Economic basis -- arms manufacturing, cloth making (wool, fustian)
religion: heresies of 13th C. spread among
urban workers, especially
themes:
"apostolic poverty" and preaching: rejection of new wealth
Umiliati
("humbled ones"): movement of cloth workers, call themselves
"Lambs of God"; identify with
poverty of early Christians
Political institutions: Bishop powerful since late Roman period
11th C. Commune: Consuls
elected for 1 year (eventually replaced by signori or Lords)
Grand Council (or parlamento): membership reduced over time
from 2,000 in 11th C, to 1500 and finally
800 by 13th C.
Credenza: select committee of
twelve for urgent or secret business
eg
Credenza of Sant'Ambrogio: name taken
by guild party of popolo
13th
C. allied with Della Torre against the Visconti
14th
C. VISCONTI RULERS OF
Archbishop Ottone
Visconti (d. 1295); gets his nephew Matteo elected
Captain of the
People, then 1294 acquires title of Imperial Vicar
1302-1310 Della Torre take power;
military & political struggle vs Visconti
1310 Matteo
Visconti confirmed as Imperial Vicar by Emperor Henry VII
after
overthrow of last Della Torre (1302-10)
Matteo's
grandsons: Bernabo, Matteo
II and Galeazzo II rule jointly
until 1355
assassination (fratricide) of Matteo II by brothers;
then
joint rule,
separate courts-- Bernabo in Milan; Galeazzo at Pavia
Expansion of Milanese territory before Giangaleazzo
(see map)
Pavia, Piacenza,
Parma, Cremona, Brescia, Bergamo, Como
1378-1402
GIANGALEAZZO VISCONTI: son of Galeazzo; image of
ruthless tyrant:
becomes sole ruler
after he has his uncle Bernabo assassinated
building
projects: begins Duomo (cathedral); Certosa (Carthusian monastery)
patronage of learning:
humanists flock to Milan from defeated cities, taking
positions at
Visconti court: eg Antonio Loschi,
from Vicenza
political goal: to wear
"crown of all Italy" (basically old Lombard Kingdom)
through conquest
of Lombardy and Tuscany plus Venetian terrafirma
aggressive expansion,
Venice remains neutral; resistance forms in
League of Bologna 1390: Padua,
Ferrara, Mantua, Bologna unite against Milan
1399 Pisa, Siena; 1400
Assisi, Perugia; 1400 Peace of Venice (+ Milan)
1402 Bologna
falls; attack on Florence prepared; GGV dies of plague
CIVIC
HUMANISM and the Baron Thesis
Hans Baron, The
Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance (1955)
argues that new ideology of republican civic
liberty emerges from
political struggle of
Coluccio Salutati: humanist Chancellor of
Florence 1375-1406
uses
Latin learning & Roman history as weapons to rally Florentines
in
propaganda war against
Giangaleazzo
tries to have Salutati assassinated: "1,000
Florentine
horsemen do me
less damage than Salutati's letters and
speeches."
Salutati's
political writings: On Tyranny defends Dante's putting Brutus in Hell
Invective
against Antonio Loschi Milanese humanist attacks Salutati &
Florentine
claim to be the heir of Roman republic
Leonardo
Bruni: Salutati's successor
as Chancellor; develops republican ideas more fully
1402 Laudatio
Florentinae Urbis (In Praise of the City of
city
founded under Roman republic = source of political virtue
1415 History of the Florentine
People: anti-Imperial theme developed
fully,
drawing on Boccaccio's recovery of Tacitus' Historia