1. Renaissance Life

2. The Renaissance City Colorful, lively places.
Florence – most powerful city, starting city of Renaissance & very typical renaissance city.
Twisting streets, crammed tall & narrow buildings. Shops on the street, with living quarters above.
Cities were “tumbling” over themselves, with palaces of wealthy citizens next to run-down houses of the lower class.

3. The Renaissance City
Eventually cities were beautified: with new paved and straight streets.
Limitations to the height of buildings (light and air could reach street level).
Cities were centers of wealth and prosperity for some.
Still, cities were crowded places that led to friction amongst its citizens. Violent feuds amongst families.
Led to a curfew being instituted.

4. Peasant to Patrician
Renaissance Cities were divided into various social classes: The Lower Class, Commercial Class & the Upper Class (Patricians).
Lower Class:
Laborers (porters, boatmen & peddlers), who had no association with the powerful guilds.
Made up 3/4ths of the population in Florence, but had no political power.
Peasants were considered the lowest of the lower class.
Despite growing prosperity, peasants remained poor.

5. Peasant to Patrician Commercial Class:
Consisted of shopkeepers & artisans (worked for minor guilds).
Also included blacksmiths, leather tanners, carpenters & butchers.
They had the possibility of moving up in society, but extremely difficult.
Worked long and hard to gain wealth, with hope of joining Patrician class.

6. Peasant to Patrician Upper Class (Patricians): Also known as nobles.
Merchants and business people who ran the highly prosperous major guilds.
Cloth manufacturers, bankers, doctors & lawyers.
Controlled the wealth & government of cities.
Most were humanists.
Believed they had certain obligations & responsibilities to the larger society (public office, construction of buildings and charities).
They became Patrons as well.
Gave money to scholars & artists.

7. Family Importance of Family: Center of the Patrician’s life.
Family members had strong loyalties.
So important Leon Batista Alberti wrote a Book of the Family.
Encouraged families to own their houses and to live together.
Advised keeping family business within family.
Wealthy families lived in large, high-walled palaces.
Family members (immediate & extended) all lived together.

8. Family
Role of Men:
Men of patrician families began learning at an early age.
After finishing schools sent off to other countries to learn about international business.
After years of training they would return to take place as head of the family business.
Marriage was a way to join social and political fortune of two families.
Parents chose suitable mates & arranged terms of marriage.

9. Family Role of Women: The bride’s family had to provide a dowry:
A gift of money, land, servants or any other valuable property.
Families who could not afford dowries remained unmarried or sent to convents to become nuns.
Women expected to keep activities to households and families.
“it is not seemly for a woman to handle weapons, ride, play tennis, wrestle, and do many other things that are suited to men. A woman if married should have the ability to manage her husband’s property and house and children”
Double standard.