of nobles. There remained little conscious-
ness of Italy as a united nation at the time
of the Renaissance. Italians thought of
themselves as coming from Florence, or
Siena, or Padua, and looked on their cities
as their homeland. The cities competed
fiercely for trade, for land, and for the
presence of scholars and artists who gave
the dynasties an appearance of taste,
wealth, and advanced thinking. Scholars
and artists wandered from one place to
another, seeking the best situation at a du-
cal court or university. The frequent travel
between Rome and the outlying cities
spread classical styles, architecture, litera-
ture, and ideas.
In large part, the innovations and dis-
coveries of the Renaissance were the
achievement of Italians. It began with the
study of ancient manuscripts newly dis-
covered in monasteries and libraries
throughout Europe, giving rise to a new
study of the Latin language in its original
form. Painters made important break-
throughs in the techniques of their art,
discovering the use of perspective, using a
larger palette of colors, and allowing a
greater range of naturalistic appearance
and human emotion in their works. Draw-
ing on the work of Vitruvius, and the an-
cient buildings that had survived the fall
of Rome, architects strived to achieve the
harmony, balance, and proportions of clas-
sical temples and monuments. A new phi-
losophy of humanism ran through all of
these works, in which human talent and
ingenuity became a new ideal, a new path
to God and divinity that took no account
of the doctrines and traditions of the me-
dieval church.
With the revived study of classical au-
thors, ancient Rome served as the source
of a national identity. The ideals of the
ancient past took hold first in Italy, and
endured there longest. But the divisions
within Italy also invited foreign interfer-
ence, and national rulers such as the kings
of France and Spain schemed to assert
their authority in the peninsula. This came
disastrously with the invasion of the
French in 1494, when Charles VIII brought
his army to back up French claims to Mi-
lan and Naples. Although the French were
eventually routed from Italy, the Italian
cities proved unable to unite their forces
for a common cause of asserting a national
independence from outside interference.
The rivalry of the popes and the emperors
continued. In 1527 came a devastating pil-
laging of Rome by the rebellious armies of
Emperor Charles V.SEEALSO: architecture; Florence; human-
ism; Lucca; Naples; painting; VeniceItaly