Renaissance narratives

The Renaissance was a cultural movement. Most historians agree that it started in the Italian city-state of Florence in the 1300s. Over time, ideas spread across Europe.

The Renaissance produced great changes in European art, architecture, and culture. Artists became interested in realism and individualism. Artistic styles moved away from a focus on religion. Humanist scholars combined ideas from Christianity and the Greeks and Romans. Humanists believed that human achievements were as important as religious theory. Architects imitated the style of Roman and Greek ruins.

The term Renaissance comes from the French word for “rebirth.” It was first used by European historians in the 1800s. These historians saw the Renaissance as something uniquely European. They used the Renaissance in ways to justify the expansion of European empires. They claimed Europeans were a better culture and society than other people, such as Indigenous Americans.

But challenging narratives is central to the work of historians. To evaluate the narratives of the Renaissance, we need to answer some questions: Who participated in the Renaissance? Where did it take place? And why did it start?

Renaissance “man”

The Renaissance was important—if you were a wealthy, educated man. For most people in Europe, the Renaissance was not something they experienced or noticed.

Yet, women were not silent in this period. They helped shape the Renaissance. Christine de Pisan, for example, wrote works of poetry and political theory, arguing for women’s education. Catherine de’ Medici, the queen of France, controlled political power. Other upper class women supported the arts and were artists themselves. Today, the phrase “Renaissance Man” is used to describe someone who has broad knowledge in many topics. Among the wealthy classes, at least, it seems there were plenty of “Renaissance Women.”

However, life did not change for the vast majority of the population. For most people, changes started by the Renaissance would not be felt for generations.

An economic rebirth

The Renaissance came at the end of a period of chaos. The Black Death had killed millions. Years of wars created instability and hurt trade. By the 1300s and 1400s, these settled down enough to allow trade networks to expand.

Patterns of wealth and labor changed. As more people could buy luxury goods, demand for trade increased. Italian merchants grew wealthy from trade, and Italian cities emerged as strong business cities. Powerful banking families had great control over local politics. The Medici family in Florence is one example.

Wealthy merchants, bankers, and rulers funded the Renaissance artists. The wealthy paid for elaborate portraits. Some had their family inserted into paintings of biblical or historical scenes.

Afro-Eurasian trade had great effects on the Renaissance. Trade brought new dyes from Central and South Asian plants and minerals for Renaissance painters. Bankers relied on mathematical concepts developed by Arabic and Indian scholars. Even the technologies behind the printing press were probably the result of Afro-Eurasian trade. Papermaking, for example, originated in China.

Renaissance sultans

Many historians argue the Renaissance was inspired by ancient Greece and Rome. But there was a large influence from the east, as well. In 1453, the Ottomans of Turkey took Constantinople and secured power over the east. As the Ottomans expanded their empire, they also supported the arts. The sultan hired Italian artists and architects to work in his court. These artists drew inspiration from the art and architecture of the great Islamic cities.

Muslim scholars preserved Greek and Roman texts. Renaissance poets and writers were inspired by Islamic poetry. Architecture of the Italian Renaissance was modeled on the great cities to the east. Some of these cities were Aleppo, Cairo, and Tabriz.

The painting above shows the Christian Saint Mark. He is preaching in Alexandria, Egypt to a crowd of Muslim men. However, Islam was not founded until nearly 600 years after Saint Mark’s death. The Italian Renaissance was equally influenced by its exchange with Islamic culture.

Legacies of the Renaissance

Trade inspired some Europeans to explore Africa’s western coast. European merchants bought silks and spices from the Ottomans. Italian merchants sent Portuguese sailors to bring back gold from West Africa. These voyages also introduced Europe to West African art.

The painting above shows the waterfront of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. Many of these people are enslaved Black people, but the painting also features several free Black people. It shows Black and white people dancing together. In the middle-right, a Black knight rides a horse. This painting and others show that European cities featured racial, ethnic, and religious diversity.

Systems of racism and enslavement were developing at the same time of the Renaissance. Portuguese voyages to West Africa returned with enslaved Africans. By the mid-1500s slavery was common in the Italian city-states and the Iberian Peninsula. It is important to remember the same economy that funded so much art eventually created the modern slave trade.