Crises
Conflict in Renaissance Italy (1450’s-1490’s)
In Renaissance Italy, Italians felt a deep connection and political loyalty to their individual city-states, preventing the existence of a unified Italian state. Five powers dominated Italy and controlled the smaller city-states: Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States, and the kingdom of Naples. While technically under the control of several councils of state, Florence was truly run by the Medici family. Renaissance Italy was a time of luxury and artistic innovation, that is if you were wealthy or of papal power. For the working class, the Renaissance was a period of famine, poor pay, terrible jobs, and being taken advantage of, still feeling the effects of the hundred years war and black plague. However, Renaissance Italy also saw the rise of humanism and a growing debate around women’s role in society. These new ideals created tension with the wealthy ruling families and papacy.
Delegates will be given the chance to represent people from different social statuses, artists, writers, members of the clergy, and politicians, all while debating the modern views of the Renaissance, the ongoing class struggle, the religious tensions, and who should rule Florence.