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EUROPEAN HISTORYVOLUME ONE - MIDDLE AGES

ContentsArticlesPEASANTS' REVOLT 1

Peasants' Revolt 1

RENAISSANCE 23

Italian Renaissance 23

ReferencesArticle Sources and Contributors 37Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 38

Article LicensesLicense 39

1

PEASANTS' REVOLT

Peasants' Revolt

Peasants' Revolt

Richard II meets the rebels on 13 June 1381 in a miniature from a 1470's copy of Jean Froissart's Chronicles.

Date 30 May 1381 - November 1381

Location England

Result Suppression of revolt and execution of rebel leaders

BelligerentsRebel forces Royal government

Commanders and leadersWat TylerJohn WraweJohn Ball

Richard IIWilliam WalworthHenry le Despenser

Casualties and lossesAt least 1,500 Unknown

The Peasants' Revolt, also called Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across largeparts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the economic and political tensions generated bythe Black Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years War,and instability within the local leadership of London. The final trigger for the revolt was the intervention of a royalofficial, John Bampton, in Essex on 30 May 1381. His attempts to collect unpaid poll taxes in the town of Brentwoodended in a violent confrontation, which rapidly spread across the south-east of the country. A wide spectrum of ruralsociety, including many local artisans and village officials, rose up in protest, burning court records and opening thelocal gaols. The rebels sought a reduction in taxation, an end to the system of unfree labour known as serfdom andthe removal of the King's senior officials and law courts.

Peasants' Revolt 2

Inspired by the sermons of the radical cleric John Ball, and led by Wat Tyler, a contingent of Kentish rebelsadvanced on London. They were met at Blackheath by representatives of the royal government, who unsuccessfullyattempted to persuade them to return home. King Richard II, then aged only 14, retreated to the safety of the Towerof London, but most of the royal forces were abroad or in northern England. On 13 June, the rebels entered Londonand, joined by many local townsfolk, attacked the gaols, destroyed the Savoy Palace and the Temple Inns of Court,set fire to law books and killed anyone associated with the royal government. The following day, Richard met therebels at Mile End and acceded to most of their demands, including the abolition of serfdom. Meanwhile, rebelsentered the Tower of London, killing the Lord Chancellor and the Lord High Treasurer, whom they found inside.On 15 June Richard left the city to meet with Tyler and the rebels at Smithfield. Violence broke out, and Richard'sparty killed Tyler. Richard defused the tense situation long enough for London's mayor, William Walworth, to gathera militia from the city and disperse the rebel forces. Richard immediately began to re-establish order in London andrescinded his previous grants to the rebels. The revolt had also spread into East Anglia, where the University ofCambridge was attacked and many royal officials were killed. Unrest continued until the intervention of Henry leDespenser, who defeated a rebel army at the Battle of North Walsham on 25 or 26 June. Troubles extended north tothe cities of York, Beverley and Scarborough, and west as far as Bridgwater in Somerset. Richard mobilised around4,000 soldiers to help restore order. Most of the rebel leaders were tracked down and executed; by November, atleast 1,500 rebels had been killed.The Peasants' Revolt has been widely studied by academics. Late 19th-century historians used a range of sourcesfrom contemporary chroniclers to assemble an account of the uprising, and these were supplemented in the 20thcentury by research using court records and local archives. Interpretations of the revolt have shifted over the years.Once seen as a defining moment in English history, modern academics are less certain of its impact on subsequentsocial and economic history. The revolt heavily influenced the course of the Hundred Years War, by deterring laterParliaments from raising additional taxes to pay for military campaigns in France. The revolt has been widely used insocialist literature, including by the author William Morris, and remains a potent political symbol for the politicalleft, informing the arguments surrounding the introduction of the Community Charge in the United Kingdom duringthe 1980s.

Background and causes

Economics

Priests blessing victims of the plague, c. 1360–75

The Peasants' Revolt was fed by the economic and social upheaval ofthe 14th century.[1] At the start of the century, the majority of Englishpeople worked in the countryside, as part of a sophisticated economythat fed the country's towns and cities and supported an extensiveinternational trade.[2] Across much of England, production wasorganised around manors, controlled by local lords – including thegentry and the Church – and governed through a system of manorialcourts.[3] Some of the population were unfree serfs, who had to workon their lords' lands for a period of time each year, although thebalance of free and unfree varied across England, and in the south-eastthere were relatively few serfs.[4] Some serfs were born unfree andcould not leave their manors to work elsewhere without the consent ofthe local lord; others accepted limitations on their freedom as part ofthe tenure agreement for their farmland.[5] Population growth led to pressure on the available agricultural land,increasing the power of local landowners.[6]

Peasants' Revolt 3

In 1348 a plague known as the Black Death crossed from Europe into England, rapidly killing an estimated 50 percent of the population.[7] After an initial period of economic shock, England began to adapt to the changed economicsituation.[8] The death rate among the peasantry meant that suddenly land was relatively plentiful and manpower inmuch shorter supply.[9] Labourers could charge more for their work and, in the consequent competition for labour,wages were driven sharply upwards.[10] In turn, the profits of landowners were eroded.[11] The trading, commercialand financial networks in the towns disintegrated.[12]

The authorities responded to the chaos with emergency legislation, the Ordinance of Labourers, passed in 1349, andthe Statute of Labourers of 1351.[13] These attempted to fix wages at pre-plague levels, making it a crime to refusework or to break an existing contract, imposing fines on those who transgressed.[14] The system was initiallyenforced through special Justices of Labourers and then, from the 1360s onwards, through the normal Justices of thePeace, typically members of the local gentry.[15] Although in theory these laws applied to both labourers seekingadditional wages and to employers tempted to outbid their competitors for workers, they were in practice appliedonly to labourers, and then in a rather arbitrary fashion.[16] The legislation was strengthened in 1361, with thepenalties increased to include branding and imprisonment.[17] The royal government had not intervened in this waybefore, or allied itself with the local landowners in quite such an obvious or unpopular way.[]

Over the next few decades, economic opportunities increased for the English peasantry.[18] Some labourers took upspecialist jobs that would have previously been barred to them, and others moved from employer to employer, orbecame servants in richer households.[19] These changes were keenly felt across the south-east of England, where theLondon market created a wide range of opportunities for farmers and artisans.[20] Local lords had the right to preventserfs from leaving their manors, but when serfs found themselves blocked in the manorial courts, many simply left towork illegally on manors elsewhere.[21] Wages continued to rise, and between the 1340s and the 1380s thepurchasing power of rural labourers increased by around 40 percent.[22] As the wealth of the lower classes increased,Parliament brought in fresh laws in 1363 to prevent them from consuming expensive goods formerly only affordableby the elite. These sumptuary laws proved unenforceable, but the wider labour laws continued to be firmlyapplied.[23]

War and financeAnother factor in the revolt of 1381 was the management of the war with France. In 1337 Edward III of England hadpressed his claims to the French throne, beginning a long-running conflict that became known as the Hundred YearsWar. Edward had initial successes, but his campaigns were not decisive. Charles V of France became more active inthe conflict after 1369, taking advantage of his country's greater economic strength to commence cross-Channel raidson England.[24] By the 1370s, England's armies on the continent were under huge military and financial pressure; thegarrisons in Calais and Brest alone, for example, were costing £36,000 a year to support, while military expeditionscould consume £50,000 in only six months.[25][26]</ref> Edward died in 1377, leaving the throne to his grandson,Richard II, then only ten years old.[27]

Peasants' Revolt 4

English soldiers landing in Normandy, c.1380–1400, during the Hundred Years War

Richard's government was formed around his uncles, most prominentlythe rich and powerful John of Gaunt, and many of his grandfather'sformer senior officials. They faced the challenge of financiallysustaining the war in France. Taxes in the 14th century were raised onan ad hoc basis through Parliament, then comprising the Lords, thetitled aristocracy and clergy; and the Commons, the representatives ofthe knights, merchants and senior gentry from across England.[28]

These taxes were typically imposed on a household's movablepossessions, such as their goods or stock.[29] The raising of these taxesaffected the members of the Commons much more than the Lords.[30]

To exacerbate matters, the official statistics used to administrate thetaxes predated the Black Death and, since the size and wealth of localcommunities no longer bore much resemblance to the pre-plaguefigures, effective collection had become increasingly difficult.[31]

Just before Edward's death, Parliament introduced a new form of taxation called the poll tax, which was levied at therate of four pence on every person over the age of 14, with a deduction for married couples.[32][33]</ref> Designed tospread the cost of the war over a broader economic base than previous tax levies, this round of taxation provedextremely unpopular but raised £22,000.[32] The war continued to go badly and, despite raising some money throughforced loans, the Crown returned to Parliament in 1379 to request further funds.[34] The Commons were supportiveof the young King, but had concerns about the amounts of money being sought and the way this was being spent bythe King's counsellors, whom they suspected of corruption.[35] A second poll tax was approved, this time with asliding scale of taxes against seven different classes of English society, with the upper classes paying more inabsolute terms.[36] Tax evasion proved to be a problem, and it only raised £18,600, much less than the £50,000 thathad been hoped for.[37]

In November 1380, Parliament was called together again in Northampton. Archbishop Simon Sudbury, the new LordChancellor, updated the Commons on the worsening situation in France, a collapse in international trade, and the riskof the Crown having to default on its debts.[38] The Commons were told that the colossal sum of £160,000 was nowrequired in new taxes, and arguments ensued between the royal council and Parliament about what to do next.[39]

Parliament passed a third poll tax, this time on a flat-rate basis of 12 pence on each person over 15, with noallowance made for married couples, which they estimated would raise £66,666.[40] The third poll tax was highlyunpopular and many in the south-east evaded it by refusing to register.[41] The royal council appointed newcommissioners in March 1381 to interrogate local village and town officials in an attempt to find those who wererefusing to comply.[42] The extraordinary powers and interference of these teams of investigators in localcommunities, primarily in the south-east and east of England, raised still further the tensions surrounding the freshtaxes.[43]

Peasants' Revolt 5

Protest and authority

Sheep farming, from the Luttrell Psalter, c. 1320–40

The decades running up to 1381 were arebellious, troubled period.[44] London wasa particular locus for unrest, and theactivities of the city's politically activeguilds and fraternities often alarmed theauthorities.[45] Londoners were unhappywith the expansion of the royal legal systemin the capital, in particular the increased roleof the Marshalsea Court in Southwark,which had begun to compete with the cityauthorities for judicial power inLondon.[46][47]</ref> The city's populationalso resented the presence of foreigners, Flemish weavers in particular.[48] Londoners detested John of Gauntbecause he was a supporter of the religious reformer John Wycliffe, whom the London public regarded as aheretic.[49] John of Gaunt was also engaged in a feud with the London elite and was rumoured to be planning toreplace the elected Mayor with a captain, appointed by the Crown.[50] The London elite were themselves fighting outa vicious, internal battle for political power.[51] As a result, in 1381 the ruling classes in London were unstable anddivided.[52]

Rural communities, particularly in the south-east, were unhappy with the operation of serfdom and the use of thelocal manorial courts to exact traditional fines and levies, not least because the same landowners who were runningthese courts also often acted as enforcers of the unpopular labour laws or as royal judges.[53] Many of the villageelites refused to take up positions in local government and began to frustrate the operation of the courts.[54] Animalsseized by the courts began to be "rescued" by their owners, and legal officials were assaulted.[55] Some started toadvocate the creation of independent village communities, respecting traditional laws but separate from the hatedlegal system centred in London.[56] As the historian Miri Rubin describes, for many, "the problem was not thecountry's laws, but those charged with applying and safeguarding them".[57]

Concerns were raised about these changes in society.[58] William Langland wrote the poem Piers Plowman in theyears before 1380, praising peasants who respected the law and worked hard for their lords, but complaining aboutgreedy, travelling labourers demanding higher wages.[59] The poet John Gower feared England might see an uprisingsimilar to the French Jacquerie revolt of 1358, in which the peasants had risen up against their masters.[60] There wasa moral panic about the threat posed by newly arrived workers in the towns and the possibility that servants mightturn against their masters.[61] New legislation was introduced in 1359 to deal with migrants, existing conspiracy lawswere more widely applied and the treason laws were extended to include servants or wives who betrayed theirmasters and husbands.[62] By the 1370s, there were even fears that if the French invaded England, the rural classesmight side with the invaders.[]

The discontent began to give way to open protest. In 1377, the "Great Rumour" occurred in south-east andsouth-west England.[63] Rural workers organised themselves and refused to work for their lords, arguing that,according to the Domesday Book, they were exempted from such requests.[64] The workers made unsuccessfulappeals to the law courts and the King.[65] There were also widespread urban tensions, particularly in London, whereJohn of Gaunt only narrowly escaped being lynched.[66] The troubles increased again in 1380, with protests anddisturbances across the north of England and in the western towns of Shrewsbury and Bridgwater.[67] An uprisingoccurred in York, during which John de Gisborne, the city's mayor, was removed from office, and fresh tax riotsfollowed in early 1381.[68] There was a great storm in England during May 1381, which many felt to prophesy futurechange and upheaval, adding further to the disturbed mood.[69]

Peasants' Revolt 6

Events

Outbreak of revolt

Essex and Kent

The revolt of 1381 broke out in Essex, following the arrival of John Bampton to investigate non-payment of the polltax on 30 May.[] Bampton was a member of Parliament, a Justice of the Peace and well-connected with royalcircles.[] He based himself in the town of Brentwood and summoned representatives from the neighbouring villagesof Corringham, Fobbing and Stanford-le-Hope to explain and make good the shortfalls on 1 June.[] The villagersappear to have arrived well-organised, and armed with old bows and sticks.[] Bampton first interrogated the peopleof Fobbing, whose representative, Thomas Baker, declared that his village had already paid their taxes, and that nomore money would be forthcoming.[] When Bampton and two sergeants attempted to arrest Baker, violence brokeout.[] Bampton escaped and retreated to London, but three of his clerks and several of the Brentwood townsfolk whohad agreed to act as jurors were killed.[70] Robert Bealknap, the Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, whowas probably already holding court in the area, was empowered to arrest and deal with the perpetrators.[71]

Peasant longbowmen at practice, from theLuttrell Psalter, c. 1320–40

By the next day, the revolt was rapidly growing.[] The villagers spreadthe news across the region, and John Geoffrey, a local bailiff, rodebetween Brentwood and Chelmsford, rallying support.[] On 4 June, therebels gathered at the village of Bocking, where their future plans seemto have been discussed.[72] The Essex rebels, possibly a few thousandstrong, advanced towards London, some probably travelling directlyand others via Kent.[] One group, under the leadership of John Wrawe,a former chaplain, marched north towards the neighbouring county ofSuffolk, with the intention of raising a revolt there.[73]

Meanwhile, revolt also flared in neighbouring Kent.[] Sir Simon deBurley, a close associate of both Edward III and the young Richard,had claimed that a man in Kent, called Robert Belling, was an escapedserf from one of his estates.[] Burley sent two sergeants to Gravesend,where Belling was living, to reclaim him.[] Gravesend's local bailiffsand Belling tried to negotiate a solution under which Burley would

accept a sum of money in return for dropping his case, but this failed and Belling was taken away to be imprisoned atRochester Castle.[] A furious group of local people gathered at Dartford, possibly on 5 June, to discuss the matter.[74]

From there the rebels travelled to Maidstone, where the gaol was stormed, and then onto Rochester on 6 June.[75]

Faced by the angry crowds, the constable in charge of Rochester Castle surrendered it without a fight and Bellingwas freed.[]

Some of the Kentish crowds now dispersed, but others decided to continue.[] From this point, they appear to havebeen led by Wat Tyler, whom the Anonimalle Chronicle suggests was elected their leader at a large gathering atMaidstone on 7 June.[76] Relatively little is known about Tyler's former life; chroniclers suggest that he was fromEssex, had served in France as an archer and was a charismatic and capable leader.[76] Several chroniclers believethat he was responsible for shaping the political aims of the revolt.[77] Some also mention a Jack Straw as a leaderamong the Kentish rebels during this phase in the revolt, but it is uncertain if this was a real person, or a pseudonymfor Wat Tyler or John Wrawe.[78][79]</ref>Tyler and the Kentish men advanced to Canterbury, being allowed into the walled city and castle without resistance on 10 June.[80] The rebels deposed the absent Archbishop of Canterbury, Sudbury, and made the cathedral monks swear loyalty to their cause.[81] They attacked properties in the city with links to the hated royal council, and searched the city for suspected enemies, dragging the suspects out of their houses and executing them.[82] The city

Peasants' Revolt 7

gaol was opened and the prisoners freed.[83] Tyler then persuaded a few thousand of the rebels to leave Canterburyand advance with him on London the next morning.[]

March on the capital

15th-century representation of the cleric JohnBall encouraging the rebels; Wat Tyler is shown

in red, front left

The Kentish advance on London appears to have been coordinatedwith the movement of the rebels in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk.[] Theirforces were armed with a mixture of weaponry, including sticks, battleaxes, old swords and bows.[84][85]</ref> Along their way, theyencountered Lady Joan, the King's mother, who was travelling back tothe capital to avoid being caught up in the revolt; she was mocked butotherwise left unharmed.[] The Kentish rebels reached Blackheath, justsouth-east of the capital, on 12 June.[][86]</ref>

Meanwhile, word of the revolt reached the King at Windsor Castle onthe night of 10 June.[] He travelled by boat down the Thames toLondon the next day, taking up residence in the powerful fortress ofthe Tower of London for safety, where he was joined by his mother,Archbishop Sudbury, the Lord High Treasurer Sir Robert Hales, the Earls of Arundel, Salisbury and Warwick and anumber of other senior nobles.[87] A delegation, headed by Thomas Brinton, the Bishop of Rochester, was sent outfrom London to negotiate with the rebels and persuade them to return home.[]

At Blackheath, John Ball gave a famous sermon to the assembled Kentishmen.[] Ball was a well-known priest andradical preacher from Kent, who was by now closely associated with Tyler.[88] Chroniclers' accounts vary as to howhe came to be involved in the revolt; he may have been released from Maidstone gaol by the crowds, or might havebeen already at liberty when the revolt broke out.[89] Ball rhetorically asked the crowds "When Adam delved andEve span, who was then a gentleman?" and promoted the rebel slogan "With King Richard and the true commons ofEngland".[] The phrases emphasised the rebel opposition to the continuation of serfdom and to the hierarchies of theChurch and State that separated the citizen from the King, while stressing that they were loyal to the monarchy and,unlike the King's advisors, were "true" to Richard.[90] The rebels rejected proposals from the Bishop of Rochesterthat they should return home, and instead prepared to march on.[]

Discussions took place in the Tower of London about how to deal with the revolt.[] The King had only a smallnumber of troops at hand, in the form of the castle's garrison, his immediate bodyguard and, at most, several hundredsoldiers.[91][92]</ref> Many of the more experienced military commanders were in France, Ireland and Germany, andthe nearest major military force was in the north of England, guarding against a potential Scottish invasion.[93]

Resistance in the provinces was also complicated by English law, which stated that only the King could summonlocal militias or lawfully execute rebels and criminals, leaving many local lords unwilling to attempt to suppress theuprisings on their own authority.[94]

Since the Blackheath negotiations had failed, the decision was taken that the King himself should meet the rebels, atGreenwich, on the south side of the Thames.[95] Guarded by four barges of soldiers, Richard sailed from the Toweron the morning of 13 June, where he was met on the other side by the rebel crowds.[] The negotiations failed, asRichard was unwilling to come ashore and the rebels refused to enter discussions until he did.[] Richard returnedacross the river to the Tower.[96]

Peasants' Revolt 8

Events in London

Entry to the city

Map of London in 1381: A – Clerkenwell; B – Priory of St. John; C – Smithfield;D – Newgate and Fleet Prisons; E – The Savoy Palace; F – The Temple; G- Black

Friars; H – Aldgate; I – Mile End; J – Westminster; K – Southwark; L –Marshalsea Prison; M – London Bridge; N – Tower of London

The rebels began to cross from Southwarkonto London Bridge on the afternoon of 13June.[96] The defences on London Bridgewere opened from the inside, either insympathy for the rebel cause or simply outof fear, and the rebels advanced into thecity.[97][98]</ref> At the same time, therebel force from Essex made its waytowards Aldgate on the north side of thecity.[99] The rebels swept west through thecentre of the city, and Aldgate was openedto let the rest of the rebels in.[100]

The Kentish rebels had assembled awide-ranging list of people whom theywanted the King to hand over forexecution.[] It included national figures,such as John of Gaunt, Archbishop Sudburyand Hales; other key members of the royalcouncil; officials, such as Bealknap and Bampton who had intervened in Kent; and other hated members of the widerroyal circle.[] When they reached the Marshalsea Prison in Southwark, they tore it apart.[101] By now the Kent andEssex rebels had been joined by many rebellious Londoners.[102] The Fleet and Newgate Prisons were attacked bythe crowds, and the rebels also targeted houses belonging to Flemish immigrants.[103]

On the north side of London, the rebels approached Smithfield and Clerkenwell Priory, the headquarters of theKnights Hospitaller which was headed by Hales.[] The priory was destroyed, along with the nearby manor.[] Headingwestwards along Fleet Street, the rebels attacked the Temple, a complex of legal buildings and offices owned by theHospitallers.[] The contents, books and paperwork were brought out and burned in the street, and the buildingssystematically demolished.[] Meanwhile, John Fordham, the Keeper of the Privy Seal and one of the men on therebel's execution list, narrowly escaped when the crowds ransacked his accommodation but failed to notice he wasstill in the building.[]

Next to be attacked along Fleet Street was the Savoy Palace, a huge, luxurious building belonging to John of Gaunt.[]

According to the chronicler Henry Knighton it contained "such quantities of vessels and silver plate, withoutcounting the parcel-gilt and solid gold, that five carts would hardly suffice to carry them"; official estimates placedthe value of the contents at around £10,000.[] The interior was systematically destroyed by the rebels, who burnt thesoft furnishings, smashed the precious metal work, crushed the gems, set fire to the Duke's records and threw theremains into the Thames and the city drains.[] Symbolically, almost nothing was actually stolen by the rebels, whodeclared themselves to be "zealots for truth and justice, not thieves and robbers".[104] The remains of the buildingwere then set alight.[105] In the evening, rebel forces gathered outside the Tower of London, from where the Kingwatched the fires burning across the city.[106]

Peasants' Revolt 9

Taking the Tower of London

Late 15th-century depiction of the Tower ofLondon and its keep, the White Tower

On the morning of 14 June, the crowd continued west along theThames, burning the houses of officials around Westminster andopening the Westminster gaol.[] They then moved back into centralLondon, setting fire to more buildings and storming the Newgateprison.[] The hunt for Flemings continued, and those withFlemish-sounding accents were killed, including the royal advisor,Richard Lyons.[107][108]</ref> In one city ward, the bodies of fortyexecuted Flemings were piled up in the street.[109] Historian RodneyHilton argues that these attacks may have been coordinated by theweavers' guilds of London, who were commercial competitors of theFlemish weavers.[]

Isolated inside the Tower, the royal government was in a state of shockat the turn of events.[110] The decision was taken, possibly by Richardhimself, for the King to leave the castle that morning and make his wayto negotiate with the rebels at Mile End in east London, taking only avery small bodyguard with him.[111] This involved the King leaving Sudbury and Hales behind in the Tower, eitherfor their own safety or because Richard had decided it would be safer to distance himself from his unpopularministers.[112] Along the way, several Londoners accosted the King to complain about alleged injustices.[113]

It is uncertain who spoke for the rebels at Mile End, and Wat Tyler may not have been present on this occasion, butthey appear to have put forward their various demands to the King, including the surrender of the hated officials ontheir lists for execution; the abolition of serfdom and unfree tenure; "that there should be no law within the realmsave the law of Winchester", and a general amnesty for the rebels.[114] It is unclear precisely what was meant by thelaw of Winchester, but it probably referred to the rebel ideal of self-regulating village communities.[115][116]</ref>Richard issued charters announcing the abolition of serfdom, which immediately began to be disseminated aroundthe country.[117] He declined to hand over any of his officials, however, apparently instead promising that he wouldpersonally implement any justice that was required.[118]

While Richard was at Mile End, the Tower was taken by the rebels.[] A force of rebels, separate from those operatingunder Tyler at Mile End, approached the castle, possibly in the late morning.[][119] The gates were open to receiveRichard on his return and a crowd of around 400 rebels entered the fortress, encountering no resistance, possiblybecause the guards were terrified by the rebels.[120]

Once inside, the rebels began to hunt down their key targets, and found Archbishop Sudbury and Robert Hales in thechapel of the White Tower.[] Along with William Appleton, John of Gaunt's physician, and John Legge, a royalsergeant, they were taken out to Tower Hill and beheaded.[] Their heads were paraded around the city, before beingaffixed to London Bridge.[121] The rebels found John of Gaunt's son, the future Henry IV, and were about to executehim as well, when John Ferrour, one of the royal guards, successfully interceded on his behalf.[122] The rebels alsodiscovered Lady Joan and Joan Holland, Richard's sister, in the castle but, after making fun of the pair, let them gounharmed.[123] The castle was thoroughly looted of armour and royal paraphernalia.[]

In the aftermath of the attack, Richard did not return to the Tower but instead travelled from Mile End to the GreatWardrobe, one of his royal houses in Blackfriars, part of south-west London.[124] There he appointed the militarycommander Richard FitzAlan, the Earl of Arundel, to replace Sudbury as Chancellor, and began to make plans toregain an advantage over the rebels the following day.[125] Many of the Essex rebels now began to disperse, contentwith the King's promises, leaving Tyler and the Kentish forces the most significant faction in London.[126] Tyler'smen moved around the city that evening, seeking out and killing John of Gaunt's employees, foreigners and anyoneassociated with the legal system.[127]

Peasants' Revolt 10

Smithfield

Late 14th-century depiction of William Walworthkilling Wat Tyler; the King is represented twice,watching events unfold (left) and addressing the

crowd (right).

On 15 June the royal government and the remaining rebels, who wereunsatisfied with the charters granted the previous day, agreed to meetat Smithfield, just outside the city walls.[128] London remained inconfusion, with various bands of rebels roaming the cityindependently.[] Richard prayed at Westminster Abbey, before settingout for the meeting in the late afternoon.[129] The chronicler accountsof the encounter all vary on matters of detail, but agree on the broadsequence of events.[130] The King and his party, at least 200 strong andincluding men-at-arms, positioned themselves outside StBartholomew's Priory on the east side of Smithfield, and the thousandsof rebels massed along the western end.[131][132]</ref>

Richard probably called Tyler forwards from the crowd to meet him,and Tyler greeted the King with what the royal party consideredexcessive familiarity, terming Richard his "brother" and promising him his friendship.[133] Richard queried whyTyler and the rebels had not yet left London following the signing of the charters the previous day, but this broughtan angry rebuke from Tyler, who requested that a further charter be drawn up.[134] The rebel leader rudely demandedrefreshment and, once this had been provided, attempted to leave.[]

An argument then broke out between Tyler and some of the royal servants.[] The Mayor of London, WilliamWalworth, stepped forward to intervene, Tyler made some motion towards the King, and the royal soldiers leaptin.[135] Either Walworth or Richard ordered Tyler to be arrested, Tyler attempted to attack the Mayor, and Walworthresponded by stabbing Tyler.[] Ralph Standish, a royal squire, then repeatedly stabbed Tyler with his sword, mortallyinjuring him.[]

The situation was now precarious and violence appeared likely as the rebels prepared to unleash a volley of arrows.[]

Richard rode forwards towards the crowd and persuaded them to follow him away from Smithfields, to ClerkenwellFields, defusing the situation.[] Walworth meanwhile began to regain control of the situation, backed byreinforcements from the city.[] Tyler's head was cut off and displayed on a pole and, with their leader dead and theroyal government now backed by the London militia, the rebel movement began to collapse.[136] Richard promptlyknighted Walworth and his leading supporters for their services.[]

Peasants' Revolt 11

Wider revolt

Eastern England

The Abbey Gate of Bury St Edmunds Abbey,stormed by the rebels on 13 June

While the revolt was unfolding in London, John Wrawe led his forceinto Suffolk.[137] Wrawe had considerable influence over thedevelopment of the revolt across eastern England, where the number ofrebels may well have approached those in the London revolt.[138] Theauthorities put up very little resistance to the revolt: the major noblesfailed to organise defences, key fortifications fell easily to the rebelsand the local militias were not mobilised.[139] As in London and thesouth-east, this was in part due to the absence of key military leadersand the nature of English law, but any locally recruited men may alsohave proved unreliable in the face of a popular uprising.[140]

On 12 June, Wrawe attacked Sir Richard Lyons' property at Overhall,advancing on to the towns of Cavendish and Bury St Edmunds in westSuffolk the next day, gathering further support as they went.[141] JohnCambridge, the Prior of the wealthy Bury St Edmunds Abbey, wasdisliked in the town, and Wrawe allied himself with the townspeopleand stormed the abbey.[142] The Prior escaped, but was found two dayslater and beheaded.[143] A small band of rebels marched north toThetford to extort protection money from the town, and another group tracked down Sir John Cavendish, the ChiefJustice of the King's Bench and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.[144] Cavendish was caught inLakenheath and killed.[145] John Battisford and Thomas Sampson independently led a revolt near Ipswich on the 14June.[] They took the town without opposition and looted the properties of the archdeacon and local tax officials.[]

The violence spread out further, with attacks on numerous properties and the burning of the local court records.[146]

One official, Edmund Lakenheath, was forced to flee from the Suffolk coast by boat.[147]

Revolt began to stir in the town of St Albans in Hertfordshire late on 13 June, when news broke of the events inLondon.[] There had been long-running disagreements in St Albans between the town and the local abbey, which hadextensive privileges in the region.[148] On 14 June, protesters met with the Abbot, Thomas de la Mare, and demandedtheir freedom from the abbey.[] A group of townsmen under the leadership of William Grindecobbe traveled toLondon, where they appealed to the King for the rights of the abbey to be abolished.[149] Wat Tyler, then still incontrol of the city, granted them authority in the meantime to take direct action against the abbey.[150] Grindecobbeand the rebels returned to St Albans, where they found the Prior had already fled.[151] The rebels broke open theabbey gaol, destroyed the fences marking out the abbey lands and burnt the abbey records in the town square.[152]

They then forced Thomas de la Mare to surrender the abbey's rights in a charter on 16 June.[153] The revolt againstthe abbey spread out over the next few days, with abbey property and financial records being destroyed across thecounty.[154]

Peasants' Revolt 12

Corpus Christi College's Old Court, attacked bythe rebels on 15 June

On 15 June, revolt broke out in Cambridgeshire, led by elements ofWrawe's Suffolk rebellion and some local men, such as John Greyston,who had been involved in the events in London and had returned to hishome county to spread the revolt, and Geoffrey Cobbe and JohnHanchach, members of the local gentry.[] The University ofCambridge, staffed by priests and enjoying special royal privileges,was widely hated by the other inhabitants of the town.[] A revoltbacked by the Mayor of Cambridge broke out with the University as itsmain target.[] The rebels ransacked Corpus Christi College, which hadconnections to John of Gaunt, and the University's church, andattempted to execute the University bedel, who escaped.[155] TheUniversity's library and archives were burnt in the centre of the

town.[156] The next day, the University was forced to negotiate a new charter, giving up its royal privileges.[157]

Revolt then spread north from Cambridge toward Ely, where the gaol was opened and the local Justice of the Peaceexecuted.[158]

In Norfolk, the revolt was led by Geoffrey Litster, a weaver, and Sir Roger Bacon, a local lord with ties to theSuffolk rebels.[159] Litster began sending out messengers across the county in a call to arms on 14 June, and isolatedoutbreaks of violence occurred.[160] The rebels assembled on 17 June outside the city of Norwich and killed SirRobert Salle, who was in charge of the city defences and had attempted to negotiate a settlement.[161] The people ofthe town then opened the gates to let the rebels in.[161] They began looting buildings and killed Reginald Eccles, alocal official.[162] William de Ufford, the Earl of Suffolk fled his estates, travelling in disguise to London.[] The otherleading members of the local gentry were captured and forced to play out the roles of a royal household, working forLitster.[] Violence spread out across the county, as gaols were opened, Flemish immigrants killed, court recordsburned, and property looted and destroyed.[163]

Northern and western England

An illustration from Vox Clamantis by JohnGower, a poem which described the revolt

Revolts also occurred across the rest of England, particularly in thecities of the north, traditionally centres of political unrest.[164] In thetown of Beverley, violence broke out between the richer mercantileelite and the poorer townspeople during May.[165] By the end of themonth the rebels had taken power and replaced the former townadministration with their own.[166] The rebels attempted to enlist thesupport of Alexander Neville, the Archbishop of York, and in Juneforced the former town government to agree to arbitration throughNeville.[167] Peace was restored in June 1382 but tensions continued tosimmer for many years.[168]

Word of the troubles in the south-east spread northwards, slowed bythe poor communication links of medieval England.[] In Leicester,where John of Gaunt had a substantial castle, warnings arrived of aforce of rebels advancing on the city from Lincolnshire, who wereintent on destroying the castle and its contents.[] The mayor and thetown mobilised their defences, including a local militia, but the rebelsnever materialised.[169] John of Gaunt himself was in Berwick whenword reached him on 17 June of the revolt.[170] Not knowing that Wat

Peasants' Revolt 13

Tyler had by now been killed, John of Gaunt placed his castles in Yorkshire and Wales on alert.[] Fresh rumours,many of them incorrect, continued to arrive in Berwick, suggesting widespread rebellions across the west and east ofEngland and the looting of the ducal household in Leicester; rebel units were even said to be hunting for the Dukehimself.[] Gaunt began to march to Bamburgh Castle, but then changed course and diverted north into Scotland, onlyreturning south once the fighting was over.[171]

News of the initial events in London also reached York around 17 June, and attacks at once broke out on theproperties of the Dominican friars, the Franciscan friaries and other religious institutions.[172] Violence continuedover the coming weeks, and on 1 July a group of armed men, under the command of John de Gisbourne, forced theirway into the city and attempted to seize control.[] The Mayor, Simon de Quixlay, gradually began to reclaim somesemblance of authority, but order was not properly restored until 1382.[] The news of the southern revolt reachedScarborough where riots broke out against the ruling elite on 23 June, with the rebels dressed in white hoods with ared tail at the back.[173] Members of the local government were deposed from office, and one tax collector wasnearly lynched.[174] By 1382, however, the elite had re-established power.[175]

In the Somerset town of Bridgwater, revolt broke out on 19 June, led by Thomas Ingleby and Adam Brugge.[176] Thecrowds attacked the local Augustine house and forced their master to give up his local privileges and pay aransom.[177] The rebels then turned on the properties of John Sydenham, a local merchant and official, looting hismanor and burning paperwork, before executing Walter Baron, a local man.[178] The Ilchester gaol was stormed, andone unpopular prisoner executed.[179]

Suppression

A 14th-century carving of Henry le Despenser,the victor of the Battle of North Walsham

The royal suppression of the revolt began shortly after the death of WatTyler on 15 June.[180] Sir Robert Knolles, Sir Nicholas Brembre andSir Robert Launde were appointed to restore control in the capital.[181]

A summons was put out for soldiers, probably around 4,000 men weremustered in London, and expeditions to the other troubled parts of thecountry soon followed.[182]

The revolt in East Anglia was independently suppressed by Henry leDespenser, the Bishop of Norwich.[] Henry was in Stamford inLincolnshire when the revolt broke out, and when he found out aboutthe events he marched south with eight men-at-arms and a small forceof archers, gathering more forces as he went.[183] He marched first toPeterborough, where he routed the local rebels and executed any hecould capture, including some who had taken shelter in the localabbey.[184] He then headed south-east via Huntingdon and Ely,reaching Cambridge on the 19 June, and then heading further into therebel controlled areas of Norfolk.[185] Henry reclaimed the city ofNorwich on 24 June, before heading out with a company of men totrack down the rebel leader, Geoffrey Litster.[186] The two forces metat the Battle of North Walsham on 25 or 26 June; the Bishop's forcestriumphed and Litster was captured and executed.[187] Henry's quickaction was essential to the suppression of the revolt in East Anglia, buthe was very unusual in taking matters into his own hands in this way,and his execution of the rebels without royal sanction was illegal.[188]

On 17 June, the King dispatched his half-brother Thomas Holland and Sir Thomas Trivet to Kent with a small force to restore order.[] They held courts at Maidstone and Rochester.[] William de Ufford, the Earl of Suffolk, returned to

Peasants' Revolt 14

his county on 23 June, accompanied by a force of 500 men.[189] He quickly subdued the area and was soon holdingcourt in Mildenhall, where many of the accused were sentenced to death.[190] He moved on into Norfolk on 6 July,holding court in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Hacking.[] Hugh, Lord la Zouche, led the legal proceedings againstthe rebels in Cambridgeshire.[] In St Albans, the Abbot arrested William Grindecobbe and his main supporters.[191]

On 20 June, the King's uncle, Thomas of Woodstock, and Robert Tresilian, the replacement Chief Justice, weregiven special commissions across the whole of England.[] Thomas oversaw court cases in Essex, backed up by asubstantial military force as resistance was continuing and the county was still in a state of unrest.[192] Richardhimself visited Essex, where he met with a rebel delegation seeking confirmation of the grants the King had given atMile End.[] Richard rejected them, allegedly telling them that "rustics you were and rustics you are still. You willremain in bondage, not as before, but incomparably harsher".[][193]</ref> Tresilian soon joined Thomas, and carriedout 31 executions in Chelmsford, before travelling on to St Albans in July for further court trials, which appear tohave utilised dubious techniques to ensure convictions.[194] Thomas went on to Gloucester with 200 soldiers tosuppress the unrest there.[] Henry Percy, the Earl of Northumberland, was tasked to restore order to Yorkshire.[]

A wide range of laws were invoked in the process of the suppression, from general treason to charges of bookburning or demolishing houses, a process complicated by the relatively narrow definition of treason at the time.[195]

The use of informants and denunciations became common, causing fear to spread across the country; by Novemberat least 1,500 people had been executed or killed in battle.[196] Many of those who had lost property in the revoltattempted to seek legal compensation, and John of Gaunt made particular efforts to track down those responsible fordestroying his Savoy Palace.[197] Most had only limited success, as the defendants were rarely willing to attendcourt.[197] It was not until 1387 before the last of these cases had been resolved.[197]

The rebel leaders were quickly rounded up.[198] A rebel leader called Jack Straw was captured in London andexecuted.[] John Ball was caught in Coventry, and tried in St Albans, being executed on 15 July.[199] Grindecobbewas also tried and executed in St Albans.[] John Wrawe was tried in London; he probably gave evidence against 24of his colleagues in the hope of a pardon, but was sentenced to be executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered on6 May 1382.[200] Sir Roger Bacon was probably arrested before the final battle in Norfolk, and was tried andimprisoned in the Tower of London before finally being pardoned by the Crown.[201] As of September 1381, ThomasIngleby of Bridgwater had successfully evaded the authorities.[202]

Aftermath

Late 14th-century portrait of Richard II

The royal government and Parliament began to re-establish the normalprocesses of government after the revolt; as the historian MichaelPostan describes, the uprising was in many ways a "passingepisode".[203] On 30 June, the King ordered England's serfs to return totheir previous conditions of service, and on 2 July the royal charterssigned under duress during the rising were formally revoked.[]

Parliament met in November to discuss the events of the year and howbest to respond to their challenges.[204] The revolt was blamed on themisconduct of royal officials, who, it was argued, had been excessivelygreedy and overbearing.[205] The Commons stood behind the existinglabour laws, but requested changes in the royal council, which Richardgranted.[206] Richard also granted general pardons to those who hadexecuted rebels without due process, to all men who had remainedloyal, and to all those who had rebelled – with the exception of themen of Bury St Edmunds, any men who had been involved in thekilling of the King's advisers, and those who were still on the run fromprison.[207]

Peasants' Revolt 15

Despite the violence of the suppression, the government and local lords were relatively circumspect in restoringorder after the revolt, and continued to be worried about fresh revolts for several decades.[208] Few lords tookrevenge on their peasants except through the legal processes of the courts.[209] Low-level unrest, however, continuedfor several more years.[210] In September 1382 there was trouble in Norfolk, involving an apparent plot against theBishop of Norwich, and in March the following year there was an investigation into a plot to kill the sheriff ofDevon.[211] When negotiating rents with their landlords, peasants alluded to the memory of the revolt and the threatof violence.[]

There were no further attempts by Parliament to impose a poll-tax or to reform England's fiscal system.[212] TheCommons instead concluded at the end of 1381 that the military effort on the Continent should be "carefully butsubstantially reduced".[213] Unable to raise fresh taxes, the government had to curtail its foreign policy and militaryexpeditions and began to examine the options for peace.[214] The institution of serfdom declined after 1381, butprimarily for economic rather than political reasons.[215] Rural wages continued to increase, and lords increasinglysold their serfs freedom in exchange for cash, or converted traditional forms of tenure to new leaseholdarrangements.[216] Over the course of the 15th century, the institution vanished in England.[]

Rebels

14th-century rural scene of reeve directing serfs, from the Queen Mary Psalter

Chroniclers primarily described the rebels asrural serfs, using broad, derogatory Latinterms such as serviles rustici, servile genuand rustictas.[217] Some chroniclers,however, including Knighton, noted thepresence of runaway apprentices, artisansand others, sometimes terming them the"lesser commons".[217] The evidence fromthe court records following the revolt, albeitbiased in various ways, similarly shows theinvolvement of a much broader community,and the earlier perception that that the rebelswere only constituted of unfree serfs is nowrejected.[218][219]</ref>

The rural rebels came from a wide range of backgrounds, but typically they were, as the historian Christopher Dyerdescribes, "people well below the ranks of the gentry, but who mainly held some land and goods", and not the verypoorest in society, who formed a minority of the rebel movement.[220] Many had held positions of authority in localvillage governance, and these seem to have provided leadership to the revolt.[221] Some were artisans, including, asthe historian Rodney Hilton lists, "carpenters, sawyers, masons, cobblers, tailors, weavers, fullers, glovers, hosiers,skinners, bakers, butchers, innkeepers, cooks and a lime-burner".[222] They were predominantly male, but with somewomen in their ranks.[223] The rebels were typically illiterate; only between 5 and 15 per cent of England could readduring this period.[224] They also came from a broad range of local communities, including at least 330 south-easternvillages.[225]

Many of the rebels had urban backgrounds, and the majority of those involved in the events of London were probably local townsfolk rather than peasants.[226] In some cases, the townsfolk who joined the revolt were the urban poor, attempting to gain at the expense of the local elites.[227] In London, for example, the urban rebels appear to have largely been the poor and unskilled.[] Alternatively, some urban rebels were themselves part of that elite, such as at York where the protesters were typically prosperous members of the local community, while in some instances, townsfolk allied themselves with the rural population, as at Bury St Edmunds.[228] In other cases, such as

Peasants' Revolt 16

Canterbury, the influx of population from the villages following the Black Death made any distinction betweenurban and rural less meaningful.[229]

The vast majority of those involved in the revolt of 1381 were not represented in Parliament and were excluded fromits decision-making.[230] In a few cases, however, the rebels were led or joined by relatively prosperous members ofthe gentry, such as Sir Roger Bacon in Norfolk.[231] Some of these later claimed to have been forced to join therevolt by the rebels.[232] A number of clergy also formed part of the revolt; in addition to the more prominentleaders, such as John Ball or John Wrawe, nearly 20 are mentioned in the records of the revolt in the south-east.[233]

Some were pursuing local grievances, some were disadvantaged and suffering relative poverty, while others appearto have been motivated by strong radical beliefs.[234]

Many of those involved in the revolt used pseudonyms, particularly in the letters sent around the country toencourage support and fresh uprisings.[235] They were used both to avoid incriminating particular individuals and toallude to popular values and stories.[236] One popular assumed name was Piers Plowman, taken from the maincharacter in William Langland's poem.[237] Jack was also a widely used rebel pseudonym, and historians StevenJustice and Carter Revard suggest that this may have been because it resonated with the Jacques of the FrenchJacquerie revolt several decades earlier.[238]

Legacy

Historiography

Historian William Stubbs, who considered therevolt "one of the most portentous events in thewhole of our history", painted by Hubert von

Herkomer.[]

Contemporary chroniclers of the events in the revolt have formed animportant source for historians. The chroniclers were biased against therebel cause and typically portrayed the rebels, in the words of thehistorian Susan Crane, as "beasts, monstrosities or misguidedfools".[239] London chroniclers were also unwilling to admit the role ofordinary Londoners in the revolt, preferring to place the blame entirelyon rural peasants from the south-east.[] Among the key accounts wasthe anonymous Anonimalle Chronicle, whose author appears to havebeen part of the royal court and an eye-witness to many of the events inLondon.[240] The chronicler Thomas Walsingham was present formuch of the revolt, but focused his account on the terror of the socialunrest and was extremely biased against the rebels.[241] Jean Froissart,the author of the Chronicles, had well-placed sources close to therevolt, but was inclined to elaborate the known facts with colourfulstories.[242] No sympathetic accounts of the rebels survive.[]

At the end of the 19th century there was a surge in historical interest inthe Peasants' Revolt, spurred by the contemporary growth of the labourand socialist movements.[243] Work by Charles Oman, Edgar Powell,André Réville and G. M. Trevelyan established the course of the revolt.[244] By 1907 the accounts of the chroniclerswere all widely available in print and the main public records concerning the events had been identified.[245] Révillebegan to use the legal indictments that had been used against suspected rebels after the revolt as a fresh source ofhistorical information, and over the next century extensive research was carried out into the local economic andsocial history of the revolt, using scattered local sources across south-east England.[246]

Interpretations of the revolt have changed over the years. 17th-century historians, such John Smyth, established the idea that the revolt had marked the end of unfree labour and serfdom in England.[] 19th-century historians such as William Stubbs and Thorold Rogers reinforced this conclusion, Stubbs describing it as "one of the most portentous

Peasants' Revolt 17

events in the whole of our history".[] In the 20th century, this interpretation was increasingly challenged by historianssuch as May McKisack, Michael Postan and Richard Dobson, who revised the impact of the revolt on furtherpolitical and economic events in England.[247] Mid-20th century Marxist historians were both interested in, andgenerally sympathetic to, the rebel cause, a trend culminating in Hilton's 1973 account of the uprising, set against thecontext of wider peasant revolts across Europe during the period.[248] The Peasants' Revolt has received moreacademic attention than any other medieval revolt, and this research has been typically interdisciplinary in nature,involving historians, literary scholars and international collaboration.[249]

The name "the Peasants' Revolt" emerged in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and its first recorded use by historianswas in John Richard Green's Short History of the English People in 1874.[] Contemporary chronicles did not give therevolt a specific title, and indeed the term "peasant" did not appear in the English language until the 15th century.[]

The title has been critiqued by modern historians such as Miri Rubin and Paul Strohm, both on the grounds thatmany in the movements were not peasants, and that the events more closely resemble a prolonged protest or rising,rather than a revolt or rebellion.[250]

Popular culture

Illustration from title page to William Morris's ADream of John Ball (1888), by Edward

Burne-Jones

The Peasants' Revolt became a popular literary subject.[251] The poetJohn Gower, who had close ties to officials involved in the suppressionof the revolt, wrote his famous poem Vox Clamantis in the decadesafter the revolt, condemning the rebels and likening them to wildanimals.[252] Geoffrey Chaucer, who lived in Aldgate and may havebeen in London during the revolt itself, used the rebel killing ofFlemings as a metaphor for wider disorder in The Nun's Priest's Talepart of The Canterbury Tales, parodying Gower's poem.[253] Chaucerotherwise made no reference to the revolt in his work, possibly becauseas he was a client of the King it would have been politically unwise tohave discussed it.[254] William Langland, the author of the poem PiersPlowman, which had been widely used by the rebels, made variouschanges to its text after the revolt in order to distance himself fromtheir cause.[255]

The revolt formed the basis for the late 16th-century play, The Life andDeath of Jack Straw, possibly written by George Peele and probablyoriginally designed for production in the city's guild pageants.[256] It portrays Jack Straw as a tragic figure, being ledinto wrongful rebellion by John Ball, making clear political links between the instability of late-Elizabethan Englandand the 14th century.[257] The story of the revolt was used in pamphlets during the English Civil War of the 17thcentury, and formed part of John Cleveland's early history of the war.[258] It was deployed as a cautionary account inpolitical speeches during the 18th century, and a chapbook entitled The History of Wat Tyler and Jack Strawe provedpopular during the Jacobite risings and American War of Independence.[259] Thomas Paine and Edmund Burkeargued over the lessons to be drawn from the revolt, Paine expressing sympathy for the rebels and Burkecondemning the violence.[260] The Romantic poet Robert Southey based his 1794 play Wat Tyler on the events,taking a radical and pro-rebel perspective.[261]

As the historian Michael Postan describes, the revolt became famous "as a landmark in social development and [as] a typical instance of working-class revolt against oppression", and was widely used in 19th and 20th century socialist literature.[262] William Morris built on Chaucer in his novel A Dream of John Ball, published in 1888, creating a narrator who was openly sympathetic to the peasant cause, albeit a 19th-century persona, taken back to the 14th century via way of a dream.[263] The story ends with a prophecy that socialist ideals will one day be successful.[264]

In turn, this representation of the revolt influenced Morris's utopian socialist News from Nowhere.[265] Florence

Peasants' Revolt 18

Converse used the revolt in her novel Long Will in 1903.[262] Later 20th century socialists continued to drawparallels between the revolt and contemporary political struggles, including during the arguments over theintroduction of the Community Charge in the United Kingdom during the 1980s.[262]

The events of 1381 have also attracted interest from conspiracy theorists, including writer John Robinson, who haveattempted to explain alleged flaws in mainstream historical accounts of the revolt, such as the speed with which therebellion was coordinated.[266] Theories include that that revolt was in fact led by a secret, occult organisation called"the Great Society", said to be an offshoot of the order of the Knights Templar destroyed in 1312, or that thefraternity of the Freemasons was covertly involved in organising the revolt.[267][268]</ref>

Notes[3][3] ;[5][5] ;[6][6] ;[14][14] ;[19][19] ;[21][21] ; ;[23][23] ;[24][24] ;[25][25] ;[26] It is impossible to accurately compare 14th century and modern prices or incomes. For comparison, the income of a typical nobleman such

as Richard le Scrope was around £600 a year, while only six earls in the kingdom enjoyed incomes of over £5,000 a year.<ref>;[32][32] ;[33] For comparison, the wage for an unskilled labourer in Essex in 1380 was around three pence a day.<ref>[34][34] ;[35][35] ;[37][37] ;[39][39] ;[40][40] ;[41][41] ;[43][43] ;[44][44] ;[46][46] ;[47] The Marshalsea Court was originally intended to provide justice for the royal household and those doing business with it, travelling with the

King around the country and having authority covering 12 miles (19 km) around the monarch. The monarchs of the 14th century wereincreasingly based in London, resulting in the Marshalsea Court taking up semi-permanent business in the capital. Successive monarchs usedthe court to exercise royal power, often at the expense of the City of London's Corporation.<ref>

[56][56] ;[62][62] ;[66][66] ;[67][67] ;[69][69] .[70][70] ;[73][73] ;[76][76] ;[79] Walsingham highlights the role of a "Jack Straw", and is supported by Froissart, although Knighton argues that this was a pseudonym; other

chroniclers fail to mention him at all. The historian Friedrich Brie popularised the argument in favour of the pseudonym in 1906. Modernhistorians recognise Tyler as the primary leader, and are doubtful about the role of "Jack Straw."<ref>; ;

[80][80] ;[82][82] ;[85] Military historian Jonathan Sumption considers this description of the rebels' weaponry, drawn from the chronicler Thomas Walsingham, as

reliable; literary historian Stephen Justice is less certain, noting the sarcastic manner in which Walsingham mocks the rebels' old anddilapidated arms, including their bows "reddened with age and smoke."<ref>;

[86] Historian Andrew Prescott has critiqued these timings, arguing that it would have been unlikely that so many rebels could have advanced sofast on London, given the condition of the medieval road networks.<ref name="Strohm 2008 203">

[87][87] ;[88][88] ;

Peasants' Revolt 19

[89][89] ;[90][90] ; ;[91][91] ; ;[92] Chronicler figures for the King's immediate forces in London vary; Henry Knighton argues that the King had between 150–180 men in the

Tower of London, Thomas Walsingham suggests 1,200. These were probably over-estimates, and historian Alaistair Dunn assesses that only askeleton force was present; Jonathan Sumption judges that around 150 men-at-arms were present, plus a number of archers.<ref>;

[93][93] ; ;[96][96] ;[97][97] ; ;[98] It is uncertain who opened the defences at London Bridge and Aldgate. After the revolt three aldermen were put on trial by the authorities,

including John Horn, Walter Sibil and William Tongue, but it is unclear how far these accusations were motivated by the post-conflict Londonpolitics. The historian Nigel Saul is doubtful of their guilt in collaborating with the rebels. Rodney Hilton suggests that they may have openedthe gates in order to buy time and so prevent the destruction of their city, although he prefers the theory that the London crowds forced thegates to be opened. Jonathan Sumption similarly argues that the aldermen were forced to open the gates in the face of popular pressure.<ref>; ;

[101][101] ;[102][102] ;[103][103] ;[108] The royal advisor Richard Lyons was believed to have Flemish origins, although he was also unpopular in his own right as a result of his

role in government.<ref>;[111][111] ;[114][114] ;[115][115] ;[116] The rebel call for a return to the "law of Winchester," a former capital of England until c. 1100, has been much debated. One theory is that

it was another term for the Domesday Book of William I, which was believed to provide protection for particular groups of tenants. Another isthat it referred to the Statute of Winchester in 1285, which allowed for the enforcement of local law through armed village communities, andwhich had been cited in more recent legislation on the criminal law. The creation of special justices and royal officials during the 14th centurywere seen as eroding these principles.<ref>;

[119] Most chroniclers stated that the force that attacked the Tower of London was separate to that operating under Tyler's command at MileEnd; only the Anonimalle Chronicle links them to Tyler. The timing of the late morning attack relies on the account of the WestminsterChronicle. UNIQ-ref-0-a4f66d82209515c0-QINU

[120][120] ;[122][122] ;[125][125] ;[127][127] .[131][131] ;[132] The primary sources for the events at Smithfield are the Anonimalle Chronicle, Thomas Walsingham, Jean Froissart, Henry Knighton and

the Westminster Chronicler. There are minor differences in their accounts of events. Froissart suggests that Wat Tyler intended to capture theKing and kill the royal party, and that Tyler initiated the engagement with Richard in order to carry out this plan. The Anonimalle Chronicleand Walsingham both go into some, if varying, detail as to the rebels' demands. Walsingham and Knighton wrote that Tyler, rather than beingabout to depart at the end of his discussions with Richard, in fact appeared to be about to kill the King, triggering the royal response.Walsingham differs from the other chroniclers in giving a key role in the early part of the encounter to Sir John Newton.<ref>

[136][136] ;[140][140] ;[143][143] ;[144][144] ;[146][146] ; .[147][147] ;[159][159] ;[161][161] ;[182][182] ;[183][183] ;[188][188] ;[190][190] ;[193] The "rustics" quotation from Richard II is from the chronicler Thomas Walsingham, and should be treated with caution. Historian Dan

Jones suspects that although Richard no doubt despised the rebels, the language itself may have been largely invented by Walsingham.<ref>; ;[195][195] ;[196][196] ; , cited[197][197] ;[200][200] ;

Peasants' Revolt 20

[203][203] ;[208][208] ;[211][211] ;[214][214] ;[216][216] ;[217][217] ;[218][218] ; ;[219] Historian Sylvia Federico notes the dangers in treating the pardons lists simplistically, given the tendency for some innocent individuals to

acquire pardons for additional security, and the tendency for cases to be brought against individuals for local, non-political reasons.<ref>[220][220] ; ;[226][226] ;[228][228] ;[235][235] ;[239][239] ;[241][241] ;[244][244] ; ; ; ;[246][246] ;[248][248] ; ; ;[250][250] ; ;[252][252] ; ;[253][253] ;[255][255] ;[258][258] ;[259][259] ;[262][262] ;[267][267] ; ;[268] The term "the Great Society" emerges from indictments against the rebels, in which references were made the magne societatis. This

probably meant "large company" or "great band" of rebels, but was mistranslated in the late 19th century to refer to the "Great Society".<ref>

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English Rising of 1381. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 84–111. ISBN 978-1-84383-738-1.• Cohn, Samuel K. (2013). Popular Protest in Late Medieval English Towns. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge

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English Rising of 1381. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 112–142. ISBN 978-1-84383-738-1.• Dunn, Alastair (2002). The Great Rising of 1381: the Peasants' Revolt and England's Failed Revolution. Stroud,

UK: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-2323-4.• Dyer, Christopher (2000). Everyday Life in Medieval England. London, UK and New York, US: Hambledon and

London. ISBN 978-1-85285-201-6.

Peasants' Revolt 21

• Dyer, Christopher (2003). "Introduction". In Hilton, Rodney. Bondmen Made Free: Medieval Peasant Movementsand the English Rising of 1381 (New ed.). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. ix–xv. ISBN 978-0-415-31614-9.

• Dyer, Christopher (2009). Making a Living in the Middle Ages: the People of Britain 850–1520. New Haven, USand London, UK: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10191-1.

• Eiden, Herbert (1999). "Norfolk, 1382: a Sequel to the Peasants' Revolt". The English Historical Review 114(456): 370–377.

• Ellis, Steve (2000). Chaucer at Large: the Poet in the Modern Imagination. Minneapolis, US: University ofMinnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-3376-0.

• Faith, Rosamond (1987). "The 'Great Rumour' of 1377 and Peasant Ideology". In Hilton, Rodney; Alton, T. H.The English Rising of 1381. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 43–73. ISBN 978-1-84383-738-1.

• Federico, Silvia (2001). "The Imaginary Society: Women in 1381". Journal of British Studies 40 (2): 159–183.• Galloway, Andrew (2010). "Reassessing Gower's Dream Visions". In Dutton, Elizabeth; Hines, John; Yeager, R.

F. John Gower, Trilingual Poet: Language, Translation, and Tradition. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press.pp. 288–303. ISBN 978-1-84384-250-7.

• Given-Wilson, Chris (1996). The English Nobility in the Late Middle Ages. London, UK: Routledge.ISBN 978-0-203-44126-8.

• Harding, Alan (1987). "The Revolt Against the Justices". In Hilton, Rodney; Alton, T. H. The English Rising of1381. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 165–193. ISBN 978-1-84383-738-1.

• Hilton, Rodney (1987). "Introduction". In Hilton, Rodney; Alton, T. H. The English Rising of 1381. Cambridge,UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–8. ISBN 978-1-84383-738-1.

• Hilton, Rodney (1995). Bondmen Made Free: Medieval Peasant Movements and the English Rising of 1381.London, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-01880-7.

• Hussey, Stanley Stewart (1971). Chaucer: an Introduction. London, UK: Methuen. ISBN 978-0-416-29920-5.• Jones, Dan (2010). Summer of Blood: the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. London, UK: Harper Press.

ISBN 978-0-00-721393-1.• Justice, Steven (1994). Writing and Rebellion: England in 1381. Berkeley, US and Los Angeles, US: University

of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20697-5.• Lyle, Marjorie (2002). Canterbury: 2000 Years of History (Revised ed.). Stroud, UK: Tempus.

ISBN 978-0-7524-1948-0.• Matheson, Lister M. (1998). "The Peasants' Revolt through Five Centuries of Rumor and Reporting: Richard Fox,

John Stow, and Their Successors". Studies in Philology 95 (2): 121–151.• Mortimer, Ian (1981). The Fears of Henry IV: the Life of England's Self-Made King. London, UK: Vintage.

ISBN 978-1-84413-529-5.• Oman, Charles (1906). The Great Revolt of 1381. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. OCLC  752927432 (http:/ /

www. worldcat. org/ oclc/ 752927432).• Ortenberg, Veronica (1981). In Search of the Holy Grail: the Quest for the Middle Ages. London, UK:

Hambledon Continuum. ISBN 978-1-85285-383-9.• Ousby, Ian (1996). The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge

University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-43627-4.• Picknett, Lynn; Prince, Clive (2007). The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ

(10th anniversary ed.). London, UK: Random House. ISBN 978-0-552-15540-3.• Postan, Michael (1975). The Medieval Economy and Society. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books.

ISBN 0-14-020896-8.• Powell, Edgar (1896). The Rising of 1381 in East Anglia. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 

1404665 (http:/ / www. worldcat. org/ oclc/ 1404665).• Prescott, Andrew (2004). "'The Hand of God': the Suppression of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381". In Morgan,

Nigel. Prophecy, Apocalypse and the Day of Doom. Donington, UK: Shaun Tyas. pp. 317–341.

Peasants' Revolt 22

ISBN 978-1-900289-68-9.• Réville, André (1898). Étude sur le Soulèvement de 1381 dans les Comtés de Hertford, de Suffolk et de Norfolk.

Paris, France: A. Picard and sons. OCLC  162490454 (http:/ / www. worldcat. org/ oclc/ 162490454).(French)

• Ribner, Irving (2005). The English History Play in the Age of Shakespeare. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.ISBN 978-0-415-35314-4.

• Robinson, John J. (2009). Born in Blood: the Lost Secrets of Freemasonry. Lanham, US: Rowman and Littlefield.ISBN 978-1-59077-148-8.

• Rubin, Miri (2006). The Hollow Crown: a History of Britain in the Late Middle Ages. London, UK: Penguin.ISBN 978-0-14-014825-1.

• Saul, Nigel (1999). Richard II. New Haven, US: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-07875-6.• Saul, Nigel (2010). "John Gower: Prophet or Turncoat?". In Dutton, Elizabeth; Hines, John; Yeager, R. F. John

Gower, Trilingual Poet: Language, Translation, and Tradition. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. pp. 85–97.ISBN 978-1-84384-250-7.

• Silvercloud, Terry David (2007). The Shape of God: Secrets, Tales, and Legends of the Dawn Warriors. Victoria,Canada: Trafford. ISBN 978-1-4251-0836-6.

• Spindler, Erik (2012). "Flemings in the Peasants' Revolt, 1381". In Skoda, Hannah; Lantschner, Patrick; Shaw, R.Contact and Exchange in Later Medieval Europe: Essays in Honour of Malcolm Vale. Woodbridge, UK: TheBoydell Press. pp. 59–78. ISBN 978-1-84383-738-1.

• Strohm, Paul (2008). "A 'Peasants' Revolt'?". In Harris,, Stephen J.; Grigsby, Bryon Lee. Misconceptions Aboutthe Middle Ages. New York, US: Routledge. pp. 197–203. ISBN 978-0-415-77053-8.

• Sumption, Jonathan (2009). Divided Houses: the Hundred Years War III. London, UK: Faber and Faber.ISBN 978-0-571-24012-8.

• Trevelyan, George (1899). England in the Age of Wycliffe. London, UK: Longmans and Green. OCLC  12771030(http:/ / www. worldcat. org/ oclc/ 12771030).

• Tuck, J. A. (1987). "Nobles, Commons and the Great Revolt of 1381". In Hilton, Rodney; Alton, T. H. TheEnglish Rising of 1381. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 192–212. ISBN 978-1-84383-738-1.

Media related to English Peasants' Revolt at Wikimedia Commons

23

RENAISSANCE

Italian Renaissance

Renaissance

Topics

•• Architecture•• Dance•• Fine arts•• Literature•• Music•• Philosophy•• Science•• Technology•• Warfare

Regions

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The Italian Renaissance was the earliest manifestation of the general European Renaissance, a period of greatcultural change and achievement that began in Italy during the 14th century and lasted until the 16th century,marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. The term Renaissance is in essence a modernone that came into currency in the 19th century, in the work of historians such as Jules Michelet and JacobBurckhardt. Although the origins of a movement that was confined largely to the literate culture of intellectualendeavor and patronage can be traced to the earlier part of the 14th century, many aspects of Italian culture andsociety remained largely Medieval; the Renaissance did not come into full swing until the end of the century. Theword renaissance (Rinascimento in Italian) means "rebirth" in French, and the era is best known for the renewedinterest in the culture of classical antiquity after the period that Renaissance humanists labeled the Dark Ages. Thesechanges, while significant, were concentrated in the elite, and for the vast majority of the population life was littlechanged from the Middle Ages.

Italian Renaissance 24

EraThe European Renaissance began in Tuscany (Central Italy), and centered in the cities of Florence and Siena. It laterspread to Venice, where the remains of ancient Greek culture were brought together, providing humanist scholarswith new texts. The Renaissance later had a significant effect on Rome, which was ornamented with some structuresin the new all'antico mode, then was largely rebuilt by humanist sixteenth-century popes. The Italian Renaissancepeaked in the mid-16th century as foreign invasions plunged the region into the turmoil of the Italian Wars.However, the ideas and ideals of the Renaissance endured and even spread into the rest of Europe, setting off theNorthern Renaissance, and the English Renaissance.

Cultural achievementsThe Italian Renaissance is best known for its cultural achievements. Accounts of Renaissance literature usually beginwith Petrarch (best known for the elegantly polished vernacular sonnet sequence of the Canzoniere and for the crazefor book collecting that he initiated) and his friend and contemporary Boccaccio (author of the Decameron). Famousvernacular poets of the 15th century include the renaissance epic authors Luigi Pulci (author of Morgante), MatteoMaria Boiardo (Orlando Innamorato), and Ludovico Ariosto (Orlando Furioso). 15th century writers such as thepoet Poliziano and the Platonist philosopher Marsilio Ficino made extensive translations from both Latin and Greek.In the early 16th century, Castiglione (The Book of the Courtier) laid out his vision of the ideal gentleman and lady,while Machiavelli cast a jaundiced eye on "la verità effettuale della cosa"—the actual truth of things—in The Prince,composed, in humanistic style, chiefly of parallel ancient and modern examples of Virtù. Italian Renaissancepainting exercised a dominant influence on subsequent European painting (see Western painting) for centuriesafterwards, with artists such as Giotto di Bondone, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Domenico Ghirlandaio,Perugino, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Leonardo, and Titian. The same is true for architecture, as practiced byBrunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Andrea Palladio, and Bramante. Their works include Florence Cathedral, St.Peter's Basilica in Rome, and the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini (to name only a few, not to mention many splendidprivate residences: see Renaissance architecture). Finally, the Aldine Press, founded by the printer Aldo Manuzio,active in Venice, developed Italic type and the small, relatively portable and inexpensive printed book that could becarried in one's pocket, as well as being the first to publish editions of books in Ancient Greek. Yet culturalcontributions notwithstanding, some present-day historians also see the era as one of the beginning of economicregression for Italy (there were some economic downturns due to the opening up of the Atlantic trade routes andrepeated foreign invasions and interference by both France and the Spanish Empire).

Origins

Part of a series on the

History ofItaly

Italy portal

Italian Renaissance 25

Northern and Central Italy in the Late Middle AgesBy the Late Middle Ages ( circa 1300 onward ), Latium, the heartland of the Roman Empire, and southern Italy, waspoorer than the north. Rome was a city of ancient ruins, and the Papal States were loosely administered, andvulnerable to external interference such as that of France and later Spain. The Papacy was affronted when theAvignon Papacy was created in southern France as a consequence of pressure from King Philip the Fair of France. Inthe south, Sicily had for some time been under foreign domination, by the Arabs and then the Normans. Sicily hadprospered for 150 years during the Emirate of Sicily and later for two centuries during the Norman Kingdom and theHohenstaufen Kingdom, but had declined by the late Middle Ages.In contrast Northern and Central Italy had become far more prosperous, with the City-States among the wealthiest inEurope. The Crusades had built lasting trade links to the Levant, and the Fourth Crusade had done much to destroythe Byzantine Roman Empire as a commercial rival to the Venetians and Genoese. The main trade routes from theeast passed through the Byzantine Empire or the Arab lands and onwards to the ports of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice.Luxury goods bought in the Levant, such as spices, dyes, and silks were imported to Italy and then resold throughoutEurope. Moreover, the inland city-states profited from the rich agricultural land of the Po valley. From France,Germany, and the Low Countries, through the medium of the Champagne fairs, land and river trade routes broughtgoods such as wool, wheat, and precious metals into the region. The extensive trade that stretched from Egypt to theBaltic generated substantial surpluses that allowed significant investment in mining and agriculture. Thus, whilenorthern Italy was not richer in resources than many other parts of Europe, the level of development, stimulated bytrade, allowed it to prosper. In particular, Florence became one of the wealthiest of the cities of Northern Italy, duemainly to its woolen textile production, developed under the supervision of its dominant trade guild, the Arte dellaLana. Wool was imported from Northern Europe (and in the 16th century from Spain)[1] and together with dyes fromthe east were used to make high quality textiles.The Italian trade routes that covered the Mediterranean and beyond were also major conduits of culture andknowledge. The recovery of lost Greek classics (and, to a lesser extent, Arab advancements on them) following theCrusader conquest of the Byzantine heartlands, revitalized medieval philosophy in the Renaissance of the 12thcentury, just as the refugee Byzantine scholars who migrated to Italy during and following the Ottomans conquest ofthe Byzantines between the 12th and 15th centuries were important in sparking the new linguistic studies of theRenaissance, in newly created academies in Florence and Venice. Humanist scholars searched monastic libraries forancient manuscripts and recovered Tacitus and other Latin authors. The rediscovery of Vitruvius meant that thearchitectural principles of Antiquity could be observed once more, and Renaissance artists were encouraged, in theatmosphere of humanist optimism, to excel the achievements of the Ancients, like Apelles, of whom they read.

Thirteenth-centuryIn the 13th century, much of Europe experienced strong economic growth. The trade routes of the Italian stateslinked with those of established Mediterranean ports and eventually the Hanseatic League of the Baltic and northernregions of Europe to create a network economy in Europe for the first time since the 4th century. The city-states ofItaly expanded greatly during this period and grew in power to become de facto fully independent of the HolyRoman Empire; apart from the Kingdom of Naples, outside powers kept their armies out of Italy. During this period,the modern commercial infrastructure developed, with double-entry book-keeping, joint stock companies, aninternational banking system, a systematized foreign exchange market, insurance, and government debt.[2] Florencebecame the centre of this financial industry and the gold florin became the main currency of international trade.The new mercantile governing class, who gained their position through financial skill, adapted to their purposes the feudal aristocratic model that had dominated Europe in the Middle Ages. A feature of the High Middle Ages in Northern Italy was the rise of the urban communes which had broken from the control by bishops and local counts. In much of the region, the landed nobility was poorer than the urban patriarchs in the High Medieval money economy whose inflationary rise left land-holding aristocrats impoverished. The increase in trade during the early

Italian Renaissance 26

Renaissance enhanced these characteristics. The decline of feudalism and the rise of cities influenced each other; forexample, the demand for luxury goods led to an increase in trade, which led to greater numbers of tradesmenbecoming wealthy, who, in turn, demanded more luxury goods. This change also gave the merchants almostcomplete control of the governments of the Italian city-states, again enhancing trade. One of the most importanteffects of this political control was security. Those that grew extremely wealthy in a feudal state ran constant risk ofrunning afoul of the monarchy and having their lands confiscated, as famously occurred to Jacques Coeur in France.The northern states also kept many medieval laws that severely hampered commerce, such as those against usury,and prohibitions on trading with non-Christians. In the city-states of Italy, these laws were repealed or rewritten.[3]

Fourteenth-century collapseThe 14th century saw a series of catastrophes that caused the European economy to go into recession. The MedievalWarm Period was ending as the transition to the Little Ice Age began.[4] This change in climate saw agriculturaloutput decline significantly, leading to repeated famines, exacerbated by the rapid population growth of the earlierera. The Hundred Years' War between England and France disrupted trade throughout northwest Europe, mostnotably when, in 1345, King Edward III of England repudiated his debts, contributing to the collapse of the twolargest Florentine banks, those of the Bardi and Peruzzi. In the east, war was also disrupting trade routes, as theOttoman Empire began to expand throughout the region. Most devastating, though, was the Black Death thatdecimated the populations of the densely populated cities of Northern Italy and returned at intervals thereafter.Florence, for instance, which had a pre-plague population of 45,000 decreased over the next 47 years by 25–50%.[5]

Widespread disorder followed, including a revolt of Florentine textile workers, the ciompi, in 1378.It was during this period of instability that the Renaissance authors such as Dante and Petrarch lived, and the firststirrings of Renaissance art were to be seen, notably in the realism of Giotto. Paradoxically, some of these disasterswould help establish the Renaissance. The Black Death wiped out a third of Europe's population. The resultinglabour shortage increased wages and the reduced population was therefore much wealthier, better fed, and,significantly, had more surplus money to spend on luxury goods. As incidences of the plague began to decline in theearly 15th century, Europe's devastated population once again began to grow. The new demand for products andservices also helped create a growing class of bankers, merchants, and skilled artisans. The horrors of the BlackDeath and the seeming inability of the Church to provide relief would contribute to a decline of church influence.Additionally, the collapse of the Bardi and Peruzzi banks would open the way for the Medici to rise to prominence inFlorence. Roberto Sabatino Lopez argues that the economic collapse was a crucial cause of the Renaissance.[6]

According to this view, in a more prosperous era, businessmen would have quickly reinvested their earnings in orderto make more money in a climate favourable to investment. However, in the leaner years of the 14th century, thewealthy found few promising investment opportunities for their earnings and instead chose to spend more on cultureand art.Another popular explanation for the Italian Renaissance is the thesis, first advanced by historian Hans Baron,[7] thatstates that the primary impetus of the early Renaissance was the long-running series of wars between Florence andMilan. By the late 14th century, Milan had become a centralized monarchy under the control of the Visconti family.Giangaleazzo Visconti, who ruled the city from 1378 to 1402, was renowned both for his cruelty and for his abilities,and set about building an empire in Northern Italy. He launched a long series of wars, with Milan steadilyconquering neighbouring states and defeating the various coalitions led by Florence that sought in vain to halt theadvance. This culminated in the 1402 siege of Florence, when it looked as though the city was doomed to fall, beforeGiangaleazzo suddenly died and his empire collapsed.Baron's thesis suggests that during these long wars, the leading figures of Florence rallied the people by presenting the war as one between the free republic and a despotic monarchy, between the ideals of the Greek and Roman Republics and those of the Roman Empire and Medieval kingdoms. For Baron, the most important figure in crafting this ideology was Leonardo Bruni. This time of crisis in Florence was the period when the most influential figures of

Italian Renaissance 27

the early Renaissance were coming of age, such as Ghiberti, Donatello, Masolino, and Brunelleschi. Inculcated withthis republican ideology they later went on to advocate republican ideas that were to have an enormous impact on theRenaissance.

Development

International relations

Pandolfo Malatesta (1417–1468), lord of Rimini,by Piero della Francesca. Malatesta was a capablecondottiere, following the tradition of his family.He was hired by the Venetians to fight against theTurks (unsuccessfully) in 1465, and was patron of

Leone Battista Alberti, whose TempioMalatestiano at Rimini is one of the first entirely

classical buildings of the Renaissance.

Northern Italy and upper Central Italy were divided into a number ofwarring city-states, the most powerful being Milan, Florence, Pisa,Siena, Genoa, Ferrara, Mantua, Verona and Venice. High MedievalNorthern Italy was further divided by the long-running battle forsupremacy between the forces of the Papacy and of the Holy RomanEmpire: each city aligned itself with one faction or the other, yet wasdivided internally between the two warring parties, Guelfs andGhibellines. Warfare between the states was common, invasion fromoutside Italy confined to intermittent sorties of Holy Roman Emperors.Renaissance politics developed from this background. Since the 13thcentury, as armies became primarily composed of mercenaries,prosperous city-states could field considerable forces, despite their lowpopulations. In the course of the 15th century, the most powerfulcity-states annexed their smaller neighbors. Florence took Pisa in 1406,Venice captured Padua and Verona, while the Duchy of Milan annexeda number of nearby areas including Pavia and Parma.

The first part of the Renaissance saw almost constant warfare on landand sea as the city-states vied for preeminence. On land, these warswere primarily fought by armies of mercenaries known as condottieri,bands of soldiers drawn from around Europe, but especially Germanyand Switzerland, led largely by Italian captains. The mercenaries werenot willing to risk their lives unduly, and war became one largely ofsieges and maneuvering, occasioning few pitched battles. It was also in the interest of mercenaries on both sides toprolong any conflict, to continue their employment. Mercenaries were also a constant threat to their employers; if notpaid, they often turned on their patron. If it became obvious that a state was entirely dependent on mercenaries, thetemptation was great for the mercenaries to take over the running of it themselves—this occurred on a number ofoccasions.[8]

At sea, Italian city-states sent many fleets out to do battle. The main contenders were Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, butafter a long conflict the Genoese succeeded in reducing Pisa. Venice proved to be a more powerful adversary, andwith the decline of Genoese power during the 15th century Venice became pre-eminent on the seas. In response tothreats from the landward side, from the early 15th century Venice developed an increased interest in controlling theterrafirma as the Venetian Renaissance opened.

On land, decades of fighting saw Florence, Milan and Venice emerge as the dominant players, and these two powersfinally set aside their differences and agreed to the Peace of Lodi in 1454, which saw relative calm brought to theregion for the first time in centuries. This peace would hold for the next forty years, and Venice's unquestionedhegemony over the sea also led to unprecedented peace for much of the rest of the 15th century. In the beginning of

the 15th century, adventurer and traders such as Niccolò Da Conti (1395–1469) traveled as far as Southeast Asia and back, bringing fresh knowledge on the state of the world, presaging further European voyages of exploration in the

Italian Renaissance 28

years to come.

Florence under the MediciUntil the late 14th century, Florence's leading family were the House of Albizzi. Their main challengers were theMedicis, first under Giovanni de' Medici, later under his son Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici. The Medici controlledthe Medici bank—then Europe's largest bank—and an array of other enterprises in Florence and elsewhere. In 1433,the Albizzi managed to have Cosimo exiled.[9] The next year, however, saw a pro-Medici Signoria elected andCosimo returned. The Medici became the town's leading family, a position they would hold for the next threecenturies. Florence remained a republic until 1537, traditionally marking the end of the High Renaissance inFlorence, but the instruments of republican government were firmly under the control of the Medici and their allies,save during the intervals after 1494 and 1527. Cosimo and Lorenzo rarely held official posts, but were theunquestioned leaders.Cosimo de' Medici was highly popular among the citizenry, mainly for bringing an era of stability and prosperity tothe town. One of his most important accomplishments was negotiating the Peace of Lodi with Francesco Sforzaending the decades of war with Milan and bringing stability to much of Northern Italy. Cosimo was also animportant patron of the arts, directly and indirectly, by the influential example he set.Cosimo was succeeded by his sickly son Piero de' Medici, who died after five years in charge of the city. In 1469 thereins of power passed to Cosimo's twenty-one-year-old grandson Lorenzo, who would become known as "Lorenzothe Magnificent." Lorenzo was the first of the family to be educated from an early age in the humanist tradition andis best known as one of the Renaissance's most important patrons of the arts. Under Lorenzo, the Medici rule wasformalized with the creation of a new Council of Seventy, which Lorenzo headed. The republican institutionscontinued, but they lost all power. Lorenzo was less successful than his illustrious forebears in business, and theMedici commercial empire was slowly eroded. Lorenzo continued the alliance with Milan, but relations with thepapacy soured, and in 1478, Papal agents allied with the Pazzi family in an attempt to assassinate Lorenzo. Althoughthe plot failed, Lorenzo's young brother, Giuliano, was killed, and the failed assassination led to a war with thePapacy and was used as justification to further centralize power in Lorenzo's hands.[10][11]

Leonardo da Vinci, ItalianRenaissance Man

Spread

Renaissance ideals first spread from Florence to the neighbouring states ofTuscany such as Siena and Lucca. The Tuscan culture soon became the modelfor all the states of Northern Italy, and the Tuscan variety of Italian came topredominate throughout the region, especially in literature. In 1447 FrancescoSforza came to power in Milan and rapidly transformed that still medieval cityinto a major centre of art and learning that drew Leone Battista Alberti. Venice,one of the wealthiest cities due to its control of the Adriatic Sea, also became acentre for Renaissance culture, especially architecture. Smaller courts broughtRenaissance patronage to lesser cities, which developed their characteristic arts:Ferrara, Mantua under the Gonzaga, Urbino under Federico da Montefeltro. InNaples, the Renaissance was ushered in under the patronage of Alfonso I whoconquered Naples in 1443 and encouraged artists like Francesco Laurana andAntonello da Messina and writers like the poet Jacopo Sannazaro and thehumanist scholar Angelo Poliziano.

In 1417 the Papacy returned to Rome, but that once imperial city remained poor and largely in ruins through the firstyears of the Renaissance.[12] The great transformation began under Pope Nicholas V, who became pontiff in 1447.

Italian Renaissance 29

He launched a dramatic rebuilding effort that would eventually see much of the city renewed. The humanist scholarAeneas Silvius Piccolomini became Pope Pius II in 1458. As the papacy fell under the control of the wealthyfamilies, such as the Medici and the Borgias the spirit of Renaissance art and philosophy came to dominate theVatican. Pope Sixtus IV continued Nicholas' work, most famously ordering the construction of the Sistine Chapel.The popes also became increasingly secular rulers as the Papal States were forged into a centralized power by aseries of "warrior popes".The nature of the Renaissance also changed in the late 15th century. The Renaissance ideal was fully adopted by theruling classes and the aristocracy. In the early Renaissance artists were seen as craftsmen with little prestige orrecognition. By the later Renaissance the top figures wielded great influence and could charge great fees. Aflourishing trade in Renaissance art developed. While in the early Renaissance many of the leading artists were oflower- or middle-class origins, increasingly they became aristocrats.[12]

Wider populationAs a cultural movement, the Italian Renaissance affected only a small part of the population. Italy was the mosturbanized region of Europe, but three quarters of the people were still rural peasants.[13] For this section of thepopulation, life was essentially unchanged from the Middle Ages.[14] Classic feudalism had never been prominent inNorthern Italy, and most peasants worked on private farms or as sharecroppers. Some scholars see a trend towardsrefeudalization in the later Renaissance as the urban elites turned themselves into landed aristocrats.[15]

The situation was very different in the cities. These were dominated by a commercial elite; as exclusive as thearistocracy of any Medieval kingdom. It was this group that was the main patron of and audience for Renaissanceculture. Below them there was a large class of artisans and guild members who lived comfortable lives and hadsignificant power in the republican governments. This was in sharp contrast to the rest of Europe where artisans werefirmly in the lower class. Literate and educated, this group did participate in the Renaissance culture.[16] The largestsection of the urban population was the urban poor of semi-skilled workers and the unemployed. Like the peasantsthe Renaissance had little effect on them. Historians debate how easy it was to move between these groups duringthe Italian Renaissance. Examples of individuals who rose from humble beginnings can be instanced, but Burkenotes two major studies in this area that have found that the data do not clearly demonstrate an increase in socialmobility. Most historians feel that early in the Renaissance social mobility was quite high, but that it faded over thecourse of the 15th century.[17] Inequality in society was very high. An upper-class figure would control hundreds oftimes more income than a servant or labourer. Some historians feel that this unequal distribution of wealth wasimportant to the Renaissance, as art patronage relies on the very wealthy.[]

The Renaissance was not a period of great social or economic change, only of cultural and ideological development.It only touched a small fraction of the population, and in modern times this has led many historians, such as any thatfollow historical materialism, to reduce the importance of the Renaissance in human history. These historians tend tothink in terms of "Early Modern Europe" instead. Roger Osborne[18] argues that "The Renaissance is a difficultconcept for historians because the history of Europe quite suddenly turns into a history of Italian painting, sculptureand architecture."

Italian Renaissance 30

Renaissance end

Giulio Clovio, Adoration of the Magi andSolomon Adored by the Queen of Sheba from the

Farnese Hours, 1546.

The end of the Renaissance is as imprecisely marked as its startingpoint. For many, the rise to power in Florence of the austere monkGirolamo Savonarola in 1494-1498 marks the end of the city'sflourishing; for others, the triumphant return of the Medici marks thebeginning of the late phase in the arts called Mannerism. Otheraccounts trace the end of the Italian Renaissance to the Frenchinvasions of the early 16th century and the subsequent conflict betweenFrance and Spanish rulers for control of Italian territory.[19] Savonarolarode to power on a widespread backlash over the secularism andindulgence of the Renaissance –[20] his brief rule saw many works ofart destroyed in the "Bonfire of the Vanities" in the centre of Florence.With the Medici returned to power, now as Grand Dukes of Tuscany,the counter movement in the church continued. In 1542 the SacredCongregation of the Inquisition was formed and a few years later the Index Librorum Prohibitorum banned a widearray of Renaissance works of literature, which marks the end of the illuminated manuscript together with GiulioClovio, who is considered the greatest illuminator of the Italian High Renaissance, and arguably the last very notableartist in the long tradition of the illuminated manuscript, before some modern revivals.

Equally important was the end of stability with a series of foreign invasions of Italy known as the Italian Wars thatwould continue for several decades. These began with the 1494 invasion by France that wreaked widespreaddevastation on Northern Italy and ended the independence of many of the city-states. Most damaging was the May 6,1527, Spanish and German troops' sacking Rome that for two decades all but ended the role of the Papacy as thelargest patron of Renaissance art and architecture.[12]

While the Italian Renaissance was fading, the Northern Renaissance adopted many of its ideals and transformed itsstyles. A number of Italy's greatest artists chose to emigrate. The most notable example was Leonardo da Vinci wholeft for France in 1516, but teams of lesser artists invited to transform the Château de Fontainebleau created theschool of Fontainebleau that infused the style of the Italian Renaissance in France. From Fontainebleau, the newstyles, transformed by Mannerism, brought the Renaissance to Antwerp and thence throughout Northern Europe.This spread north was also representative of a larger trend. No longer was the Mediterranean Europe's mostimportant trade route. In 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India, and from that date the primary route of goods from theOrient was through the Atlantic ports of Lisbon, Seville, Nantes, Bristol, and London. These areas quickly surpassedItaly in wealth and power.

Culture

Literature and poetryThe thirteenth-century Italian literary revolution helped set the stage for the Renaissance. Prior to the Renaissance,the Italian language was not the literary language in Italy. It was only in the 13th century that Italian authors beganwriting in their native language rather than Latin, French, or Provençal. The 1250s saw a major change in Italianpoetry as the Dolce Stil Novo (Sweet New Style, which emphasized Platonic rather than courtly love) came into itsown, pioneered by poets like Guittone d'Arezzo and Guido Guinizelli. Especially in poetry, major changes in Italianliterature had been taking place decades before the Renaissance truly began.

Italian Renaissance 31

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527),the author of The Prince and

prototypical Renaissance man. Detailfrom a portrait by Santi di Tito.

With the printing of books initiated in Venice by Aldus Manutius, an increasingnumber of works began to be published in the Italian language in addition to theflood of Latin and Greek texts that constituted the mainstream of the ItalianRenaissance. The source for these works expanded beyond works of theologyand towards the pre-Christian eras of Imperial Rome and Ancient Greece. This isnot to say that no religious works were published in this period: Dante Alighieri'sThe Divine Comedy reflects a distinctly medieval world view. Christianityremained a major influence for artists and authors, with the classics coming intotheir own as a second primary influence.

In the early Italian Renaissance, much of the focus was on translating andstudying classic works from Latin and Greek. Renaissance authors were notcontent to rest on the laurels of ancient authors, however. Many authorsattempted to integrate the methods and styles of the ancient Greeks into theirown works. Among the most emulated Romans are Cicero, Horace, Sallust, andVirgil. Among the Greeks, Aristotle, Homer, and Plato were now being read inthe original for the first time since the 4th century, though Greek compositions were few.

The literature and poetry of the Renaissance was largely influenced by the developing science and philosophy. Thehumanist Francesco Petrarch, a key figure in the renewed sense of scholarship, was also an accomplished poet,publishing several important works of poetry. He wrote poetry in Latin, notably the Punic War epic Africa, but istoday remembered for his works in the Italian vernacular, especially the Canzoniere, a collection of love sonnetsdedicated to his unrequited love Laura. He was the foremost writer of sonnets in Italian, and translations of his workinto English by Thomas Wyatt established the sonnet form in that country, where it was employed by WilliamShakespeare and countless other poets.

Petrarch's disciple, Giovanni Boccaccio, became a major author in his own right. His major work was theDecameron, a collection of 100 stories told by ten storytellers who have fled to the outskirts of Florence to escapethe black plague over ten nights. The Decameron in particular and Boccaccio's work in general were a major sourceof inspiration and plots for many English authors in the Renaissance, including Geoffrey Chaucer and WilliamShakespeare.Aside from Christianity, classical antiquity, and scholarship, a fourth influence on Renaissance literature waspolitics. The political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli's most famous works are Discourses on Livy, FlorentineHistories and finally The Prince, which has become so well known in Western society that the term "Machiavellian"has come to refer to the realpolitik advocated by the book. However, what is ordinarily called "Machiavellianism" isa simplified textbook view of this single work rather than an accurate term for his philosophy. Further, it is not at allclear that Machiavelli himself was the apologist for immorality as whom he is often portrayed: the basic problem isthe apparent contradiction between the monarchism of The Prince and the republicanism of the Discourses.Regardless, along with many other Renaissance works, The Prince remains a relevant and influential work ofliterature today.

Italian Renaissance 32

Philosophy

Petrarch, from the Cycle of FamousMen and Women. ca. 1450. Detached

fresco. 247 cm × 153 cm (97.24 in× 60.24 in). Galleria degli Uffizi,Florence, Italy. Artist: Andrea di

Bartolo di Bargilla (ca. 1423–1457)

One role of Petrarch is as the founder of a new method of scholarship,Renaissance Humanism. Humanism was an optimistic philosophy that saw manas a rational and sentient being, with the ability to decide and think for himself,and saw man as inherently good by nature, which was in tension with theChristian view of man as the original sinner needing redemption. It provokedfresh insight into the nature of reality, questioning beyond God and spirituality,and provided for knowledge about history beyond Christian history.

Petrarch encouraged the study of the Latin classics and carried his copy ofHomer about, at a loss to find someone to teach him to read Greek. An essentialstep in the humanist education being propounded by scholars like Pico dellaMirandola was the hunting down of lost or forgotten manuscripts that wereknown only by reputation. These endeavors were greatly aided by the wealth ofItalian patricians, merchant-princes and despots, who would spend substantialsums building libraries. Discovering the past had become fashionable and it wasa passionate affair pervading the upper reaches of society. I go, said Cyriac ofAncona, I go to awake the dead. As the Greek works were acquired, manuscriptsfound, libraries and museums formed, the age of the printing press was dawning.The works of Antiquity were translated from Greek and Latin into thecontemporary modern languages throughout Europe, finding a receptivemiddle-class audience, which might be, like Shakespeare, "with little Latin and less Greek".

While concern for philosophy, art and literature all increased greatly in the Renaissance the period is usually seen asone of scientific backwardness. The reverence for classical sources further enshrined the Aristotelian and Ptolemaicviews of the universe. Humanism stressed that nature came to be viewed as an animate spiritual creation that was notgoverned by laws or mathematics. At the same time philosophy lost much of its rigour as the rules of logic anddeduction were seen as secondary to intuition and emotion.

ScienceAccording to some recent scholarship, the 'father of modern science' is Leonardo Da Vinci whose experiments andclear scientific method earn him this title, Italian universities such as Padua, Bologna and Pisa were scientific centresof renown and with many northern European students, the science of the Renaissance moved to Northern Europe andflourished there, with such figures as Copernicus, Francis Bacon, and Descartes. Galileo, a contemporary of Baconand Descartes, made an immense contribution to scientific thought and experimentation, paving the way for thescientific revolution that later flourished in Northern Europe. Bodies were also stolen from gallows and examined bymany like Vesalius, a professor of anatomy. This allowed them to create accurate skeleton models and correctpreviously believed theories. For example many thought that the human jawbone was made up of two bones, as theyhad seen this on animals. However through examining human corpses they were able to understand that we actuallyonly have one.

Italian Renaissance 33

Sculpture and painting

Detail of The Last Judgment byMichelangelo

In painting, the false dawn of Giotto's Trecento realism, his fullythree-dimensional figures occupying a rational space, and his humanist interest inexpressing the individual personality rather than the iconic images,[21] wasfollowed by a retreat into conservative late Gothic conventions.[22]

The Italian Renaissance in painting began anew, in Florence and Tuscany, withthe frescoes of Masaccio, then the panel paintings and frescos of Piero dellaFrancesca and Paolo Uccello which began to enhance the realism of their workby using new techniques in perspective, thus representing three dimensions intwo-dimensional art more authentically. Piero della Francesca wrote treatises onscientific perspective. The creation of credible space allowed artists to also focuson the accurate representation of the human body and on naturalistic landscapes.Masaccio's figures have a plasticity unknown up to that point in time. Comparedto the flatness of Gothic painting, his pictures were revolutionary. Around 1459San Zeno Altarpiece (Mantegna), it was probably the first good example ofRenaissance painting in Northern Italy a model for all Verona's painters, for example Girolamo dai Libri. At the turnof the 16th century, especially in Northern Italy, artists also began to use new techniques in the manipulation of lightand darkness, such as the tone contrast evident in many of Titian's portraits and the development of sfumato andchiaroscuro by Leonardo da Vinci and Giorgione. The period also saw the first secular (non-religious) themes. Therehas been much debate as to the degree of secularism in the Renaissance, which had been emphasized by early20th-century writers like Jacob Burckhardt, based on, among other things, the presence of a relatively small numberof mythological paintings. Those of Botticelli, notably The Birth of Venus and Primavera, are now among the bestknown, although he was deeply religious (becoming a follower of Savonarola) and the great majority of his outputwas of traditional religious paintings or portraits.[23]

In sculpture, Donatello's (1386–1466) study of classical sculpture lead to his development of classicizing positions(such as the contrapposto pose) and subject matter (like the unsupported nude – his second sculpture of David wasthe first free-standing bronze nude created in Europe since the Roman Empire.) The progress made by Donatello wasinfluential on all who followed; perhaps the greatest of whom is Michelangelo, whose David of 1500 is also a malenude study; more naturalistic than Donatello's and with greater emotional intensity. Both sculptures are standing incontrapposto, their weight shifted to one leg.[24]

The period known as the High Renaissance represents the culmination of the goals of the earlier period, namely theaccurate representation of figures in space rendered with credible motion and in an appropriately decorous style. Themost famous painters from this phase are Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Their images are amongthe most widely known works of art in the world. Leonardo's Last Supper, Raphael's The School of Athens andMichelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling are the masterpieces of the period.[23]

High Renaissance painting evolved into Mannerism, especially in Florence. Mannerist artists, who consciouslyrebelled against the principles of High Renaissance, tend to represent elongated figures in illogical spaces. Modernscholarship has recognized the capacity of Mannerist art to convey strong (often religious) emotion where the HighRenaissance failed to do so. Some of the main artists of this period are Pontormo, Bronzino, Rosso Fiorentino,Parmigianino and Raphael's pupil Giulio Romano.[25]

Italian Renaissance 34

Architecture

St. Peter's Basilica. The dome, completed in1590, was designed by Michelangelo Buonarroti,

architect, painter and poet.

In Florence, the Renaissance style was introduced with a revolutionarybut incomplete monument in Rimini by Leone Battista Alberti. Someof the earliest buildings showing Renaissance characteristics areFilippo Brunelleschi's church of San Lorenzo and the Pazzi Chapel.The interior of Santo Spirito expresses a new sense of light, clarity andspaciousness, which is typical of the early Italian Renaissance. Itsarchitecture reflects the philosophy of Humanism, the enlightenmentand clarity of mind as opposed to the darkness and spirituality of theMiddle Ages. The revival of classical antiquity can best be illustratedby the Palazzo Rucellai. Here the pilasters follow the superposition ofclassical orders, with Doric capitals on the ground floor, Ionic capitalson the piano nobile and Corinthian capitals on the uppermost floor.

In Mantua, Leone Battista Alberti ushered in the new antique style, though his culminating work, Sant'Andrea, wasnot begun until 1472, after the architect's death.

Bramante's Tempietto in San Pietro in Montorio,Rome, 1502

The High Renaissance, as we call the style today, was introduced toRome with Donato Bramante's Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio(1502) and his original centrally planned St. Peter's Basilica (1506),which was the most notable architectural commission of the era,influenced by almost all notable Renaissance artists, includingMichelangelo and Giacomo della Porta. The beginning of the lateRenaissance in 1550 was marked by the development of a new columnorder by Andrea Palladio. Colossal columns that were two or morestories tall decorated the facades.

Music

In Italy during the 14th century there was an explosion of musicalactivity that corresponded in scope and level of innovation to theactivity in the other arts. Although musicologists typically group themusic of the Trecento (music of the 14th century) with the latemedieval period, it included features which align with the earlyRenaissance in important ways: an increasing emphasis on secularsources, styles and forms; a spreading of culture away fromecclesiastical institutions to the nobility, and even to the common people; and a quick development of entirely newtechniques. The principal forms were the Trecento madrigal, the caccia, and the ballata. Overall, the musical style ofthe period is sometimes labelled as the "Italian ars nova." From the early 15th century to the middle of the 16thcentury, the center of innovation in sacred music was in the Low Countries, and a flood of talented composers cameto Italy from this region. Many of them sang in either the papal choir in Rome or the choirs at the numerous chapelsof the aristocracy, in Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan, Ferrara and elsewhere; and they brought their polyphonic stylewith them, influencing many native Italian composers during their stay.

The predominant forms of church music during the period were the mass and the motet. By far the most famous composer of church music in 16th century Italy was Palestrina, the most prominent member of the Roman School, whose style of smooth, emotionally cool polyphony was to become the defining sound of the late 16th century, at least for generations of 19th- and 20th century musicologists. Other Italian composers of the late 16th century focused on composing the main secular form of the era, the madrigal: and for almost a hundred years these secular

Italian Renaissance 35

songs for multiple singers were distributed all over Europe. Composers of madrigals included Jacques Arcadelt, atthe beginning of the age, Cipriano de Rore, in the middle of the century, and Luca Marenzio, Philippe de Monte,Carlo Gesualdo, and Claudio Monteverdi at the end of the era. Italy was also a centre of innovation in instrumentalmusic. By the early 16th century keyboard improvisation came to be greatly valued, and numerous composers ofvirtuoso keyboard music appeared. Many familiar instruments were invented and perfected in late Renaissance Italy,such as the violin, the earliest forms of which came into use in the 1550s.By the late 16th century Italy was the musical centre of Europe. Almost all of the innovations which were to definethe transition to the Baroque period originated in northern Italy in the last few decades of the century. In Venice, thepolychoral productions of the Venetian School, and associated instrumental music, moved north into Germany; inFlorence, the Florentine Camerata developed monody, the important precursor to opera, which itself first appearedaround 1600; and the avant-garde, manneristic style of the Ferrara school, which migrated to Naples and elsewherethrough the music of Carlo Gesualdo, was to be the final statement of the polyphonic vocal music of theRenaissance.

Notes[1][1] Jensen 1992, p. 95[2][2] Burke 1999, p. 232[3][3] Burke 1999, p. 93[4] Jensen 1992, p. 97; see also Andrew B. Appleby's "Epidemics and Famine in the Little Ice Age." Journal of Interdisciplinary History. Vol. 10

No. 4.[5] Olea, Ricardo A, Christakos, George, "Duration of Urban Mortality for the 14th-Century Black Death Epidemic" (http:/ / www. findarticles.

com/ p/ articles/ mi_qa3659/ is_200506/ ai_n15845444/ pg_4), Human Biology, Jun 2005. The population level of Florence is controversialsee also Ziegler (1969, pp. 51-52), Chandler 1987, pp. 16-18, and Gottfried 1983, p. 46

[6][6] Lopez, Robert Sabatino. "Hard Times and Investment in Culture."[7][7] Baron, Hans. "The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance". Princeton University Press, March 1, 1966. ISBN 0-691-00752-7[8][8] Jensen 1992, p. 64.[9] Crum , Roger J. Severing the Neck of Pride: Donatello's "Judith and Holofernes" and the Recollection of Albizzi Shame in Medicean

Florence . Artibus et Historiae, Volume 22, Edit 44, 2001. pp. 23-29.[10][10] Jensen 1992, p. 80[11] Peter Barenboim, Sergey Shiyan, Michelangelo: Mysteries of Medici Chapel, SLOVO, Moscow, 2006 (http:/ / www. florentine-society. ru/

Medici_Chapel_Mysteries. htm). ISBN 5-85050-825-2[12][12] Burke 1999, p. 271.[13][13] Burke 1999, p. 256.[14][14] Jensen 1992, p. 105.[15][15] Burke 1999, p. 246.[16][16] Jensen 1992, p. 104.[17][17] Burke 1999, p. 255.[18][18] Osborne, Roger, Civilization: A New History of the Western World, Pegasus Books, New York 2006 p. 181.[19][19] Osborne, Roger, Civilization: A New History of the Western World Pegasus, NY, 2006[20] Cast, David. "Review: Fra Girolamo Savonarola: Florentine Art and Renaissance Historiography by Ronald M. Steinberg". The Art Bulletin,

Volume 61, No. 1, March 1979. pp. 134-136.[21] Hayden B. J. Maginnis, Painting in the Age of Giotto: A Historical Reevaluation (1997)[22] Ethan Matt Kavaler, "Renaissance Gothic: Pictures of Geometry and Narratives of Ornament," Art History, Feb 2006, Vol. 29 Issue 1, pp

1-46[23] Frederick Hartt, and David G. Wilkins, History of Italian Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture (2003)[24] Sarah Blake McHam, ed. Looking at Italian Renaissance Sculpture (1998)[25] Jane Turner, ed. Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance and Mannerist Art (2000)

Italian Renaissance 36

References• Baron, Hans. The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance: Civic Humanism and Republican Liberty in an Age of

Classicism and Tyranny. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966.• Burckhardt, Jacob (1878), The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, trans. S.G.C Middlemore (http:/ / www.

worldwideschool. org/ library/ books/ hst/ european/ TheCivilizationoftheRenaissanceinItaly/ toc. html)• Burke, Peter. The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.•• Capra, Fritjof. (2008), The Science of Leonardo. Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance.

Doubleday ISBN 978-0-385-51390-6•• Cronin, Vincent

• The Florentine Renaissance (1967) ISBN 0-00-211262-0• The Flowering of the Renaissance (1969) ISBN 0-7126-9884-1• The Renaissance (1992) ISBN 0-00-215411-0

• Hagopian, Viola L. "Italy", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol.London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN

• Hay, Denys. The Italian Renaissance in Its Historical Background. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1977.

• Jensen, De Lamar (1992), Renaissance Europe• Jurdjevic, Mark. "Hedgehogs and Foxes: The Present and Future of Italian Renaissance Intellectual History," Past

& Present 2007 (195): 241-268, Shows Humanism has been the main concern of historians recently; Discussesthe works of William Bouwsma, James Hankins, Ronald Witt, Riccardo Fubini, Quentin Skinner, J. A. Pocock,and Eric Nelson.

• Lopez, Robert Sabatino, The Three Ages of the Italian Renaissance Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia,1970.

• Pullan, Brian S. History of Early Renaissance Italy. London: Lane, 1973.• Raffini, Christine, Marsilio Ficino, Pietro Bembo, Baldassare Castiglione: Philosophical, Aesthetic, and Political

Approaches in Renaissance Platonism. Renaissance and Baroque Studies and Texts, v.21, Peter Lang Publishing,1998. ISBN 0-8204-3023-4

Further reading• Bayer, A. (2004). Painters of reality : the legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombardy (http:/ / libmma.

contentdm. oclc. org/ cdm/ compoundobject/ collection/ p15324coll10/ id/ 96665). New York: The MetropolitanMuseum of Art. ISBN 9781588391162.

• Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle (http:/ / libmma. contentdm.oclc. org/ cdm/ compoundobject/ collection/ p15324coll10/ id/ 84801/ rec/ 2). New York: The MetropolitanMuseum of Art. 1983. ISBN 9780870993626.

External links• The High Renaissane in Florence - video (http:/ / www. glenndixon. org/ Florence. html)• Renaissance House (http:/ / www. vam. ac. uk/ vastatic/ microsites/ 1487_renaissance/ renaissance_house. html)

Victoria and Albert Museum

Article Sources and Contributors 37

Article Sources and ContributorsPeasants' Revolt  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=570438181  Contributors: (, -Ilhador-, 777sms, A Duck, ABF, ACBest, Aetheling, Ahirons, Ahoerstemeier, Ahunt, Aitias,Alansohn, Algwyne, Allstarecho, Amaury, Amitchell125, Andrewman327, Andrij Kursetsky, Andy M. Wang, Anna Lincoln, Anne97432, Arjunatgv, AuStIn BaBi3, Avocato, Avoided, AzaToth,B'er Rabbit, BRUTE, Benanhalt, Bgolds12, Biker Biker, Bkwillwm, Blanchardb, Blurpeace, Bobo192, Bogdangiusca, Boleslaw, Bonadea, Bongwarrior, Bounty14, Brigade Piron, Britannicus,Burgher, CWY2190, Cadsuane Melaidhrin, Calum MacÙisdean, Canaen, Capricorn42, Carbuncle, Carmichael, Catandfroglover, Cenarium, Cerdic, Chapka, Chris the speller, Closedmouth,Cnyborg, Codex Sinaiticus, Cohesion, Courcelles, CrazytalesPublic, Cst17, CyrilleDunant, DVD R W, Damsleth, Dank, Danno uk, David Edgar, Dawn Bard, Deb, Degen Earthfast, Dekisugi,DerHexer, Devboy, Discospinster, Djcam, Djnjwd, Dogposter, Domino theory, Donner60, Drutt, Duellist, EJF, Ealdgyth, Eclecticology, Edgar1, Edward, Eenu, Ehrenkater, Elonka, Emilyum,Emma vickery, EnglishTea4me, Epbr123, Eric-Wester, Everyking, FJPB, Fattyfighters, Favonian, Felix Folio Secundus, Ferg2k, Fluffernutter, Flyguy649, Freemarket, Funky-sam, Fæ, G-Man,Gaia Octavia Agrippa, Gary King, Gavin Moodie, Gentgeen, Geogre, Gilliam, Glloq, Gogo Dodo, Ground Zero, Hadžija, Harry Potter, Harry ballsach, Haza-w, Hazhk, Hchc2009, Henrygb,Heracles31, Hyperdeath, Ian Rose, Icairns, Ikiroid, Immunize, Imnotminkus, Imperial Star Destroyer, Iridescence, Iridescent, Ironholds, Isis, Itsmejudith, J.delanoy, JRThro, Ja 62, JaGa,Jamesd22, Jamesofur, Jaraalbe, Jeffonsea, Jengod, JeremyA, Jim Henry, John of Reading, Johnbod, Jordanson72, Joseph Deng, Kappalovin, Katanada, Kate, Kbthompson, Keith D, Khazar2, KidBugs, Kildwyke, Kingpin13, Kirk, Kitholl, Kukini, Kynannew123, LOL, Lapsed Pacifist, Leandrod, Lelavr, Les3corbiers, Leutha, Lil Megz, Llort, Locket026, Loco is here, Luk, Lycurgus,Lynn2468, MC729, MacAuslan, Mais oui!, Manitobamountie, MarcusBritish, Marek69, Mark Yen, MaskedHero, Maskedavenger, Mav, Mbc362, MechZi, MedievalPesant, MeltBanana,Mennonot, Michael Hardy, Middle Aged, Midx1004, Moagim, Monstrelet, Morning277, Mr Stephen, Mrmoocow, Mrzaius, Mtn.fruity, Murriusmintus, Mx3, N5iln, Nakon, NawlinWiki, Ndidiomosigho, Ndteegarden, Neddyseagoon, Nedrutland, NerdyScienceDude, Neurolysis, Neutrality, Nev1, NickW557, Nihiltres, Noctibus, Norm mit, Nthep, Numbo3, Ohconfucius, Oliver Chettle,OllieFury, Ontarah, Orphan Wiki, P. S. Burton, PBS, PMLawrence, Pajz, Parent5446, Pbsturte, Pgan002, Philip Stevens, Philip Trueman, Philipos jackson, PiMaster3, Pingveno, Piomnvds,Piotrus, Plucas58, Pol098, Possum, Promethean, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Pustelnik, Queequeg79, R. fiend, RB972, RaseaC, Razi61, Redf0x, Reed1950, Restre419, Retelencho, Rich Farmbrough,Rivertorch, Rjm at sleepers, Rjwilmsi, Rm1271, Rmky87, Roleplayer, Roman Babylon, Roscelese, Rosenknospe, Ruakh, S3000, Salix alba, Salvio giuliano, Sarahbv17, Sciencebloke, Seaphoto,Shadowjams, Slathering, Slide Maintenance, Sluzzelin, Smite-Meister, SmokeyTheCat, SpaceFlight89, Squidlydid, Stbalbach, Stevertigo, Stizz, Stratavarious1, Stucley74, Subtilior,SuperHamster, Sw258, Swarm, Sylent, T Hinton, Tagishsimon, Tarquin, Tartarus, Tbhotch, Tellyaddict, Tentinator, Texture, The Anonymouse, The Man in Question, The Rambling Man, TheThing That Should Not Be, The wub, TheOldJacobite, Thingg, Tiddly Tom, Tide rolls, Til Eulenspiegel, Tim riley, Tim!, Timrollpickering, Tonicsofa, Tpbradbury, Trevor MacInnis, Trotboy,Typhatin, Ubiquity, Uncle Dick, Vanished user 39948282, Vanished user uih38riiw4hjlsd, Varlaam, VegaDark, Vegetable man38, Ventusa, Verica Atrebatum, Vishnava, WAS 4.250,Walgamanus, Walkerma, WereSpielChequers, Wetman, Widr, WikHead, Wikidea, WolfmanSF, Ww, XypherWolf, Yamla, Yintan, Yoky8, Zenibus, Zocky, ZooFari, 915 anonymous edits

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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 38

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Richard II meets rebels.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Richard_II_meets_rebels.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: BLueFiSH.as, Bkwillwm,Duesentrieb, G.dallorto, Hchc2009, Herbythyme, Jza84, Mattes, Mel22, Quadell, Verica Atrebatum, William Jexpire, Wst, 3 anonymous editsFile:Plague victims blessed by priest.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Plague_victims_blessed_by_priest.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: DO11.10,Ealdgyth, G.dallorto, GermanJoe, Leinad-Z, Nortonius, Quadell, Quibik, Shakko, 2 anonymous editsFile:Troupe anglaise débarquant en Normandie XIVeme siecle.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Troupe_anglaise_débarquant_en_Normandie_XIVeme_siecle.jpg License: Public Domain  Contributors: AYE R, Hchc2009, QuadellFile:Sheep pen (Luttrell Psalter).png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sheep_pen_(Luttrell_Psalter).png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: See en:Luttrell PsalterFile:Longbowmen.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Longbowmen.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Geoffrey LuttrellFile:John Ball encouraging Wat Tyler rebels from ca 1470 MS of Froissart Chronicles in BL.jpg  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:John_Ball_encouraging_Wat_Tyler_rebels_from_ca_1470_MS_of_Froissart_Chronicles_in_BL.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors:Unknown medieval artist illustrating Froissart's ChroniclesFile:Map of London, 1381 labelled.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Map_of_London,_1381_labelled.png  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Hchc2009File:Towrlndn.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Towrlndn.JPG  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Author of poems is Charles, Duke of Orléans, illustrated isunknownFile:DeathWatTylerFull.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DeathWatTylerFull.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AnonMoos, Bkwillwm, Dbachmann,G.dallorto, Giorgiomonteforti, Hchc2009, JrOceanographer, Jza84, Mmxx, Pseudomonas, Verica Atrebatum, Wst, 4 anonymous editsFile:Abbeygate In Bury St Edmunds.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Abbeygate_In_Bury_St_Edmunds.jpg  License: Public domain  Contributors: AnRo0002,Million Moments, Quadell, ZikoFile:OldCCav.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:OldCCav.JPG  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: McAntFile:John Gower world Vox Clamantis.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:John_Gower_world_Vox_Clamantis.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors:Andreagrossmann, Bkwillwm, Leinad-Z, Mattes, Mdd, Mechamind90, Quadell, SteveMcCluskeyFile:Henry le Despenser 2.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Henry_le_Despenser_2.jpg  License: Public domain  Contributors: QuadellFile:Richard II King of England.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Richard_II_King_of_England.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Hchc2009, Kürschner,Pe-Jo, Quadell, Shakko, Thomas Gun, 1 anonymous editsFile:Reeve and Serfs.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Reeve_and_Serfs.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: anonymous (Queen Mary Master)File:Portrait of William Stubbs by Hubert von Herkomer.jpeg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Portrait_of_William_Stubbs_by_Hubert_von_Herkomer.jpeg  License:unknown  Contributors: P. S. BurtonFile:William.Morris.John.Ball.trimmed.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:William.Morris.John.Ball.trimmed.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AnonMoos,Hchc2009, Quadellfile:Commons-logo.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Commons-logo.svg  License: logo  Contributors: AnomieFile:Sanzio 01.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sanzio_01.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: ArwinJ, Bibi Saint-Pol, Damiens.rf, Gugganij, Harpsichord246,Herald Alberich, Howcheng, Jacobolus, Jic, Julia W, Mahdi.Hosseinnejad, Man vyi, Matthead, Para, Pasicles, Paul 012, Raymond, Sentausa, Suruena, The Evil IP address, Thierry Caro,Wknight94, 14 anonymous editsFile:Emblem of Italy.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Emblem_of_Italy.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: F l a n k e r from the original paint of PaoloPaschettoFile:Flag of Italy.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Italy.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AnomieFile:Piero, ritratto di sigismondo malatesta.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Piero,_ritratto_di_sigismondo_malatesta.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: seefilename or categoryFile:Leonardo da Vinci - Self-Portrait - WGA12798.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_Self-Portrait_-_WGA12798.jpg  License: PublicDomain  Contributors: Aavindraa, Coyau, Santosga, TwoWings, Velos a 3 euros, 1 anonymous editsFile:Clovio magi.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Clovio_magi.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Argo Navis, Jarekt, ShakkoFile:Santi di Tito - Niccolo Machiavelli's portrait headcrop.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Santi_di_Tito_-_Niccolo_Machiavelli's_portrait_headcrop.jpg  License:Public Domain  Contributors: APTEM, Bjankuloski06en, Blurpeace, G.dallorto, GeorgHH, Husky, Interpretix, Oxam Hartog, Sailko, 6 anonymous editsFile:Petrarch by Bargilla.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Petrarch_by_Bargilla.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Akigka, Auntof6, Boo-Boo Baroo,Darwinius, G.dallorto, Jarekt, Kjetil r, Sailko, 2 anonymous editsFile:Last judgement.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Last_judgement.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Aavindraa, Amandajm, DenghiùComm, Docu,G.dallorto, Hellisp, Kilom691, Kramer Associates, Man vyi, Mattes, Oursana, Pe-Jo, Pko, Shakko, Willemnabuurs, Winterkind, 2 anonymous editsFile:Petersdom von Engelsburg gesehen.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Petersdom_von_Engelsburg_gesehen.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors:User:WolfgangStuckFile:PalladioBramanteTempietto1570.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PalladioBramanteTempietto1570.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Originaluploader was Wetman at en.wikipedia

License 39

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/