The early Italian Renaissance

Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries was vastly different from Europe north of the Alps (feudal Europe). The Peninsula was a melange of political and cultural elements rather than a unified state.

The Alps defined Italian geography and history. Because atack across the Alps was very difficult, German overlords could not exert continuing control over their Italian vassal states and Italy was thus substantially freed of German political interference. No strong monarchies emerged as they did in the rest of Europe; instead there emerged the independent city-state.

There was a strong continuity of urban awareness in northern Italy which in the rest of Europe had virtually disappeared. Cities and urban institutions survived in Italy from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance. Many towns were survivors of earlier Etruscan towns which existed within the Roman Empire. The remnant towns and cities were quite small; London in the 12th century had a population of only about 10,000 and Paris was about the same size. The republican institutions of Rome also survived the Dark Ages. Some feudal lords existed with a servile labour force and huge tracts of land, but by the 10th century, Venice had become a large trading metropolis.