City-States in Italy
Reading Guide: As you read, mark each fact based on whether it was a political (p), social (s), religious (r), or economic (e) factor leading to the development of the Renaissance.
During the Middle Ages, much of Italy was controlled by the Holy Roman Empire. As the emperors and popes fought for control, both were weakened. Several Italian cities formed states that were independent of both the empire and the church. Venice and Florence were two centers of power and wealth that became the cradle of the Renaissance.
Venice was founded in the fifth century by people fleeing from Attila the Hun. They settled on a group of islands on the northeastern edge of the Italian peninsula. Shipbuilding was the primary industry in Venice. During the Crusades, Venetian ships provided transportation to the Holy Land, and benefitted greatly from the overseas trade. By the 13th century, Venice was the most prosperous city in Europe.
The city became rich by collecting taxes on all merchandise brought into its harbor. Venice built huge warships that protected the valuable cargo of its merchant ships from pirate raids. Following the Black Death, there were fewer merchants in Venice, meaning that each merchant made more money from trade. With this vast wealth from trade, many of the leading families of Venice competed with one another to build the finest palaces or support the work of the greatest artists.
Florence, the “city of flowers,” was located in the hill country of north-central Italy. It prospered because of the wool industry. Sheep were raised in the rock hill country of central Italy, and Florence was a center of wool processing. During most of the Renaissance, wealthy merchants dominated Florence.
The merchants competed with one another by building grand palaces for themselves. The merchants were patrons of the arts. Patron comes from the Latin word for father. They hired artists to fill their homes with beautiful paintings and sculptures. Patrons bought rare books and paid scholars to teach their children. The money and encouragement of patrons together with that of the church, made the masterpieces of Renaissance art possible.
Dowling, Mike, “City-states in Italy,” available from http://www.mrdowling.com/704-italy.html; Internet; updated Wednesday, January 5, 2005 . ©2009, Mike Dowling. All rights reserved.
Crusades
Reading Guide: As you read, mark each fact based on whether it was a political (p), social (s), religious (r), or economic (e) factor leading to the development of the Renaissance.
Since its beginning, there was tension between the Islamic Empire and the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians throughout Europe. Following the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by the Islamic leader Al-Hakim in Jerusalem, Roman Catholic popes encouraged Christian kings and knights to undertake military expeditions, or Crusades, to capture the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Holy Land is a region at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea where Jesus lived; it is also holy to Jews and Muslims. Christian crusaders conquered much of the Holy Land, taking Jerusalem in 1099, but they were unable to hold it and were driven out by 1291. These Christian invasions are still recalled with bitterness by some Muslims.
Still, the Crusades probably had greater impact on Europe than on the Holy Land. The Crusades opened a trade network between the Middle East and Europe, which led to exchange of spices, fabrics, and technologies from the Islamic Empire. In many case, roads were rebuilt to facilitate trade, and Europeans, not just Crusaders, began making the journey to the Middle East to experience the thriving Islamic Civilization.
Europeans now had first-hand knowledge of just how backward Europe seemed in comparison to the more advanced Islamic culture. This realization probably pushed Europeans to develop more rapidly to catch up with the rival Muslims. Europeans acquired important technologies from the Muslim world including the “Arabic” numbering system (from India), the compass (from China), and the astrolabe, an Arabic instrument for measuring latitude. These inventions would make it possible for European ships to sail far out to sea.
The Crusades were not a success, and ultimately lessened the power of the Pope as a political authority. Many knights left to fight in the Crusades, and many did not return, giving more power to the Kings, who gained more direct control over the people.
The Abbasid Dynasty
Reading Guide: As you read, mark each fact based on whether it was a political (p), social (s), religious (r), or economic (e) factor leading to the development of the Renaissance.
The Islamic Arab empire came under control of the Abbasid (uh-BA-suhd) Dynasty in 750 AD. The great wave of Arabic conquest was over, and people of many lands were adopting Islam voluntarily. Muslim traders, sailors, and preachers carried Islam to new territories in Central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. People converted to Islam because it promised a close relationship with God and equality among believers, and Muslims enjoyed the benefits of membership in a large and prosperous society.
Abbasid rulers were open to new ideas and tolerant of different peoples and their beliefs. Jews, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists enjoyed freedom of religion in Muslim lands. Muslims learned from the cultures they encountered. They invited the very best scholars from around the world to come to the city of Baghdad and participate in the House of Wisdom; a sort of university dedicated to solving the Empire’s problems and developing new technologies.
These scholars utilized any and all previous knowledge from former civilizations. They adopted the zero-based numbering system of India. They acquired the compass and paper-making from China. They preserved the works of Aristotle and other classical Greek writers, and translated these works into Arabic. Had they not done so, many of these works would have never been available to Europeans. And they developed one of the most creative societies of all time. Islamic literature, art, and architecture flowered. Islamic civilization surpassed all others in science and technology and in size.
But the very size of the Abbasid Empire made it difficult to govern. At the same time the Islamic world was reaching new heights of achievement, the Abbasid rulers were losing control of their empire to non-Arabs. As the empire weakened, it broke into competing Islamic kingdoms before it fell to Mongol invaders.
The Bubonic Plague / The Black Death
Reading Guide: As you read, mark each fact based on whether it was a political (p), social (s), religious (r), or economic (e) factor leading to the development of the Renaissance.
Almost half of the people of Western Europe died in a great sickness known as the Bubonic Plague. The plague was also referred to as “the Black Death” because the skin of diseased people turned a dark gray color. It apparently began in China’s Gobi Desert, and it killed about 35 million Asian people. When sailors traveled to Asia, rats returned with them to Europe. Fleas living on the blood of infected rats then transferred the disease to the European people.
The Europeans were susceptible to disease because they lived in crowded surroundings with very poor sanitary conditions. The Europeans often ate stale or diseased meat because refrigeration had not yet been invented. Also, medicine was primitive and unable to remedy an illness that modern technology might have cured. Bad medical advice also advanced the plague. People were often advised to not bathe because open skin pores might let in the disease.
Death from the plague was horrible, but swift. The Italian writer Boccaccio said victims often “ate lunch with their friends, and ate dinner with their ancestors in paradise.” The first signs were generally aching limbs, and vomiting of blood. Then the lymph nodes would begin to swell. The lymph nodes are glands found in the neck, armpits, and groin. The swelling continued for three or four days until the lymph nodes burst. The swiftness of the disease, the enormous pain, the grotesque appearance of the victims, all served to make the plague especially horrifying.
The Black Death caused people to lose their faith in God. For many, the experience was so horrible it caused them to doubt the existence of a God, or to doubt the ability of the Catholic Church to help them. As a result, the Church became less popular.
Increasingly, people who survived the Black Death wanted to enjoy life. They questioned the Church, which taught Christians to endure suffering to get a heavenly reward. Survivors of the Black Death felt a sense of power that they had survived such a horrible ordeal. They developed the belief that humans were capable of great things, and began to challenge themselves to accomplish bigger and better things.
After the Black Death, people also started to question the structures of medieval society, like feudalism. As people became more educated following the Black Death, they began to look to their classical past – the civilizations of Greece and Rome – for ideas.
The Black Death also killed off so many people in Europe that those who survived were set to make more money from the newfound trade network established by the Crusades. As spices and goods from the Middle East made their way into Europe, specifically through Italy, merchants grew wealthy. This was a significant ingredient in the development of the Renaissance in Italy.
The Bubonic Plague continued to affect cities from time to time for hundreds of years. It still exists and is common among rodents. We have a cure for the disease, but occasionally people in isolated places still die from the Bubonic Plague.
both excerpted and adapted from: http://www.studentsfriend.com/sf/part1see/part1-6.html
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