The Italian Renaissance | The End of the Renaissance in Italy (Lecture 35)

Lecture 35: It is very difficult to establish when a period such as the Renaissance ended. What is clear, however, is that the Italian world was a very different place in 1550 from what it had been in 1450. There are particular events that can illustrate why that dramatic change occurred: the French invasions of 1494; the failure of the Italian states to work together consistently to protect the peninsula; the sack of Rome in 1527; and the closure of free thought, debate, and experimentation by the Church and its secular supporters after mid-century. Moreover, the victory of despotic monarchical regimes in such states as Florence ended the competitive, energetic world of the republic, replacing it with a singular, official ideology and power that everyone, regardless of rank or genius, had to obey. Art and literature, then, reflected increasingly the patronage and needs of princes and their servants, and these were not universally talented.

Furthermore, the voyages of discovery in the later 15th century had moved the economic center of Europe from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic seaboard. It was now cheaper to buy spices and luxury goods in Lisbon or Seville than in Venice or Florence, because the route around Africa was faster and incurred fewer charges and dangers. The incessant wars of the period drained money that could have been spent on patronage, and religious debate consumed everyone. The consequence was a loss of the forces that had initially given rise to the Renaissance mentality: confidence and will. The disasters that befell Italy ended the belief that “man is the measure of all things” and that “man can do anything if he but wills.”

Primary Source Texts:
Giovanni Della Casa, Il Galateo.

Secondary Sources:
Chris F. Black, Church, Religion and Society in Early Modern Italy.
William Bouwsma, The Waning of the Renaissance, 1550−1640.

Supplementary Reading:
Gregory Hanlon, Early Modern Italy, 1550−1800.

Lecture 36: https://rumble.com/v4ywuu2-the-italian-renaissance-echoes-of-the-renaissance-lecture-36.html