Political Effects Of The Renaissance

Political Effects of the Renaissance

History has shown us how civilizations evolve over time. Broadly

interpreted, the age of Diocletian marked a decisive stage in the

transition from the classical, the Greco-Roman, civilization of the

ancient Roman Empire to the Christian-Germanic civilization of the

early Middle Ages. Similarly interpreted, "the age of the Renaissance

marked the transition from the civilization of the Middle Ages to the

modern world"(Ferguson 1). Therefore, the Renaissance is the beginning

of the modern world and modern government.

In law the tendency was to challenge the abstract dialectical

method of the medieval jurists with a philological and historical

interpretation of the sources of Roman Law. As for political thought,

the medieval proposition that the preservation of liberty, law, and

justice constitutes the central aim of political life was challenged

but not overthrown by Renaissance theorists. They contended that the

central task of government was to maintain security and peace.

Machiavelli maintained that the creative force (virtj) of the ruler

was the key to the preservation of both his own position and the

well-being of his subjects, an idea consonant with contemporary

politics.

Italian city-states were transformed during the Renaissance from

communes to territorial states, each of which sought to expand at the

expense of the ...

Political Effects Of The Renaissance

Login

Join