The Renaissance Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key figures, concepts, and historical events from the lecture on the Italian Renaissance.

Jacob Burckhardt

19th century historian who claimed the Renaissance period was in distinct contrast to the Middle Ages.

Signori

Despots who, along with oligarchies, controlled much of Italy by 1300.

Commenda

A contract between a merchant and a 'merchant-adventurer' who agreed to take goods to distant locations and return with the proceeds for 1/3 of profits.

Condottieri

Mercenary generals of private armies hired by cities for military purposes.

Cosimo de’Medici

Florentine leader (1389-1464) who allied with other powerful families of Florence and became unofficial ruler of the republic.

Lorenzo de’Medici

Son of Cosimo de'Medici, known as 'the Magnificent' (1449-1492), who was a significant patron of the arts.

Peace of Lodi

A 1454 treaty that created a relative 40-year period of peace among the Italian city-states.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

Italian territory including Naples and the island of Sicily; it was the only Italian city-state to officially have a 'king'.

Ludovico 'the Moor'

Milan's despot who encouraged French king Charles VIII to invade Naples in 1494.

Girolamo Savonarola

Unofficial leader of Florence between 1494-1498 who oversaw a theocracy, pledged to rid Florence of its decadence and corruption, and was burned at the stake in 1498.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Author (1469-1527) who wrote The Prince in 1513 as a political treatise on modern statecraft.

The Prince

1513 political treatise by Machiavelli stating that 'the ends justifies the means' and that 'it was better to be feared than to be loved'.

Cesare Borgia

Son of Pope Alexander VI whose political leadership and ambitions of uniting Italy were observed by Machiavelli.

Sack of Rome

1527 attack by the armies of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V that symbolized the end of the Renaissance in Italy.