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The Renaissance The Renaissance began with the emergence of a secular urban society in the wealthy city-states of Italy. Milan, Venice, and Florence were particularly prosperous trading centers. Italy's riches prompted France to invade. Spain came to Italy's defense, leading to war and Spanish domination. It was in this context that the writer Machiavelli developed his famous thesis on political power. Most people in Europe were peasants, but serfdom continued to decrease. Nobles held considerable power. In the towns and cities, there were clear divisions between the classes, ranging from the wealthy and influential patricians to the burghers to the miserably poor. During this period, Johannes Gutenberg produced the first printed book, a Bible. Watch the video then answer the questions below.
| The Medici family, also known as the House of Medici, first attained wealth and political power in Florence in the 13th century through its success in commerce and banking. Beginning in 1434 with the rise to power of Cosimo de’ Medici (or Cosimo the Elder), the family’s support of the arts and humanities made Florence into the cradle of the Renaissance, a cultural flowering rivaled only by that of ancient Greece. The Medicis produced four popes (Leo X, Clement VII, Pius IV and Leon XI), and their genes have been mixed into many of Europe’s royal families. The last Medici ruler died without a male heir in 1737, ending the family dynasty after almost three centuries. The Protestant Reformation Watch the video then answer the questions below.
Niccolò Machiavelli, (born May 3, 1469, Florence, Italy—died June 21, 1527, Florence), Italian Renaissance political philosopher and statesman, secretary of the Florentine republic, whose most famous work, The Prince (Il Principe), brought him a reputation as an atheist and an immoral cynic. |
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