In the cities the situation was quite different. They were dominated by a commercial elite, which was just as exclusive as the aristocracy of any Medieval kingdom. It was this group that was the main patron of and audience for Renaissance culture. Below them there was a large class of artisans and guild members who lived comfortable lives and had significant power in the republican governments. This was in sharp contrast to the rest of Europe where artisans were firmly in the lower class. Literate and educated, this group did participate in the Renaissance culture. [15] The largest section of the urban population was the urban poor of semi-skilled workers and the unemployed. Like the peasants the Renaissance had little effect on them. One debate among historians is on how easy it was to move between these groups during the Italian Renaissance. There are a number of examples of individuals who rose from humble beginnings to the elite, but Burke notes that there have been two major studies in this area and both have found that the data do not clearly demonstrate an increase in social mobility. Most historians feel that early in the Renaissance social mobility was quite high, but that it faded over the course of the fifteenth century. [16] Inequality in society was very high. An upper class figure would earn hundreds of times more than a servant or labourer. Some historians feel that this unequal distribution of wealth was important to the Renaissance, as art patronage relies on the very wealthy.[17]

The Renaissance was not a period of great social or economic change, only of cultural and ideological development. It only touched a small fraction of the population, and in modern times this has led many historians, such as any that follow historical materialism, to reduce the importance of the Renaissance in human history.

義大利文藝復興的結束

The end of the Renaissance is as imprecisely marked as its starting point. For many, the rise to power in Florence of Girolamo Savonarola in 1497 marks the end of the city's flourishing. This austere monk rode to power on a widespread backlash over the secularism and indulgence of the Renaissance – his brief rule saw many works of art destroyed in the "Bonfire of the Vanities" in the centre of Florence. While Savonarola's rule quickly collapsed and the Medici returned to power, the counter movement in the church continued. In 1542 the Sacred Congregation of the Inquisition was formed and a few years later the Index Librorum Prohibitorum banned a wide array of Renaissance works.

Just as important was the end of stability with a series of foreign invasions of Italy known as the Italian Wars that would continue for several decades. These began with the 1494 invasion by France that wreaked widespread devastation on Northern Italy and ended the independence of many of the city-states. Most damaging was the May 6, 1527, Spanish and German troops sacking Rome that all but ended the role of the Papacy as the largest patron of Renaissance art and architecture. [18]

Due to the instability and the contact with foreign rulers a number of Italy's greatest artists chose to emigrate. The most notable example was Leonardo da Vinci who left for France in 1516. This spread north was also representative of a larger trend. No longer was the Mediterranean the most important trade route. In 1498 Vasco da Gama reached India and from that date the primary route of goods from the Orient was through the Atlantic ports of Iberia, France and England. These areas quickly far surpassed Italy in wealth and power. However, while the Italian Renaissance was fading, the Northern Renaissance in these other lands adopted many of its ideals and styles.

文化

文學與詩

在文藝復興之前，義大利語並不是義大利文學所使用的語言。直到13世紀，義大利的作家才開始使用母語來替代拉丁文，法文和普羅旺斯語。1250年代，義大利詩壇出現了一個重大的改變，以 Guittone d'Arezzo 和 Guido Guinizelli 為先鋒的Dolce Stil Novo詩體（新詩體，注重於柏拉圖式的愛情而非宮廷式的愛情）出現了。義大利文學的變化在文藝復興開始前數十年就已經開始了，尤其是在義大利詩壇。的確，13世紀的義大利文學變革為文藝復興的到來做好了鋪墊。

越來越多的文學著作在義大利本國出版印刷。同時，這些文學著作描述的年代不再是宗教盛行的時期，而變成了基督教統治以前的時代，如羅馬帝國和古希臘。當然這並不是說在當時並沒有宗教的出版物發行：但丁的神曲反映了明顯不同的中世紀的世界觀。基督教仍然對藝術家和文學家起著主要的影響，而古典文明對他們的影響是其次的。

在文藝復興早期，尤其是在義大利，人們翻譯了很多希臘文和拉丁文的古典著作。在經過了黑暗的中世紀時期之後，人們非常崇拜古典的文化。文藝復興時代的作家並不想只是刻板的繼承古代文學家的思想，然而，更多的作家嘗試把古代文化的創作方法和形式與自己的創作結合起來。在古義大利的作家中，他們仿效的最多的是西賽羅，賀瑞斯，Sallust 和维吉尔。在希臘作家中，他們仿效最多的是亞里斯多德，霍默，柏拉圖和蘇格拉底。

文藝復興時期的文學與詩歌創作也很深的受到了發展中的哲學和科學的印象。人文主義學者彼特拉克，作為一個新方法學的重要提出人，同時也是一個多才多藝的詩人，並且出版了幾本詩歌集。他採用拉丁文寫作，特別是非洲迦太基戰爭史詩，至今義大利還在傳誦，尤其是Canzoniere集，裏面收錄了描述他對蘿拉無私的愛的一些十四行詩。他引領了用義大利文創作十四行詩的蜂巢，後來的英國人湯瑪斯.懷亞特把他的詩歌譯成了英文，帶動了英國十四行詩的創作，從而出現了威廉·莎士比亚和其他難以計數的詩人。

彼特拉克的門徒，喬瓦尼•蔔伽丘，也是當時一個主要的作家。他的主要著作《十日談》裏面收錄了由從佛羅倫斯躲避瘟疫而逃出去的十個人在10個晚上講述的100個故事。蔔伽丘的著作，特別是《十日談》，也是文藝復興時期很多英國作家的靈感和故事情節的來源，包括喬叟和莎士比亞。

除了宗教，古代文明和學術之外，對文藝復興文化影響最大的是政治。政治家马基雅弗利也是一個重要的義大利作家。他最著名的著作是《王子》，在西方社會，這本著作在“馬基雅弗利的”這個術語開始出現之後也變家喻戶曉，指的是這本書裏對於自私態度的鼓吹。然而，很多專家都同意馬基雅弗利並不是完全迎合他在書中闡述的觀點，因而“馬基雅弗利的”並不是一個很準確的術語。這本著作對當代文學也起到了很大的影響左右。