what were the causes of the flourishing economy of the Italian cities ?
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The Renaissance was a rebirth of ancient Greek and Roman thinking and styles, and both the Roman and Greek civilizations were Mediterranean cultures, as is Italy. The best single reason for Italy as the birthplace of the Renaissance was the concentration of wealth, power, and intellect in the Church.
Renaissance literally means 'rebirth'. Renaissance began in Italy, specifically in Florence. It rediscovered and revived Greek and Roman culture, and its main theme is 'human-centeredness', usually called as humanism. Humanism is the basis of the Italian Renaissance, and artists endeavored to recover the Greek and Roman culture which pursued human to be in the center. In this sense, Jakob Burckhardt named this period as 'Renaissance' in the latter part of the 19th century (1). The culture of Italy made in this period was an opportunity for the Europe to escape from the Dark Ages, and brought modernization and developments to Europe in various fields such as society, economy and politics.
This paper is about the impact of the Renaissance on Italy, specifically about the economic aspect. In order to have a deeper understanding about the advent of the Italian Renaissance, the late Middle ages of Europe will be briefly touched. The economic background under which the Italian Renaissance started in no other place than Italy will be addressed. The economic condition of Italy after the Italian Renaissance will be added as well.
The paper is composed of four chapters, arranged in a chronological order : the late Middle ages, the economic background of the advent of the Italian Renaissance, the economic history during the Italian Renaissance, and the economic status of Italy after the Italian Renaissance.
I. The Background : The Late Middle Ages
Late Medieval Europe was an agricultural society based on manorialism. It is the period preceding the Italian Renaissance. In the time before Italian Renaissance, political disorder interfered with commerce, agricultural productivity declined, and the outbreak of the plague, or Black Death, drastically reduced the population in many parts of Europe (2).
The manorial system came to an end on the occasion of the Crusades and the Black Death. The church, which had led the War against the so called 'God's enemy', paradoxically came to face severe criticism about its role in the society. On the other hand, the contact with other cultures through military efforts during the Crusades helped revive the commercial activities forgotten for a long time.
The plague, called the Black Death, was catastrophic. The result was a reduction of one third of the European population, while particularly the loss of serfs had a very important economic significance since it meant the reduction of people to work. Remaining people after the War were better fed and had a better quality of life because of the population drop. The population fall enhanced the value of human than before, since the supply of workers diminished. This brought abundance to the survivors, and they created a leisure class. Agricultural societies on the basis of arable lands had gradually changed into commercial and industrial ones centered around newly developed cities.
The cities became important and wealthy commercial centers. By the end of the Middle ages, central and southern Italy, once the heartland of the Roman Empire, was far poorer than the northern Italy. The northern Italy was the richest, not just part of Italy but also Europe.