Italy was the most significant country for the early Renaissance and the important polit ical development there was the prominence of Florence and the rise of the Medici family. Florence at the end of the Middle Ages was a city of beautiful buildings, unsurpassed works of art, with its citizens famous for practical interest in commerce and in the development of trade, but even more interested in the arts and crafts. The most important family in Florence was the de' Medici, whose name first appeared in the chronicles of the 13th century, and may have been due to the fact that they were mem bers of the Guild of the Apothecanes at a time when these dealt not only in drugs but in per fumes, jewels, and precious Eastern stuffs of various kinds, and thus laid the foundation of an immense fortune. Giovanni, the sou -of Bicci de' Medici, the founder of the family, ignored politics and devoted himself to trade and especially to international banking. The fortune thus acquired gave his descendants their immense influence in the city. Giovanni died in 1429, leaving two sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo. Cosimo's descendants exercised the most ab solute sway over Florence for generations. The younger branch of the family reached dis tincton later, becoming Dukes of Tuscany. Cosimo, without holding any office in Florence, established a domination over the city, all the more surprising because Florence was a pure democracy whose citizens were jealous of their liberty. In spite of this, without official title, the de' Medici ruled Florence for more than a century. Historians have searched history for parallels. was a very different matter than with the lords or tyrants in old Greece, and it was much more than Pericles was to Athens, for the authority was passed on from father to son. It was more like the power of Augustus and the other Roman Emperors who respected the forms of the Commonwealth.* (Freeman), The best parallel for an American would be that of a political holding no office yet dictating elections and maintaining power quite apart from the completely democratic form of our government. The one great difference is that the Medici exercised their power for the benefit of the city and had as much pride in maintaining Florence's prestige as any of her citizens, though of course, they carefully looked out for the family interests.
The greatest of the Medici was Lorenzo, the grandson of Cosimo, who owed his popu larity to the immense prestige which his grand father had left him as an inheritance. After Cosimo's death, the citizens of Florence con ferred on him for all that he had done for the city, the title of Pater Patrice (Father of his Country). Lorenzo was very much less inter ested in the commercial affairs of the house than his ancestors but was possessed of distinct literary talent, and had, besides, a fine taste in literature and the arts. He was a thoroughly practical politician, however, and succeeded in neutralizing the schemes of his enemies of whom there were not a few. His brother Giuliano became a victim to a conspiracy from which Lorenzo escaped but very narrowly. Lorenzo died at the age of 53 in 1492, but what he accomplished for Florence by his patronage of arts and letters during his short life em inently merited for him the title of the Mag nificent, which he has received in history. His influence served to make Florence the centre of the intellectual and artistic world of the period, and the men who gathered around him achieved some of the greatest masterpieces that the world has ever known. His Own part in the literature of the time, for he was a poet of merit, give him a distinction from the other Mcecenases of history. The Medici palace became an acadmar
Distinguished scholars like Politian,. Ram and Pico della Mirandola were in constant attend ance upon Lorenzo, and the Platonic academy they organized, fostered the knowledge of Greek literature and art as well as philosophy. In addition, however, scholarship and classic erudition were not more welcomed at court than poetry in the vernacular. Pulci gave read ings of his 'Morganti Maggiore,' and Lorenzo read his own poems and encouraged Italian poetry in every form. ' Artists found a munifi cent patron in him. It is said that Lorenzo himself could speak with equal fluency on paint ing, sculpture, music, philosophy and poetry. He was imbued with the idea of creating a true national literature for Italy and refining the Tuscan speech as his country's language. His faults are evident and particularly his thorough going ways with his enemies and his readiness to meet treachery and underhand means by similar weapons. He was a beneficent autocrat in so far as his autocracy replaced the democ racy of Florence.
This century saw a revolution in education and as always happens with such an event, there was a wide-spread awakening of interest in edu cational matters. The Latin and Greek classics became the favorite foundation in educa tion under the name of the Humanities or the New Learning. The universities at first, with sonic notable exceptions, as Florence, re fused to admit these studies to their curriculum. They had as the basis of their teaching the seven liberal arts, the Trivium and the Quad rivium, which were really seven important dis ciplines taught from a scientific standpoint, Very much the same situation developed then as in the last generation of the 19th century when university faculities, conservative as al ways, refused to replace• the classical training of undergraduates which had finally gained ground in the Renaissance by the newly de veloped physical sciences. Denied admittance to the universities of the 15th century, the classics were taught in special schools of the New Learning, founded by princes and cities, and special schoolmasters were invited to take charge of these schools. The greatest of these teachers of the Humanities was Vittorino da Feltre, who was invited to Mantua to teach the Gonzagas and their friends. His course in cluded besides Latin and Greek, philosophy, mathematics, grammar, logic, music, singing, and dancing. He emphasized however that the principal aim of education was to teach scholars "to live the simple life, to tell the truth, and to remember that true scholarship is inseparable from virtue and a sense of lofty gratitude towards the Creator? The training of the body was not neglected. Outdoor .sports were insisted upon for both women and men so as to secure a healthy mind in a healthy body. Virgil. Cicero, Homer and Demosthenes were read with running comments. Greek themes, that is, exercises from the vernacular into Greek were insisted upon, and certain of the more elegant passages had to be learned by heart. Vittonno believed in solid mental development secured through hard work, not showy erudition. A contemporary declared that "for virtue, learning, and a rare and excellent way of teaching good Manners, this man surpassed all others? Vit. torino was one of the great schoolmasters of all time. The details of his teaching methods are !of special interest, because they formed the model for other teachers.