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[[File: SC1.jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|Fransico Sforza, a mercenary who became Duke of Milan]]

Italy during the Renaissance was a society that was obsessed with display and spectacle. Life in the towns and cities of the time were structured around an apparently endless round of civic and religious ceremonies and festivals. The courts of the rulers were also renowned for lavish spectacles. <ref>Celenza, Christopher and Kenneth Gouvens, Editors. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9004149074/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=9004149074&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=e30a1e7a250f2433267f6270d8640f11 Humanism and Creativity in the Renaissance]</i> (Longmans, Leiden 2006),pp. 295–326</ref> The New Elites such as the De Medici used spectacles and display to assert themselves in society and to demonstrate their wealth. Wealthy members of the urban elite and the aristocracy were always keen to demonstrate their status. This need to publicize and affirm one’s status led to the patronage of great artists and writers to provide displays and exhibit the wealth and power of the elite. This need for others recognition was vital in the Renaissance and it led to the lavish patronage of the period. This led to a great deal of competition to patronize the best artists and writers. For example, the Sforza paid De Vinci a huge sum to work for them in Milan. The need for display and ostentation benefitted humanists, artists, and writers as it allowed them to receive more commissions and it also encouraged them to be more creative and daring to produce works that would get the attention for their patrons.<ref>Celenza, p. 296</ref>

====Secularism====

Perhaps the great impact of the Papacy on Italy and beyond was on religious belief. The increasing secular outlook and policies of the Pope were viewed with disgust and outrage by many religious people, especially outside Italy.<ref> Duffy, Eamon. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300206127/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0300206127&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1d87d8482b2ccfba05039944a61b1172 Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes].</i> Yale University Press, 1997), p. 211</ref> Many people in Christendom were worried that if the Pope was corrupt, was the church also corrupt and what did this mean for their salvation. <ref>Duffy, p. 334</ref> The Church at this period needed reform, all over Europe. Successive Popes did not attempt to reform the clergy as they were too preoccupied with their interests in Italy and especially in the Papal States. The lives of the Popes scandalized many and led to many becoming disenchanted with the Catholic Church. Prior to the Counter-Reformation religious observance was lax and the Inquisition which was found to enforce Church doctrine, fell into abeyance.<ref> Duffy, p. 335</ref>

The Renaissance changed the history of Italy, Europe, and the world. It first emerged in Italy and this was no coincidence. Italian society in the period from 1350-1500 was one that was ideally suited for the development of a new culture and view of the world. The growing wealth and urbanization of Northern Italy meant that a new culture developed to replace the old medieval order and its values. The society was one that privileged the individual and believed that life could be meaningful. The new elite in this society, that appreciated display, and ostentation, encouraged them patronage of great artists. It was also a factor in the experimentation carried out by writers and artists who sought to impress their patrons. Perhaps the key social factor in the development of the Renaissance in Italy was the growing secularism of society, no longer were men and women confined to a theological interpretation of the world and life but sought to find an alternative way of living in their new society. In the new environment, many sought guidance for the new society emerging in the great works of the classical past and in their desire to emulate the past, they managed to create a new culture. One that in many ways laid the foundations for the modern world.

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