İtalyan Atipik Feodalitesi Bağlamında Kent/Komün Geleneği ve Hümanizm İlişkisi

Abstract

The relationship between humanism and the Italian commercial city-states is a frequently discussed topic in academic literature. Most research in this area focuses on the Renaissance period when examining these relationships. Therefore, the connections between pre-Renaissance humanism and Italian commercial city-states are less represented in the literature. The limited studies on the pre-Renaissance period often center on "civic humanism," which is said to include civic virtues and "modern" values.This study focuses on the pre-Renaissance period, particularly the 13th and 14th centuries when commune structures were relatively declining. It examines how humanist thought influenced the power networks within the loose feudal structures of the Italian peninsula's commercial city communes and how humanism was affected by these power relationships, using the social history methodology of political thought. By detailing the historical and material conditions of these interactions, the study analyzes the impact of humanist thought on Italian socio-political structures.

The development of medieval Italy differed from the rest of Europe. Italian cities formed communes through the unification of guild organizations. The trade that developed in the northern part of the peninsula led to the interpretation that the cities' production methods were capitalist. However, the production methods did not change and exhibited atypical feudal characteristics. Communes emerged as political entities holding economic coercion and judicial monopoly, similar to the classical feudal structure. The communes that arose during the period of weakened political struggle between the Empire and the Papacy paralleled the development of humanism.Humanism expresses an interest in antiquity and the Latin works that this interest brought. Although "civic humanism," a form of humanism, was shaped by the political landscape, the understanding of citizenship and freedom within civic humanism could not be considered "modern." This is because the concept of citizenship did not encompass an inclusive citizenship for all.