Renaissance Italy THE EXAM SECTION A & B

1. Renaissance Italy THE EXAMSECTION A & B

2. THE EXAM • The exam has 4 sections • 30 minutes for each section

3. Unit 3: Outcome 1.Study Design • This Outcome focuses on the different types of city-states that existed on the Italian peninsula, their diverse physical, political and economic structures and the different ways in which city-states interacted. • The nature of the artistic and intellectual changes of this period

4. Preparation for this sectionLook at the Assessment Criteria You need to be able to write about the structure of a diverse number of city states • Republics, despotisms, principalities, duchies and the Papal States • The range of trade and industry • The idea of the Renaissance, the changes in art and learning • Patronage

5. You must: • master the detail, the examples, the dates and places concerned with political and economic structures • You need to find the connections between the different dot points and master these connections

6. Ferrara • Ferrara was a ‘small independent city state’ (Hole). Growth of the city was entwined with ‘the rise of the Este family to hereditary lordship over Ferrara’ (Grendler). • In 1332 the Este family earned the title of Marquis and Burkhardt refers to the Este as ‘princes of Ferrara’ • Due to its situation in the Po Delta region conditions for a successful agricultural economy

7. the key ideas of the study design • Take notice of : • The connection between the economic success, the political stability and the development of the Renaissance • The connection between the revival of classical ideas and the concept of the Renaissance • The wide appeal of humanist studies and the connection to the ruling elites

8. Differences between the city states • Geography is an important factor • Venice was located on the swamps and marshes of the lagoon • Florence was inland but on the River Arno • Naples and Sicily in the South which was far less fertile

9. Trade • Venice’s geography meant the development of a Maritime Empire and therefore the development of the Republic as an entrepot • Whereas Florence was on a trade route and the river facilitated transport.

10. The Geography of a state influenced its economic and commercial development • Kingdom of Naples and Sicily • In contrast to the wealthy northern city states the south was less fertile and poor • Hale argues that Naples was politically, culturally and economically backward’

11. How did the city states on the Peninsula interact? • Politically • As the Italian peninsula was made up of a number of different states, there were at any one time a number of states at war. • Peace treaties and alliances formed another political interaction. • The painting ‘The Consignment of the Sword’ by Bassano represents one of these political interactions

12. How did the city states on the Peninsula interact? • Economically • There were well established trading relations between the different city states on the Peninsula. • eg • Florence exported wool and silk and the Florentine banks had branches in cities like Venice, Ferrara and Rome • Venice was an entrepot so goods came through Venice to other states • Milan traded in weapons and armour

13. How did the city states on the Peninsula interact? • Culturally • Artists and writers sought wealthy patrons • Leonardo and Michelangelo worked in Florence, Rome and Milan • Petrarch travelled and worked in Florence and Venice as well as throughout Europe

14. Cultural Connections • Connections between the wealth of the Northern Italian states and the rise of a new class of patron • The patronage of the wealthy family and individual but also of the smaller courts like Bologna and Rimini

15. Patronage • Identify who the patrons were. • The Church • The State • Corporations • Families • Individuals

16. Outcome 1. Study Design • The political stability and economic success achieved by some city-states contributed to the emergence of distinct Renaissance styles in art, the sharing of and competition for cultural, artistic and architectural ideas and the patronage of individual artists, architects and humanists.

17. The idea of the Renaissance • The term ‘Renaissance’ was coined by French historian Jules Michelet in the eighteenth century and the literal translation of ‘rebirth’ related to the reignited interest and rediscovery of classical ideas. • This idea is contested • Burkhardt saw it as ‘the beginning of the modern era’

18. The Renaissance • Kristeller argues that the Renaissance was a period “which understood itself as a rebirth of letters and of learning” • Marsilio Ficino, ‘For this century, like a golden age, has restored to light the liberal arts which were almost extinct”.

19. The Renaissance • Others believe that the ideas, innovations and cultural developments that characterized this period, were actually a development of Medieval thought. • Huzinga argues that “classicism did not come as a sudden revelation, it grew up among the luxuriant vegetation of medieval thought”

20. Humanism • You need to be able to write on the growth and importance of humanist studies • Humanism was both a philosophical movement and a curriculum

21. Stages of Humanism • Alison Brown says ‘Petrarch acted as the movement’s leader’ and she says this new movement grew out of the wealth of the trade and commerce of the city • Petrarch started the ‘cult of antiquity’ and asked ‘what is history but the study of Rome • Petrarch collected manuscripts and Coluccio Salutati invited the Greek teacher Manuel Chrysoloras to teach Greek in Florence

22. Stages of Humanism • Civic Humanism • Martines says the ‘humanism spoke to and for the ruling elites’ and Baron argues it was Florence’s escape from the threat of imminent invasion in 1402’ that turned the humanists attention to civic themes. • They endorsed the ‘vita activa politica’ • Bruni used Aristotle’s Economics – “if goods are instruments of virtue, great and noble things have need of them”

23. Stages of Humanism • Neo Platonism • Petrarch highly regarded the literature of Plato, describing him as the ‘prince of philosophy’. • Alison Brown argues that the shift away from Aristotelianism towards the Platonic movement was the result of the Medicean influence in politics. She suggests that the ideas of Plato could be used to justify oligarchy in Florence and contributed in transforming Cosimo’s political image ‘from republican statesmen to a philosopher-ruler’. • Leading Neo platonists were Pico della Mirandola and Marsilio Ficino

24. Two areas of change Changes in subject matter Man becomes the measure of all things A greater naturalism and realism in the depiction of the human body Classical mythology Portraiture Changes in Art

25. Changes in Art • Changes in Techniques • Rediscovery of perspective • Use of chiaroscuro • Casting in bronze • Growth in the use of oil paints • You need to be able to cite paintings , sculpture and architecture to show these changes in subject matter and technique

26. Section BThe Florentine Political System 1293 -1513 Political Institutions Changes and continuities Medicean Florence Views of contemporaries and historians

27. Significant Dates and Events • 1293 Ordinances of Justice • 1342 Walter of Brienne • 1378 the Ciompi Revolt • 1433 Exile of Cosimo de Medici • 1434 Cosimo establishes his regime • 1464 -1469 Piero’s struggle with the Ottimati • 1478 the Pazzi Conspiracy • 1492 Lorenzo’s death and Piero di Lorenzo • 1494 Piero is exiled and the Savonarolan regime

28. Changes in the Organisation and power • Be clear about the political institutions that existed • Identify the changes to the political system • Cosimo – the Cento • Lorenzo – The Council of the 70, the Eight on War and the • Savonarola – the Great Council • Soderini – Gonfalonieri a vita

29. Changes in the distribution and use of power • This section deals with those who took part in the political process • Identify who was eligible • Identify the changes to the scrutiny lists and the use of the accopiatori that the Medici made…all three • Kent argues that a crucial factor in the 1434 victory of the Medici was due in part to ‘the particular nature of their patronage network...[which was] systematically created or consolidated ...with the precise purpose of increasing their political influence and the representation of their supporters in important positions.

30. Martines says that in the 15th century ‘there was a sharper turn towards oligarchy’ • This suggests that the constitutional changes and the electoral manipulation of the ruling elite and specifically the Medici narrowed the participatory base

31. Najemy says that between 1458 -1478 there were three major crises which all related to the Medici struggles with the Ottimati • When Cosimo died Parenti said everyone rejoiced ‘such is the love and desire for liberty’ • Dietsalvi Neroni ‘the citizenry would like a more broadly based and freer government’

32. Savonarola and Soderini • Piero’s expulsion in 1492 • The Cento and the Settanta were abolished and the great Council was created • In the Prologue to the law the Signoria announced its intention • “to attend with all its ability and strength to the preservation of the liberty that was for so long nearly suppressed and has recently been recovered”

33. USE OF SOURCES • It is very important to try to support your writing with a variety of sources. • Try to provide both written and visual primary sources, as well as secondary sources, in support of your writing in the last question of Section B. • Use of sources is one of the most important discriminators of assessment in this History.