|
|
by Anthony Molho
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
People and Activities
Civic Spirit
Living Arrangements
Public Life
The Guilds
The Wool Business
Silk Cloth
Banking
Record and Account Keeping
Other Business Ventures
Hardships of Trade
The Aristocrats
Social Mobility
The Florentine Family
Friendship
The Artisans and the Unskilled Workers
The Black Death
Forms of Government in Italy
The Florentine Republic
The Government in Action
The Last Years of the Republic
The Medici Government
Humanism and the Revival of Ancient Learning
Humanist Writing
Humanist Art
Humanism and Florence
Charactertistics of the Renaissance
GLOSSARY
Albizzi (al-bet' se): a
politically influential family with large landholdings and business
interests in Tuscany
antiquity: ancient times;
the days of ancient Greece and Rome
apprentice: a member of a
guild who studied or worked under a master to learn the
secrets of the
trade
aristocracy: a group of
families of the highest social status, such as nobles and wealthy
merchants and bankers
artisan: a person who has a
craft or trade. In Florence, artisans
who were master
craftsmen were organized into the fourteen
"minor" guilds.
Bardi (bar' de): one of the
three largest banking firms in Florence
bill of exchange: a letter
of credit (see below), usually written in one currency and paid in
another
Bruges (broozh): a city in
Belgium
Brunelleschi (broo-nel-les'
ke): a Florentine architect, noted for designing the dome on
the cathedral in Florence, who .worked out a
mathematical formula to
guide
painters in creating the illusion of depth.
(This is called the principle of perspective.)
capital: goods or money
that can be invested in lands or business to produce more goods
or money
capitalist: a person who
invests goods or money to produce a profit
Datini, Francesco
(da-tea'ne, fran-ches’ ko): a Florentine wool merchant
Donatello (do-na-tel' lo):
a Florentine sculptor
dowry: an amount of money
or property, usually specified in a marriage contract, that a
bride brings to marriage
ducat (duk’ etat): a
Venetian gold coin
Duomo (Doo-o-mo): the
cathedral in Florence
extended family: a family
that includes both close and distant relatives
florin: a Florentine gold
coin; in purchasing power in the mid-14th century, equal to
about $100
today
Giotto (jot' to):
Florentine artist who inspired the humanist revolution In art by painting
his
subjects so that they would appear to be real people expressing real human
emotions
grana: a red dye; in Florentine slang, it meant-and
continues to mean-money, reflecting
the
profitability of the trade in cloth with deep, rich colors, especially red
guild: an organization of
people working in a single craft. A
guild had control of the
work and workers, and only guild members were
allowed to practice their profession. There were seven "major" guilds and fourteen
"minor" guilds.
holding company: a company
that owns other companies
humanism: a movement marked
by revival of interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture and by emphasis on
the importance of the creative individual
kinsman: a person of the
same family or clan; a relative
lanaioli (1a-na-yo’le): the leaders of the wool
business-wealthy merchants who owned
wool shops and directed the process of
cloth-making
letter of credit: a letter
from a bank stating that the buyer in a transaction has a certain
amount of money in the bank which the seller
later can collect as payment
Masaccio (ma-zat' cho): a
Florentine painter
Medici (me'de-che): a
politically influential family who became the largest and most
powerful
bankers in Europe
mercenaries: hired soldiers
who fought for any state that offered the highest pay
miserabili (me-ze-ra’ be le): "the miserable ones";
unskilled workers at the bottom of the
social scale. They were often unemployed and poverty-stricken.
monarch: the supreme ruler
of a country
nuclear family: the main
unit of a family consisting of parents and children, as opposed to extended
family which includes more distant relatives
Palazzo dei Signori
(pa-lat'so da’e sen-yo’ re):
"palace of the lords”; an imposing palace
built originally as a fortification of the
city of Florence, later also used for official
ceremonies
Pazzi (pat se): banking
family who commissioned the building of Pazzi Chapel in
Florence
Peruzzi (pe-root 'se): one
of the three largest banking firms in Florence in the 14th century
piazza: a public square
Ponte Vecchio (pon' te ve'
kyo): the "old bridge"; one of the four bridges that connect the
north and south sides of Florence separated by the
Arno River; site of many shops and peddlers.
Today it is lined with antique and jewelry shops and visited by many
tourists,
populus Latin term
meaning "the people"; in Florentine political terms, populus meant
only
guild members
prior: a member of the
priorate, the most powerful governing body in Florence
priorate: the most powerful
and important body of government officials in Florence. It
was composed of nine men (priors) who held
office for two months.
Renaissance:
"rebirth"; the period between the 14th and 16th centuries in Europe
marked
by a revival of the classical influence of
Greece and Rome, the emphasis on the
creative individual (see humanism), and a
burst of activity in business, literature, and art
republic: a form of
government in which power resides in a group of people representing
the population as a whole and restricted by
the laws of a constitution, as opposed
to government by one man, as in the signories
Santa Croce (san'ta kro' cha): "holy cross";
Franciscan convent and church north of the
Arno River
signore: Italian word for "lord"; also means
"Mr."
signory: the form of government of a city-state in which the
head of a prominent city
family became the city's master
social mobility: movement
from one social class or status to another
subsidy: a sum of money
given by a government to support an enterprise thought to be
important
to the country
tariff: a tax imposed on
goods leaving a country or being brought into a country
INDEX
Acciaiuoli, 24
Africa, 23, 78; North, 17,
34
Alberti, Leon Baftista, 40,
72
Albizzi, 11, 61, 64
ambassadors, 8,12, 57
Apennine Mountains, 5
Arabs, 78
architecture, 12, 77
Arno River, 5, 21, 22
artisans, 12, 21, 23, 37,
45-46, 65; in artists' workshops, 79
arts, 6, 12; of Middle
Ages, 2,7 2; patrons, 2, 3, 78; Renaissance,72-73,83
Asia, 23, 24
Athens,78
Balkans, 34
bankers, 2, 6, 17, 31, 37,
53, 60, 78
banking; practices, 24-30;
failures, 34
baptisms 12
Barcelona, 20
Bardi, 24, 26, 29
Bartolus of Sassoferato, 57
Belvedere, 5
Black Death, 26, 29, 30,
34, 45, 50; in Florence, 51
Black Sea, 51
bookkeeping, 6, 30
Bracciolini, Poggio, 68
Bruges, 27, 30
Brunelleschl, Filippo, 11,
74, 75
Bruni, Leonardo, 70, 72
business, 21, 35, 41, 51;
agents, 30, 34; art connections with, 67, 79; see also banking,
guilds, silk cloth, wool
Caesar, Augustus, 71;
Julius, 71
capitalists, 21
Charles of Durazzo, 14
Christians, 71, 72, 77;
Bible, 72
churches, 2, 5, 6, 11, 24,
43, 65
Cicero, 69
cities, 3, 6, 8,53, 78,83;
citizens of, 12, 57, 58; medieval, 6, 67
clergy, 12, 47, 53
cloth-making, 17, 21, 22;
see also wool
Cotswolds, 20; see also
England
Crete, 31
Crimea, 31
criminals; execution of,
14-15;
conviction of, 47
Cyprus, 27, 31
Dati, Gregorio, 41
Datini, Francesco, 20, 21,
30, 31, 34,35t44
diaries, 12; of Datini, 38;
of Pitti, 42
dictator, of Florence, 60
Donatello, 75
dowries, 43
ducat, Venetian gold coin,
26, 28
Duomo, cathedral of
Florence, 5, 11, 14, 75, 79
education, 2, 6, 68, 72,
77, 82
Edward III, of England, 26
Egypt, treaty with
Florence, 26
England, 20, 23, 51, 78
Europe, 2, 17, 20, 23, 30,
31, 34, 37, 51, 70, 81
fairs, 26
families; extended, 41;
Florentine, 11; nuclear, 40-41; traditions, 41-43
farms, 6, 38, 54; see also
landholders
festivals, 65
fire department, 60
Flanders, 23
Florence; city of, 2, 3, 5,
6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 29, 37, 38, 39, 40,
41,
43, 44, 45, 47, 50, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 65, 67, 72, 75, 77, 78-79,
82,
83;
budget of, 31; constitution of, 5960, 61; description of, 12; population of, 6,
45, 72; quarters of, 11; Republic of,
53, 57, 59, 61, 65; society of, 7, 34, 37-41, 45; see also Black Death,
churches, government, guilds, Medici
florin, 19, 26
food, 5, 6, 8
France, 23, 34, 51, 78
friendship, concept of,
44-45
funerals, 12, 43, 44, 51
Germany, 23, 51, 78
Giotto, 72, 73, 74, 78, 79
government, 3, 12;
democratic, 53; of Florence, 8, 11, 31, 37, 46, 53-54, 55, 57, 59, 69,72
grano (money), wool colors,
23
Greece, culture of ancient,
67, 68, 83; trade with, 72
guilds, 17-19; Florentine,
34, 37, 51, 53, 79; major, 55-57; minor, 46-47; wool guild, 18,
19,
20, 21, 30, 79
Henry of Lancaster, 34
humanism, 2, 67-69, 70, 83;
and art, 72-73; in Florence, 77-78; and sculpture, 75 Hundred Years War, 26
Hungarians, 78
India, 17
industry, 82; see also silk
cloth, wool
insurance, 29, 31
Italy, 3, 81; southern, 30
Jacopo, Agnolo di, taxes
of, 46
jousts, 14
justice, 14, 18
landholders, 6, 38; noble,
2, 24, 34, 37, 54, 55
language study, 68
letter of credit, 26-27
letters; business, 20, 30;
about Florence, 11, 12, 59; personal, 43; religious, 70 liberties,
political, 57
Lille, 34
Loggia de' Lanzi (Balcony
of the Lancers), 8
Lucca, 23, 59, 61, 64, 82
manuscripts, 8, 81
marriages, 12, 43-44
Masaccio, 74, 75
mathematics, 6, 74, 77
Mayor of Florence, 8
Mazzei, Lapo, 44-45
Medici, 11, 34, 40, 42, 43,
57; bank, 29, 30, 34; Cosimo de, 40, 63, 64-65; Giovanni de,
29, 30, 35, 40, 43, 64; palace, 12-13,65
merchants, 2, 3, 8, 17, 53,
78
Middle Ages, 2,67,68,78;
art of, 72; difference from Renaissance, 83; literature, 69
Middle East, 17
Milan, 2, 11, 17, 58, 59,
61, 70
Minorca, 20
miserabili (miserable
ones), 37, 47-48,51,59
monastic orders, 6, 11, 53,
69, 70
Morelli, Giovanni, 38,39;
family of, 40, 42, 78
Mugello, 38,40
Naples, 2, 17, 23, 28, 59,
70, 82
nature, 74; and art, 72
Niccolo, Biaggio di, taxes
of, 46
nuns, 6, 5 3
Old Bridge (Ponte Vecchio),
5
painting, 8, 31, 72, 74, 77
palaces, 2, 6, 11, 12, 79,
83
Palazzo dei Signori, or
Palazzo Vecchio (Palace of the Lords, or Old Palace), 5, 8, 11, 14,
59, 79
Palazzo Vecchio, see
Palazzo del Signori
Pantheon, 77
papacy, 23, 24, 59, 78
Parenti, marriage of, 34
Paris, 2, 17
patrons; art, 3, 78;
literature, 3
Pazzi, 77
peasants, 38, 39
Pericles, 78
Persians, 78
perspective, discovery of,
74-75
Peruzzi, 24,26,27
Petrarch, Francesco, 69-70
pirates, 34
Pitti, Buonaccorso and
Neri, 42
Poland, 51
police, 59
poverty, 47; see also
miserabili
Prato, 30
prince, 54; see also
signory
priors, 59; see also
government
prisons, 50, 60; see also
criminals, taxes
public life, 12, 14, 17
Quintilian, 68
Renaissance, 2, 3, 6 7, 78,
81, 83; Florentine, 77; Italian, 17;
society of, 34, 81; see also
humanism
republic, 2, 53;
superiority of, 70-71
Rhodes, 27
Ricasoh, 42
Rome, 2, 12, 77; culture
of, 67, 68, 70,'72, 83; Empire, 53, 71; language of, 69; Republic,
12,71
Russia, 34
Saint Anthony, 14, 47
Salutati, Coluccio, 70, 72
Salvi, Niccolo di, 50
San Giovanni, quarter of
Florence, 11, 14
San Lorenzo, Church of, 43
Santa Croce, Church of, 5,
77
Santa Maria Novella, Church
of, 5
Scandinavia, 24, 78
sculpture, 2, 31, 72, 74,
75, 77, 83
Shakespeare, Merchant of
Venice, 35
shipping, 20, 31, 82
shops, 5, 6, 11, 12, 19, 21
Sicily, 24
signory, 53, 58, 64
silk cloth, 23-24, 82
slaves, 34, 53
Slavs, 78
social mobility, 39-40
South America, 23
Spain, 20
spices, 31
St. John's Day, 20
streets, 6, 8
Strozzi, Alessandra and
Caterina, 43
tapestries, 34
taxes, 23, 41, 46, 59, 60,
61
trade, 20, 30, 34-35
travel, dangers of, 27
Turks, 78
Tuscany, 11, 20, 53, 59,
61; government of, 12
United States, 19, 26, 39,
40, 53, 83
uprisings, of poor, 50, 60;
see also miserabili
Venice, 2, 17, 23, 53, 82
Villani, Giovanni, 6, 19,
20, 21
Vinci, Leonardo da, 73
wages, 45
war, 5, 8, 34, 54, 59, 70
wealth, 2, 11, 17, 21, 81,
82
wool, 17, 19-23, 50, 82;
see also guild , s
Yugoslavia, 34