2. -Time period after the Middle Ages: 1300-1600  “Rebirth”  Primarily in Italy  New learning  Secular  Individual was emphasized  Occurred in urban areas  Humanism: Reading and understanding of writing and ideals of the classical past (ancient Greece and Rome from 500 BCE to 400 CE) › It also means focusing on human rather than religious values. › Petrarch is the father of humanism

3.  Individualism: Behavior or theory which emphasizes each person and is contrasted with corporate or community behavior › Sought great accomplishments and looked for heroes of history  Florentine or Platonic Academy : Located in a country house and supported by the Medici: a group of scholars who initially studied the works of Plato

4.  Economic reasons  N. Italy was very wealthy as a result of serving as the “go-between” for trade (silk and spice from the East go to the West)  Italian merchants built wealth in the cloth industry  int’l banking  New $$$ = people have more leisure time, wealth to support the arts

5.  Political Interactions  Independence of city-states in N. Italy due to Papacy/Holy Roman Empire/Merchant issues  No single authority could stop or redirect new developments  Governments of city-states competed by supporting artists and scholars

6.  Historical influences  Built on ruins of Ancient Rome  New Ideas  People leaving the Byzantine Empire  During the numerous wars between the Italian city-states, contestants sought justifications for their claims in the actions of the past, even back to the classical past.  Study of Roman law = study of other Roman writers