid
wool
workers
to reform
the
city's
ive
guild
system
and
give
guild
protection
to the
wage
laborers
rower
down
social
scale.
By
the middle
of
the fifteenth century
however,
two
trends
were apparent
this
political
chaos. The
first
was the
consolidation
of
strong
centralized gov-
within
the
large
city-states.
These
took
different
forms
but
yielded
a
sim-
result:
internal
political
stability.
The
return
of
the
popes
to
Rome
after
the
Schism
restored
the
pope
to
the head
of
his
temporal
estates
and
began a
period
of
papal
dominance
over
Rome
and
its satellite
territories.
In
Milan,
bfthe
great
military leaders
ofthe
day, Francesco
Sforza
(14or-1466),
seized
the
'of
power
after
the failure of
the
Visconti line.
The
succession
of King
Alfonso
I
ended
a half
century
of civil war.
In both Florence
and
Venice,
the grip
of
litical
elite
over
high
offices
was
tightened
by
placing
greater
power
in
small
iory
councils
and, in Florence,
by
the ascent
to
power
of
the
Medici
famiry.
In
this
process
is known
as the rise
of signorial
rule.
rise
of
the signories
made
possible
the second
development
of this
pe-
establishment
of
a
balance
of
power
within
the
peninsula.
sforza's con-
of power
in Milan
initially
led
to
warfare, but
ultimately
it formed
the
of
the
Peace
of
Lodi
(ra5a).
This
established
two
balanced
alriances,
one be-
Florence
and
Milan
and
the
other between
venice
and
Naples.
These
states,
the
papacy,
pledged
mutual
nonaggression,
a
policy
that
lasted
for
40
years.
Peace
of Lodi
did not
bring
peace.
It
only halted
the
long
period
in
against
one
another.
Under
cover
of the
process
of
swallowing
up
their
smaller
major
city-states
struggled
the
large
states
continued
the
and
creating
quasi-ernpires.
Civilian populations
were
oyerrun,
local
void
fighting?
were
exiled
or
exterminated,
tribute
money
was
taken,
and
taxes were
-
8/9/2019 Renaissance, 247 271
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J
)
i
)
)
i
z
u
c
a
(
j
I
u
IEW
ffisffi
levied.
Each
of
the
five
states either
increased
its
mainland
territories
or
strengthened
its
hold on
them.
Venice
and
Flor'ence
especially
prospered.
Venice:
A
Seaborne
EmPire
Venice
owed
its
prosperity
to trade
rather
than
c6nquest.
Its
position
at
the head
of
the
Adriatic
permitted
access
to
the
raw
materials
of both
East
and
West'
The
rich
Alpine
timberland
behind the
city
provided
the
hardwoods
necessary
for ship-
buitding.
The
inhabitants of
the
hinterland
were
steady
consumers
of
grain, cloth,
and
the
new
manufactured
goods-glass,
silk,
jewelry
and cottons*that
came
pouring
onto
the
market
in
the
late Middle
Ages.
-
But the
heart
of
Venetian
success
lay
in
the
way
in
which
it
organized
its
trade
and
its
govemment.
The
key to
Venetian
trade
was
its
privileged
position
with
the
Byzantine
Empire.
venice
had
exchanged
with
the
Byzantines
military
support
for
tax
concessions
that
gave Venetian
traders
a competitive
edge
in the spice
trade
with the
East.
The
spice
trade
was
so
lucrative
that
special
ships
were
built
to
accommodate
it'
These
galleys
were
constructed
at
public expense
and
doubled
as
the
Venetian
navy
in
tirnes
of
war.
By controlling
these
ships,
the
govemment
strictly
regulated
the spice
trade.
Rather
than
allow the
wealthiest
merchants
to dominate
it,
as
they
did
in other
cities,
Venice
specified
the
number
of
annual
voyages
and
sold
shares
in them
at
auc-
tion
based
on
a fixed
price.
This
practice
allowed
big
and
small
merchants
to
gain
from
the
trade
and
encouraged
all
merchants
to
find
other trading
outlets.
uke
its trade,
venetian
government
was
also
designed
to
disperse
Power.
Although
itwas
known
as
the
Most
Serene
Republic,Venice
was
not a
republic
inthe
sense that
we
use
the
wordl
it
was
rather
an
oligarchy-a
govemment
by
a
restricted
group.
Political
power
was
vested
in
a
Great
council
whose
mernbership
had
been
ii*.i at
tt
.
end
of
the
thirteenth*century.
From
the
body
of the
Great
Council,
which
numbered
about
z,5oo at
the
end
of
the
fifteenth
century
was
chosen
the
Senate,
a
council
about
one-tenth
the
size,
whose
members
sewed
a
one-year
term'
It
was
from
the
Senate
that the
true
officers
of
government were
selected:
the
doge,
who
was
chosen
for
life,
and
members
of a
number
of
small
councils,
who
administered'
affairs
and
advised
the
doge.
Members
of
these
councils
were
chosen
by
secret
balot
in an
elaborate
process by
which
nominators
were selected
at
random'
Terms
office
on
the
councils
were
extremely
short
in
order
to
limit
factionalism
and
to
p
vent
any
individual
from
gaining
too
much
power'
Withitsmercantilefamiuesfirrrrlyincontrolofgovernmentandtrade,
created
a
vast
overseas
empire
in
the
East
during
the
thirteenth
and
fourteenth
turies.
Naval
supremacy
"llowed
the
Venetians
to
offer
protection
to strategic
pottt
i"
return
fo,
either
privileges
or-tribute'
Sut
i
*:,*:1T::T1'
lr*.J*.r*ard.
in
a
dramatic
reversal
of
its
centuries-old
policy,
it
began
a
of
conquest
in
lta\
itself. There
were
several reasons
t::
**
"::t"^11:
Venetian
navy
was
no
longer
the
unsurpassed
power
that
tt
oY
\ad.
b::i'
Genoa
had
drained
,.rouitt',
and
the
revival
of the
OttomanTurirs
in
the
East
could
participate
in
government,
electing
the
nine
Srgnona
who
a
growing
threat
that
ultimately
resulted
in
the
fall
of
constantinople
(1453)
and
the
end
of
venetian
trading
privileges.
outposts
in
Dalmatia
and
the
Aegean
came
under
assault
from
both the Thrks
and
fie
king
of Hungary
cutting
h.*ity
ir,to
the
compli-
cated
system
by
whic-h goods
were
circulated
byvenetian
merchants.
It
was
not
long
before
Portuguese
competition
affected
the
most
lucrative
of all
the
comrnodities
traded
by
the
venetians: pepper.
perhaps
more important,
mainland
expansion
of-
fered
new
opportunities
for
venice.
Not
all
venetians
were
traders,
and the
new
in-
dustries
that
were
being
developed
in
the
city
could
readily
benefit
from
control
of
mainland
markets.
Most
decisive
of
all,
opportunitywas
knocking.
In
Milan,visconti
nrle
was
weakening,
and
the
Milanese
territories
were
ripe
for
picking.
venice
reaped
a rich
harvest.
From
the beginning
of the
ffieenth
century
to
the
Peace
of
Lodi,
the
Most
serene
Republic
engaged
in
unremitting
warfare.
Its
successes
were
remarkable.
It pushed
out
to
the
norlh
to
occupy
all the
lands
between
the
city
and
the
Habsburg
territories;
it
pushed
to
the
east
until
it
straddled
the
entire
head
of the
Adriatic;
and it pushed
to
the
west
almost
as
far
as
Milan
itself The
westem
conguests,
in particular,
brought
large populations
under
venetian
control,
which,
along
with
their
potential
as
a
market,
provided
a
ready
source
of
taxation,
By
the
end
of the
fifteenth
century
the
mainland
dominions ofvenice
were
contributing
nearly
4o
percent
of
the
city's
revenue
at
a
cost far
smaller
than
that of the
naval
empire
a centuryearlier.
'Florenc",
Spinning
Cloth
into
Gold
prosperity
was
built
on
banking
and wool.
Beginning
in the
thirteenth
cen-
Florentine
banlers
were
among
the
wealthiest
and
most
powerful
in
the
world.
ntine
financiers
established
banks
in
all the capitals
of
Europe
and
the
East
In
Middle
Ages,
bankers
served
more
functions
than
simply
h*aut
g
and
exchang-
money'
Most
were
also
tied
to
mercantile
adventures
and
underwrote
industrial
ty.
So
it
was
in Florence
that
intemational
bankers
purchased
high-guality
wool
manufactured
into
the
world's
finest
woven
cloth.
The-activities
of both
commerce
and
cloth manufacture
depended
on
exter-
conditions,
and
so
the
wealth
of
Florence
was potentially
unstable.
In
the
ffteenth
century
instability
came
with
the
plague
that
devastated
the
city.
4o
percent
of the
entire population
was
lost
in
the
single year
r34g,
and
outbreaks
continued
to
nvage
the
survivors.
Loss
of
workers
and mar-
disrupted
manufacturing.
By
r38o,
cloth production
had
fallen
to
a
qrrarter
of
pre-plague
levels.
on
the
heels
of
plague
came
wars.
The
created
a
massive
public
debt.
Every
F
