Describe the importance of the Renaissance in Italy.

THIS WAS LIMITED TO UNDER 500 words--and WAS AN ESSAY ANSWER (TIMED) FOR A MIDTERM EXAM

Question: Describe the importance of the Renaissance in Italy.

Answer:

The Renaissance, literally the "rebirth," was just that to Italy. As the Middle Ages came to a close, so too did the overshadowing gloom finally subsidize in Italy--and eventually Europe. The new view on human existence spread like wild fire and spawned a rekindled "secular" approach that embraced the Individualist movement (the "successful demonstration of human powers"), the artistic (and architectural) Realism approach, and as the divine right of the church and its clergy became more scrutinized, it helped spawned the 'literary Inquisition' of the Humanists. Additionally, the pursuit of literature and arts led to more application and study of the natural sciences and revitalized the importance of the University.

However, the Renaissance, despite the foundation of humanities and ripple of challenge of religion, did not necessarily mean that Italy would rise like the phoenix from Rome's ashes. In fact, militarily and religiously, quite the opposite happened. The very threadwork on which the pre-Renaissance Europe was based, that is the Roman church, was grossly neglected and as the church lost power and influence, the door was slowly creaked open for the Wars of Religion that were just around the corner. In the city-states, another concept that was rekindled and strengthened by the Renaissance, the political involvement and evolution was completely stinted, and as the political realm lost power, so too did the city-state militaries. Regardless of the impact of the Renaissance on Europe and Italy, regardless of how great society became at the spawning of a "human power" movement, the fact that its stranglehold allowed the Italian military to simply disintegrate while European and Mediterranean hostilities were still rampant must be considered the most important Italy-internal consequence of the movement.

From the failure of the city-states to maintain an army, and the 'holier-than-thou' approach that the Individualist attitude held (the common man was much too engrossed in his pursuit of greatness to serve in the military), the mercenary became the only choice. As Italy realized, and too late, the necessity of maintaining an army against their enemies--specifically, the Spanish and French--they scrambled to hire condottieri (private for-hire armies) to protect their interest. However, these mercenary armies owed loyalty to no specific city-state, and as the city-states began internal conflicts and armies fought whenever and for whomever they pleased, the same door that creaked open to challenge the Roman church now flew open as both Spain and France looked to reap the benefits of a divided Italy with nothing but unfaithful mercenary armies to protect itself.