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Fourteenth Century Renaissance Florence

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The Church was a powerful institution for the community and leaders of Renaissance Florence in numerous ways. Unifying the community in times of prosperity as well as in times of need. Respected by the people of Florence, the Church was able to use their support. Using examples from The Chronicle of Giovanni Villani, I will show how the Church was prominent in the life of the people of fourteenth century Renaissance Florence. The Church was a valuable component in bringing the community together. For example, as Giovanni Villani writes in his chronicle,“... The citizens agreed to renew their leading church, which was a rude affair and small for such a municipality.” (36). The Cathedral was important for the people of Florence. They had just …show more content…
Villani writes that “The rector who baptized the infants-- since he deposited a black bean for every male baptized in San Giovanni and a white bean for every female in order to ascertain their number.” (41). This shows the relationship between the state officials and Church officials. It further shows the reach of the Church on the lives of the people of Florence. This excerpt additionally, shows the power that the Church held. It shows their infrastructure, how involved, the Church was able to keep up with baptizing the population and being able to keep records as well. Alternately, it poses the question, what about foreigners or people of different religion. The population that Villani states in the primary source could be incorrect because of the way they counted the population. Another example that the state and Church worked closely together was when Villani writes, “Guided by wise counsel and divine pity, the commune of Florence did not do this; in fact, it (the Church) received and provided for a large fraction of the poor mendicants of all Tuscany.” (39). During the famine that devastated the city, the Church and state worked together to help the city of Florence during this period. They worked together to make sure that they could provide the best support and help to the people of

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