Origins
Main article: Italian Renaissance
View of Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance
Many argue that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in Florence at the turn of
the 13th and 14th centuries, in particular with the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321)
and Petrarch (1304–1374), as well as the paintings of Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337). Some writers
date the Renaissance quite precisely; one proposed starting point is 1401, when the rival
geniuses Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi competed for the contract to build the bronze
doors for the Baptistery of the Florence Cathedral (Ghiberti then won).[28] Others see more general
competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello,
and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance.
Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, and why it began when it did.
Accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. Peter Rietbergen posits
that various influential Proto-Renaissance movements started from roughly 1300 onwards across
many regions of Europe.[29]
Latin and Greek phases of Renaissance humanism
See also: Greek scholars in the Renaissance and Transmission of the Greek Classics
Coluccio Salutati
In stark contrast to the High Middle Ages, when Latin scholars focused almost entirely on studying
Greek and Arabic works of natural science, philosophy and mathematics,[b] Renaissance scholars
were most interested in recovering and studying Latin and Greek literary, historical, and oratorical
texts. Broadly speaking, this began in the 14th century with a Latin phase, when Renaissance
scholars such as Petrarch, Coluccio Salutati (1331–1406), Niccolò de' Niccoli (1364–1437),
and Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459) scoured the libraries of Europe in search of works by such Latin
authors as Cicero, Lucretius, Livy, and Seneca.[30] By the early 15th century, the bulk of the surviving
such Latin literature had been recovered; the Greek phase of Renaissance humanism was under
way, as Western European scholars turned to recovering ancient Greek literary, historical, oratorical
and theological texts.[31]
Unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late
antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. Ancient
Greek works on science, mathematics, and philosophy had been studied since the High Middle
Ages in Western Europe and in the Islamic Golden Age (normally in translation), but Greek literary,
oratorical and historical works (such as Homer, the Greek
dramatists, Demosthenes and Thucydides) were not studied in either the Latin or medieval Islamic
worlds; in the Middle Ages these sorts of texts were only studied by Byzantine scholars. Some argue
that the Timurid Renaissance in Samarkand and Herat, whose magnificence toned with Florence as
the center of a cultural rebirth,[32][33] were linked to the Ottoman Empire, whose conquests led to the
migration of Greek scholars to Italian cities.[34][full citation needed][35][full citation needed][11][36] One of the greatest
achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back
into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity.
Muslim logicians, most notably Avicenna and Averroes, had inherited Greek ideas after they had
invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas
worked their way through the Arab West into Iberia and Sicily, which became important centers for
this transmission of ideas. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, many schools dedicated to the
translation of philosophical and scientific works from Classical Arabic to Medieval Latin were
established in Iberia, most notably the Toledo School of Translators. This work of translation from
Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest
transmissions of ideas in history.[37]
The movement to reintegrate the regular study of Greek literary, historical, oratorical, and theological
texts back into the Western European curriculum is usually dated to the 1396 invitation from
Coluccio Salutati to the Byzantine diplomat and scholar Manuel Chrysoloras (c. 1355–1415) to teach
Greek in Florence.[38] This legacy was continued by a number of expatriate Greek scholars,
from Basilios Bessarion to Leo Allatius.
Social and political structures in Italy
A political map of the Italian Peninsula circa 1494
The unique political structures of Italy during the Late Middle Ages have led some to theorize that its
unusual social climate allowed the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence. Italy did not exist as
a political entity in the early modern period. Instead, it was divided into smaller city-states and
territories: the Neapolitans controlled the south, the Florentines and the Romans at the center,
the Milanese and the Genoese to the north and west respectively, and the Venetians to the east.
15th-century Italy was one of the most urbanized areas in Europe.[39] Many of its cities stood among
the ruins of ancient Roman buildings; it seems likely that the classical nature of the Renaissance
was linked to its origin in the Roman Empire's heartland.[40]
Historian and political philosopher Quentin Skinner points out that Otto of Freising (c. 1114–1158), a
German bishop visiting north Italy during the 12th century, noticed a widespread new form of political
and social organization, observing that Italy appeared to have exited from feudalism so that its
society was based on merchants and commerce. Linked to this was anti-monarchical thinking,
represented in the famous early Renaissance fresco cycle The Allegory of Good and Bad
Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (painted 1338–1340), whose strong message is about the
virtues of fairness, justice, republicanism and good administration. Holding both Church and Empire
at bay, these city republics were devoted to notions of liberty. Skinner reports that there were many
defences of liberty such as the Matteo Palmieri (1406–1475) celebration of Florentine genius not
only in art, sculpture and architecture, but "the remarkable efflorescence of moral, social and political
philosophy that occurred in Florence at the same time".[41]
Even cities and states beyond central Italy, such as the Republic of Florence at this time, were also
notable for their merchant republics, especially the Republic of Venice. Although in practice these
were oligarchical, and bore little resemblance to a modern democracy, they did have democratic
features and were responsive states, with forms of participation in governance and belief in liberty. [41]
[42][43]
The relative political freedom they afforded was conducive to academic and artistic
advancement.[44] Likewise, the position of Italian cities such as Venice as great trading centres made
them intellectual crossroads. Merchants brought with them ideas from far corners of the globe,
particularly the Levant. Venice was Europe's gateway to trade with the East, and a producer of fine
glass, while Florence was a capital of textiles. The wealth such business brought to Italy meant large
public and private artistic projects could be commissioned and individuals had more leisure time for
study.[44]
Black Death
Main article: Black Death
