The Renaissance In Italy

This paper accounts for the reason why the Renaissance primarily flourished in Italy. The Renaissance is often described as a certain period in history, yet this periodization is contested by some historians as it is not as linear as the Age of King Louis XIV (Bartlett, p.2). Instead, the Renaissance is a fluid notion that sought to define stself according to the highly admired doctrines of ancient Greece and Rome as “urban, cosmopolitan, and often republican Italian scholars and statesmen” believed it to be a reflection of their own experiences, instead of the “rural, feudal, usually monarchical values of Medieval Europe” (Bartlett, p. 5). Although the start of Renaissance in Italy can be accounted to the geographical location of the Italian …show more content…
The wealth of the Italian peninsula was generated by the commencement of the First Crusade in 1095, which also provided for the expansion of Italian cities (Bartlett, p. 26). The Crusade was called by Pope Urban II at Clermont in 1095 as a result of the rapid increase of population during the 10th century (Bartlett, p. 26). The population increase among the warrior nobility, along with the desire to expand trade, led to a confrontation between Europe and the Muslim states situated in the southern and eastern Mediterranean, which incited Europeans to seek materialistic and superficial desires, such as land and fame, and was guised in the name of religion (Bartlett, p. 26). Italian maritime states like Venice, Genoa and Pisa greatly benefitted from the Crusades as they were the major states that supplied the transportation, equipment, management, and loans to myriads of northern knights that went to the Holy Land from the states’ ports (Bartlett, p. 26). These Italian states helped transport armies of men and equipment across the Mediterranean, which helped cultivate the maritime. Moreover, states like Venice, Pisa and Genoa gained advantages from the Crusades as they made payments to the Church instead of participating as it gave the states instantaneous earnings and stimulated trade …show more content…
They believed that the experiences of the preceding period, the Middle Ages, held no resemblance to their own. Thus there was a reintroduction to the writing, art and overall style of these ancient civilizations. This patronization was not at a low-cost, however, which is why the Renaissance first started in Italy as the wealthy merchant class of the Italian peninsula was able to afford such leisure. The development of a self-governing Italian city with affluent traders was because of the liberty that the fragmented Italy provided after the fall of the Roman empire. There was a lack of intervention from a singular political leader which allowed for the rise of the merchants. More importantly, the calling of the First Crusades had resulted in the abundance of wealth and power to the Italian states. The opulence of these Italian business men had truly set the stage for the origin of the Renaissance in