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Italian Renaissance

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- Socrates



SUMMARY
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The Italian Renaissance (Italian: Rinascimento [rinaʃʃiˈmento]) was a period of European history that began in Italy in the 14th century (Trecento) and lasted until the 17th century (Seicento), marking the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity. The French word renaissance (Rinascimento in Italian) means "Rebirth" and defines the period as one of cultural revival and renewed interest in classical antiquity after the centuries labeled the Dark Ages by Renaissance humanists. The Renaissance author Giorgio Vasari used the term "Rebirth" in his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects but the concept became widespread only in the 19th century, after the works of scholars such as Jules Michelet and Jacob Burckhardt.
The European Renaissance began in Tuscany (Central Italy), and was centred in the city of Florence. Florence, one of the several city-states of the peninsula, rose to economic prominence by providing credit for European monarchs and laying down the groundwork for capitalism and banking. The Renaissance later spread to Venice, heart of a mediterranean empire and in control of the trade routes with the east since the participation in the crusades and the voyages of Marco Polo, where the remains of ancient Greek culture were brought together and provided humanist scholars with new texts. Finally the Renaissance had a significant effect on the Papal States and Rome, largely rebuilt by Humanist and Renaissance popes (such as Alexander VI and Julius II), who were frequently involved in Italian politics, in arbitrating disputes between competing colonial powers and in opposing the Reformation.
The Italian Renaissance is best known for its achievements in painting, architecture, sculpture, literature, music, philosophy, science and exploration. Italy became the recognized European leader in all these areas by the late 15th century, during the Peace of Lodi (1454-1494) agreed between Italian states. The Italian Renaissance peaked in the mid-16th century as domestic disputes and foreign invasions plunged the region into the turmoil of the Italian Wars (1494-1559). However, the ideas and ideals of the Italian Renaissance endured and spread into the rest of Europe, setting off the Northern Renaissance. Italian explorers from the maritime republics served under the auspices of European monarchs, ushering the Age of discovery. The most famous among them are Christopher Columbus who served for Spain, Giovanni da Verrazzano for France, Amerigo Vespucci for Portugal, and John Cabot for England. Italian universities attracted polymaths and scholars such as Copernicus, Vesalius, Galileo and Torricelli, playing a key role in the scientific revolution. Various events and dates of the 17th century, such as the conclusion of the European Wars of Religion in 1648, have been proposed for the end of the Renaissance.Accounts of Renaissance literature usually begin with the three great poets of the 14th century: Dante Alighieri (Divine Comedy), Petrarch (Canzoniere) and Boccaccio (Decameron). Famous vernacular poets of the Renaissance include the renaissance epic authors Luigi Pulci (author of Morgante), Matteo Maria Boiardo (Orlando Innamorato), Ludovico Ariosto (Orlando Furioso) and Torquato Tasso (Jerusalem Delivered). 15th-century writers such as the poet Poliziano and the Platonist philosopher Marsilio Ficino made extensive translations from both Latin and Greek. In the early 16th century, Castiglione laid out his vision of the ideal gentleman and lady in The Book of the Courtier, while Machiavelli cast a jaundiced eye on "la verità effettuale della cosa"—the actual truth of things—in The Prince, composed, in humanistic style, chiefly of parallel ancient and modern examples of Virtù. Historians of the period include Machiavelli himself, his friend and critic Francesco Guicciardini and Giovanni Botero (The Reason of State). The Aldine Pres ...