Why Italy Was the Birthplace of the Renaissance

1. Why Italy Was the Birthplace of the Renaissance

2. The Birth • The Renaissance lasted from about 1300- 1600. • Renaissance means rebirth. • Art • Learning • Literature • Values • Italy had three reasons why the Renaissance started there: • $$$ • Its unique location to Ancient Greece and Rome • Thriving cities from trade

3. $$$ • Because many traders came through Italy, money was exchanged between traders and merchants leading to mass amounts of wealth. • As a result, bankers such as the Medici family became rich and powerful. • Although the Catholic church has lost some prestige during the Dark Ages, they remained quite wealthy. • With that wealth, the Medici’s and the Church wanted to invest in art projects that built up their own prestige.

5. Location, location, location • The Italians naturally looked to their own past for inspiration in art & learning, the Roman Empire. • They also looked to their neighbors of the past, Ancient Greece. • Looking at these two cultures led to a new movement called humanism, or the study of human achievements which is similar to that of the Greeks and Romans. • Humanist mostly focused on history, literature, education & philosophy, today called the humanities.

7. Thriving Cities • Because of the large amount of trade in Italy, many large cities popped up, the rest of Europe was still mostly rural. • Since there were so many cities people could easily exchange ideas with one another leading to a revolution in culture. • With many merchants businesses increasing after the Black Death they turned to being patrons or supporters of the arts. • All of the aforementioned reasons led to Europeans becoming more secular, trying to aquire the finest things the world had to offer.