Medieval Italy, By Ian Hughes, Jacob Burckhardt, And David Lines

Through the study of the records of courts, both secular and ecclesiastical, which exists in thousands of European and American archives and libraries, a patient and careful researcher can reconstruct particular images of “the world we have lost” and of the people who inhabited that world. From this vast, largely untapped repository of judicial records, Gene Brucker uses the notarial protocols of Ser Filippo Mazzei, which contains the transcripts of the litigation in the archiepiscopal court and the catasto records, which provides information about Florentine households, to piece together the dossier of Giovanni and Lusanna. The story of Giovanni and Lusanna explores the love and marriage in renaissance Florence and uncovers the gradation of the city’s social hierarchy and the role of women in society.

In Europe, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, much of the continent fell into a cultural recession. For many centuries science, mathematics and the arts were extremely stagnant. Beginning in the mid 14th century, the Italian Peninsula began to undergo a transformation evident in the works of artists, writers and scholars. This era is known as the Renaissance and was a revival of the classical world following the appropriately named Dark Ages. Renaissance thinkers became known as humanists, interested in learning about religious and non-religious studies and celebrated worldly achievements. Florence, Italy was the center for many of the advancements that took place during this time period and was the birthplace of many of the Renaissance individuals we know today. The economic, political and artistic influences of the Medici family, combined with it’s ideal geographical location for trade, made Florence emerge as the birthplace of the Renaissance.

Giovanni and Lusanna: Love and Marriage in Renaissance Florence by Gene Brucker provides a unique look into the life of commoners in the 15th century. This book follows the 1455 court case surrounding the alleged marriage between Giovanni della Casa and Lusanna, the daughter of Maestro Benedetto di Girolamo. Throughout this trial testimonies, from witnesses with a vast array of socioeconomic backgrounds are presented. These were people whose voices would likely have never been heard if not for this case. This particular cross-section of people creates a very clear picture of the hierarchical system in place during the renaissance. Throughout this book, it becomes clear that each person had his or her place within society.

This book described the “ideal renaissance gentleman” through advice given by the courtier. Throughout the book are conversations between the courtiers of the Duke of Urbino, discussing the vision of a perfect court. It is an example of a dialogue, which is a popular renaissance literary structure, composed of drama and conversation. Castiglione’s work had a large impact on the aristocratic idea of the perfect English gentlemen and was thought to be an interpretation of Renaissance court life. The Book of the Courtier was a representation of the ideas and values of Renaissance Humanism, as it emphasized the growth of individual thought and character. This relates to one of the concepts of the Renaissance, “exaltation of human capacities and potential”. The value of the individual is believed to be important in the humanistic way of life. Society was starting to become more concerned with human potential and achievements. Focus was turning away from spiritual matter, and turning towards more worldly matter. This book epitomized the “universal man”, or the “renaissance man”, which is a man that excels in everything. This brings us to an important renaissance term mentioned by Castiglione, known as sprezzatura. Sprezzatura means to preform well, without appearing to have put in much effort or thought about the matter and is mentioned

Boundless World History. "Italy during the Renaissance". Lumen. Boundless World History. 27 May 2018. (-- removed HTML --)

Historians wishing to study the culture of any preindustrial subordinate class are all challenged by the lack of evidence at their disposal. Such is the case with the peasant class of medieval Europe. Italian historian Carlo Ginzburg, in an attempt to better understand the cultural attitudes of medieval peasants, takes on an innovative and controversial task in The Cheese and the Worms. The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller. The book is centered on a curious sixteenth century miller named Menocchio and his interactions with the Inquisitorial board while on trial for heresy. Ginzburg, however, intends to do more than just tell the story of a miller’s trial and subsequent execution under the inquisition. Ginzburg scrutinizes, evaluates,

Ancient Italy is known for many different things. It is a peninsula surrounded by the Tyrrhenian, Mediterranean, Adriatic, Ionian, and Ligurian Sea. France, Switzerland, Slovenia, also Croatia borders it. (see appendix A) The Ancient time period lasted from 752 B.C.E to 476 C.E. Pompeii is located in the south west coast of Italy. It had a population of about twenty thousand people. Several interesting things about volcanos and Pompeii include its destruction, the science behind volcanoes, the environmental impact, and how it changed over time.

Throughout the wide span of time in which the integral Renaissance period took place, the two arguably most notable were the Italian and Northern European renaissances. Each one had an immense impact on the entirety of Europe and its future developments, social and technological. While the term renaissance means “rebirth,” the simple name of this general time period exemplifies the renewed interest of the previously long forgotten classical antiquity, mainly manifested in Italian Renaissance works, while the North held on to the Roman Catholicism ideas much longer. The several differentiations between the Northern and Italian Renaissance consisted of Italy's impression of ideal humanistic and classical values while mostly acknowledging the

The Italian and Northern Europe Renaissances were both an important mark in history by changing the ideals of life, thought, culture, and art of the people’s of this time. In this paper I will explain the motive for change in these cultures, including the similarities and differences of the two cultures.

In tenth grade, I was given the opportunity to travel to Italy for ten days. While I delighted my tastebuds with all kinds of Italian cuisine, my brain feasted on an abundance of knowledge presented in architecture, history, art, and inventions; most of which emerged during the Italian Renaissance. The Renaissance was a time period concerned with exploring the unknown, expressing creativity by means of art, and using imagination, as well as intellectual curiosity to create techniques and theories. For these reasons, if I were capable of traveling back in time, I would visit the time period of the Italian Renaissance.

Italian Renaissance revealed more of the humans that most of their art revolved around them nature, and reality painting nude and so forth. The Italian was more of real life art that looked real like I mention. They focused on beauty, mind, and power of humans. I did see how they felt that GOD was important, and people should have a relationship to their faith. Art was more of commissioned by the Catholic Church I think that it was more of seeing a visual picture for the artist. They wanted more than a painting they wanted it to come to life

Although the origins of the Italian Renaissance can be traced to many different locations, it is important to note that different aspects of Italian culture and society remained largely medieval during the time of the Renaissance; the Renaissance did not come into full swing until the end of the century. The word Renaissance means “rebirth”, and the era is best known for the renewed interest in the culture of classical antiquity (Greece and Rome) after the period that Renaissance humanists labeled the Dark Ages. These changes, while significant, were concentrated in the elite, and for the vast majority of the population life was little changed from the Middle Ages.

Italy in the Middle Ages was branched into multiple political units because of a rivalry between the European states for influence in the region as well as internal tussles for power. When Sicily came under rule of the Aragonese kings in 1409, and was reunited with the mainland kingdom in 1443 when Alfonso V of Aragon entered the city of Naples. However, the two kingdoms split apart again after Alfonso’s death in 1448. The Kingdom of Naples went to his illegitimate son Ferdinand I (reigned 1448-1494) whose rule was troubled by Angevin claims to the throne of Naples. After his death in 1494, Italy was invaded by Charles VIII of France (reigned 1483-1498), an Angevin through his grandmother to assert his claim to the Kingdom of Naples. Charles’

What I found most interesting about these letters were the individuals who make up the society. I found is a little difficult to determine if the wants of an individual were not only caused by the pressures to go along with society. When I look back onto early cultures, it is nice to have reminders like this collection of letters. No matter how unfamiliar early Florence society appears, it is still easy to find the similarities that are embedded within my own. These letters provide needed examples of an average life in the Renaissance, from a nontraditional historian's perspective. Ideas like strict tradition, religion, and societal norms breakthrough from the words of actual Florence citizens. I feel that the early Renaissance society comes to life so vividly because it is told from the perspective Bartolomeo

This book my Millard Meiss is addressing an area of study that is lacking. This text while informative is difficult to follow and the puts a lot of pressure on the reader to connect the dots. The content of the early renaissance can often be a difficult time in art history to nail down and discuss just because it is on the cusp of the late medieval and the renaissance itself. As any time of transition it can be difficult to understand what is happening in the world of art but may have been more convincing if he had placed this Tuscan period within the context of Europe as a whole at the time .This text by Millard Meiss helps the audience contextualize what was was happening in Italy after the black death and in doing so we understand the art world that much better. That being said the way in which Miess goes about making the argument that the art of this time is regressive, is problematic. In response to the question posed by this assignment how effective in my view is Millard Meiss’s argumentation? I am coming from the stand point that his argument is not effective. His argument is problematic because it is unclear, difficult to follow, lacks cohesion, and puts too much work on the reader. These elemental issues with his writing and argumentation are what in my view render the argument Millard Meiss is trying to make ineffective throughout his text “Painting in Florence and Siena after the Black Death”.