THE RENAISSANCEThe Renaissance BeginsChapter 17, Section 1

The Italian Renaissance

Renaissance: French for “rebirth” The years from about 1350-1550 in European

history are called this because there was a rebirth of interest in art and learning.

In some ways, the Renaissance was a rebirth of interest in the same subjects the Greeks and Romans had studied.

After the horrible years of the Black Death, Europeans began looking to the past when times seemed better. They wanted to learn how to make their own society better.

People were still very religious during the Renaissance but they also began to celebrate human achievements.

People became more secular which means they were more interested in this world than in religion and getting into heaven.

The Wealth of Florence

No city was more famous in the Renaissance than Florence.

It was the first to grow wealthy, and it produced many famous artists.

At first, Florence’s wealth came from trading cloth, especially wool.

With goods pouring into Italy from around the world, merchants needed to know the value of coins from different countries.

Florentine bankers became the experts to show their value.

Florence’s richest family, the Medici, were bankers. They had branch banks as far away as London.

How Were Italian City-States Run? At first, many of the city-states were

republics. What is a republic?

From your study of the ancient Romans, you might recall that when their cities faced war or rebellion, they gave power to a dictator. The Italian city-states did something similar. In many cases, the cities were ruled by one powerful man who ran the government.

In Florence, the powerful Medici family gained control of the government in 1434.

The Medici ran Florence for many decades. Lorenzo de’ Medici ruled the city from 1469-1492. Known as “the Magnificent,” Lorenzo used his wealth to support artists, architects, and writers.

Many of Italy’s Renaissance artists owed their success to his support.

Niccolo Machiavelli

How could a ruler maintain power in the Italian city-states?

Niccolo Machiavelli, a diplomat in Florence, tried to answer this question when he wrote The Prince in 1513. He claimed people were greedy and self-centered. Rulers should not try to be good, he argued. Rather, they should do whatever is necessary to keep power and protect their city, including killing and lying.

Today when we say someone is being Machiavellian, we mean they are being tricky and not thinking about being good.

Chapter 17, Section 2: New Ideas and Art To be continued…