AP European History:

“Review” of Renaissance Life

The Italian peninsula was so much more urban than any other part of Europe. There were
much more cities, so unconnected with each other, and so many people in each of them.
Cities depended greatly on migration and the numerous smaller villages around it.

The urban system was a network of cities encompassed by towns and surrounded
by rural villages. The cities were the central paces, providing markets for agricultural
produce and manufactured goods. The tradeoff of both products and labor forces btwn.
Agricultural and industrial life increased both productivity and wages.

Rural
-ownership of land determines social distinction
-clear-cut wealth disparities between rich and poor
-owners vs. sharecroppers

Urban
-ranks based on occupation => social positions and wealth
-hierarchy = guilds, artisans, wage laborers
-poor = 50% population
-wealth (true wealth) in hands of select few, the elite

The quality of Renaissance society that impacted the economy the most was that there
were many population changes, which led to a shift in supply and demand. The
population decline directly caused by the plague caused an oversupply of manufactured
goods and crops, for instance.

When the plague took its toll on the Italian population, the surviving farmers
found opportunities to till on the best land (abandoned) and take more holdings
• Lower prices in basic commodities
• Higher wages for workers – lot of masses improves

Investors find that investments towards crops or cloth making is unprofitable

• Put $ in luxury consumption instead
• Production soars for luxury goods (silks, jewelry, and spices)

Concentration of wealth into production and agriculture corresponds with

population change

Males, who inherited the family business, had the clear advantage in a patriarchal society.
The eldest son was always favored, finding an early apprenticeship in his father’s
workfield, around 12 years old. Sometimes, he spent his life in apprenticeship far off
from the household, earning some income for the family.

Daughters, on the other hand, were stuck at home, disadvantaged, and sometimes ent out
as domestic servants far from the household. Their future lied in marriage or the convent.

Parents played a little role in their children’s lives. The only influences they had
on them were that they planned out their future (business, marriage, dowry, wet nurses).
Since children were so far way from their parents, they felt less impact.

Marriage for Men

• Patriarchal marriage
• 25-30 depending on occupation
• early deaths = hard to establish own household
• responsible for overseeing the upbringing of their children
• could remarry quickly

Marriage for Women

• 18-24
• limited choice, depending on dowry and rank
• many left widows by older husbands
• constant pregnancy
• childbirth still difficult
• governed domestic life
• labored in the home and also in workplaces as well, to contribute to household
income

It is important for women to have an “honorable manner” because purity and modesty are
the most important characteristics in a wife. Harm comes from those who are ill-
mannered, and they are most often therefore dishonored or lacking in virtue. Thus, a man
ought to look for a wife with the beautiful mind, or good conduct and graceful purity.
The wife is the one who shall be virile and healthy in bearing virtuous and strong children
(and thus continuing the family legacy). The wife is responsible for cheering up the man
with liveliness and freshness. She is also supposed to be unpretentious, flexible, obedient,
and affectionate to their husbands.

In the Renaissance, the plague hit and killed suddenly. Epidemics and diseases struck
regularly and often targeted at the young, who were the majority of the population.
Women were very frequently left widows by their husbands succumbing to the plague or
old age. Medical treatment, ineffective as it was, caused more death than prolong life.

The urban family could join social groups of their preference, but most often they
socialized with their blood relations. They were the firs source of aid and charity. The
family could in addition, participates in relationships of neighbors, whether rich or poor;
the rich gave them helpful connections fro their family, while the poor gave them
successful business. Therefore, the urban citizens formed complex networks with many
different sectors.

The “growing sense of civic pride and individual accomplishments,” along with the
development of social cohesion and solidarity made possible the skilled works of art and
higher workmanship in the Renaissance. Architecture, murals, and statues were used for
enhancing pride, loyalty, and expression of the government, church, or the individual.

There was already an absence of a unifying central authority in Italy, due to the collapse
of the HRE and the papal schism. Therefore, the small groups, fraternities, and long-time
guilds collaborated, transformed themselves into self-governing societies.

1. Geographic position of Italy = trade exchange btwn. East and West causes a
high reliance on port cities and trading centers of Italy
2. Italy provides manufactured goods / cloths and metals for populous and needy
HRE to the north
3. City-states and surrounding areas not only commercially advanced, but also
agriculturally self-sufficient

During the 1300s-1400s, the Italian peninsula forced much turmoil, both externally and
internally. Among their hardships were foreign invaders, conspiracies from within, and
revolts. However, two things recurred throughout this time despite this political chaos.
First was the centralization of stable (and often autonomous) governments within the
city-states. The restoration of a head, whether it be the pope in Rome or a military leader
in Milan or the tightening of the politically elite’s control in Florence or Venice, allowed
for a balance of power in the peninsula. Second was the use of diplomacy. War between
the city-states needed alliances, so the need for representative ambassadors grew to
enhance communication and to secure harmony with enemies and mercenary armies.

Water was the great economic alliance of Venice as the city revolved around the
buildings lined at the banks of the lagoons that formed the city. Each building
formed an importance aspect of Venetian success; some served as the palace of
the governor, while others served as mercantile centers, for selling slaves or
lending $.

Venice successfully conquered upward and almost as far as Milan, even. This
was accomplished by traditional mercenaries and effective naval warfare. Venice
became the most powerful city-state in Italy as the newly conquered populations
in the West allowed a ready source of revenue (taxes).

1200’s  bankers of Flreonce = wealthiest and most powerful in the wolrd, not only
handle # but support industrial activity in cloth production, cloth industry at its height
(30,000 employees) – however, commercial / manufacturing activities depend on external
conditions = unstable
1350’s  instability and plague = catastrophe, 40% population lost, disrupted
manufacturing by loss of labor force + loss of markets, wars with Milan, bankrupt
families, massive public debt

The costs of warfare created a horrible and immense public debt, which every well-to-do
Florentine ha some share in. Cosimo de’ Medici, one of the richest men when returning
to Florence, was able to gain supporters with influential power and negotiate peace
treaties with Italian city-states as in international bankers. And with their desperate need
for economic stability, Florence turned for aid to the wealthiest banking family in
Europe.

He recruited and employed followers (50% of Florentines were employed by them) and
even paid their taxes to ensure their vote. Patronage was really how he rose to power.

Lorenzo “the Magnificient” was Cosimo’s grandson, and diplomacy with other European
leaders granted the Medici family to be forever stamped into Renaissance history. With
his rule, cultural awareness and humanist values were instilled in Florence as Lorenzo
facilitated the production of art.
• Wealth and influence
• His power based on personality, charisma, and reputation
• Diplomatic abilities = restores Italian balance of power, no more disorder

Humanism was a philosophical and secular movement that celebrated self-realization,

individual achievement, and classical antiquity. Their greatest achievemtns centered on
ancient texts and was in furthering the art of personal expression.

The Humanists revived classical texts of Greece and Latin, studies and evaluated the
accuracy of translated writings, and emphasized new educational ideals that created a
hunger for learning and knowledge. Philogical studies impacted diplomacy; Machiavelli
impacted politics and warfare; Petrarch and Bruni impacted Renaissance society as a
whole.

Petrarch is considered the father of humanism, the first to resurrect classical individuals
(especially Cicero). He emphasized the purity of Greek + Latin texts to be incorporated
into Renaissance language.

Bruni was the leading humanist after Petrarch’s generation, and he was the great Greek
scholar who translated and mastered classical Greek texts, therefore integrating Plato and
Aristotle into the 15th century.

Civil Humanism = using the life of scholarship for practical affairs and public service,
applying humanist studies towards improving self, society, and the world

Leon Battisa Alberti = incorporated civil humanism in his writing to express principles
and values for the private lives of successful urban families. A mixture of many talents
(writer, architect, mathematician, poet, musician, inventor).
The “Donation of Constantine” was a right asserted by the pope to withhold recognition
from the king, started by Emperor Constantine in the 4th century. Lorenzo aValla, a
master of philology, settled this affair with certainty. He dated back the words in the
doctrine to no earlier than the 8th century, which proved that Constantine couldn’t have
used it and that the papal claims based on it were invalid.

Revealing the fallacies and forgeries of the papal claims and doctrines sforeshadows the
public’s ascertainment of Catholic corruption, and it foretold the breaking away from the
Church to form new religious institutions.

The Courtier was an influential etiquette book directed to the “public life of the aspiring
elite.” It taught every detail of education and manners needed to become the ideal state
servant, these skills to be manifested with natural ease and superiority.

Machiavelli’s The Prince was “a handbook for a ruler who would establish a lasting
government.” It set down the principles and guidelines needed in attaining and
maintaining power, and it was purely secular in its material and ideology. It instigates
controversy and debate because Machiavelli abandoned ethical and moral codes in his
work, whether from cynicism or from a desire to express a realistic model. Therefore, the
measures, as described by Machiavelli, that man must take to gain power are corrupt and
inhumane.

The political, philosophical, and social aspects of the Renaissance stirred artistry. The
need for civil government buildings on a grand scale brought a need for magnificent
architecture. The new interests and glorification of individual achievement led to a
growth of portrait painting. Artists held close relationships to the demands of their
clients and patrons, and competition for commission (from the elite or the Church) grew
between studios. The wealthy used art to express their distinction or public piety, and
public structures needed architecture and statues for beautification.

Sculpting, Painting, Architecture - The latter dominates artistic discipline

Bruneschelli, Donatello, Massacio

Renaissance artists crossed the boundaries of different artistic fields and spread
themselves to many areas of artistic expression. They worked with a variety of artistic
medium. Their intensive and varied apprenticeship taught them to apply the technical
solutions of one field to another.

Popular from the 13h century to the 15th century, the Gothic architecture consisted of
pointed arches, vaulted ceilings, and slender spirals, all of which simplified the building
structure but complicated the techniques of constructing the edifice itself. The
architecture allowed greater height, which stretched upwards to the heavens.

Renaissance architects, especially Brunelleschi, recombined the basic elements of Gothic

architecture with the components of classical structures, reintroducing and integrating
bold, geometric principles into artistic pieces. A new fascination with perspective and
proportion was first promoted by Brunelleschi.

Donatello’s Innovations
• Naturalism
• Shading of light and shadow
• Linear perspective to create illusions of 3-D and height and epth on flat works
• Created evocative, emotional, and sensitive paintings

Alberti’s Architecture
He gave the clear-cut outlines of the geometric principles to be followed in art. He
stated that, like in the classical ages, buildings should have an even # of supports and odd
# of openings, to calculate precise geometric designs aesthetically pleasing to the eye. He
showed how art didn’t have to be for a purpose; it could be merely as a harmonic
embellishment.

Alberti’s principles in geometry and proportion “broke decisively from the dominant
medieval traditions,” representing how the Renaissance emphasized new ideals,
techniques, and themes. Art was no longer just a practical expression; it was also secular
and symbolic of individual pride. Alberti’s focus on precision showed that humanity “had
the capacity for growth and perfection.”

Leonardo da Vinci’s widespread talent on all of the Renaissance’s main subjects (science,
technology, art) embodied the ideal man, whose creative genius was universal in all
fields. He incorporated techniques from other fields (such as math) towards perspective
and proportion, creating dramatic works of art.

Michaelangelo’s Achievements
• Pieta = sculpture of eloquent expression
• Michaelangelo portrayed an intricate narrative of human creation and the events
before Jesus Christ, framing his scenes within a rounded surface
• Majestic, compelling though simple
• Created innovative designs such as the dome concept
• Sistine Chapel
• Main patron = papacy

31) The Italian city-states exported their goods and culture to all depts. Of the continent –
their trade routes connected the East to the West; merchants brought spices, minerals, and
cloths to foreign lands; humanist principles spread quickly to far-reaching places; and
artistic works were being imitated by other European. Technology in Italy helped achieve
what was once considered impossible, including the exploration of new territories.

32) The Peace of Lodi was a “peace” agreement, establishing two balanced alliances—
(1) Florence and Milan, and (2) Venice and Naples. Nevertheless, each of the 5 city-
states clandestinely increased its mainland territories or strengthened its grasp on them, in
their battle of imperialism. The PoL only stalled the struggle between the city-states.

33) The Ottomans were originally a small warrior tribe in the 1300s, but they proved to
be a powerful force when they replaced the idle Byzantine Empire with a virile empire.
They conquered towns (Constantinople) and easily seized eastern kingdoms (the
Balkans), thus greatly expanding the potent Ottoman kingdom westward. Their creeping
presence in Central Europe soon affected Venice when its position in eastern trade was
closed off by the Turks. Islands and seaports succumbed to Ottoman rule, and Venetian
naval supremacy had met its deposition in 1480.

34) He ordered for the ships to be transported to the harbor via large, constructed cradles
that were rocked back and forth to shore. They were dragged through the use of man or
machine.

Mehmed used a discreet method of bringing in the ships and army men, so the Romans
were totally bewildered and unprepared. Few men were there to guard the wall, taken
aback as they were.

35) The Wars of Italy!

Naples + Florence + Papal States VS Milan
Milan consults French support
France invades Italian Peninsula
Steals Florence’s Pisa  Medici rule ends
Papal States conquered
Naples conquered
Venice and PS enlist Spanish support and HRE support

Italy becomes battleground for war of dynastic supremacy

As city-states try to extend their own mainland empires, governments were deteriorating
Italy physically destroyed, city-states conquered by foreigners, institutions defeated
Venice loses former glory but miraculously survives
Florence lost to French, then Spanish
Rome torn to pieces by Germans