Chapter 13 Flashcards
What is patronage?
ambitious merchants used their money to buy luxuries/hire talent
- comissioned writers and artists to produce works
- political leaders admired work/admiration caused commissions to skyrocket
What cities led the commercial revival of the eleventh century?
Venice, Genoa, and Milan had an enormous merchant marine, made strides in shipbuilding.
-Florence, on the fertile soil of the arno river and location on the main road north from rome, became a commercial+banking powerhouse.
What crises did Florence endure in the 14th century
- in 1344, King Edward III repudiated his debts to florentine bankruptcy
-lost over half its population from black death
BUT, Material wealth derived from banking allowed economic structure to live on
What did the new italian wealth lead to socially?
social climbing made people see life as an enjoyable opportunity, not a test for god
What were communes?
Northern italian cities that were associations of free men that sought independence from nobles. Merchant guilds served as government, and often took over communes and formed oligarchies.
How did nobles and merchants get along in renaissance italy?
they intermarried, forming a powerful oligarchy. Ruling family rivalries often made communes unstable.
What was the popolo?
The common people, who were prevented from holding political office by merchant instituted rules.
What did popolo and merchant conflict lead to?
the creation of signori cities, where one man ruled and handed down the right to rule to his son. Oligarchies maintained the facade of democracy, but even those functioned similar to signori
What were courts?
signori and oligarchs showed off their wealth in art and music at their personal palaces, and mandated all political activity occur there
What city states dominated italy?
Venice, an aristocrachy
Milan, a signori led by the sforza family
Florence, led by the great medici banking family
The Papal States, led by the pope who was a member of powerful italian families, and selected for political skill.
Naples- king of aragorn
How did the italians create modern diplomacy?
In order to maintain a balance of power, they had embassies with resident ambassadors in capitals, and formed alliances against aggressive italian states.
What was the flaw of Italian balance of power?
by remaining divided, they were vulnerable to outside attack. The French king Charles VIII invaded Italy and overthrew the Medici dynast.
Who was Savonarola?
A friar who replaced the medicis as head of florence, told people to destroy their materialism. People ultimately tired of him, executed him, and brought the medicis back.
What ideas did the Renaissance found itself on?
Through ancient latin and greek literature and philosophy, renaissance thinkers developed new ideas on human nature, political rule, and education
Who was Francisco Petrarch?
believed that writers/artists of ancient rome were perfect, retreival of their texts would bring a new age of intellectual achievement.
- proposed young men study works of greek/latin authors, use them to write and argue
- called liberal arts/humanism
