This is an introduction to one of history’s most creative periods and to one of the world’s most important and influential cities. We look at the historical background—civil wars between the Guelph and the Ghibbeline parties, conflicts between Florence and the papacy, the horrific plague of 1348, the transformation of Florence into a capitalistic society and its emergence as a major international city, and the rise of the ruling Medici family. We read selections from celebrated writers—Dante (Inferno), Catherine of Siena, Boccaccio (Decameron), and Petrarch (the sonnets)—who helped return Europe to the artistic and intellectual ideals of ancient Greece and Rome: humanism and classicism. We experience the revolutionary artistic achievements of the architect Brunelleschi, the sculptor Donatello, and the painters Giotto and Masaccio.