The ANNOTICO Report
It is alarming the number of people who do not realize
that the
Rinascimento not only originated in Italy, but that the
overwhelming
influence on Western Civilization emanated from Italy!
In the US, since we are an English speaking country we
have historically
become more well acquainted with the English version
of he Rennaissance,
when it was at least 200 years before England even began
to explore the
Rennaissance.
And why would we call an Italian "Rebirth of Civilization"
by a French
term, when the French contribution was comparitively
so much less, and
should correctly be called the Italian term "Rinascimento"!!
BellaOnline
The Voice of Women
Alena K Shumway
Renaissance Editor
The American Heritage Dictionary defines Renaissance first
as: “A rebirth
or revival” then more specifically as: “The humanistic
revival of classical
art, architecture, literature, and learning that originated
in Italy in the
14th century and later spread throughout Europe.” Though
that is a good
general sum-up the Renaissance is so much more.
>From the fall of the Roman empire in the 5th century
until the 1300s Europe
went through a long period of history where life for
average people
remained pretty much the same for hundreds of years.
This period is called
the middle ages or medieval period (which is Latin for
middle age and
really has nothing to do with the word evil). The Renaissance
is the time
when things started to pick up for Europe again with
a big lead-off by the
Italian city-states.
After the roman empire fell, the land we now know of as
Italy became
divided up into smaller areas ruled by many different
sorts of governments
and many different types of people. Even during Roman
rule Italy had not
been a single homogenous people, though they were united
under the emperor.
By the 14th century, parts of Italy were starting to
achieve some
stability. There were still wars between the various
territories, and was
still plent of death, destruction and political unrest.
But there were now
a few stable political bodies that made sure that some
cities thrived in
amongst the chaos. Florence, Venice, Milan, Naples, Sicily,
and Rome itself
all had a unique identity and some level of prosperity.
In this fertile cultural climate many exciting things
started to happen in
Italy. Many Italian city states began to travel trade
with their neighbors
and with farther areas. Italian built ships, developed
overland trade
routes and gained respect as merchants and businessmen.
Respect led to
prosperity which lead many important Italians to have
money to spend. They
spent it on new types of architecture, on painting and
sculpture, they
sponsored universities that filled with enquiring minds
who developed new
theories about the world around them. They read books,
so people wrote
books to be read on all sorts of topics. Many believe
that it was Italy
that reawakened the rest of Europe and ushered in the
Renaissance.
Most Americans identify the Renaissance with Italy, but
also with England,
hoopskirts, the beginning of London City, and Shakespeare
though much later
in time than Italy’s renaissance. Many historians count
the end of the
middle ages and the beginning of the renaissance for
England as the time
when The Tudor house gained control of the English throne.
The Wars of the
Roses had set the English nobility against each other
for 32 years but in
1485 King Henry VII ascended to the throne and united
the house of
Lancaster and the house of York (who had been the opposing
sides in the
Wars of the Roses) by marrying a York (he himself was
a Lancaster.)
England then joined the rest of Europe in traveling by
sea, developing a
class of craftsmen and merchants who were not peasants
and not nobility but
somewhere in between, renewing interest in learning,
literature, and art.
King Henry the eighth inherited the English throne from
his father (Henry
VII). He is most famous for his many wives and also for
breaking with the
Catholic Church and the pope in Rome. His daughter who
became Queen
Elizabeth was a great patron of the arts, of Shakespeare
and of exploration
and the founding of England’s colonies in North America.
Though there are many differing opinions on when the renaissance
period
was, and even what the renaissance consisted of, many
will agree that it is
a fascinating period of European history.