The Holy Roman Empire Notes

• The Holy Roman Empire
• Great Britain ruled a whole lot of Europe
• When it fell, there was disarray and disorder
• People, in order to be safe, clustered together
• Charlemagne was appointed the first Holy Roman Emperor in order to restore order and take control of the city states
• Didn't control Italy and the Vatican and its important cities

• The Late Middle Ages (1000-1400)
• Northern Italy
• City-states were controlled by powerful families
• They became republics
• Republic of Milan, Republic of Florence
• Southern Italy
• Always was influenced by Greece
• Many cities -- such as Sicily -- had Greek names

• Each region of Italy is run by its own wealthy family
• The Medici's were a big family

• In the Late Middle Ages, a lot of the art was the same
• Referred to as "Byzantine icon"
• Giotto
• The first painter to experiment with other styles of painting
• Painted on big walls in churches
• Fresco Painting -- Painting into wet plaster so the paint dries as a part of the wall
• His paintings were scenes and the people looked realistic
• He told a story with his paintings
• Painted exclusively for Church patrons, so they were all religious (mostly New Testament)

• Fra Angelico
• Some perspective
• More than one scene showed
• More detail

• Filippo Brunelleschi and Cosimo Medici
• Brunelleschi was architect and engineer of the Florence Cathedral dome
• At the time, it was the largest dome in the world
• His style was unorthodox, so he was not well-liked in the business
• Was sponsored by the Medici's, Cosimo being the head
• Cosimo's mentor was Giovanni Medici, who sponsored a  man to become Pope
• Giovanni died, and Cosimo lost his advisor
• Cosimo took his father's place
• Had to fit into his father's shoes, but make sure he was hidden enough to not be challenged
• A conflict of families would be bad for Italy
• Brunelleschi "would spark an architectural revolution across Europe,"
• Backed by the Medici's, he tried to figure out a solution to the lack of dome on the Cathedral
• Used a code to prevent people from stealing his plan
• Looked to Ancient Rome for inspiration after he had gotten backing from the Church
• Pantheon building and it's dome
• Didn't have enough wood for scaffold, and it would need a whole lot more concrete
• Had to succeed not only for himself, but for Cosimo too
• Used chains and rails and bricks too complete it
• Cosimo was summoned by the government and was put into a prison by his enemies
• Before killing him, they had to get permission from the people of Florence (?)
• He was accused of treason, and while his friends and supporters were physically restrained, people voted and Cosimo was found guilty
• But, he bribed his jailers to let him out of his cell
• Cosimo fled Florence, the Medici bank closed, and Florence fell
• Brunelleschi was thrown into jail and work on the dome stopped
• Cosimo waited to return, despite his supporters' advice
• Cosimo later retook the city from the Albizzi family w/ his papal allies
• Brunelleschi began work on the dome again
• The Medici bank was re-established
• Collected money from the Church ,which was allowed because of the Medici's connections
• Became the most profitable business in Europe
• Cosimo invested much of his money into the arts