AP Euro Renaissance
Italian Renaissance - answer the revival of ancient learning and the supplanting of
traditional religious beliefs by new secular and scientific values that began in Italy in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
Jacob Burckhardt - answer Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), argued that
the revival of ancient learning in 14th and 15th century Italy gave rise to new secular
and scientific values. He saw the Renaissance as the birth of modernity.
City-States - answer During the 14th and 15th century, these powerful entities emerged
in Italy, dominating the political and economic life of the surrounding countryside. They
were not united, and often fought with each other. Consisted of the Duchy of Milan,
Republic of Genoa, Republic of Florence, Republic of Venice, Papal States, ad the
Kingdom of Naples.
Signori (Signoria) - answer A council, first of six, and later of eight members, governed
the city of Florence. The men were chosen from the most powerful guilds, namely,
those representing the major clothing industries. Cosimo de Medici used this group to
keep a firmer grip on his power.
Oligarchies - answerrule of merchant aristocracies, controlled much of Italy by 1300
Commenda System - answerContract between merchant and
"merchant-adventurer" who agreed to take goods to
distant locations and return with the proceeds (for 1/3
of profits)
Condottieri - answerMercenary armies obtained through military brokers, controlled by
despots
Republic of Florence - answerA moderately large Italian city that was central to the
Italian Renaissance because of its gifted individuals; Dante, Pretrach, Boccaccio,
Machiavelli, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Boticelli and others. The city was ruled
by the Medici familly, a family of great wealth. Still, the city continued to produce new
ways of thinking and helped progress the Renaissance further.
Medici Family - answerRuled Florence during the Renaissance, became wealthy from
banking, spent a lot of money on art, controlled Florence for about 3 centuries
Cosimo de' Medici - answerthe wealthiest Florentine and an astute statesman, he
brought stability back to Florence in 1434 when he ascended to power; controlled the
city internally from behind the scenes, skillfully manipulating the constitution and
, influencing elections; through his informal, cordial relations with the electoral committee,
he was able to keep councilors loyal to him in the Signoria (the governing body of
Florence, composed of 8 councilors); as head of the Office of Public Debt, he was able
to favor congenial factions; He was the grandfather of Lorenzo the Magnificent
Duchy of Milan - answerRuled by Sforza Family after 1450; Milan was a principal
adversary of Venice and Florence until the Peace of Lodi created a relative 40- year
period of peace among the Italian city states
Sforza Family - answerMilanese family who, through despotism, came to power in 1450;
ruled without constitutional restraints or serious political competition; produced one of
Machiavelli's heroes, Ludovico il Moro
Republic of Venice - answerLongest lasting of the Italian states because it did not
succumb to foreign powers until Napoleon. Also one of the world's great naval and
trading powers during the 14th and 15th centuries
Papal States - answerA group of territories in central Italy ruled by the popes from 754
until 1870. They were originally given to the papacy by Pepin the Short and reached
their greatest extent in 1859. The last papal state—the Vatican City—was formally
established as a separate state by the Lateran Treaty of 1929.
Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies - answerOnly Italian city state to officially have a
"king"
Charles VIII - answerFrench King who responded to Ludovico's call for help and
invaded Italy. Conquered Florence, Papal States, Naples.
Girolamo Savonarola - answerBecame the unofficial leader of Florence between 1494-
1498 who pledged to rid Florence of its decadence and corruption, oversaw a theocracy
in Florence. When France was removed from Italy in 1498, Savonarola was imprisoned
and then burned at the stake.
The Prince - answerA short political treatise about political power how the ruler should
gain, maintain, and increase it. Machiavelli explores the problems of human nature and
concludes that human beings are selfish and out to advance their own interests
Cesare Borgia - answeryounger son of Pope Alexander VI, prototype of Niccolò
Machiavelli's Prince —intelligent, cruel, treacherous, and ruthlessly opportunistic,
wanted to unite Italy under his control
Sack of Rome - answer1527, Charles I sacked Rome, ended the Italian wars, ended the
High Renaissance, began the Late Renaissance