Comparing and Contrasting the Middle Ages and the Italian Renaissance During the Renaissance many of the artistic and governmental styles that we use today were developed and some of the greatest artists and thinkers that have lived were born like Shakespeare the playwright and poet. But the gap between the development of ancient-classical Greece and Rome and the High Italian Renaissance is a big one. There had to be something in the middle to bridge that gap, and there was; the Middle Ages. It is interesting to view the changes that were made in the Middle Ages that made it possible for the movement that happened during the Renaissance. This is best viewed by assessing the governmental, artistic, and socio-economic standings of both
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For example, simply knowing the royal family might get you a few privileges, but it wouldn’t help your social standing with others. Learning about the social classes of the Middle Ages almost requires a dictionary. However there are a few terms that are important. Kings were on top with queens and the rest of the royal family close behind. They held most of the power during the Middle Ages. Then there are the nobles and other authorities. Nobles usually received their power by being selected by Royalty or very rarely by working hard to get there. They held their power through agreements made with the royal family. Under the nobles there are farmers and other middle class workers who usually, unless they owned their land, worked for the nation-state. Lastly there were the classes of Serfs and Slaves who both had hardly any freedom or rights. In the renaissance the classes of noble, merchant, and middle class all received more freedom and rights as more secure governments began to form, although Slaves and Serfs were still in poor condition. It was because of the conditions that the average citizen held during the late Middle Ages that important human rights documents were written. Such as the Magna Karta which helped clarify the unalienable rights that were inspirations for our very own Constitution of the United States of
For example, simply knowing the royal family might get you a few privileges, but it wouldn’t help your social standing with others. Learning about the social classes of the Middle Ages almost requires a dictionary. However there are a few terms that are important. Kings were on top with queens and the rest of the royal family close behind. They held most of the power during the Middle Ages. Then there are the nobles and other authorities. Nobles usually received their power by being selected by Royalty or very rarely by working hard to get there. They held their power through agreements made with the royal family. Under the nobles there are farmers and other middle class workers who usually, unless they owned their land, worked for the nation-state. Lastly there were the classes of Serfs and Slaves who both had hardly any freedom or rights. In the renaissance the classes of noble, merchant, and middle class all received more freedom and rights as more secure governments began to form, although Slaves and Serfs were still in poor condition. It was because of the conditions that the average citizen held during the late Middle Ages that important human rights documents were written. Such as the Magna Karta which helped clarify the unalienable rights that were inspirations for our very own Constitution of the United States of