Renaissance Politics

Society Italian society highly stratified Popolo grasso (“fat people”) at the top, middle class, wealthier merchants leading artisans, professionals Popolo minuto (“little people”) workers, small merchants, lesser artisan Very bottom: servants and slaves In Florence, top 1%, (about 100 families) controlled 25% of wealth Marriages were often arranged among upper classes for wealth and status Dowries exchanged Patriarchal society Northern European women enjoyed more freedom and equality than Italian women

Politics Niccolo Machiavelli applied humanist ideas and scientific approach to study of politics and government in The Prince, a study of past readers and advice book for Renaissance rulers

Ruled colonial empire from Adriatic to Aegean Seas Venice Florence Compared to Venice, very unstable, dynamic, constant civic strife By 1434, Medici family, headed by Cosimo emerged as dominant family; Cosimo never held political office but established firm grip om city Medicis became papal bankers Cosimo’s grandson Lorenzo (‘the Magnificent”) assumed power 1478 After his death, Medicis were driven from power, returned, driven from power again, returned Ruled colonial empire from Adriatic to Aegean Seas Dominated Mediterranean Threatened by Ottomans Ruled by oligarchy of aristocrat merchants who annually elected the Doge from amongst themselves “Most Serene Republic”

Duchy under hereditary rule since early 1400 Milan Papal States Duchy under hereditary rule since early 1400 most powerful state , military power Visconti family ruled until 1447; Sforza family took over Determined to restore Papal authority after the Great Schism, popes used wealth politics and culture Politically: curbed local power, expanded papal govt, increased taxation, expanded papal army and navy, and extended papal diplomacy Culturally: renovated churches, created Vatican Library, sponsored artists, and patronized writers to glorify them

Monarchies and Empires As Italian states feuded, other states in Europe expanded their power and centralized monarchial control Burgundy became a power in 1400s

England Spain Wars of the Roses between Houses of Lancaster and York in late 1400s ended when Henry Tudor emerged victorious and established Tudor Dynasty as Henry VII Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469, uniting their small kingdoms and embarking on a campaign to unite Spain and drive Muslims out, the Reconquista 1492, success, Ferdinand and Isabella became the leading defenders of the faith Drove out Muslims, instituted Spanish Inquisition to control the conversos (jewish converts) Jews ordered to convert or leave

France won the Hundred Years War but emerged under Burgundy’s shadow Central and Eastern Europe Hungary, Bohemia, Poland failed to centralize power in the hands of monarchs who were elected by the nobles in each country France won the Hundred Years War but emerged under Burgundy’s shadow Louis XI seized Burgundian land and expanded French territory in 1470s Also established Gallicanism, giving French kings control over church revenues and appointment of French bishops