The very definition of Renaissance is rebirth and this is exactly what happened to Europe during the Renaissance. It began in Italian urban society, primarily in the city-state of Florence. The Black Death reduced the European population to a very low level, and because of this, combined with the decline of the power of the church, people began to emphasize individual achievements and show more interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture. The Italian city-states were where the Renaissance began. The 3 main city-states were Milan, Venice and Florence. Milan was the center of the main commercial route governed by the Visconti family. It had a centralized state with an efficient tax system that gave money to the government. Venice was a link between Asia and Western Europe, run by an elected leader called the Doge. Merchants ran the city for profit. Their international power was the black slave trade. Like Venice, Florence was run by merchants, but in 1434 the Medici family overthrew them. Venice then became the cultural center of the Renaissance. The Renaissance society was made up of 3 estates. The first estate is the clergy, the second is the nobility also called Renaissance man and the third is the common people. 85% of the commoners were farmers and the remaining 15% were citizens. There were 2 writers during the Renaissance that outline how certain people should be. Machiavelli wrote “The Prince” which explained how to gain and maintain political power. Castiglione wrote the “Book of Courtiers” which describes the perfect Renaissance nobleman. In Renaissance society, marriages were arranged to strengthen political ties. The woman's family paid the dowry and the men controlled the business and the family. The children were only adults when their father went to court and freed them. Renaissance......middle of paper......father of Renaissance humanism. Dante wrote “The Divine Comedy,” a book about the soul's journey to salvation; his main points questioned the Catholic Church. The goals of humanism were individualism and the study of fulfillment. They wanted people to primarily challenge tradition. Humanism is also found during the Reformation. Christian humanists were the people pushing for change in the Catholic Church. They believed that to change society it was necessary to change the individual human beings who compose it. Erasmus is one of the best-known humanists of the Reformation. He wanted to spread the philosophy of Christ, instruct in the works of Christianity, and criticize abuses in the church. Overall the main link between the Reformation and the Renaissance was humanism. Both groups of people in those times wanted a change towards a more secular view of things.