1. Renaissance Beginnings
7.43 I can trace the emergence of the Renaissance, including influence from Moorish (or Muslim) scholars in Spain.

2. Renaissance: Beginnings
AD 1350s to 1700
Mongols reopen Silk Road
Marco Polo visits China, returns to Europe, writes a book
Causes people to want to go there and get Chinese goods
Positives of Black Death
No damage to farmland, goods, metals
People are happy to be alive and spend money to erase memories of the plague (Medici Family)
Ottoman Turks conquer Byzantine Empire
Scholars flee to Italy with ancient texts of the Greeks and Romans

3. Italy’s Location
Italy’s location made it a center of trade and commerce.
The Italian peninsula is surrounded by seas, making it a major area for ports.
Both products and new ideas passed through Italy.

4. Renaissance: Italy
Major trading cities: Milan, Florence, Genoa, Venice
Florence wealthy from wool and banking
Medici family were bankers with political power
Hired artists and architects to make Florence great

5. Renaissance Italy: City-States
Italy was divided into city-states during the Renaissance.
They did not want to be one country because they did not want a single leader, instead, each city-state had its own form of government.
They also did not want the Pope to have complete control of the entire area.
City-states became rich and powerful from trade.

6. Renaissance Italy: Wealth
City-states became rich and powerful through trade and commerce.
Individuals who had a great deal of wealth hired artisans to create paintings, buildings, and other items.
The Roman Catholic Church also controlled much of the wealth and power.

7. Renaissance Italy: Scholars
When the Byzantine Empire was conquered, scholars brought ancient Greek and Roman texts to Italy.
Muslim scholars in Spain were also responsible for preserving and translating ancient Greek and Roman texts.
Other European scholars eventually used these Arabic texts and translated them into Latin, the language of most European schools at the time.