Inventing the Renaissance

A long but interesting history on the period known as the Renaissance, when many of the things that make up modern society, from science to humanism, came out of nowhere: of course not. As the author (a historian and fantasy writer) shows, many of the things and ways of thinking that came out of the Renaissance build on what people did in the Middle Ages (no longer the Dark Ages). These changes would continue into the Enlightenment, and then into the modern world.

The book starts by looking at one particular place: Florence. In an era where most places were ruled by royalty, Florence stood out by being a republic, officially ruled by 'elected' people. But even then, this was no modern democracy: only the elite of the elite could be elected and even then, they were subjects of patronage to various wealthy families, most notably the House of Medici, who 'called the shots' when it came to making (or gaming) the rules to their advantage.

But Florence is only a city, and can be conquered by rival cities or countries. One way to counter this was to make Florence indispensable, by promoting ancient studies and the arts and spreading them far and wide. Other rulers began to accept that acquiring culture and learning from Florence were 'better' ways of showing they were superior to their betters. This gave Florence influence and access to the 'great powers', gaining protecting in return.

The author then shows us the lives of various people during the Renaissance period, mostly from Florence, to give us a view of what life was like for elites (written history usually focus on the elites, few on the peasants) at the time. And life at that time was rough and full of intrigue and conflict. We see the rise and fall of the Medicis and the influence of Florence, and parts of the 'Great Game' as France, the Popes in Rome, the various city states of Italy (Venice, etc.) strive to gain control of Italy and of Europe.

In all of these struggles, the idea that 'there has to be a better way' starts to gain strength and are covered in a section that covers one of the most 'notorious' people in the Renaissance period: Niccolò Machiavelli. His writings on how rulers should rule would lead to modern Political Science. But at the time, his writings were a struggle to understand what the rulers of his time were doing to gain an advantage over others and what could be done to raise the condition of humanity as a whole.

The final section looks at just what the Renaissance really put forth: a lot of questions that need answers. These questions would gradually overturn the idea that ancient authority was always right, and that ideas need to be tested by questioning them and comparing them with evidence. This would lead to the idea of Progress.

Here, the author looks at current times and shows that the idea of Progress as a way to improve humanity is still a work in progress. Technological and social changes have improved mankind but also caused problems (like colonialism and racism). While much has changed, much still has to be done using concepts that rose during the Renaissance. And the author is optimistic that the future will get better, given time.

It feels kind of weird to suggest that a book about how history has kind of invented this period in time called the Renaissance is relatable, but this book ended up being extremely relatable. I ended up listening to the audiobook (a whopping 30-hour beast) and regularly found myself smiling and chuckling along as I did my daily commute even though I knew and still mostly nothing about the time period or really anything about Italy. I genuinely had never heard of most of the people who were talked about in this book, which I think is a pretty clear indication about how interestingly the information is laid out--though it would certainly be a nightmare for anyone who requires events in time to be explained in chronological order.

More than that though, I think what was really great about this book and something I wasn't expecting was about how hopeful it is for our now. Many of the things the author brought up are struggles that we continue to have in different ways. Palmer spends a lot of time actually telling us not to push our own current values into time periods where those values didn't exist. At the same time though, we're also reminded that time isn't static. The people living then struggled just as we do now. We have progressed, but that doesn't necessarily guarantee that everything is improved and superior. But the hopeful bit is that progress is an ongoing and never ending thing. The scary of our now doesn't have to be forever and in fact almost certainly will not be.