How were people influenced by their beliefs and values in the Italian Renaissance?

A number of things came together to create the period of time called the Italian renaisance.There was a hierarchical social structure coupled with grandiosity, a preoccupation with death and a newfound sense of liberation. In the fourteenth century plague swept Europe: there was the pneumonic plague and the Black plague. "No one wept for the dead because everyone expected death himself." It was not only a generalized prosperity that furnished the renaissance. The period of the Italian renaissance was the only period up to that time when Italians ruled themselves: the papacy was removed from Rome to Avignon in the early fourteenth century as were the various denominational and non-demonitional powers. So there was a greater sense of freedom and independence in Italy at the time of the renaissance.

This coupled with the hierarchical social structure of Italy at the time with its richhi (richest men), grandi (first citizens) and mezzani (commoners) fostered the period of learning and expansion called the renaissance. The grandi were highly educated noblemen(patricians) and they funded and patronized people who sought to express themselves through art, architecture, sculpture, writing and painting. The sense of independence and freedom from the various ecumenical powers coupled with a release from the desperation of death from the plague and such led to a revival of spirit that found its expression in many forms.