Changes

The social consequences of the plague on society came to be profound. The high mortality rate resulted in a drastic decline in the labor force.<ref> Hay, Denys. ''[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 Italian Renaissance in Its Historical Background]''. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1997) p. 19</ref>. Wages rose for both agricultural and urban workers. The survivors of the Black Death generally had a higher standard of living than before the plague.<ref> Hays, 1997, p. 78 </ref> This was a phenomenon that occurred in both urban and rural areas. The crisis caused by the Black Death led to many changes in the economy, in response to the fall in the population. Because of the labor shortages, there was a move from labor-intensive farming such as cereal to livestock and increase both in industry and agriculture more labor-saving devices employed.<ref> Pullan, 1997, p 145 </ref> The impact of the Black Death was contrary on feudalism in Italy. 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.

The plague disrupted society to an unprecedented state. It overturned the existing social structure. Previous, to the outbreak of the plague, Italy was a rigid and stratified society. The Black Death changed everything. Increasingly, because of the demographic disaster caused by the plague were able to take advantage of the opportunities caused by the high death rate. In the period after the Black Death, an unprecedented amount of social mobility took place. Laborers became merchants and merchants become members of the nobility. No longer was a person’s destiny to be fixed by their birth. Previously, people assumed that one’s station was fixed at one’s birth and that one had to remain a member of the class you were born into.<ref> Benedictow, 2004, p. 73 </ref> People believed that a peasant would always be a peasant, an aristocrat, and aristocrat. Italians, like other peoples, in Europe, believed that one’s birth determined one’s future and that this was determined by God.<ref>Pullan, 1973, p. 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.

They were keen to use art and to patronize men of letters to compensate for the 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> ====Who benefitted from the Renaissance in Italy?====While the Renaissance may have laid the foundation for broad changes in Europe over the longterm, the wealthy in Italy were the primary people who benefitted during the Renaissance. While wages for agricultural workers increased after the plague arrived, wages did not increase throughout the Renaissance. Additionally in Florence, life expectancy declined for people during the Renaissance. Wealthy Italians during the Renaissance did clearly did benefit. Their wealth essentially funded the artistic achievements of the era, but most Italian peasants probably would have preferred higher wages rather than the Mona Lisa.<ref>Eleanor Janego, "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/10/dont-kid-yourself-black-deaths-aftermath-isnt-cause-optimism-about-covid-19/ Don’t kid yourself. The Black Death’s aftermath isn’t cause for optimism about covid-19.]" Washingington Post, April 14, 2020.</ref>