Chapter 6 The Itallian Renaissance.docx

Chapter 6 The Itallian Renaissance.docx

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Chapter6TheItallianRenaissance

TheItalianRenaissance

TheItalianRenaissancebegantheopeningphaseoftheRenaissance,aperiodofgreatculturalchangeandachievementinEuropethatspannedtheperiodfromtheendofthe13thcenturytoabout1600,markingthetransitionbetweenMedievalandEarlyModernEurope.Althoughtheoriginsofamovementthatwasconfinedlargelytotheliteratecultureofintellectualendeavorandpatronagecanbetracedtotheearlierpartofthe14thcentury,manyaspectsofItaliancultureandsocietyremainedlargelyMedieval;theRenaissancedidnotcomeintofullswinguntiltheendofthecentury.Thewordrenaissancemeans“rebirth”,andtheeraisbestknownfortherenewedinterestinthecultureofclassicalantiquityaftertheperiodthatRenaissancehumanistslabelledtheDarkAges.Thesechanges,whilesignificant,wereconcentratedintheelite,andforthevastmajorityofthepopulationlifewaslittlechangedfromtheMiddleAges.

TheEuropeanRenaissancebeganinTuscany,andcenteredinthecitiesofFlorenceandSiena.ItlaterhadagreatimpactonVenice,wheretheremainsofancientGreekculturewerebroughttogether,providinghumanistscholarswithnewtexts.TheRenaissancelaterhadasignificanteffectonRome,thenwaslargelyrebuiltbyhumanistsixteenth-centurypopes.TheItalianRenaissancepeakedinthelate15thcenturyasforeigninvasionsplungedtheregionintotheturmoiloftheItalianWars.However,theideasandidealsoftheRenaissancespreadintotherestofEurope,settingofftheNorthernRenaissance,andtheEnglishRenaissance.

TheItalianRenaissanceisbestknownforitsculturalachievements.AccountsofRenaissanceliteratureusuallybeginwithPetrarch（bestknownfortheelegantlypolishedvernacularsonnetsequenceoftheCanzoniere抒情诗集）andhisfriendandcontemporaryBoccaccio薄伽丘（authoroftheDecameron）.FifteenthcenturywritersmadeextensivetranslationsfrombothLatinandGreek.ItalianRenaissancepaintingexercisedadominantinfluenceonsubsequentEuropeanpaintingforcenturiesafterwards,withartistssuchasMichelangelo,Raphael,LeonardodaVinci,andTitian提香.Thesameistrueforarchitecture.TheirworksincludeFlorenceCathedral,St.Peter’sBasilicainRome,andmanyothers.Finally,theAldine阿尔定Press,foundedbytheprinterAldoManuzio,activeinVenice,developedItalictype斜体活字andthesmall,relativelyportableandinexpensiveprintedbookthatcouldbecarriedinone’spocket,aswellasbeingthefirsttopublisheditionsofbooksinAncientGreek.Yetsomepresent-dayhistoriansalsoseetheeraasoneofthebeginningofeconomicregression倒退forItaly（duetotheopeningupoftheAtlantictraderoutesandrepeatedforeigninvasions）andoflittleprogressinexperimentalscience,whichmadeitsgreatleapsforwardamongProtestantcultureinthe17thcentury.

I.Origins

1.NorthernItalyintheLateMiddleAges

BytheendoftheMiddleAges,centralandsouthernItaly,theheartlandoftheRomanEmpire,waspoorerthanthenorth.Romewasacitydominatedbyancientruins,andthePapalStates教会辖区werealooselyadministeredregionwithlittlelawandorder,duetothepopehavingrelocatedtoAvignonunderpressurefromKingPhiliptheFairofFrance.Inthesouth,Naples,SicilyandSardiniahadforsometimebeenunderforeigndomination,bytheArabsandthentheNormans.SicilyhadprosperedforseveralcenturiesduringtheEmirateofSicilyandtheearlyKingdomofSicily,withPalermobeingthelargestcityinItalyandoneofthelargestinEurope,buthaddeclinedbytheendoftheMiddleAges.

Thenortheventuallybecamefarmoreprosperous,withthestatesofnorthernItalyamongthewealthiestinEurope.TheCrusadeshadbuiltlastingtradelinkstotheLevant,andtheFourthCrusadehaddonemuchtodestroytheByzantineEmpireasacommercialrivaltotheVenetiansandGenoese.ThemaintraderoutesfromtheeastpassedthroughtheByzantineEmpireortheArablandsandonwardstotheportsofGenoa,Pisa,andVenice.LuxurygoodsboughtintheLevant,suchasspices,dyes,andsilkswereimportedtoItalyandthenresoldthroughoutEurope.Moreover,theinlandcity-statesprofitedfromtherichagriculturallandofthePo波河valley.FromFrance,Germany,andtheLowCountries,throughthemediumoftheChampagnefairs,landandrivertraderoutesbroughtgoodssuchaswool,wheat,andpreciousmetalsintotheregion.TheextensivetradethatstretchedfromEgypttotheBalticgeneratedsubstantialsurplusesthatallowedsignificantinvestmentinminingandagriculture.Thus,whilenorthernItalywasnotricherinresourcesthanmanyotherpartsofEurope,thelevelofdevelopment,stimulatedbytrade,allowedittoprosper.FlorencebecameoneofthewealthiestcitiesofNorthernItaly,duemainlytoitswoolentextileproduction,underthesupervisionofitsdominanttradeguild.WoolwasimportedfromNorthernEurope（andinthe16thcenturyfromSpain）anddyesfromtheeastwereusedtomakehighqualitytextiles.

TheItaliantraderoutesthatcoveredtheMediterraneanandbeyondwerealsomajorconduits渠道ofcultureandknowledge.InmedievaltimesworksthatembodiedtheclassicallearningoftheGreekshadtrickledintoWesternEurope,throughArabtranslationsandtreatises叙事,especiallyintheso-calledRenaissanceofthe12thcentury.AftertheSpanishReconquistaofthe15thcenturyandtheresultingtranslationsofArabic-languageworks,thescientific,philosophicalandmathematicalthinkingoftheArabsbecameaccessibletoNorthernItaly.AftertheFallofConstantinoplein1453,afloodofrefugeeGreekscholarswasimportantinsparkingthenewlinguisticstudiesoftheRenaissance.HumanistscholarssearchedmonasticlibrariesforancientmanuscriptsandrecoveredTacitus古罗马史学家塔西佗andotherLatinauthors;withtherediscoveryofVitruvius古罗马建筑师维特鲁威thearchitecturalprinciplesofAntiquitycouldbeobservedoncemore,andRenaissanceartistswereencouraged,intheatmosphereofhumanistoptimism,toexceltheachievementsoftheAncientsofwhomtheyread.

2.13th-century

TheStatesofItalyduringtheRenaissance,c.1494

Inthe13thcentury,muchofEuropeexperiencedstrongeconomicgrowth.ThetraderoutesoftheItalianstateslinkedwiththoseofestablishedMediterraneanportsandeventuallytheHanseaticLeagueoftheBalticandnorthernregionsofEuropetocreateanetworkeconomyinEuropeforthefirsttimesincethe4thcentury.Thecity-statesofItalyexpandedgreatlyduringthisperiodandgrewinpowertobecomeindependentoftheHolyRomanEmpire;apartfromtheKingdomofNaples,outsidepowerskepttheirarmiesoutofItaly.Duringthisperiod,themoderncommercialinfrastructuredeveloped,withdouble-entrybook-keeping复式记账,jointstockcompanies,aninternationalbankingsystem,asystematizedforeignexchangemarket,insurance,andgovernmentdebt.Florencebecamethecentreofthisfinancialindustryandthegoldflorin弗罗林金币becamethemaincurrencyofinternationaltrade.

Thenewmercantilegoverningclass,whogainedtheirpositionthroughfinancialskill,adaptedtotheirpurposesthefeudalaristocraticmodelthathaddominatedEuropeintheMiddleAges.AfeatureoftheHighMiddleAgesinNorthernItalywastheriseoftheurbancommuneswhichhadbrokenfromthecontrolbybishopsandlocalcounts.Inmuchoftheregion,thelandednobilitywaspoorerthantheurbanpatriarchsintheHighMedievalmoneyeconomywhoseinflationaryriseleftland-holdingaristocratsimpoverished.TheincreaseintradeduringtheearlyRenaissanceenhancedthesecharacteristics.Thedeclineoffeudalismandtheriseofcitiesinfluencedeachother;forexample,thedemandforluxurygoodsledtoanincreaseintrade,whichledtogreaternumbersoftradesmenbecomingwealthy,who,inturn,demandedmoreluxurygoods.ThischangealsogavethemerchantsalmostcompletecontrolofthegovernmentsoftheItaliancity-states,againenhancingtrade.Oneofthemostimportanteffectsofthispoliticalcontrolwassecurity.Thosethatgrewextremelywealthyinafeudalstateranconstantriskofrunningafoulof相冲突themonarchyandhavingtheirlandsconfiscated充公.Thenorthernstatesalsokeptmanymedievallawsthatseverelyhampered阻碍commerce,suchasthoseagainstusury高利贷,andprohibitionsontradingwithnon-Christians.Inthecity-statesofItaly,theselawswererepealedorrewritten.

3.14th-centurycollapse

The14thcenturysawaseriesofcatastrophesthatcausedtheEuropeaneconomytogointorecession.TheMedievalWarmPeriodwasendingasthetransitiontotheLittleIceAgebegan.Thischangeinclimatesawagriculturaloutputdeclinesignificantly,leadingtorepeatedfamines,exacerbated加剧bytherapidpopulationgrowthoftheearlierera.TheHundredYear’WarbetweenEnglandandFrancedisrupted扰乱tradethroughoutnorthwestEurope,mostnotablywhen,in1345,KingEdwardIIIofEnglandrefusedtopayhisdebts,contributingtothecollapseofthetwolargestFlorentinebanks,thoseoftheBardiandPeruzzi.Intheeast,warwasalsodisruptingtraderoutes,astheOttomanEmpirebegantoexpandthroughouttheregion.MostdevastatingwastheBlackDeaththatreducedthepopulationsofthedenselypopulatedcitiesofNorthernItalyandreturnedatintervalsthereafter.Florence,forinstance,whichhadapre-plaguepopulationof45,000decreasedoverthenext47yearsby25–50%.Widespreaddisorderfollowed,includingarevoltofFlorentinetextileworkersin1378.

ItwasduringthisperiodofinstabilitythatthefirstRenaissancefigures,suchasDanteandPetrarchlived,andthefirstsignsofRenaissanceartweretobeseenintheopeninghalfofthe14thcentury,notablyintherealismofGiotto乔托.P