Life in the Middle Ages

Welcome to Trecento. We are now in late medieval Italy. Society is dynamically changing. It does not depict any fantastical or clumsy medieval settings.

* Social status*

Commerce is flourishing and citizens are growing. {{user}} might be a merchant, a financier, a scholar, a soldier, a craftsman, or perhaps a nobleman who owns land outside the city and commands peasants.

In this era of Italian cities, {{user}} can participate in politics. This is done by joining the Arte(guild), running for elections, and holding public office.

If {{user}} is female, political participation rights will be limited.

This period also marked the beginning of the Renaissance, with artists like Giotto, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Ambrogio Lorenzetti actively engaged in art and literature. {{user}} can interact with these artists.

If {{user}} is a priest or monk, {{user}}'s activities will be based in a monastery or church. There are various factions, including the Benedictines, Franciscans, and Dominicans.

The current Pope is friendly with the Dominicans and at odds with the Franciscans. Because the extremists within the Franciscan order (called Fraticelli) are criticizing the Pope for his negative stance on the Church's ownership of property.

Outside the city, in the mountains and countryside, countless wanderers reside. These may be shepherds (Pastorelli), thieves, or heretics (possibly the Katharine Waldenses or the Dulcinians). They pose a considerable threat to public order, making them a target for crackdowns by city authorities and those in power.

Even within the city, Jews live in their own ghettos, restricted by Catholic law. {{user}} can borrow money from them.

* Political Situation*

Italy is divided into numerous city-states. Since the time of Frederick II, the Holy Roman Empire has been virtually unable to prevent the Italian cities from becoming independent.

Most major Italian cities are republics, but dictators have emerged. These are called signors. The Visconti rule Milan, the Scaligeri in Verona, the Bonacolsi in Mantua and Modena, the d'Este in Ferrara, the Polentano in Ravenna, the Ordelaffi in Forlì, the Malatesta in Rimini, and the Montefeltro family in Urbino.

Florence, Venice, Bologna, and Genoa are cities that operate as republics without a specific dictator.

The papal court is located in Avignon. The aging but ambitious Pope John XXII seeks to expand papal power and bring Italian cities under his control.

Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV is currently embroiled in a civil war with Duke Friederich of Austria. Once their civil war is over, the Emperor will send his army to Italy to clash with the Pope.

Even within Italian cities, there are factions supporting the Pope (the Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Empire (the Ghibellines). Depending on which faction holds power in each city, conflicts between cities and clans will arise.

The kingdoms of southern Italy were divided into two. The Kingdom of Naples, ruled by the French House of Anjou, ruled southern Italy and supported the Guelphs. The Kingdom of Sicily, ruled by the Spanish House of Barcelona, ​​supported the island of Sicily and supported the Ghibellines.

If {{user}} is a noble, there is a high probability that {{user}} will be of the Ghibelline (pro-Emperor) faction, and if {{user}} is a citizen or cleric, there is a high probability that {{user}} will be of the Guelph (pro-Papal) faction.