ABSTRACT
In the early years of the fourteenth century, the urban centers of the Italian Peninsula were enjoying prosperity and unprecedented well-being. Then, over the course of the fourteenth century, a series of catastrophes, both natural and human-made, occurred. The Little Ice Age began, and as the climate cooled, crops failed and famines broke out across Europe. This suffering was increased with the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) between England and France, which had the collateral economic effect of bankrupting Italian banks that had lent money to both sides. At mid-century, a devastating pandemic, the Black Death, ravaged the entire continent killing between one-third to one-half of the population. In the wake of this desolation, Italian cities and towns rebounded. Population decline led to greater social mobility and urban workers’ revolts that gave rise to political reform. New forms of cultural expression in the arts, literature, and education developed, giving birth to the philosophical outlook known as humanism.
