European Renaissance and the Middle Ages

Beginning in Italy and spreading slowly to all parts of the European continent, the Renaissance came to Europe. The term Renaissance means rebirth. It was a time of new awareness of the classical, that is, the Greek and Roman spirit that had lain dormant throughout the Middle Ages. It was a time of...

Beginning in Italy and spreading slowly to all parts of the European continent, the Renaissance came to Europe. The term Renaissance means rebirth. It was a time of new awareness of the classical, that is, the Greek and Roman spirit that had lain dormant throughout the Middle Ages. It was a time of learning, exploration, expansion, and social change. The Renaissance began when trade increased at the end of the Middle Ages. Cities grew and prospered. Wealthy families had time for education and leisure activities. The Renaissance lasted in northern Italy longer than it did anywhere else, and from there, it spread to Northern Europe. While nation-states with strong kings were forming in the rest of Europe, Italy was divided into city-states: Rome, Venice, Milan, Florence, and Genoa. Of these city-states, Venice was the wealthiest. It had a fleet of over three thousand merchant ships. In these cities, bankers and merchants grew rich enough to support the arts. They brought philosophers and artists to their city-states and sponsored them while they worked. The Medici family of Florence were bankers who ruled for over three hundred years. They brought many ancient treasures from Greece and Rome and had them placed around their palaces and grounds. Venice was ruled by a doge, or duke, who was a person elected by the Great Council, which consisted of about two hundred wealthy bankers and merchants. Venice had the most efficient government in Italy and was the most politically stable of the five states because it controlled Mediterranean commerce. Venice had a state fleet of more than three thousand ships and a huge arsenal that produced ship parts, cannons, and other related products. Milan sold textiles and armor. Because of its location, the Duchy of Milan was both a commercially important trade center and an agriculturally self-sufficient producer of food. It was ruled under a dictatorship for a long time but eventually became a republic, and the Sforza family took control. The Sforzas accomplished many things for Milan, but Milan was conquered by Spain in the early sixteenth century. England owned a great deal of French territory through the victory of William of Normandy in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. France resented England's presence on the continent. England wanted to keep control of its French holdings, and centuries of war followed. Philip VI of France and Edward III of England began a war that was not settled until 1453 and has become known as the Hundred Years' War. The first three periods of war between England and France were entirely in England's favor. France almost abandoned the war with England when Charles V came to the French throne, stopped corruption in the government, built a new army, and formed an alliance against England with Spain. A truce followed that lasted until 1415. Joan of Arc was an inspiration to the French when war broke out again, and she led them to victory. After the crowning of Charles VII at Rheims, Joan was captured by the English and burned at the stake. By the mid-fifteenth century, however, France not only had recaptured all of its lands but also had taken over Burgundy, and with its government centralized, had become a strong nation. The bubonic plague, known as Black Death, reduced the population of Europe by roughly one-third. In an odd twist of economics, the plague also led to pillaging and looting in France. The deaths of so many workers caused a labor shortage. Workers demanded higher wages to make up for the extra work they were required to do. Many employers refused to meet these demands, and several revolts by the peasants took place. England was far ahead in building a strong nation by the fourteenth century than other European countries. Citizens had more rights in England. By the mid-fourteenth century, groups of knights and burgesses had begun meeting to discuss common problems or to write petitions to submit to the king's council. From this consultation grew the House of Commons, which gained control over taxation and other matters, limiting the king's powers. As a result of the growth of power, the House of Commons acquired the right to impeach certain royal ministers on charges of misconduct. The House of Lords, in turn, decided the innocence or guilt of the accused. In addition, the Magna Carta had limited the king's power since 1215. England was far from a democracy, but the foundations for a parliamentary form of government had been laid. In the mid-fourteenth century, Edward III unified England in order to fight the Hundred Years' War with France, which began under his rule. Parliament grew in importance during his reign, and it became his chief source for raising money. At Edward's death, the country was thrown into a question of succession to the throne. The War of the Roses between the Lancasters and the Yorks followed, resulting in the great line of Tudor kings in England. The Tudors worked with Parliament, although they could manipulate Parliament into doing what they wanted. The Tudors brought a strong centralized government to England. The Muslim Caliphate had declined and the Catholic Christian states of the Iberian Peninsula had emerged by the end of the tenth century. During the eleventh century and part of the twelfth, these states grew in importance. The Christians drove out many of the Moors, Muslim people of Arab and Berber ancestry from northwestern Africa, who had occupied the southern areas of Spain. Very firm in their Catholic belief, Ferdinand and Isabella, the Spanish monarchs, insisted that all Muslims and Jews either leave or become converted to Catholicism. Spain also financed the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World in 1492.