THE RENAISSANCE

CHAPTER 7.1

The Renaissance Begins

I. The Italian Renaissance

A. Renaissance means “rebirth”. The Renaissance in Europe – a rebirth in learning and art-occurred between 1350 and 1550 AD.

B. During the Renaissance people believed they could make the world better and they focused on human achievement and became more secular, meaning they were more interested in the world than religion.

C. The Renaissance started in Italy, the center of the once great Roman Empire. The city-states of Italy became very wealthy

D. Florence and Venice were important city-states during the renaissance.

E. More people in Italy lived in the city or urban areas than the country and artists had more people to buy their works.

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

II. The Rise of Italian City-StatesA. No ruler was able to unite all of Italy.

There were several reasons for this. The Catholic church wanted to prevent a strong ruler from controlling the pope and the church. Also, the city-states were equally powerful and wealthy competing against each other.

B. Italy was in a perfect location for trade. The Italians traded with the French, Spanish, Dutch, English, Turks, Arabs, and Byzantines.

Italy would not become the nation we know until 1870Almost 100 years after the American Revolution

C. The Mongols helped promote trade in Italy by protecting the Silk Road. Marco Polo, a merchant from Venice, had published a book about his travels to the East.

D. Florence was the first city-state to grow wealthy and is the most famous city of the Renaissance. Florentine bankers became experts at valuing coins and they became wealthy. They began lending money and charging interest. Florence’s richest family, the Medici, were bankers.

E. Venice was the wealthiest city-state. Venice is built on a set of swampy islands. Venetians navigated their city-state by boat using canals and became great sailors and ship builders.

III. The Urban Noble

A. Noble families moved into cities and mixed with wealthy merchants there. Wealthy merchants copied the nobles lifestyle, and soon the children of merchants and nobles were marrying each other. These families became the upper class.

B. At first many of these city-states were Republics. Gradually the city-states gave power to one man to run the government. In Venice, the doge had power. Later the doge lost power to a small group of nobles. In Florence, the Medici family gained power and ruled for many years.

Venice, Italy

C. To deal with the other city-states, Italian rulers developed diplomacy, which is the art of negotiating or making deals.

D. Niccolo Machiavelli, a diplomat in Florence, thought people were too greedy and self-centered. He thought rulers should not try to be good, but should do whatever is necessary to keep power and protect a city.

EVOLUTION OF ITALY

ITALY AS A UNIFIED NATION AFTER 1870