History lesson

Florence is the home of the Renaissance and by some folks' reckoning, the beginning of the modern world. It's packed full of major tourist sites like the Duomo (cathedral), the Piazza della Signoria (civic center), the Uffizi and Academia museums, the Ponte Vecchio (literally, old bridge) and more churches, palaces and gardens than you can shake a stick at.

To summarize from a few different books I've been reading, the Florentines were well aware that they were siting on the rubble of the long vanquished Roman Empire. In the 1300's - thanks to it's vibrant cloth and banking industry - the long-awaited climb out of the dark ages began. The rebirth of civilization started as the Medieval crusaders returned from the middle east laden down with booty - including ancient books on art, philosophy and government. 

These were revelatory and fired the populace's imagination. No longer were people content with belief through faith alone. There arose a fierce city-state pride that began a slow but inexorable conflict with the ideologues at the Vatican. The advent of scientific thought (the idea that life was understandable if only examined deeply enough) gave rise to a new appreciation of mankind being an direct creation of God. A creation that allowed - for the first time in many centuries - a direct connection with Spirit. A connection no longer needing a go-between such as a priest or shaman. This was the beginning of humanism and was evidenced in the return to the worship of the human body in all it's glory. Sans clothing of course...why be ashamed of God's handiwork - this was the thinking of Leonardo and Michelangelo, et. al.

The rise of the Medici as wealthy merchant princes paved the way for a glorious flowering of civic works and public art patronage. Combined with a veritable who's who of artistic superstars (Giotto, Da Vinci, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Michelangelo, Dante, Gallileo, Raphael, Botticelli, Machiavelli) the city of Florence rose to great heights of architecture, art and political thought. It set the standard both economic and scientific, the rest of Europe imitated for centuries after. It began the process from which we've gleaned much if not all current ideas about what is good, noble and beautiful.

I could go on and on but this isn't a history blog so I will leave you with this: walking the streets and pondering these thoughts gives me a deeper understanding of where we come from, where we are at and perhaps where we may be going in the years ahead. For now though, I think it's time for another cappuccino! Buon appetitto!