Mendoza’s Britain and Italy
Introduction
The renaissance period in Italy began towards the end of the 14th century. This was a period in which there was lots of change in the cultural and artistic aspects of the country. This also marked the end of the middle age for the Italian population and the age of rebirth or ‘rinascita’ were learning literature and culture. This led to a new modern way of thinking that developed a new age for men to think and act in the world. Mendoza was a Jew that lived in Britain in the 18th century and is renowned for his revolution in the boxing world. The 18th century was also a period in which Britain was engaged in numerous wars which also saw the collapse of the first British Empire and the rise of the second. Based on the timeline of Mendoza, we shall compare Britain to the renaissance period Italy.
Discussion
Italy Renaissance
The 15th century was a unique period for Italy unlike other places in Europe. To begin with, Italy was divided into various independent cities or states that exercised different forms of governance (History). As such, all the states or cities developed different economic styles and cultural aspects. The most prominent was the development of unique art styles. The architecture was also a unique feature in each city (History). The Italian Renaissance is believed to have begun in the independent state of Florence. This was the third-largest city in Europe and was also the banking and commercial activity of Europe (History). To flaunt their wealth, the wealthy residents of Florence invested their money into patronage and support of artistic and intellectual work. As such, the city quickly became a cultural hub in Europe and also for the Italian Renaissance.
Mendoza Background
Mendoza was born in London to a middle-class family but they were not well-off. Eventually, Mendoza was forced to quit school at the age of 13 years and he began fending for his bread. This was more of an expectation of many men of his age at the time in the community. This also allowed Mendoza to exploit his other talents, the key being the use of his fists.
During the Mendoza period of England, there was tension between tolerance and assimilation. Mendoza was born to a kosher butcher and discovered his sporting abilities at a young age. Mendoza was a good boxer. Boxing was a sport that was enjoyed by the working class citizens and the upper ruling class but was mainly a macho sport. Mendoza made his break by winning various high profile boxing matches which attracted the attention of the upper class and enabled him to have the right to run some boxing academies.
There is a need to note that Mendoza was not as pious as many Jews and as such, he would fight even on holy days in the Jewish calendar including Shabbat or the Sabbath which was a holy day of rest. This is not to mean that he was not proud of his ethnicity. Mendoza was known to fight people that opposed or supported discrimination against his ethnic group (Slauter 1).
The first Mendoza-Humphrey fight was won by Humphrey. There were a total of three fights with Mendoza winning the last two fights. The final victory at Doncaster was extraordinary and there were huge crowds that came. This went to show the extent of his fame in the country which was special since he was a Jew.
The Jewish community was expelled from England in the 14th century. Later, Jews were allowed to settle back into the country during the leadership of Oliver Cromwell (Slauter 1). This led to the development of the Sephardic Jew settlements who migrated from Spain. The Sephardic community interacted with the Ashkenazi Jews to form a settlement that would be known as the Pale later in the 19th century.
The Sephardic communities became successful. Some of the crucial figures that enabled this success includes Daniel Mendoza. During the 18th century, the English were tolerant of religious minorities, and this attitude allowed for increased integration of the community. The Jewish community in England was allowed an increased level of integration that was not allowed in other parts of Europe. Persecution was still high in the region. Figures such as Daniel Mendoza faced this persecution and discrimination which helped to create or pave way for the next generation.
The Eras
- The Florentine Wealth
The wealth from the Florence elite enabled to drive the renaissance era through writers and thinkers that were committed to deeply spending their days driving the era. As such, writers and intellectuals were not engaged in menial jobs which allowed for extra focus. Many of the writers and thinkers spent their days traveling and studying or re-discovering ancient Greek and Roman artifacts especially texts.
The main focus on ancient Greek and Roman artifacts was driven by the belief that they had lots of wisdom hidden in them (History). The main characteristic of the artifacts especially the artwork was the secularism embedded in them. There was a deep appreciation for the physical beauty of the human body and achievements which was the expression used to govern the intellectual principle behind the renaissance in Italy.
This led to humanism as a philosophy being developed and practiced. Humanism was a concept that was used to encourage individuals to exercise curiosity in their activities especially through the use of questioning. The questioning approach was aided by experimentation and the observation of phenomena to make conclusions. This led to a focus on the natural or physical world issues.
- Mendoza and Masculinity
In England, there was lots of racism that was evident in the 18th century. This was evident in literary and scientific works in the period. For example, the development by Blumenbach of the division of humanity into five races pushed the idea that there was a separate origin for each race and was utilized for imperialist expansion and the justification of the idea of slavery. The Jews, however, were not classified in either of the categories.
This is perhaps due to the idea of manliness and masculinity that the Jews used as a weapon to prove their whiteness. White supremacy was therefore subverted and allowed for some Jewish men to express their identity through permitted cultural ways. Mendoza was able to lead to this support by the development of a masculine figure that was patriotic and used to mask Jewish people into white supremacy. The use of nationality and masculinity was also important as it was an idea that was held closely to English values.
- Art in Renaissance Italy
One of the important elements in the period was religion which was a key driving factor of the artistic make-up of the period. The renaissance was divided into three crucial periods in Italy – Early, High, and Late. The high period was the coming together of the targets of the early period. The main objective was to have a realistic understanding of spatial figures especially through pictorial representation (History). This enabled some artists to come to light such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Additionally, the artists were able to create some of the most renowned paintings in the world which were the embodiment of the period.
- Mendoza as a Symbol in England
The engagement in fights gave Mendoza a symbolic status in the British community. This was a crucial part of the integration of the Jewish community into British society. As a result, the social standing of the Jewish community rose. This also made it a high risk to threaten the community (Slauter 2). Mendoza was quick to use his fists. This cost him dearly. He lost several jobs as a result of reacting to offensive approaches to Semitism.
However, this was not driven by arrogance but rather was an expression of the offense that he took for anti-Semitism. This led to the discovery of Mendoza by Richard Humphreys who was also a young fighter. Humphreys later became a mentor to Mendoza. The relationship did not last for long and the two had a series of three fights that worked to bring the men into mainstream media.
- Wealth in Renaissance Italy
The North and Central Italy become some of the most prosperous states in the region and combined were believed to be the richest region in Europe. This allowed for a new merchant class made up of individuals with good financial skills to adapt to the feudal model that dominated the European period of the middle ages. As such, there was the development of urban communities that were not controlled by the bishop and local counts. The urban patriarchs of the medieval economy were richer than the nobility of the period which was attributed to an inflationary rise in the economy that affected landowners mainly. Additionally, trade increased immensely during the period which contributed to the trend.
Through such changes, the merchants were able to have great control of the governments in the Italian independent states which also worked to enhance trade farther. Security was a key issue that was affected by the increased political control by merchants. There was a high risk of the extremely wealthy individuals in the feudal state having their property especially land confiscated. The north of Italy maintained various medieval laws that acted as barriers to commerce such as the prohibition of non-Christians from engaging in trade (History). However, the laws were rewritten to allow for greater flexibility in trade in the merchant-governed cities.
- Newspaper Business in England
The 18th century saw a great change in the circulation and culture that surrounded news. The series of Mendoza and Humphrey fights took place in the late 18th century. In the 18th century was characterized by an increase in the business of news. The late 17th century was defined by high regulation and monitoring of news especially politics and religion. The church and parliament as well as the monarch have vested interest in the news circulating. The only newspaper in circulation was the London Gazette. The elite group in London had access for in-depth reports at a fee which were often handwritten and developed by individuals with connections to diplomatic correspondence. For businesspersons, there were price currents that were circulated that gave information on various market rates. Pamphlets were commonly used to distribute news as they were cheap and were sold in separate leaves that had words and images (Slauter 1).
Local news was mainly passed around by word of mouth. Connections to people often provided information that was not found in print. Political persuasion was mainly designed to use pamphlets. Towards the end of the 18th century, newspapers had grown and were printed on a schedule of either weekly, bi-weekly, tri-weekly, or daily. Additionally, newspapers could be found in cities across England.
Many of the newspapers were used for discussion of public affairs and offered wholesome information that was previously found in single publications. Other articles found include foreign news, pricing issues, criminology, entertainment such as poems and songs, and essays as well as advertisements. Breaking news was delivered through the use of pamphlets for various genres. By around 1775, newspapers were the main way by which news was packaged and delivered.
The 18th century also saw a rapid expansion in literacy levels. With this, there was an increase in the demand for newspapers. The newspapers were crucial to the fame of Mendoza the Jew across the country. Newspapers were crucial in the creation of the movement of Mendoza the Jew across England and Europe and as far as Puritan America. The newspapers held the talents of Humphreys and Mendoza to high esteem and were considered a form of science or art. The phrase “a la Mendoza” was used as a euphemism for settlement of arguments through the use of violence.
In the 18th century, the use of regular mail delivery system also evolved and was regularly used by well-connected persons to receive and issue periodic newsletters to their subscribers. The fact that the newsletters were targeted at a high-end clientele means that they were handwritten rather than printing despite the technology being available. The information was also classified which means that it was limited to a small circle. The information was mainly available through diplomats and spies who leaked the information. Some compilers recorded pieces of news or picked rumors that were used to compute reports and they would mail the aggregate to the elite clientele. This is perhaps one way in which Britain avoided a revolution during the period.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Italian Renaissance and the Mendoza British periods were characterized by various aspects that were different. In Italy, the renaissance was characterized by decentralization of control to merchants with an increase in humanism which allowed for citizens to question the wisdom or knowledge from the church. This led to the development of art and intellectual property. In the Mendoza Britain period, there was an increase in Jewish integration into the society that was highlighted by an increase in integration and assimilation of the group. The elite in the community still largely controlled politics especially through the regulation of newspapers and other articles for the spread of news. Mendoza was influential in raising the integration of the Jewish community in the racist period by promoting the values of masculinity and patriotism which were highly absorbed by the English.
Works Cited
History. “Italian Renaissance.” 2019. Web. https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/italian-renaissance
Slauter Will. The Rise of the Newspaper. Richard R. John and Jonathan Silberstein-Loeb. Making News: The Political Economy of Journalism in Britain and America from the Glorious Revolution to the Internet, 2015, 9780199676187. ffhal-01379274