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====The Impact of the Plague of Italy====To Black Death spread to Italy from modern-day Russia. Genoese merchants spread the plague while fleeing a Mongol attack on their trading post in Crimea. The plague was carried and spread by the fleas that lived on the Black Rat and brought to Italy on the Genoese ships.<ref>Pullan, Brian S. ''[[Filehttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CMHGO4K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CMHGO4K&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=15e48ba82dfc5f5eeee14a1e5eca5898 History of early Renaissance Italy: From the mid-thirteenth to the mid-fifteenth century]'' (London:BlackdeathAllen Lane, 1973),_tourmaip.jpg|thumbnail|Contemporary Image 76 </ref> The population of Black Death]]Italy was ill prepared for the spread of the disease. There had been a series of famine and food shortages in the region, and the population was weak and vulnerable to disease, and furthermore, the population did not have any natural resistance to the disease. Italy was the most urbanized society in Europe, Milan, Rome, Florence, and other Italian centers among the largest on the continent.<ref> Pullan, 1973, p. 89</ref>
====Socio-Economic Consequences====The Black Death was also an economic crisis as trade ceased because of fear social consequences of the spread of plagueon society came to be profound. The high mortality rate resulted in a drastic decline in the labor force. As trade stagnated<ref> Hay, businesses failed and unemployment roseDenys. ''[https://www.amazon. com/gp/product/0521291046/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0521291046&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=20ec38bb2892fda8011774d1b91c7f5b The plague caused a complete social breakdown Italian Renaissance in many areas and crime Its Historical Background]''. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1997) p. 19</ref>. Wages rose for both agricultural and violence became more commonurban workers. Boccaccio in The survivors of the Decameron, describes people abandoning their occupations, ignoring Black Death generally had a higher standard of living than before the sick and living lives of wild excess, as everyone expected to dieplague. ‘Thus<ref> Hays, doing exactly as they prescribed1997, they spent day p. 78 </ref> This was a phenomenon that occurred in both urban and night moving from one tavern rural areas. The crisis caused by the Black Death led to many changes in the nexteconomy, drinking without mode or measure, or doing in response to the same thing fall in other people's homes, engaging only in those activities that gave them pleasure…the population.. And they combined this bestial behavior with as complete an avoidance Because of the sick labor shortages, there was a move from labor-intensive farming such as they could managecereal to livestock and increase both in industry and agriculture more labor-saving devices employed.'<ref> Boccaccio, Giovanni. ''The Decameron.'' (Penguin Classics, HammondsworthPullan, 1987) trans Mark Musa1997, p. 6145 </ref> [[File:Danse_macabre_by_Michael_Wolgemut.png|thumbnail| Dance The impact of the Black Death image from was contrary on feudalism in Italy. 15th century woodcut]]Feudalism was a system whereby peasants and farm laborers bound, as serfs, to serve a local lord. In the north of Italy, good farmland was plentiful, and wages increased, and the last vestiges of feudalism disappeared as serfs increasingly could purchase their freedom.
In the south of Italy the opposite occurred, here, since the Norman kings, the aristocracy had been consolidating feudalism. After the Black Death, the elite responded to the labor shortages by strengthening the restrictions on the peasants and thereby strengthened feudalism in southern Italy. The consequences of the plague resulted in a growing divide between the North and South of Italy that persists to this day.<ref>Benedictow, Ole Jørgen ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1843832143/ref=as_li_tl?ie=SocioUTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1843832143&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-Economic Consequences20&linkId=449097edacea911d1f7384a876564988 Black Death 1346–1353: The Complete History]'' (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,2004) p. 234</ref> In general, after a period of recovery, much of Italy became very wealthy as a more sophisticated economy emerged, especially in the North of Italy. This was crucial, as the increased wealth of Italy allowed the elite, such as the De Medici’s in Florence to become the patrons of great artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.<ref> Frederick Hartt, and David G. Wilkins, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0131882473/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0131882473&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6cfea7bdf46c76a3b637cf054ebc4f63 History of Italian Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture]'' (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003), p 67</ref>
====Questioning of authority====[[File:Petrarch_by_Bargilla.jpg|thumbnail|left|175px|Petrarch- poet and scholar]]The world was turned upside down by the Black Death. The mental outlook of people changed dramatically. Previously, people assumed that the world was fixed and God-ordained. The Black Death overturned old certainties. As we have seen religious orthodoxy and beliefs were undermined by the plague and its devastationundermined religious orthodoxy and beliefs. People at the time were no longer willing to accept the status quo. This is best seen change manifested in the numerous political revolts of the time. <ref>Benedictow, 2004, p. 174</ref> The most famous of these, that of led by the poor workers and weavers called popularly the Ciompi, that took place in Florence in 1378. For four years, the poor formed the government of the city. The revolt was one of several in Italy at the time. No longer are people as willing to question the old ways of doing things and no longer accepted things because they were sanctioned by tradition. The Black Death led to a great questioning of the old certainties. This led many, especially among the urban elite to use reason to understand the world. They also increasingly turned to the classics to find answers to the problems of life. The new spirit of inquiry helped to ignite the Renaissance, especially in politics and philosophy <ref> Ruggiero, Guido. ''The Renaissance in Italy: A Social and Cultural History of the Rinascimento'' (Cambridge University Press, 2015), p 648</ref>. However, that is not to say, that Italy rejected all traditions, it was still a very conservative society in many ways. However, those who questioned authority and the received wisdom, such as the Poet and Scholar Petrarch inspired the Humanist movement, which valued reason and critical thinking. The Humanist are essential in the development and progress of the Renaissance. <ref>Burkhardt, 1878, p. 67</ref>
==Decline of the Nobility==Social Mobility====One group that was adversely impacted by the Black Death was the nobility. This was also the case in many other European regions and kingdoms. The nobility suffered as greatly as many others classes as a result of the plague and many families died out during disrupted society to an unprecedented state. It overturned the periodexisting social structure. In Previous, to the aftermath outbreak of the plague, they found themselves in serious financial difficulties. The loss of population meant that there Italy was no longer a great demand for their land rigid and rents fellstratified society.<ref>Pullan, 1973The Black Death changed everything. Increasingly, p. 123 </ref> Many because of their labourers simply left the land and they demographic disaster caused by the plague were no replaced. Many able to take advantage of the nobility found themselves obliged to sell their serfs their freedom or to sell land to merchants from opportunities caused by the citieshigh death rate. At this time, many wealthy merchants purchased new estates. The demise of In the traditional elite meant that a new elite came to period after the foreBlack Death, composed an unprecedented amount of social mobility took place. Laborers became merchants and self-made menmerchants become members of the nobility. This new elite often keen No longer was a person’s destiny to patronize arts. They were very conscious of be fixed by their lack of birth and humble origins.<ref>PullanPreviously, 1973, p. 23 </ref> They were keen to use art people assumed that one’s station was fixed at one’s birth and that one had to patronize men remain a member of letters in order to compensatethe class you were born into. In order to appear the equal of the old aristocracy, they sought to sponsor artists who would win the esteem of the public<ref> BurkhardtBenedictow, 18782004, p. 7873 </ref>People believed that a peasant would always be a peasant, an aristocrat, and aristocrat. This was one of the reasons for the lavish patronage of the de Medici’s Italians, like other peoples, in Florence. They were keen patrons of the artsEurope, in order to justify their status in society believed that one’s birth determined one’s future and to impress the general population. This meant that the great artists had many patrons, who often competed for their talents and this allowed them to concentrate on their art and to produce some of the greatest art, ever knownwas determined by God.<ref> Hayden B. J. MaginnisPullan, 19971973, p. 167 123 </ref>
However, as social mobility became more widespread because of the Black Death, many people, came to believe that a person’s merits or abilities were what mattered and not one’s birth.<ref>Benedictow, 2004, p. 174 </ref> This led to a growing individualism in Italian society. This, in turn, encouraged people to strive and to develop their talents and achieve excellence or virtue.<ref>Burkhardt, 1878, p. 78</ref> The belief in the individual was central to the Renaissance and it inspired many of the greatest artists, architects, sculptures and writers, the world have ever seen to create peerless works. <div class="portal" style=Conclusion=='float:right; width:35%'>
====Related DailyHistory.org Articles====*[[Top 10 Books on the origins of the Italian Renaissance]]*[[Did the Sack of Rome in 1527 end the Renaissance in Italy?]]*[[What were the social factors that led to the Renaissance in Italy?]]*[[Why did the Italian Renaissance End?]]*[[What was the impact of Charles VIIIs invasion of Italy (1494) on the Renaissance?]]*[[How did the de Medici contribute to the Renaissance?]]</div>====Decline of the Nobility====One group that was adversely impacted by the Black Death was the nobility. This was also the case in many other European regions and kingdoms. The nobility suffered as much as many others classes as a result of the plague and many families died out during the period. In the aftermath of the epidemic, they found themselves in serious financial difficulties. The loss of population meant that there was no longer a high demand for their land and rents fell.<ref>Pullan, 1973, p. 123 </ref> Many of their laborers simply left the land, and they were not replaced. Many of the nobility found themselves obliged to sell their serfs their freedom or to sell land to merchants from the cities. At this time, many wealthy merchants purchased new estates. The demise of the traditional elite meant that a new elite came to the fore, composed of merchants and self-made men. This new elite often keen to patronize arts. They were very conscious of their lack of birth and humble origins.<ref>Pullan, 1973, p. 23 </ref> They were keen to use art and to patronize men of letters to compensate for lack of traditional authority. In order to appear the equal of the old aristocracy, they sought to sponsor artists who would win the esteem of the public.<ref> Burkhardt, 1878, p. 78</ref> This was one of the reasons for the lavish patronage of the de Medici’s in Florence. They were keen patrons of the arts, to justify their status in society and to impress the general population. This meant that the great artists had many patrons, who often competed for their talents and this allowed them to concentrate on their art and to produce some of the greatest art, ever known.<ref>Hayden B. J. Maginnis, 1997, p. 167 </ref> ====Conclusion====The Black Death devastated Italian society in the middle of the 14th century. It led to great socio-economic, cultural and religious changes. After the initial horrors of the plague, Italian society, staged a spectacular recovery. It Italy became richer, than before. The impact of the plague reduced the influence of the Catholic Church was weakened as diminished, and the culture became more secular. The new social mobility made possible by the loss of life meant that individualism came to be respected. The Black Death was to unleash unleashed the forces in Italian society that made the Renaissance possible.{{MediaWiki:AmNative}}====References====
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Updated January 12, 2019
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