The FEUDAL STRUCTURE WAS WEAKENING before the growing power of the middle class, which sided with the new monarchs and thrived on the revival of trade and the growth of towns.

The threat of armies using GUN POWDER was revolutionizing warfare at the expense of armor-clad knights.

Heresy and schism racked the CHURCH and its temporal power was increasingly being CHALLENGED BY AGGRESSIVE NATIONAL MONARCHS.

An EMPTY FORMALISM replaced the creativity that had given the 12th and 13th centuries their unique forms of expression.

	Although asceticism remained a pious ideal, it gained few adherents among the acquisitive townspeople.
	Scholars still held learned disputations at the universities, but scholasticism was unable to satisfy the growing INTEREST IN MAN AND SOCIETY.
	In art, the Gothic style, superb in its balance and restraint, had given way to exaggeration and flamboyance. Decoration and ornamentation became ends in themselves.

It describes the cultural style that developed in the Italian city-states during the 14th and 15th centuries.

Its seeds may be found) in the conditions that brought wealth to the uban centers of northern Italy (Venice, Florence, Milan, Genoa):

	Trade and industry
	The political structure of independent city-states
	Capitalism (banking and investments)

The new wealth supported creative activity and encouraged art, architecture, literature, and critical thinking.

Sophisticated Italian, urban society no longer found medieval ideals of other-worldliness and asceticism satisfactory.  

Searching for new modes of expression, thinkers and artists found what they wanted in the CLASSICAL LEGACY of GREECE AND ROME.

	They emphasized the importance of INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEINGS and LIFE ON EARTH.
	They adhered to the optimistic belief that INDIVIDUALS could perfect themselves through study and form perfect societies.

City-states received special privileges. They could elect officials, make laws, and raise taxes. 

Republican governments involved more widespread participation and made people less willing to accept the authority of emperor or pope. Consequently, many people abandoned the old medieval ideas.

Restrictions against freedom of thought and deed broke down when people began to express their own ideas about life and art.

This philosophical perspective focused attention on the individual

Early humanists included:

	Petrach Collected ancient manuscripts. Popularized ideas about classical works. Got others interested in collecting manuscripts. Taught that the educated person should study history, languages, literature, and ethics.
	Giovanni Boccaccio Wrote both poetry and prose. Most famous work: Decameron which contains stories making fun of feudal customs and the church.

The IDEAL RENAISSANCE MAN was a many-sided individual -- someone like Leonardo da Vinci, a talented painter who:

	Studied geology, chemistry, and anatomy
	Designed buildings, canals, and weapons.
	Was a keen observer of nature and humankind. Dissected human corpses to discover muscle structure Studied plants and other animals in minute detail.

Emphasis on the afterlife (this life was unimportant)

World was a place of temptations and evil

Individuals limited by RULES AND PROHIBITIONS

Emphasis on the here and now

 World was filled with opportunities

Individuals free to express themselves

Among the most famous patrons were members of the MEDICI FAMILY who, by acting as champions of the lower classes, ruled Florence for 60 years (1434-1494)) behind a façade of republican forms.

Other PRINCES AND DESPOTS of Italian city-states patronized the arts, and the people were eager to sponsor artists.

In the 16th century, THE POPES outdid secular rulers in the splendor of their court.

	Alexander VI (1492-1503), the father of the unscrupulous poisoners Cesare and Lucretia Borgia, was a target for criticism because he devoted more time and thought to furthering the fortunes of his family than he did to religious matters.
	Wealthy families actively sought to control the papacy, and the Medici succeeded in placing two of their members in this office.

Saw himself equal to the ancients.

Hailed the ancients boldly as man to man or friend to friend.

Quoted the classics, not because they agreed with the ancients, but because the ancients agreed with them.