Italian Renaissance

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Italian Renaissance
2
The Sad Period Before the Renaissance (4min)
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Humanism

• Intellectual movement based on the themes
  literature and ideas of Greece and Rome
• Italians valued - classical writing style of the
  Greeks and Latins
• Individualism - emphasis on the dignity and worth
  of the individual

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Education/Literature

• Humanists opened schools that taught the
  humanities of Greece and Rome as well
• Francesco Petrarch - wrote poems about his love
  that died of the Black Death
• Niccolo Machiavelli - wrote The Prince - stated
  Renaissance rulers should use force and sometimes
  immoral behavior to hold power

Niccolo Machiavelli The Prince
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The Prince Machiavelli (2min)
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City Life

• Italy was run by city-states - not one king or
  emperor
• City States - an area of land in a country that
  has a walled city and a certain amount of country
  land
• Social Political Ladder-
• 1. Wealthy Merchants/Land Owners (Upper Class)
• 2. Shopkeepers/Artisans (Middle Class)
• 3. Peasants (Lower Class) -Worked for
  Upper/Middle class

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Government

• Each city-state was ruled by a signori
• Signori - Person from wealthy class who ruled as
  a dictator
• Condottieri - professional soldiers who were
  hired by rich and Signori

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Major Cities of the Renaissance

• FLORENCE - became known as the birth place of the
  Renaissance
• Cosimo de Medici -gained control of Florence in
  the years 1434-1469 - taxed the wealthy very high
  to pay for city improvements

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• Lorenzo de Medici (1469-1492) - taxed the rich
  heavily to support artists, philosophers and
  writers in Florence
• Girolamo Savonarola - imposed strict regulations
  on public behavior
• - Banned gambling, swearing, and horse racing
• - He spoke out against the Pope and Church in
  Rome

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SCULPTOR

• Renaissance sculpture reflected classical ideas
  of Greek and Romans
• Sculptors wanted to make statues look human
• 3 of the Most Famous Renaissance Sculptors
• 1. Donatello - First sculptor since ancient
  times to cast a free standing sculpture
• 2. Michelangelo - learned the art in Florence -
  sculpted in Rome
• 3. Ghiberti - took 21 yrs to create 10 biblical
  scenes on Florence Cathedral doors