義大利文藝復興從義大利北部開始，集中在佛羅倫斯 (英文：Florence)。它接著往南傳佈，對羅馬的影響尤其大，而羅馬大致上是被文藝復興教宗們重建的。義大利文藝復興的在15世紀晚期達到全盛時期，當時外國入侵使整個地區陷入混亂。但是，文藝復興的想法跟理想散佈到歐洲其他地方，開啟了北方文藝復興與英國文藝復興。

義大利文藝復興最為人熟知的是文化方面的成就，包括彼特拉克，伽斯底裡奧內 (Castiglione)，和馬基亞維利的文學作品，藝術家米開朗基羅和達文西，還有偉大的建築物，如佛羅倫斯的 The Duomo 和羅馬的聖伯多祿大殿。

起源

中世紀後期的北義大利

在中世紀進入後期之前，曾經是羅馬帝國中心地帶的義大利中部與南部，已經變得比北部遠為貧窮。羅馬城此時大部分為廢墟，而教皇國則是一個缺乏紀律的鬆散統治區域。教宗權移動到到法國的亞維農，部分原因也是這個。有段期間那不勒斯、西西里、薩丁尼亞被外國統治。

義大利北部則繁榮多了，有些城邦還是當時歐洲最富裕的國家。十字軍東征造成通到黎凡特 (Levant) 的長久商業連繫，而且第四次十字军东征對拜占庭帝國作為義大利商業對手的傷害性很大。主要貿易路線從東邊經過拜占庭帝國或阿拉伯而至热那亚、比薩和威尼斯。在黎凡特購買到的奢侈品，例如香料、染料、絲織品，被進口到義大利，然後轉賣到歐洲各地。而且，這些內陸城邦受益於波河河谷的肥沃農地。從法國，德國，低地國家，陸路與海運貿易路線把羊毛，小麥，和貴重金屬之類的物品帶入這個地區。從埃及延伸到波羅的海龐大貿易使這些城邦有足夠的盈餘投資在礦業和建築上。因此，雖然義大利北部在資源上比歐洲其他地方還要少，卻能夠達到很高的發展水平。佛羅倫斯因為織品商業而變成北義大利最富裕的城市之一。羊毛從北歐和西班牙進口，^[1] 來自東方的染料則用來作高級衣料。

義大利商隊的貿易路線覆蓋地中海地區並且向外延伸，這也是他們文化和知識交流的主要渠道。義大利的一部分文明也來自於君士坦丁堡，剛剛接受基督教的西班牙和保存了上古時期 (the classical era) 知識的阿拉伯地區。十字軍東征引領歐洲人開始接觸古典事物, preserved by Arabs, but more important in this regard was the Spanish Reconquista of the fifteenth century and the resulting translations of Arabic-language works by the Arabists of the School of Salamanca. 阿拉伯的科學，哲學和數學的思想也從埃及，地中海東部地區傳入了義大利北部。北部地方也正與羅馬帝國殘留的文明接壤，如果搜尋的足夠耐心的話，還會發現遠古時期的手稿，建築學的原理和一些藝術形式。

歐洲經濟

在13世紀，歐洲普遍經濟繁榮。The trade routes of the Italian states linked with those of the Hanseatic League to create a unified European economy. The city-states of Italy expanded greatly during this period and grew in power to become de facto fully independent of the Holy Roman Empire. During this period, the modern commercial infrastructure developed with joint stock companies, an international banking system, a systematized foreign exchange market, insurance, and government debt. [2] 佛羅倫斯成為歐洲銀行業的中心，而且佛羅倫斯使用的佛羅令（Florin）變成了國際貿易實際上的通用貨幣。

這產生了一批透過經濟手段來得到其地位的新貴族階級，overturning the feudal model that had dominated Europe in the Middle Ages. 義大利北部，除了米蘭附近地區以外，長久以來一直不像歐洲其他地區那麼封建。In much of the region the landed nobility was consistently weaker than the urban patriarchs. The increase in trade during the early Renaissance enhanced this characteristic. 封建主義的衰微和城市的興起互香影響對方；舉例說，奢侈品的需求帶動了貿易的增長，有許多的商人就由於貿易的增長而變得愈加富有，然後，由於富有，對奢侈品的需求愈加強烈。This change also gave the merchants almost complete control of the governments of the Italian city-states, again enhancing trade. One of the most important effects of this political control was security. Those that grew extremely wealthy in a feudal state ran constant risk of running afoul of the monarchy and having their lands confiscated, as famously occurred to Jacques Coeur in France. The northern states also kept many medieval laws that severely hampered commerce, such as those against usury, and prohibitions on trading with non-Christians. In the city-states of Italy, these laws were repealed or rewritten.[3]

十四世紀的崩潰

The fourteenth century saw a series of catastrophes that caused the European economy to go into recession. The Medieval Warm Period was ending as the transition to the Little Ice Age began. [4] This change in climate saw agricultural output decline significantly, leading to repeated famines, exacerbated by the rapid population growth of the earlier era. 英法百年战争, disrupting trade throughout northwest Europe, most notably when, 1345年, 英王爱德华三世拒絕支付他的欠款，導致佛羅倫斯兩家最大的銀行─Bardi 和 Peruzzi─破產。在東部，隨著奧斯曼帝國在這個地區的擴張，戰爭也影響了貿易路線。但是打擊最大的還是造成北義大利人口密集城市大量減少的黑死病。例如，佛羅倫斯的人口就從 90,000 降到了 50,000人。^[2] 接踵而來的還有1378年佛羅倫斯的紡織工人 (the ciompi) 罷工。

文藝復興先驅，如但丁和彼特拉克，就活在這個動盪的年代，而文藝復興也在14世紀上半葉拉開序幕。荒謬的是，這些災難加快了文藝復興的到來。奧斯曼帝國的擴張威脅的拜占庭帝國的利益，迫使一批東部地區的財富和受過教育的希臘難民流入義大利，也為義大利帶來了古典的希臘文明，導致許多已經被遺忘很久的古典作品被重新發現。黑死病奪去了歐洲1/3人口的生命，但是倖存的人們因此變得更加富有，食物更加充足，而且，更特別地，有更多的盈餘可花費在對藝術和建築等奢侈品上。當15世紀早期，黑死病出現的頻率漸漸減少時，歐洲的人口再度開始增長。This new demand for products and services, and the reduced number of people able to provide them (due to the deaths caused by the plague), 使社會下層階級的人們處於有利的地位。更進一步來說，這個需求也製造了越來越多的銀行家，商人，和技術工匠。The horrors of the Black Death and the seeming inability of the Church to provide relief would contribute to a decline of church influence, 而這也是另一個促進文藝復興的重要因素。此外， Bardi 和Peruzzi 銀行的倒閉，開啟了梅第奇家族在佛羅論薩的興起之路。Robert Sabatino Lopez argues that the economic collapse was a crucial cause of the Renaissance.^[3] According to this view, in a more prosperous era, businessmen would have quickly reinvested their earnings in order to make more money in a climate favourable to investment. However, in the leaner years of the fourteenth century, the wealthy found few promising investment opportunities for their earnings and instead chose to spend more on culture and art.

Another popular explanation for the Italian Renaissance is the "Baron Thesis," first advanced by historian Hans Baron.[7] It states that the primary impetus of the early Renaissance was the long running series of wars between Florence and Milan. By the late fourteenth century, Milan had become a centralized monarchy under the control of the Visconti family. Giangaleazzo Visconti, who ruled the city from 1378 to 1402, was renowned both for his cruelty and for his abilities, and set about building an empire in Northern Italy. He launched a long series of wars with Milan, steadily conquering neighbouring states and defeating the various coalitions led by Florence that sought in vain to halt the advance. This culminated in the 1402 siege of Florence, when it looked as though the city was doomed to fall, before Giangaleazzo suddenly died and his empire collapsed.

Baron's thesis was that during these long wars, the leading figures of Florence rallied the people by presenting the war as one between the free republic and the despotic monarchy, between the ideals of the Greek and Roman Republics and those of the Roman Empire and Medieval kingdoms. For Baron, the most important figure in crafting this ideology was Leonardo Bruni. Baron argues that this time of crisis in Florence was the period when most of the major early Renaissance figures were coming of age, such as Ghiberti, Donatello, Masolino, and Brunelleschi, and that they were inculcated with this republican ideology. These and other figures, according to Baron, later went on to advocate such republican ideas, ideas which were to have an enormous impact on the Renaissance.