1. During the Renaissance in Italy, farming techniques improved with the introduction of nitrogen-fixing crops and new foods from the Americas. Peasants worked the land owned by landlords, growing crops and raising livestock. 2. Nobles ate lavish feasts while peasants typically ate poultry, eggs, and food from pigs they raised. Schools taught either Latin for governing or Italian for commerce, with most students receiving only basic education. 3. Medicine advanced through the printing press, dissections, and new treatments like stitching wounds. However, superstition and the humoral system still influenced beliefs. Religion was dominated by the Catholic Church, though its corruption led to reforms and the Protestant movement.

1. Renaissance ItalyAlina Lewandowski, Ana Stevens, Nigel Itchon, Mike Rush, and Trevor Kupecky

2. Farming LifeIn the beginning of the Renaissance, four books were published in 1472. These books were the agronomy of ancient Romans and farming techniques that were now available to estate owners in Italy. The key elements in Italian agriculture were to forage or search for crops and expand irrigation to water crops. During the Renaissance, many nitrogen-fixing crops had been planted in fields that would make the soil fertile and plants grew abundantly. This was very important to Italy because nitrogen-fixing crops had been lost in Italian medieval times. An example of these crops would be alfalfa, a very cultivated crop in Italy in 1540 known as the “Spanish Grass”. Other plants that were grown abundantly during the Italian Renaissance Era were flax, many vegetables, and olives.Once the Americas were discovered, new foods and agricultural ways were brought to Italy allowing farming to thrive will all the new resources. Sweet potatoes were introduced to Italy from the Americas and became a big export. Peasants were a large portion of people in Italy during this era and they worked on the farmland with their families. Landlords owned most of the land that peasants worked on and the peasants rented the land to work on for food. Sometimes even livestock or tools would be traded for land rents. In most of Italy, people were either peasants renting land, or a small percentage was landlords owning countless fields.

3. FoodPeasants:Poultry and eggsAlmost never drank water (drank beer and wine)Raised pigs to sell to noblesNobles:Prevented peasants from hunting certain animalsAte feasts generally

4. Schools During RenaissanceDuring the Renaissance, it took a lot of effort for Italy to establish schools. Teachers were very abundant in both cities and villages of Italy, but they mostly taught on their own or in small groups. A teacher would have an average of 20 to 40 students. Near 1550, new religions influenced Italy to set up schools similar to the ones we have where on teacher teaches one grade and the students move up a grade when promoted. The two main schools in Italy were Latin schools that taught governing and philosophy, and Italian schools that taught skills for commerce and trade. Latin schools studied the classical Rome, focusing on authors from previous times and they had to speak in Latin. Eventually these schools would lead into universities that taught primarily ancient Greek philosophies and no math. On the other hand, Italian schools taught students to read in their native tongue. Italian schools taught medieval and practical morality like reading, writing, and math. They taught a type of math called abbaco, which is the math of commerce like measuring and weights. These Italian schools led to trade because of their lack of Latin language. Most students never went beyond the lower stages of education, but some hard determined elite men, or women, would study very long to get a quality education in that period of time.

5. MedicineInvention of microscope Helped scientists later discover micro-organismsPrint and press helped spread knowledge about medicine through booksProduced medical books without problems in mass quantityAndreas Vesalius did dissections to help correct misconceptions Helped people understand the inside of the human body Made first book about the human bodyStitching wounds idea createdBefore sealing wounds with heat was the main practice which caused eventual infection or deathUsed silk thread to seal the woundGirmoloFrascastoro found new treatments for infectious diseases such as syphilis Good hospitals effectively quarantined leprosy and other diseasesGirmoloFrascastoro named syphilis after a man named Syphilus who was supposedly stricken with it for offending the god ApolloFew drugs existed Such as opium and quinine Folklore challenged the advance of medical science Some believed stars or gods caused illnesses Medical colleges re-emergedIdea of tying off blood vessels to stop bleeding instead of burning them with hot oil or metal

6. ReligionMostly Roman CatholicWhen the Roman Empire fell, the Church was the only bond in the areaInfluence on ArtMost people couldn’t readArtists painted stories of the Bible to help them understandFor example: The Last Supper

7. Religion (2)CorruptionClergy were engulfed with moneyRaided church coffers to pay for wants and to support their childrenClergy ignored vows to the churchGot married and had childrenNepotismAppoint people to the church because they were either family or friends

8. Religion (3)ReformationPeople got anger due to the clergy’s corruptionFelt that the church was being unproductiveMartin Luther spreads his ideals to change Catholicism Spread Protestant Counter-ReformationRevival of the Catholics

9. GovernmentBroken into 7 city-statesNaples: standard monarchyRuled by a kingMilan and Savoy: autonomous duchyRuled by dukes, but still separate from the rest of ItalyRome and Romagna: papal statesRuled by the Catholic popeVenice and Florence: RepublicsPyramid of power, divided into different branches

10. Crime and PunishmentFinesFor low level crimesJail sentencing’s For high level crimesIf in a powerful family punishment affects whole familyCertain legal rights were taken away and were not returned for a couple of generations Judged by rulers and princes Violent criminals hung and killed Only highest crimes such as murder, rape, or highway man (thief) activityJudges were harsh on law violatorsPolice were present but weren’t what they are todayCould be easily bribedWere lazy and sometimes didn’t do their jobsPunishment included hanging, burning, torture, pillorying, and execution.Executions drew crowds and were made public spectaclesWomen couldn’t be tortured this way if they were pregnant or menstruating Torture was used to get a confession Innocent may confess to avoid torture Guilty may tough out torture and get set free Believed that body contained truth Believed that skin could be peeled back to uncover the truth Thoughts of witchcraft often got women tortured and killed

11. There were three major categories under the big topic of danger in the Italian Renaissance. They are super natural, natural, and human made. Things that fall under super natural are thing that have to do with god and the aspect of going to hell. People were living in fear of sin and they always thought that if they committed sin they would go to hell. Thing that fall under the category of Natural would be stuff like natural disasters. These included, floods and earthquakes. Also Omens fall under this category, things that have birth defects for example like a four-legged chicken or a two-headed child. Hunger and famine also fall under this category but unlike earthquakes or floods famine was not considered an act of god. The last category is human made danger, like different types of violence. There was personal violence and crime which included violence over personal quarrels over theft or over territory and other personal matters.There was also state violence which took two forms, warfare and judicial. Danger

12. ScienceLeonardo da VinciHad contributions to artThe Last SupperHad contributions to scienceHad a journal with practical inventionsMusical InstrumentsHydraulic pumps“Father of Modern Science”

13. Science (2)AlchemyStart of chemistryFocused on making certain metals into gold AstronomyGeocentric Belief that earth was the centerChurch believed thisHeliocentricThe sun was the center of the universeGalileo Galilee supported who had telescope to see Venus revolve around the sunMathematics and AccountingBased off of Hindu-Arabic numerals

14. During the Italian renaissance as society became interested in classical ideas, artists began to work in classical forms.Artists, and sculptors adopted classical subject matter as their own, depicting many figures from Greek and Roman mythology.These forms of modern artistic expression most often represented self conscious statements of reform and general rejection of the political and social status quoSome artists, sculptors and architects believed that their profession could provide the vision and the physical framework for constructing a new democratic society and a new moral order.Art

15. HumanismStressed individualWanted to create a society with men and women who could read or write and have a hand in their political systemConflict with ChurchHumanists felt that humans are rational and should act that wayThe ClassicsThis is the revival of old manuscripts from Rome and GreeceImportant for the study of Humanism Brought back old systems of thinkingSpreadStarts to spread after the invention of the printing press