Renaissance

Renaissance the rebirth of art and culture from antiquity (Ancient Greece and Rome)

Growth of Cities Description: As trade revived so did cities Merchants settled in the old Roman cities Artisans then followed had the skills to make the items that merchants could sell

Let’s review … What were medieval towns like? Write down one characteristic of medieval towns. Turn to your partner, and share your characteristic. Write down your partner’s characteristic. Be prepared to share both!

Medieval Towns Space: crowded within the walls streets were narrow second and third story of buildings reached over the streets

Medieval Towns Fire: danger was great buildings were mostly wood candles and wood fires were used for light and heat

Medieval Towns Pleasantness: not pleasant dirty and smelled from human and animal waste wood fires created air pollution

Medieval Towns Manufacturing Center: a variety of crafts were manufactured in the houses ex. cloth, metalwork, shoes, and leather goods

Growth of Cities New Cities and Towns: founded in northern Europe a group of merchants built a settlement near a castle on a trade route the lord would offer protection walls were built to protect it medieval cities were small

Growth of Cities Bourgeoisie: the merchants and artisans of these cities from the German word burg, which means “a walled enclosure”

Guilds business associations twelfth century organized by craftspeople played a leading role in urban economic life by the thirteenth century almost every craft had a guild

Italian States Examples: larger Italian cities Venice, Florence, Milan, and Genoa were small compared to Constantinople or Baghdad

Italian States Effect: played crucial roles in the Italian politics of the time prospered from trade with the Byzantine, Islamic, and Mediterranean civilizations set up trading centers in the east due to the Crusades exchanged goods with merchants in England and the Netherlands

The Republic of Florence dominated the Tuscany region in the fourteenth century a wealthy group of merchants controlled the Florentine government led a series of successful wars against their neighbors, and established Florence as a major city-state

Stop and Think! Why do you think the Renaissance began in Italian cities, particularly Florence?

Medici Family Rise of the Medici’s: in 1434 Cosimo de’ Medici took control of Florence Cosimo then his grandson Lorenzo, dominated Florence when it was the cultural center of Italy The Medici family encouraged the development of the arts

The Powerful Medici family of Florence, Italy Cosimo de Medici

Medici Family Girolamo Savonarola: late 1440s economy declined because of English and Flemish competition for the cloth market a Dominican preacher named Girolamo Savonarola condemned the Medicis’ corruption and excesses many people followed Savonarola caused the Medicis to give up control of Florence people grew tired of Savonarola’s regulations no gambling, swearing, dancing, painting

Medici Family Effect: Savonarola convicted of heresy executed in 1498 after criticizing the pope. Medicis returned to power

Machiavelli Description: authored The Prince one of the most influential works on political power in the Western world how to get and keep political power

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved. The reply is, that one ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one of the two has to be wanting. For it may be said of men in general that they are ungrateful, voluble [changeable], dissemblers [liars], anxious to avoid danger, and covetous of gain; as long as you benefit them, they are entirely yours; they offer you their blood, their goods, their life, and their children, as I have before said, when the necessity is remote; but when it approaches, they revolt. And the prince, who has relied solely on their words, without making preparations, is ruined. How does Machiavelli describe human nature? Summarize his advice for rulers. (What is he telling a prince to do in order to keep power?)

Machiavelli Old Political Thought: previous authors stressed that princes should be ethical and follow Christian principles

Machiavelli Machiavelli’s Political Thought: argued the prince’s attitude toward power should be based on understanding that human nature is self-interested a prince should not act on moral principles but on behalf of the interests of the state

Machiavelli Impact: first to abandon morality as the basis for analyzing political activity influenced political leaders who followed

Stop and Think! How do Machiavelli’s ideas reflect changes from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?