Jacob Burckhardt:
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
(1860)
• Created the modern concept of the Renaissance
• 14th – 15th c. Italy was the birthplace of the
modern world
• Distinguishing features of the period…
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revival of antiquity
“perfecting the individual”
secularism (“the worldliness of the Italians”)
• Represents a sudden & dramatic cultural break w/
the Middle Ages
The Italian City-States:
• Most were economic powerhouses (shipbuilding, foreign
trade, banking & manufacturing)
• Organized as communes…
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Efficiently managed cities
Associations of free men who won independence from local
nobles
Powerful local oligarchies wrote constitutions & declared them
republics (the popolo were disenfranchised)
Some oligarchies brought in military leaders (condottieri) or
handed the gov’t over to one man (signori)
• Competed constantly with each other
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Invented modern diplomacy
Created concept of the balance of power
The 5 Major
City-States
of
Renaissanc
e Italy
The City-State of Florence
• Type of Government…

Republic controlled by
small merchant oligarchy
• Most powerful family…
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Medici family
• Most famous ruler(s)…
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Cosimo de’ Medici
Lorenzo de’ Medici
• Economy based on…
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Banking
Textiles (cloth & wool)
Artistic & cultural center
of Early Renaissance
Architectural
Landmark:
The “Duomo”
• Built between 1420-1436
• Architect
Filippo Brunelleschi
The City-State of Milan
• Type of Government…
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Duchy (rule by dukes)
• Most powerful family…
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Visconti
Sforza (after 1447)
• Most famous ruler(s)…
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Francesco Sforza
• Economy based on…
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Efficient tax system
Thriving cloth industry
Controlled trade route
through Alps
Milan’s Architectural
Landmarks
Castello Sforzesco
(Sforza Castle)
Church of Santa
Maria della
Grazie
The City-State of Venice
• Type of Government…

Maritime Republic
controlled by a small
oligarchy of merchant
aristocrats
• Most powerful group…
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Great Council, Senate &
Council of Ten
• Most famous ruler(s)…
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Doge = elected leader
• Economy based on…
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Commercial trade
empire
Shipping industry
Architectural Landmarks : St. Mark’s Square
St. Mark’s Cathedral
Doge’s Palace
Venice: A City with NO STREETS!!!
Rome (a.k.a. Papal
States)
• Type of Government…
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Ruled by the pope
• Most powerful group…
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High ranking officials of
Catholic Church
• Most famous ruler(s)…
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Pope Alexander VI
Pope Julius II
Pope Leo X
• Economy based on…
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Religious pilgrimages
Church funds & taxes
Artistic center of High
Renaissance
Architectural
Landmark:
The Vatican
St. Peter’s Basilica
(1506-1567)
Kingdom of Naples
• Type of Government…
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Backward Monarchy
• Most powerful family…

House of Aragon
• Most famous ruler(s)…
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Alfonso of Aragon (the
Magnanimous)
• Economy based on…
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A feudal system
consisting largely of
poverty-stricken
peasants dominated by
unruly nobles
1. Humanism
• Originated with Petrarch (14th c. poet)
• Derived from the term studia humanitates (“liberal
studies”)
• Important Characteristics…
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Study of Latin & Greek classics
Goal = revive the art of rhetoric & lively dialogues of
the Platonic Academy
Use of vernacular language
Emphasized the abilities, achievements & greatness of
humans
• Humanists were intellectual celebrities admired
beyond the borders of their city-states
Pico della Mirandola
• On the Dignity of
Man
• 1486
2. Individualism
• “Man is the measure of all
things.”
• A Sense of power and
greatness of the human
being replaced religious awe
• Individual Ambitions &
accomplishments were
celebrated
• Can easily be seen in
Renaissance literature
(autobiography) & visual arts
(portrait)
3. Virtù
• “The Quality of
Being a Man”
• Means living up to
one’s highest
potential & excelling
in all endeavors
• L’uomo universale
•
Vitruvian Man (1492);
Leonardo da Vinci
Self-Portrait –Leonardo da Vinci, 1512
• Artist
• Sculptor
• Architect
• Scientist
• Engineer
• Inventor
1452 - 1519
Baldassare Castiglione by
Raphael,
1514-1515
• Castiglione
represented the
humanist
“gentleman” as
a man of
refinement and
self-control.
• The Courtier
(1528)
4. Secularism
• Focus on the earthly world,
not the heavenly one
• Enthusiastically adopted by
new wealthy elites who
patronized the arts & sought
more pleasurable lives
• Examples:
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Lorenzo Valla, On Pleasure
Boccaccio, Decameron
Machiavelli, The Prince
5. Historical
Consciousness
• Humanism provided a new periodization, or
chronology, to history
Classical Age
Dark Ages
Renaissance
• Secularized the writing of history
• Examples:
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Leonardo Bruni, History of the Florentine People
Francesco Guicciardini, The History of Italy and his
History of Florence