Chapter 13
Part 1
The Renaissance
Renaissance means rebirth
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Began in Italy 13th Century
Spread north (like the plague)
In England by the 16th Century
Called the Elizabethan Age there
Characterized by
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Changes in the Arts
Voyages of Discovery
Interested in learning “new” old ideas: Greek
and Roman Classical Heritage
Humanism: The study of Ancient Manuscripts
1453 The Fall of Constantinople = new ideas
to the West
New Inventions: Printing Press & in Navigation
The Reformation
Humanism
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In Italy: What can the ancient texts teach us
about Human Nature so that we might reach
our individual potential and achievement?
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= More secular in Italy
In the North: Christian Humanism: we can use
these new insights into human nature and blend
them with Christian principles to create a better
society for all of us
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= More Christian (religious) in the North
Ideas spread more rapidly
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The Printing Press/ movable type (1454)
Increased trade due to better navigation and
technology
New National Languages
Renaissance
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Had an impact on the Upper Class only
Only 2% of the population!
Urban
Not Rural
Stressed the Individual Not the Common Good
Secular
Not Religious
Jacob Burckhardt
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19th Century Historian
Saw a distinct contrast between the Renaissance
and the Middle Ages
BUT OTHERS: saw the changes begin in the
later Middle Ages: More trade, rise of the
Middle Class, rise of Nation States, calls for
Church Reform, Upper Middle Class education
Why Italy first?
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Surrounded by (Roman) classical ruins
Great commercial revival due to increased trade
(due to new sails, ships, technology and gaining
the Straits of Gibraltar and footholds in the
Mediterranean)
Big increase in ship building
Italy a crossroads between the East and the West
Increase in Wealth in Italy
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More wealth to urban areas (due to trade)
Impoverished nobility married into wealthy merchant
classes = New Urban Nobility
Rulers of city-states were…
Signori (Despots)
Or Oligarchies (merchant aristocrats)
Most CLAIMED to be fairly democratic BUT ruled as
monarchs..crushed urban revolts, killed enemies, taxed
Commenda:
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Contract between Italian Merchants and
Merchant Adventurers
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Merchant-adventurer acquired goods directly
from the source and delivered to merchants
Great risks but great profit
1/3 of the profits to the merchant-adventurer
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First Renaissance art in Florence
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By the end of the 13th Century
Art was one way to flaunt one’s wealth
Banking
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Florentine merchant-Banker families collected
taxes for the papacy (usury no longer an issue)
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Soon had offices in cities all over Europe
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Dominated European banking
The Medici Family
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Important Banking Family
Controlled Florence from behind the scenes
Controlled politics AND the arts
One of the first families to patronize the Arts
Donatello’s David was commissioned for the
wedding of Lorenzo the Magnificent
Florence economy strong and stable
Took many hits: Plague, repudiation of debts
Italian City-States 1494
Italian City States
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Began as communes with much guild
involvement
Free men who were sworn to work for complete
economic and political independence from
feudal lords
By 12th Century communes in Milan, Florence,
Genoa, Siena and Pisa fought for and won
independence from feudal lords
Merchant Guilds were the basis of
communes
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Built city walls
Regulated trade
Levied taxes
Kept order
The displaced feudal lords
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Settled in the cities and became partners of the
new commercial aristocrats
Many business deals were sealed with a marriage
Northern Feudal nobility + Commercial
Aristocracy = New Urban Nobility
Formed tightly-knit alliances to defend and
protect their rights and privileges
Citizenship limited to very few:
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Property owners
Social connections
Years of residence in cities
POPOLOS: the vast majority of the population
who were disenfranchised and overtaxed
Popolos
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Claimed to want a more representative form of
government
After much violence, Popolos took power in
Bologna, Siena, Parma, Florence, Genoa and
more
BUT New governments did not last because:
Popolos excluded others
 Popolos could not keep order
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Some City-States had Constitutions
or Charters
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Mainly for show
Real power at the princely courts of the CityStates
Signori and Oligarchies ruled as monarchs
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Much flaunting or wealth at the courts
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Patronized the Arts
Italians were:
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Intensely loyal to their city-states
Fiercely competitive with one another
The idea of BALANCE OF POWER was
important
Weak city-states would make alliances with each
other to prevent domination of the peninsula by
a single state
Constant shifting of alliances to keep all in
check
1454 Peace Treaty of Lodi
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1450 Milan’s Francesco Sforza acquired the title:
Duke of Milan
Venice (and Papal States) made war on Milan in
protest
Cosimo de Medici (Florence) ended his alliance
with Venice and joined Milan and Naples against
Venice and Papal States
Treaty at Lodi = Venice recognized Sforza’s title
in exchange for territory
Later
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European Nations in the North will adopt the
Balance of Power idea for the same purpose: to
prevent the domination of Europe by any single
power
Balance of Power in Italy
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The Italians’ failure to unify will make them
vulnerable to invading armies of the French and
Spanish in the late 15th and early 16th centuries
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Italian city-states created the concept of the
Resident Ambassador used in modern
diplomacy
The major city-states
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Florence dominated by the Medici Family
Milan after 1450, dominated by the Sforza
family
Rome and the Papal States: the Popes were the
religious and political leaders
Venice
Naples
The Italian City-States
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The major city-states controlled the smaller ones
Florence, for instance, controlled Genoa
All ruled as monarchs, crushed revolts, raised
taxes
All had mercenary armies led by Condottieri:
who were mercenary generals of private armies
hired by the city-states
The Republic of Florence
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Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464) allied his family
with other powerful families of Florence
Banking family
Medicis never held political office but ruled
from behind the scenes.
Those who DID hold political office probably
owed the Medici banks $ so they were controlled
by the Medici family
Florence
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Lorenzo the Magnificent (son of Cosimo)
(1449-1492) a great patron the arts
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Went through much of the family fortune
Donatello’s David was commissioned for his
wedding
Pedro (Piero) ruled on the death of his father,
Lorenzo
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Milan
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Ruled by Sforza family after 1450
Traditional enemy of Venice and Florence until
the Peace of Lodi (1454)
The treaty brought 40 years of peace between
the Italian city-states
Rome and the Papal States
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Included much of central Italian Peninsula
Popes were political and spiritual leaders
All Renaissance Popes were patrons of the Arts
Alexander VI (Spanish…Borgia)
Julius II (the Warrior Pope)
Leo X
others
Venice
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One of the world’s greatest naval and trading
powers of the 14th and 15th centuries
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Longest-lasting of the Italian city-states
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Was not ruled by a foreign power until
Napoleon’s armies at the turn of the 19th
century
Naples (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
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Southern portion of the Italian Peninsula and
Sicily
Only city-state to have an official king
1266-1435 controlled by the French
After 1435 controlled by Spain
The Invasion and Downfall of the
City-States
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Late 15th Century: Florence and Naples allied to
take territory from Milan
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Ludovico the Moor (Milan’s leader) asked for
help from FRANCE
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French armies (Charles VIII) swept through the
peninsula with little opposition in 1494
Invasion continued
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Pedro de Medici (Florence) went to the French
camp to ask for peace terms
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When the Florentines found out, they expelled
Pedro…all Medicies were overthrown
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Medicies will return to power later but will be
severely weakened
Girolamo Savonarola
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Became the official leader of Florence in the
absence of the Medici Family 1494-1498
A Dominican friar who established a theocracy
in Florence
Pledged to rid Florence of decadence and
corruption
Had predicted French invasion and blamed it on
moral decay of Florence
Savonarola
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Became a puppet of the French
Had the Florentines burning their valuables,
books in bonfires
Was overthrown and burned at the stake by the
Florentines when French were ousted in 1498
Pope Julius II (the Warrior Pope) was
instrumental in ousting the French
The Hapsburg-Valois Wars
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A series of wars between the French Valois
family and the Spanish and HRE Hapsburgs
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First phase in Italy (1519-1527)
Will be fought in Germany (HRE) later (15271555)
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Background to the Hapsburg-Valois
Wars
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1508 French king, Louis XII (cousin and heir
of Charles VIII) formed the League of Cambrai
with
Pope Leo X and
German HRE Maximillion I
Purpose: to strip Venice of its mainland
possessions
BUT THEN…
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Pope Leo X had second thoughts
Was worried that once the French entered Italy,
they would not leave
SO…Pope invited the Spanish Hapsburgs into
Italy to oust the French!
And Then…
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Maximillion I (HRE) died suddenly
Maximillion’s grandson and heir Charles V (who
was already the King of Spain) inherited the
HRE!
So…Italy became a battleground between the
French Valois and the Spanish Hapsburgs
Ancestors of Charles V
Maximilian I (HRE)
&
Mary of Burgundy
\
\
Philip of Burgundy
Ferdinand of Aragon (Sp)
&
Isabella of Castile (Sp)
/
/
Joanna of Castile
m
=
Charles I of Spain
(Charles V of HRE)
Now Spanish and HRE are Hapsburg! France is surrounded!
The War in Italy
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Ended with the Sack of Rome in 1527 by
Charles V (which ended the Italian Renaissance)
The Treaty (later in 1559 after the German
phase) the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis:
Spain received control or virtual control of
Sicily, Naples, Milan and huge influence in Papal
States
The war caused much suffering in Italy AND in
Germany later on
Cesare Borgia
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Son of earlier Renaissance Pope, Alexander VI
Had earlier tried to unite the Italian City-States
unsuccessfully
His ambitions ended with the death of his father
BUT was the inspiration for The Prince by
Machiavelli
Will influence European rulers for centuries
The Prince
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Was THE political treatise of the 16th century
Manual: How to take and Keep power
Said that (politically) the end justifies the means
Said that for rulers, it was better to be feared
than loved
Said that rulers had to be cunning (like a fox)
and ruthless (like a lion)
Was amoral