Renaissance

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"1476 - the dawn of a new era for Italy. Art, culture, and science are flourishing under the guidance of inspired minds. Renaissance. This is probably the way history will remember us."

―Giovanni Auditore, on the birth of the Renaissance, 1476.

The Renaissance was a period of European history from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a cultural movement in Italy in the Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe, marking the beginning of the Modern age.

The intellectual basis of the Renaissance was its own invented version of humanism, which was derived from the concept of Roman Humanitas and the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of Protagoras, who said that "Man is the measure of all things." This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science and literature. Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of metal movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century, the changes of the Renaissance were not uniformly experienced across Europe.

As a cultural movement, the Renaissance encompassed innovative flowering of Latin and vernacular literatures, beginning with the 14th-century resurgence of learning based on classical sources, which contemporaries credited to Petrarch; the development of linear perspective and other techniques of rendering a more natural reality in painting; and gradual but widespread educational reform. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, and in science to an increased reliance on observation and inductive reasoning. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term "Renaissance man".

The Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Various theories have been proposed to account for its origins and characteristics, focusing on a variety of factors including the social and civic peculiarities of Florence at the time: its political structure; the patronage of its dominant family, the Medici; and the migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy following the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks.^[7][8][9] Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, and finally Rome during the Renaissance Papacy.

Historians estimate that the Renaissance began in the 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 Master Assassin and the ancestor of both Clay Kaczmarek and Desmond Miles, lived during this time period.

Description

The term "renaissance", originating from the French word 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 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

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 da Vinci was a painter during this time, but he also dabbled in other fields of study which included sculpting, architecture, music, science, mathematics, engineering, anatomy, geology, botany, and writing.

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 Medici family who played a vital role in this development, by encouraging countrymen to commission works from Florence's leading artists, such as da Vinci and 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 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

Ezio finding his father's robes

Ezio Auditore da Firenze was born in the forming stage of growing Renaissance Italy, in June of 1459, as the second son of the Auditore family amidst the Florentine noble class. Ezio grew up to be a banker, until he was seventeen years old, when the Borgia executed his brothers Petruccio and Federico, along with his father, Giovanni.

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

The House of Medici

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 Pazzi family, a group of Tuscan nobles who were affiliated with the Templars. Ezio overpowered the conspiracy behind the events by killing all of those who plotted against the Medici.

After Lorenzo de' Medici's death in 1492, his son Piero let Florence fall into the hands of Girolamo Savonarola, who subdued the citizens as well as nine lieutenants under the control of a Piece of Eden, known as the "Apple".

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.

Rome

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 Guild there, while taking out the Borgia towers that oppressed the citizens of Rome.

Following this, the Assassins 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.