HIS109Y1 Lecture Notes - Conspicuous Consumption, Leonardo Bruni, Petrarch
Document Summary
Italy was different from the rest of europe as long distance trade never really ceased because of urban sophistication, which meant cities could sustain power and influence. You have to have a money economy if you have something as sophisticated as the roman church in your city. People wanted to be in rome which is why it never lost that much power. This allowed for economic and urban life even during the darkest of the dark ages. Feudalism in italy was shallow as the need for it wasn"t there; there were alternatives & the italians were more flexible in reordering system of society. Italy begins to look different from rest of feudal europe, which gave. When all of europe decided it would export excess knights to the. Crusades, italy was the place in which they would disembark. Italy had skills in shipbuilding from long distance trade.
