Rise of the City States in Italy - Renaissance (Part 1)

 

In the early 14th Century, a new way of thinking stirred in the streets of prosperous Florence.

 Gradually it spread across Europe, stirring up ideas and cultivating change.

 The birth of the Renaissance was the most profound cultural revolution.

 It launched Europe out of the Middle Ages and into the modern age.

 Its dominance spanned three centuries and was responsible for profound changes around the arts, commerce, and intellectual pursuits, including a new structure for trade, business ownership by investors, a system of business activity across international borders, state borrowing and a more sophisticated system of asset accounting.

 The Renaissance grew out of new philosophical rationale.

 The notion that "Man is the measure of all things" was a new form of Humanism rekindled from ancient Greek thinking and based on the views of Protagoras.

 It gave Human responsibility and ownership for the creation and development of their world.

 Its influence was limitless from science, arts, politics, literature, and social endeavours.

 It spread throughout Europe, but its impact varied considerably.

 This is the story of the Renaissance.

 Culturally the Renaissance nurtured the growth and accomplishments in literature, art, and education.

 The Father of renaissance literature was Petrarch, the Italian poet who first penned the Sonnet and sparked the resurgence of the Vernacular and Latin literature.

 Art, natural beauty, depth in visual presentations, and intellectual creativity from artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo represent the term: "Renaissance Man."

 At the same time, the reform of education created new schools for learning and promoted classical history and literature studies.

 The influence was far-reaching, encompassing intellectual growth and social and political reform.

 As a movement, it changed the nature of science, encouraging reliability through observation.

 In politics, it inspired internationalism and diplomacy.

 Furthermore, social upheaval stemmed from a new modern way of thinking.

 Beginnings

 Generally, Historians believe that the Renaissance started in Florence, Italy but beyond this, why the Renaissance happened and when it started is still open to debate.

 Popular theories for what conditions prompted such profound change cover a spectrum of ideas.

 Some point to Florence's social and political structures as the driving force.

 Others allude to the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks, which prompted the migration of Greek Scholars into Florence.

 Finally, the impact of the patronage by the Medici family, the most powerful family in Europe at the time, and their commitment to reform, as another big factor.

 Dating the beginning of the Renaissance is also a puzzle.

 There is a remarkably romantic attachment to the notion that the official start date should be 1401.

 This year, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi battled for the right to build the new bronze doors of the Florence Cathedral Baptistry, which Ghiberti finally won.

 Links to other notorious figures of the late 13th Century are the poets Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Petrarch (1304–1374) or the artist Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337), but were they the inspiration or product of the movement?

 Finally, the argument that competition for commissions between polymaths and artists like Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio stimulated change.

 Historical Perspectives on The Renaissance What constitutes the Renaissance and its usefulness as a historical concept remains debatable.

 Indeed, the attachment to prominent characters as super protagonists is questionable.

 Equally, the 19th Century exaltation of the term Renaissance appears to have lost some impact.

 Indeed, the whole idea of a unified "Renaissance"

 as a historical definition seems in question.

 The word Renaissance is French for "rebirth".

 It first appeared in Jules Michelet's book in 1855 called Histoire de France.

 Modern historians also apply the term to other profound and extensive changes like the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries and the Medieval Renaissance of the 12th Century.

 Of course, some historians question the right of the Humanist Revolution to call itself a renaissance, claiming that it was merely a period of reminiscence and melancholy for classical Antiquity.

 In contrast, others point to the similarities of "Thousand Ties" (Panofsky) between the Middle Ages and the modern era.

 Prosperous City-States

 In Northern and Central Italy, prosperous City-States grew and flourished from the late Middle Ages onwards.

 The affluence occurred due to their commercial prowess.

 Genoa and Venice profited from the trade links with the Levant that were established by the Crusades.

 Additionally, the Fourth Crusade devastated the commercial prominence of the Byzantine Roman Empire, effectively destroying it as a trade rival, which opened the gate to prosperity for the Genoese and the Venetians.

 Trade routes from the East through the Byzantine Empire and Arab states now reached the ports of Genoa, Venice, and Pisa.

 At the same time, silks, dyes, and spices reached Italian ports from the Levant.

 These were then resold to the rest of Europe at high profit margins.

 Meanwhile, there was affluence for the inland city-states.

 The Po valley was rich agricultural land.

 The Champagne Fairs or trade fairs attracted goods from France, Germany, and the Netherlands, with wheat, wool and precious metals arriving through the system of roads and waterways.

 Mining and agriculture in the northern regions grew due to the profit from substantial trade as far north as the Baltic and as far south as Egypt.

 While the City-states did not benefit from local resources in many instances, they eagerly turned trade into opulence.

 Florence, for example, imported wool from North Europe and later from Spain while dyes came in from the East, creating a woollen textile industry under the Trade guild Arte Della Lana -. Florence emerged as one of the city-states' wealthiest cities through the production of these luxury high-quality woollen goods.

 Revitalising Trade Routes Throughout the 13th Century, the city-states expanded as an economically prosperous entity . It was a period of financial growth throughout Europe.

 However, nowhere was the impact so profound as for the City-States.

 Their economy thrived through a European network that linked the commercial hubs of the Mediterranean to the ports of the Hanseatic League in Northern Europe and the Baltic region, creating a strong economic network for the first time since the 4th century . Their prominence in commerce was so great that they became effectively free from the Holy Roman Empire and safe from foreign military intrusion . To support economic growth, the City-States developed an unparalleled trade infrastructure with Florence as the commercial epicentre.

 They created a system of international banking with the Gold Florin as the main currency for international trade, and a foreign exchange system.

 They developed joint stock companies, a more sophisticated accountancy practice of double-entry bookkeeping, government debt, and insurance . Between the 11th and 13th Centuries , Italy was in a period of growth and change.

 The population of Italy doubled during this period, while much of the development centred on the expansion of the City-States.

 The great cathedrals were rebuilt, and the Italians migrated from the countryside to the towns.

 By the 13th Century, Venice, Florence, and Milan had over 100,000 residents, while Genoa, Bologna and Verona stood at over 50,000.

 Italy reached a 20 % rate of urbanization, turning it into the most urbanized society in the world.

 Commercial endeavours multiplied and took on a new sophistication to match the more intense trade markets.

 In the countryside, the Agrarian revolution changed the face of agriculture.

 Feudalism inevitably declined as the city influence grew.

 The growth of disposable income created an in-demand market for luxury goods, which in turn led to further trade growth, which then saw the enrichment of tradesmen in ever larger numbers, who then in turn further increased demand for luxury goods.

 The Transfer of Culture and Knowledge The commercial routes of Italian cities that spanned the Mediterranean Sea and beyond served as a conveyor belt of culture and knowledge during the 12th century.

 Amongst the riches transported by merchant ships were ancient Greek texts, long lost to most Europeans, that had been preserved by Arab scholars and then brought west following the Crusades and the subsequent conquest of Byzantine lands, thereby reigniting medieval philosophy.

 What is more, Byzantine scholars flocked to Italy in the wake of the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantines between the 12th and 15th Centuries.

 This gave rise to new linguistic studies at the recently established academies in Florence and Venice.

 It was a period of great belief in the Ancients.

 Humanists hunted for ancient manuscripts in monasteries, finding great Latin works, including the histories of Tacitus, the architectural genius of Vitruvius and the artistic work of the Greek genius, Apelles.

 In conclusion

 The Renaissance probably began in 14th Century Florence due to political restructure and social changes based around the growth of the City-States.

 It incorporated a new vision of language, art, and education.

 A critical characteristic of the Renaissance was the dependence on observation in science and the development of diplomacy.

 Humanism was a significant movement during the Renaissance.

 It focused on the ability of citizens to interact within their community.

 A characteristic of the Renaissance was the concentration on excellence in artistic pursuits.

 Historians debate the 19th-century adoration of the Renaissance and individual culture heroes known as "Renaissance men."

 There is significant doubt whether the Renaissance represents cultural “advances” from the Middle Ages, suggesting that the period was somewhat pessimistic and nostalgic for all things related to classical antiquity.

 Next up, we will look at the intricacies of Italian politics and the rise of the powerful Merchant Class at the Renaissance.