Culture and Society in Later Renaissance Italy
- Course Code
- HIST 0270
- Course Type
- Tutorials
- Subject Credit
- Course Availability
In the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries the Italian peninsula saw war, pestilence, political revolution, profound economic and social disruption; but also truly outstanding developments in scholarship, art and literature. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo (to name only two) would have been remarkable in any age, but their achievements were founded on the wealth, wars, patronage and politics of Medici, popes and French kings. This course focuses on primary sources of the era (including texts in translation) that include works by Machiavelli, Castiglione and Vasari. It will introduce you the most up to date research that demonstrates how our understanding of the Renaissance continues to be reshaped by advances in scholarship. This course will also explore how certain prejudices and historically anachronistic narratives prove particularly pervasive, and will provide a full historiography of the phenomenon of the Renaissance in Italy.