Capitalism and the Renaissance
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Capitalism and the Renaissance
Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market. Capitalism lead to great changes in banking and business for Europeans It came to Europe after the devastating black death and while Europe was suffering from poor economic growth.
By looking at this definition, it is hard to see how this economic systems is linked to the Renaissance, which occurred in Europe. These two events in western civilization have great links which tie the two event together.
The Renaissance was a period of time in Europe when craftsmen, mostly artists, broke away from craft guilds to pursue their own ventures in their trade. It is also know as the rebirth of the classics. Artists began painting and sculpting for the royal and wealthy. Most of the masterpieces had to do with religion or portraits of royalty to make the patron that was paying for the service merely immortal since this painting would be famous and around for as long as it could be preserved. Religious scenes were painted to give people a visual idea of events that took place. Artist also put their own design into artwork in order to express feelings that were felt at this time in their life.
After comparing the Renaissance and the type of economic system that capitalism is, you can see that they both allow to entrepreneurs to operate as a single unit rather than be a part of the state of part of a guild. The word that pulls both the Renaissance and capitalism together is individualism. Both events were to events helped individuals to prosper immensely for themselves and move away from government and religious controlled work.
Renaissance and capitalism both brought about a way for individuals to make money. Capitalism allowed for sole proprietors to run businesses and make a living for themselves. In a similar way, artists were able to make money buy using their talent and providing a service to others on an individual basis. The artists were looked up to my even the most wealthy merchants because of the power the had to make them know forever though their work. Both the businessmen and artists both earned respect and were well known in society and also earned a certain status for themselves.
The humanistic movement also played a big part in these two events. People were looking back to the teachings of the Greeks and Romans and applying them to the present day. The church did not like the idea of individuals educating themselves on the teaching of these people and wanted minimal education for the public. Only the highest of power were very literate and had access to read publication of the idealisms of the philosophers of the past. The technological invention of the printing press made documentation more readily available and more cost effective so that the average person could become literate and allowed the teaching of the Greeks