The Italian City-State

Vocabulary

city-state: a city and its surrounding areas are politically independent

ex) Vatican city

hinterland - a rural area lying beyond a port that is claimed by the state that owns the coast.

ciompi - wool carder (wool is cleaned and combed)

usury - charging interest to a financial loan

During the renaissance period, Italy was not a country, but a consisted of many city-states.

The Success of the City-States

What external factors might help a city/town prosper economically?

Thinking about Italy, and its city-states during the Renaissance period, there are many factors that assisted in its success.

1. Geography
   • Closer to northern Africa and the Mediterranean Sea
     • cheaper to transport goods compared to other European countries
2. Climate
   • Warmer traveling climate (no interruption due to weather)
   • longer growing season for crops
3. Leadership
   • Running as a city-state gave control to the people instead of the king/queen in the monarch run countries
   • City-states of Venice, Milan, Florence, and Genoa were the wealthiest in Europe
4. Social Organization
   • Feudalism was not a large part of Italian society. Many nobles became part of business and politics in the towns

Competition for Trade

There was great competition for each city-state to control much of the trade. Since Venice was protected by a group of islands, many merchants had ships traveling throughout the Mediterranean and eventually along the Atlantic coast to northern Europe. With such strong economy, Venice was able to have two to three thousand workers building ships at any time.

Genoa was another powerful port city. Venice and Genoa were equally strong, but after a naval battle in 1380, Genoa was not able regain its power.

Commerce in the City-States

Merchants made money by purchasing goods and selling them for a profit in other cities and towns. Many of these merchants prepared raw goods to be sold to make such items as cloth . After the Black Death, there were many ciompi who were unemployed. They pursued the idea of forming a guild, but were denied by the larger guilds and by the government. This forced the ciompi to take stronger actions and they called for an uprising from the lower classes. For a short time, they did take over the government of Florence, but eventually were defeated by the larger, more powerful, guilds.

Making Money With Money

In order to make money, many people had to take loan out. It was considered sinful by the church for businesses to practice usery. Eventually the Church began to accept this only for instances that involved risk.

Ex) trading voyages--> increased risk of shipwrecks or robbery by pirates.

Politics in the city-states affected the economy leading the merchants, bankers, shopkeepers and craftsman wanting to be part of this power. Understanding that instability of war decreased the ability to trade successfully, these entrepreneurs supported strong leaders who promised stability.

Having so many other bankers and merchants traveling around Europe, exposed the Europeans to the Italian lifestyle, who had more worldly contact far beyond outside the Europe. This impressive culture influenced artists, scholars and wealthy Europeans to come to Italy to learn more of their sophisticated life.

Economics and Citizenship

With an economic depression that lasted until the early 1500's, many business people were unable to successfully grow their companies. This forced the wealthy to find other areas to spend their money. Many wealthy citizens contributed to the beautification of their cities, which encouraged a sense of loyalty and pride in the general public.

Sample Response