Italy During the Renaissance

Italian city-states trading during the late Middle Ages set the stage for the Renaissance by moving resources, culture and knowledge from the East.

Italian politics during the time of the Renaissance was dominated by the rising merchant class, especially one family, the House of Medici, whose power in Florence was nearly absolute.

The new humanist ideals of the Renaissance, although more secular in many aspects, developed against a Christian backdrop, and the Church patronized many works of Renaissance art.