HIS109Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Social Mobility, Petrarch, Coluccio Salutati
Document Summary
Florence was the cradle of the renaissance: small city during the middle ages, distinguished itself due to its ability to produce highest quality wool and cloth in europe, goods technology and natural resources. Guelfs (pope supporters) vs ghibellines (emperors supporters) Instability and competition are good stimuli to create new products existed in italy: competition produces innovation and new developments. Italy benefited from crusades due to their central european location: trade funneled through byzantine areas and italy on their way to the east and islamic. As florence grew wealthier, more people were required to maintain system: education was necessary ars dictaminis (letter writing) was highly regarded, more people engaged in trade and banking. Tension grew because the merchants lent money to landowners held their mortgages and were their creditors. In 1293, there was a revolt-type occurrence (ordinances of justice: merchants established guilds allowed for a new form of cooperative, regulated and compromise-oriented government, mercantile guild democracy created in florence.
