The Black Death

Explain the nature of the ‘flourishing urban civilization’ that Margaret King describes in Italy prior to the Black Death. What were the economic foundations of the civilizations of Florence and Venice?

The thirteenth century in Venice and Florence saw growing prosperity economically which would provide opportunities to pursue arts and culture that would create an ‘early-Renaissance’. Merchant success in Florence began with two enterprises, Banking and Wool brought both by a close relationship with the Church. The close bond with the papacy gave the chance for merchants to collect Tithes and taxes as the position of the Pope’s tax representative.

The textile industry blossomed from Papacy’s victory in the Two Sicilies which exported wool from their sheep-herding enterprise to Florence for production. Venice’s economic development began from trading basic commodities like salt and fish for timber and metal that would establish a ship manufacturing and managing industry for international trade. With a sudden economic boom Guilds were created which would involve and intrigue merchants and workers in political affairs. Urban renewal was now attainable with a strong economy resulting in new infrastructure such as Churches, guildhalls, hospitals, bridges, roads and walls for protection built with new architectural designs. Arts and culture had taken a new turn from revolving entirely around Christianity to reflecting on the cities and connecting more directly to the people. The economic foundations of banking and wool in Florence and shipping and trade in Venice provided the stable opportunity for exploration in arts and culture before the disaster of the Black Death.
--Tom

The Legal and Political Structures of Florence and Venice During the days of the Renaissance
Italy was not a single political entity, but was divided up into city-states and territories. According to Margaret King, Venice and Florence were one of the few remaining republics. Although they did not have the democratic political systems in place that we have become accustom to, there were many political structures that placed the notion of liberty in high regard. In Italy, particularly Florence and Venice, in which the renaissance flourished, participation in governance and belief in liberty was a large aspect and the foundations of modern political ideology. One, who contributed to these theories, was Marsilius of Padua. He wrote the Defensor Pacis (“Defender of the peace”) between 1320 and 1324, which was an immensely ‘original work of political theory’. The Defensor pacis ‘sketched out the contours of the modern state as an entity that was both autonomous and secular, and which provided security and order to its citizens, who were the source of its power and legitimacy’. Whilst Marsilius was declared a heretic and spent his later years at the imperial court, it still forms the basis of our current political foundations.

Cities within medieval Europe and the era of the Renaissance had an established legal system. With courts, laws and rules that generally followed the same code from city to city. The Italian judicial system was based upon Roman law and followed, to a certain extent, the notions of their political and legal systems. There was one group of intellectuals that had a major influence over Italian cities at that time. These intellectuals were known as Jurists. These were men trained in Roman law. Jurist’s were prominent among the ‘citizen leaders’ and took part in the development of communes. They were held in high-regard within Florence, Venice and Italy in general during these times. The Jurist’s were men, generally those who came from money, who were schooled and trained (within schools of law in Italian universities) in order to produce the valuable service of compiling ‘urban law codes, to document contracts and exchanges of property, and to negotiate alliances and treaties of peace with other states’. Bartolus of Sassoferrato was one such Jurist, who developed a political theory, in which wealthy cities such as Venice and Florence were ‘best ruled by a combinations of prominent men’. These theories developed by Bartolus and Marsilius serve as a basis for further liberal and democratic theories and form the foundations of our own political and legal systems today.
-- Ben

Does the extract from Petrarch’s Letter to Posterity indicate an optimistic or pessimistic sense of his legacy?
Francesco Petrarch (1304 – 1374) was a medieval writer who composed both literary and scholarly texts. His work Letter to Posterity, composed in 1351, is a perfect example of the legacy and influence he had not only on the Renaissance, but on all future generations. Margaret King referred to Petrarch as an ‘inaugurator of the Renaissance’, as his works were all based on the study of classical antiquity, and as such had a great influence on early Renaissance writers. However his legacy was not just based on this, but on his self-awareness and thoughtfulness as a composer.

In the extract provided in this week’s readings from the Letter to Posterity, Petrarch manages to convey a sense of truly humble self-consciousness despite his comfortable upbringing and lifestyle. One of the most fascinating things about the extract is that it can be considered as both optimistic and pessimistic in regards to Petrarch’s ‘legacy’. On one hand the very fact that Petrarch is writing the letter in the first place indicates that he does have some hope that his works will live on, and will teach generations to come about the people he writes about and inadvertently about the value of modesty and self-awareness.

On the other hand, however, Petrarch sees himself as ‘one of your own clock’, as ordinary and mortal. He discusses his faults and his attributes without seeming falsely modest or displaying any sort of arrogance. He is hopeful that his works might have some lasting effect on future generations, but he is not vain or cocky or expectant that this will be the case. Petrarch seems to really be taking into account how he, himself, can pass on the knowledge that he has been able to gain only through experience and age. His self-awareness as a writer and as a man is very important as it was not an incredibly common feature of composers. The fact that he is writing an auto-biography is very telling; he sees how important his role is within his own works and why people might want to know what type of man he was.

In this extract Petrarch seems to be both hopeful about what the future may bring, and about his effect on it, but his sense of humility and modesty are also predominant features of his personality and prevent him from having total confidence in his legacy.
--Hannah

How does king characterize the economic and social impact of the Black Death? Do the documents relating to the Black Death reflect King’s understanding of the impact of the Black Death?

Just before the Black Death, King characterizes the thirteenth century as a growing ‘flourishing urban civilization’ that would eventually progress into the Renaissance.  She highlights the growth in the economy, the increase in popularity and the evolution of new ideas and revolutions such as workers rights and changing political structures.

King, by starting her chapter with all the growth and changes of the thirteenth century, is able to directly juxtapose the changes that the fourteenth century Black Death bought into society.  As Giovanni Boccaccio states ‘And, in this great affliction and misery of our city, the reverend authority of laws, divine and human, was almost wholly ruined’, the previous developments of ideas stopped in the face of the influenza.  As the plague ravaged the cities; the strict religious focus began to relent and give way to humanism and skepticism, as God, it seems, did nothing to save or aid his people. During the plagues reign, people did not follow any of the rules they had depended on religiously before; for example,  Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’ juxtaposes with the quote byGiovanni Boccaccio ‘The fact was that one citizen avoided another, that almostno-one cared for his neighbor’. King claims that the plague only temporarily stopped the ‘flourishing urban civilization’ rather than completely stopping it as she argues that the Renaissance wouldn’t have otherwise taken place.

--Alanah

Plague in a city