Why did the Renaissance begin in Italy? - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Why did the Renaissance begin in Italy?

Excellent Question!Slide2

I. Renaissance Basics

Economic

growth laid the material basis for the Italian Renaissance

B/t 1050-1300

tremendous commercial and financial development

population

growth

growing political power of self-governing cities

late 13

th

-16

th

C. –lots of art

Beginning of Renaissance was in Italy (Florence specifically)Slide3

A. Economic Growth as a Basis of the Renaissance

1.

Venice

, Milan, Genoa

really rich b/c of overseas trade

Venice

has merchant marine & profited from fourth crusade to Constantinople

Genoa & Milan wealthy from trade too—

natural crossroads of trade

TECHNOLOGY—Genoa & Venice

improved shipbuilding

techniques so they could sail all year long; improved ship construction allowed increased volume of goods transported, improvements in mechanics = accelerated speed

all of these things means more trade & more $$$Slide4

2.

Florence was a wealthy banking center

FIRST SIGNS OF RENAISSANCE were in Florence

i

. Inland

city—along a river

ii. Florentine

wool industry

major factor in that city’s financial expansion & pop growth

iii. By

end of 13

th

C. –Fl. Bankers

controlled papacy banking—tax collectors for papacy

Began to

dominate banking all over Europe

& set up offices everywhere

Profits from loans, investments, and money exchanges—it goes to Florence and goes into industries

Medici

Family is very wealthy—controlled politics and culture of their cities

Economy in Florence

so strong that it remained stable

in the face of several crises: Black Death, 1344 King Edward III repudiates debts & forces some banks bankrupt,

ciompi

revolts of 1378Slide5

Political Evolution: Communes and Republics

a. communes

—in

northern Italy, the larger cities

won independence from local nobles and became self-governing communes of free men in the 12

th

C. -- (Milan, Florence, Genoa, Siena, and Pisa)

i

. won

freedom from

local nobles

ii. local

nobles

moved into cities & marry into wealthy merchant families

new social

class=

Urban nobility

= Marriages b/t rural nobility and mercantile/commercial aristocracy

New class group tied by blood, economic interests, & social connections

Made citizenship

dependent on property requirements,

years of residence w/in city, and social connections (

very few

could qualify to hold gov’t office)Slide6

b.

Popolo (the excluded) rebelled and in some cities set up republics

popolo

-group

of over taxed and disenfranchised wanted places in communal gov’t and equal tax

Throughout 13

th

C. city after city,

popolo

used force to take over city gov’t

Republics set up in many states—Bologna, Siena, Parma, Florence, Genoa, & others

Popolo

leaders excluded those below & immigrants, so they never gained enough support

Could not establish civil order w/in their cities

Movement for republican gov’t failsSlide7

c. By

1300 republics had collapsed and

despots or oligarchies governed most Italian cities for the next 200 years

Signori-despots

, or one-man rulers—despot pretended to follow law but really manipulated it to hid their illegality

Oligarchies-rule of merchant aristocracies—had constitution, but typically through manipulation and schemes a small group controls the executive, judicial, and legislative functions of gov’t—façade of a republic only

Renaissance nostalgia for ancient Roman gov’t combined w/ shrewdness led Venice Milan, and Florence to use “Republican” forms of gov’tSlide8

d. 15

th C. political power and elite culture centered on princely courts of despots & oligarchs

i

. made laws, ambassadors, meals

ii. gave despot opportunity to show off/assert wealth & power

iii. extravagant celebrations for family things-weddings, baptisms, funerals, lots of $$/gifts to artistsSlide9

C. Balance of Power Among Italian City-States

Political loyalty toward city—all over peninsula, everyone loyal to their city, so it hinders unification & political centralization (need a national identity)—the opposite was happening in northern EuropeSlide10

b. 1500—5 Italian powers—major powers controlled smaller cities & competed for land/power

i

. Venice(oligarchs)

ii. Milan (despots-Sforza family)

iii. Florence (elitists—Medicis-1434-1494-Cosimo & Lorenzo not officially in

gov’t

, but ruled from behind the scenes)

iv. Papal States --Pope & Roman Catholic Church

During Babylonian Captivity came under sway of important Roman families

Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) reasserted Papal authority (helped by his son

Cesare

Borgia—becomes hero of Machiavelli’s

Prince

b/c he ruthlessly taking over principalities that made up the Papal States

v. Kingdom of Naples—disputed b/t France & Aragon; 1435 Aragon gets it

vi. All--taxes, crushed revolts, killed enemies, public works to create jobs, art to awe; used spies & diplomacy to get informationSlide11

c. Cities strove to maintain a

balance of power among themselves, they invented the apparatus of modern diplomacy (permanent ambassadors in foreign capitals)—alliances shift until 1494

1450- Milan

vs

Venice over Sforza taking title Duke of Milan—Florence usually supports Venice, but changed mind this time & went against Venice & papal states

Each city-state wanted to keep every other city-state from becoming more powerful than

the groupSlide12

d. b/c

of disunity, target for invasion

i

. In 1494, the city of Milan invited intervention by the French King Charles VIII (it was targeted by Florence and Naples)

ii. Charles invaded and conquered Florence, Rome, and Naples w/ little opposition

iii. b/c of this Italy becomes target of European powers and the battleground of foreign armies

iv.

1508-deal b/t

Louis XII (Charles’s heir), the pope, and German emperor Maximilian—want to take Venice’s mainland possessionsSlide13

v. Then pope worries about France and asks Spain and Germans to expel French from Italy—temporarily successful

vi. 1522—French go back to Italy & Habsburg-Valois Wars began

vii. 16

th

C.—political and social life of Italy was upset by the relentless competition for dominance between France and the HRE.—suffered from continual warfare

viii. 1527—Rome sacked by Charles V of HRESlide14

e. Failure of city-states to form some federal system, consolidate, or at least establish a common foreign policy led to the continuation of the centuries-old subjection of the peninsula by outside invaders. –

f. not unified until 1870