Renaissance

2014-04-14T23:04:03Z

82.49.188.222: What a terrible mess...

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{{Youmay|the cultural movement|[[Assassin's Creed: Renaissance]]}}
{{Event
|prev = Middle Ages
|next = [[American Revolution]]
|image = [[File:Scared and Profane love - By Titan.png|300px]]
|name = Renaissance
|timeframe = 15th to 17th century.
|place = Europe}}
The '''Renaissance''' was a cultural movement that spanned throughout the 15th to, and including, the 16th century, where it sparked a great interest and focus among the nobility on ideas such as humanism and individualism, as well as the revival of lost classical values.

Historians estimate that the Renaissance began in the [[Italy|Italian]] city-states, due to their success in trade and learning, specifically in [[Florence]]. The Renaissance began during the Late Middle Ages, and later spread to the rest of [[Europe]].

[[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]], an [[Italian Assassins|Italian Assassin]] and the ancestor of both [[Clay Kaczmarek]] and [[Desmond Miles]], lived during this time period.

==Description==
The term Renaissance, originating from the Italian terms ''rinascimento ''and ''rinascita'', literally meaning 'rebirth', is also used more loosely to refer to the historic era. However, since the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe, this has existed as a general use of the term.

During this time period, the wealthy and educated began to perceive the world in a new light, as developments in all aspects of society began to emerge. As a cultural movement, it encompassed a resurgence of learning based on rediscovered classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform.

Traditionally, this intellectual transformation had resulted in the Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the [[Modern times|modern era]]. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, such as literature, philosophy, architecture, art, politics, science and religion, it also affected social and political upheaval, and is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths.

===Perception of perfection===
[[File:Leo work 4.png|thumb|250px|Leonardo da Vinci, an example of a "Renaissance man"]]
During the Renaissance, perfection was to strive to be a polymath, or a "Renaissance man". An exemplary polymath was mainly [[Leonardo da Vinci]], though [[Michelangelo]] and [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] also inspired the term.

Being a polymath meant to be omnipotent; mankind had to pursue perfection in self-development of all aspects. For example, Leonardo was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, botanist and writer.

===Florence===
It has long been a discussion of why the Renaissance had started in Florence, and not elsewhere in Italy, to which some have noted the unique features to the Florentine cultural life, that may have caused such a movement. However, many believe that it was the [[House of Medici|Medici family]] who played a vital role in this development, by encouraging countrymen to commission works from Florence's leading artists, such as Leonardo and {{Wiki|Sandro Botticelli}}.

Others say it was pure luck that the Renaissance had started in Florence, as all "Great Men" were born in [[Tuscany]]. The chances of such men being born at the same place in the same time period seem improbable, though it could be that they were only able to rise due to the prevailing cultural conditions at the time.

Another proposition is that Florence was where many [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Greek scholars fled both before and after the Fall of Constantinople to the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453, and several Byzantine scholars had also been part of the entourage accompanying the Byzantine Emperor to the Council of Florence in 1438. This was important due to the Byzantine intellectuals having advanced philosophies and ancient Roman and Greek knowledge that the West had never seen before, and as such, that it was the collaboration of Italian and Byzantine intellectuals that began the Renaissance.

==Assassin influence==
[[File:Heirloom 2 v.png|left|thumb|250px|Ezio finding his father's robes]]
Ezio Auditore was born in the forming stage of growing Renaissance Italy, June 1459, as the second son of the [[House of Auditore|Auditore family]] amidst the Florentine noble class. He grew up to be a banker, until he was seventeen years old, when the [[House of Borgia|Borgia]] executed his brothers [[Petruccio Auditore da Firenze|Petruccio]] and [[Federico Auditore da Firenze|Federico]], along with his father, [[Giovanni Auditore da Firenze|Giovanni]].

After this incident, Ezio found out about his [[Assassins|Assassin]] lineage, with his uncle, [[Mario Auditore]], and the Italian faction leaders of the [[courtesans]], [[thieves]] and [[mercenaries]] training him along his journey. These faction leaders were also Assassins, which Ezio later discovered on his [[Initiation into the Assassin Order|initiation into the Assassin Order]].

===The House of Medici===
[[File:WiSC_16.png|thumb|250px|Lorenzo de' Medici with his wife]]
The Medici family ruled over Florence during the 15th and 16th century, boosting wealth and culture, and eventually making Florence the starting point of the Renaissance's expansion. In 1478, while attending High Mass, the Medici were attacked by the [[House of Pazzi|Pazzi family]], a group of Tuscan nobles affiliated with the [[Templars]]. Ezio overpowered [[pazzi conspiracy|the conspiracy]] behind the events, killing all of those who plotted against the Medici.

After [[Lorenzo de' Medici]]'s death in 1492, his son [[Piero de' Medici|Piero]] let Florence fall into the hands of [[Girolamo Savonarola]], who subdued the citizens under the control of a [[Pieces of Eden|Piece of Eden]] and nine lieutenants.

[[File:Mob justice 3.png|thumb|left|250px|Ezio assassinating Savonarola]]
In 1497, Ezio returned to Florence, only to find the city in the hands of Savonarola. Over the course of a year, Ezio worked to remove Savonarola's influence, and by 1498, he assassinated Savonarola, after a group of disgruntled civilians attempted to burn the monk at a stake in the [[Piazza della Signoria]]. This allowed the Medici to regain control, to which the family watched over Florence for another seventeen years.
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===Rome===
[[File:Roads lead to 3.png|thumb|250px|The Assassins standing against Cesare Borgia]]
By the time the 16th century arrived, [[Rome]] had fully fallen under the influence of the Borgia and the [[Papacy]], which were connected to the Templars, leaving the city to the decay of its corruption. Later, after the [[siege of Monteriggioni]], Ezio traveled to Rome and established an [[Assassins Guilds|Assassins Guild]] there, while taking out the [[Borgia Towers|Borgia towers]] that oppressed the citizens of Rome.

Following this the Assassin began to take on [[apprentices]], slowly liberating the city from the corrupt Borgia control. Thanks to this freedom, Rome was finally opened to the progress that Renaissance influences brought.

==References==
*''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Renaissance]]''
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Renaissance