The 14th century marked the beginning of the Renaissance or “rebirth” of the political, economic, cultural, and artistic world from the Middle Ages. This rebirth promoted a rediscovery of classical philosophy, humanism, which shaped Florence and Siena’s society. As Florence and Siena grew, they became primarily influential in the Early Renaissance, from their jurisdiction to economic culture. In brief, Florence and Siena developed affluent, cultured civilizations, defining their political and artistic styles. This effect differed between Florence and Siena throughout the trecento period.
Florence was a republic government of three major branches and multiple parties from elected offices and committees to serve the Florentine Republic. The
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The Nine is a "rotating group of representatives chosen from the city's leading families" (Mac Farland), typically a council of merchants and bankers. This council functioned as the central government for law-making and regulations and had the power to appoint officials and judges. Moreover, Siena became a wealthy city because of large international banks run by wealthy Sienese families. Wealthy merchants and financiers rose to status, and population growth occurred partly through immigration from other parts of Italy and Europe. This influx of people profoundly impacted the city's culture and economy and contributed to the growth of trades and industries, primarily in agriculture. As the culture developed, art patrons ranged from wealthy Sienese families for their chapels to The Nine/Nove deciding the city's layout, "selecting committees to oversee large public projects and subsidizing the decoration of churches" (Mac Farland). Another notable development in Siena's society during the 14th century was the role of religion in public life. The city's religious traditions significantly shaped its culture and politics, and the Church maintained a powerful presence there. Though Siena was prosperous, the Black Death made society's life …show more content…
When the Black Death occurred, "wars with their Florentine neighbors kept the government from accumulating an excess of wealth for civic projects" (Davis). The decline of their resources to their economic changes related to taxation and labor caused the trading industry to fall and survived individuals to flee. The Nine's attempts to recover Siena from the Black Death failed, leading the government to fall underneath another power towards the fifteenth century. Florence had similar struggles to the Black Death as Siena but recovered quicker from the plague. The Black Death shook the Florentine government, having the Ciompi Revolt, the rebellion of unrepresented laborers unable to partake in the government, but overthrown by the Signoria. Individuals could climb to the social status to inherit wealth either consciously or unfairly because there was no one else to inherit the fortune. Of the Black Death effects, art became even more significant for Siena and Florence to stimulate the religion of Christianity based on devotional-based images and government authority. Aside from the negative impact on Florence and Siena, they thrived artistically from various artists based on their influence on culture and the rise of
Many started to question the church and they started doing things that were seen as sinful, such as drinking, laughing and dancing all day despite death being all around them. To sum up everything that has been stated, the Black Death brought many positive and negative changes to medieval Europe that would end up in the downfall of the feudal system and changing the way society worked. Bibliography: Armstrong, D. (2021). How the Black Death Devastated the Church.
It impacted art in some aspects and it helped with the ascension of the Renaissance. This paper argues that The Black Death did indeed contribute to the start of the Renaissance in Europe. The Black Death was a tragedy that Europe and perhaps the whole world had never experienced before. The plague may have originated from China and was brought to the
Overall, 70 percent of the people died from the Black Death and 20 out of 24 doctors died from this deadly disease in Venice (Worlds, 429). At the time, people did not know how it was spread or if they were infected until it was too late. People died as soon as they showed the symptoms of the Black Death which included swelling in the “armpit or groin caused by coagulating humours and followed by putrid fever” (Worlds, 423). There were many theories about how this disease was started. One theory was the plague was a “Punishment signifying God’s righteous anger at our iniquitous way of life” that brought the deadly pestilent (Worlds, 434).
Moreover, the Black Death caused a gastric drop in the economy. Workers died, prices rose, and lords pushed laws so peasants couldn't demand higher wages leading to many revolts and rebellions. Due to the death of so many people, there weren't enough people buying products so the prices rose tremendously. Since the plague started killing millions of workers, lords would try force the survivors to work. But, the surviving workers began to demand higher wages since there were higher prices in the sales market.
During the Middle Ages, life was simple and based around the feudal system. Christianity was the most widely practiced religion and the Church was deeply integrated into society. The lords owned the land and peasants worked for them on that land. The lord would then protect the peasants and would pay the king, who was the most powerful noble. The towns that these people lived in were dirty as people disposed of their trash in the streets, which paved the way for the Black Death to become rampant.
The lack of workers meant that labor would cost about five times more than before the Black Death came. This allowed poorer people to become wealthier with the large wages. Since land was abandoned, and rents was not being paid, tax revenue declined. This had a major impact on Europe’s health, thus making more people die. Higher wages and small manufacturing, caused high inflation.
Prior to the Black Death the dominant religion in the Middle Ages was Catholicism and this religion was an extremely large aspect of the peasantry, nobility and the monarchy’s lives. The only church in the Middle Ages was the Catholic church and people frequently visited churches to practice religion. Heads of religion were viewed as high members of society and were place highly within the feudal system. As the black death continued, the faith in religious practices of the time was decreased. Many heads of religious services like nuns or priests had passed, just like the common citizens, resulting in majority of religious practices such as going to church to stop all together.
The effects of the Black Death were significant on Medieval society. The black death caused panic amongst communities and towns leaving unmaintained paddocks and scarce amounts of food. This is due to the plague's rapidly spreading nature, and the fact that many people died. The plague left Europe with a multitude of short and long-term effects and issues. These issues varied from flagellants whipping themselves, from town to town, to make up for sins against God to the loss of labourers to work the land.
The Black Death impacted the economic and social balance of several monarchies. First, the people of Europe flogged themselves to renounce their sins and to achieve holiness. Secondly, the people disregarded the social balance, spiritual and secular laws. The Black Death not only broke up families, as the Romans
In the article previously mentioned discussing the plague’s impact on human behavior, there is also discussion of the Church and its increasing take to power. “Many Friars, and other clergy, particularly in Italy, assisted the authorities in the care of the sick and the enforcement of confinement during outbreaks of the plague. … It was through the higher power of the Catholic Church that many measures were taken to contain the plague.” (Staiano, 2008).
Economic and Social Consequences of the Black Death The Black Death was no modest disease it swept all over Europe during the dark ages , had immense and annihilating effects and is in fact one of the most disastrous and destructive pandemics in human history. It rapidly spread through Medieval Europe during 1347-1351 killing more than one third of the population. In the midst of Italy’s overpopulated cities 50 to 60 percent of the population died while villages were completely swept of their people in England and Germany (Spielvogel World History and Geography 248-249). The Black did not only bring the tragedy of killing millions but it also came with many consequences such as economic inflation and extreme social distinction ("Social and Economic Effects of the Plague").After the intense shock of the Black Death, Europe’s economically declined, its internal affair were instable and its social systems
In contrast, many just gave up on their religion and lived the rest of their lives for pleasures and wants, as they felt as if the Plague was a sign of freedom(Woodville). The people who gave up on their religion varied greatly, including Nuns, Priests, Women, Men, and Monks. The religious impacts on the individual level also greatly reflected upon the church, showing the same contrast. Because of the people who became even more religious and wanted to repent before they died, the church gained lots of power on a property and monetary scale and also took advantage of the turmoil Renaissance Europe was experiencing and took a stand to assert Christianity as the dominant religion(“Sickness and Disease”). On the other hand, the shift in attitude towards religion after feeling the Black Death was a sign of freedom took away lots of power from the church because more and more people were abandoning their Christian faith, making the church’s authority and influence
The Black death, along with taking down Europe’s economy, also affected the way of life, and the church’s power. When the black death struck the church also started to lose it’s power. People started to abandon the church 's and piety, for more self indulgent ways of life such as Hedonism(Green). Also, the people became angry with the church not being able to deal with the problem which lead to people not believing in the clergy, which is known a anticlericalism. This also lead to protestant reformation when the church really lost it’s
It was the Spring of 1348, and the citizens of Europe were malnourished due to limited food supplies for such a large population. This made them more susceptible to the outbreak of the Black Death. The Black Death originated in Asia, then moved westward into Sicily. From Sicily, the plague crept its way up through Europe infecting millions of people, in total killing more than one third of Europe’s population. In fact, over fifty percent of the population of Siena died, along with fifty percent of Paris, eighty percent of Florence, and over two thirds of Venice.
7.) The Renaissance occurred in Italy because the late-Middle Ages was filled with “dark ages”. After Rome fell, the Holy Roman Empire took power over Italy, this contributed to the slow progressions of forms of art during this century. In the 8th century, the Papal States were established people thought the Church founded subjects such as astrology, but also the first ever universities which were in Bologna, Padua, Naples, and Siena. In the 11th century, Italy was in the centre of the Mediterranean where trading between the east and west allowed Italian cities to grow wealthier and wealthier.