The Role Of Individualism In The Italian Renaissance

In medieval Europe, rural life was governed by a system of feudalism however with the introduction of agriculture this life began to change. “As a result, during the 11th century, the commercial economy began to develop once more, stimulating urban growth and the revival of trade (Gilbert, chapter 1)”. In these new centers of urban life, trade signaled the re-introduction of contact between previously isolated nations. This revival is the start of a cultural movement called the Renaissance, which started in Italy and then spread to its neighboring states. Although the Renaissance was widespread, it is best to understand it as a movement cultural development rather than one associated with social or economic change. Similar to the ‘trickle-down
Although away from the center of the Renaissance, the influence of humanism was seen amongst the lower class. Ideals placing emphasis on human values, human potential, achievement and individualism in hopes of a better, more ethical life were fairly unanimous amongst all citizens. Distinctions separating the middle class turned elite and the lower class were evident however with the re-learning of classics, literacy in both reading and writing itself was a tool in which solidified these barriers of social immobility. “To acquire, let alone indulge, such sophisticated tastes required money, for education in so many disciplines and interests, even if superficial, took time, and no one could patronize the arts without wealth” (Plumb
When one thinks of the lower class images of poverty are assumed that their home lives were very unclean, but in fact that was not always the case. Benedetto’s family challenges such a stereotype, “they sought a proper “external image” through clothes they wore, the objects they used and the furniture they bought” (29). Also through his account book, it becomes apparent that Benedetto and his family were slightly better off than their neighbors as the reader later on learns that they had a couple animals and even a stable (Balestracci 77). Similar to urban life, marriages acted as economic and social arrangements. Daughters were seen as a burden because this meant acquiring already limited funds for a dowry. However, despite this women in the village still played very active roles in helping out with farming and other jobs to bring in money. Understandably, the family was a source of immense security in both urban and rural life. In order to maintain the family, parents carefully arranged marriages, often to improve business or family ties. In the countryside,” rural unions result from a calculation of reciprocal advantage more than form falling in love, roughly as they did in cities”