Writing History in Renaissance Italy: Leonardo Bruni and the Uses of the Past
By Gary Ianziti
4/5
()
About this ebook
Leonardo Bruni (1370–1444) is widely recognized as the most important humanist historian of the early Renaissance. But why this recognition came about—and what it has meant for the field of historiography—has long been a matter of confusion and controversy. Writing History in Renaissance Italy offers a fresh approach to the subject by undertaking a systematic, work-by-work investigation that encompasses for the first time the full range of Bruni’s output in history and biography.
The study is the first to assess in detail the impact of the classical Greek historians on the development of humanist methods of historical writing. It highlights in particular the importance of Thucydides and Polybius—authors Bruni was among the first in the West to read, and whose analytical approach to politics led him in new directions. Yet the revolution in history that unfolds across the four decades covered in this study is no mere revival of classical models: Ianziti constantly monitors Bruni’s position within the shifting hierarchies of power in Florence, drawing connections between his various historical works and the political uses they were meant to serve.
The result is a clearer picture of what Bruni hoped to achieve, and a more precise analysis of the dynamics driving his new approach to the past. Bruni himself emerges as a protagonist of the first order, a figure whose location at the center of power was a decisive factor shaping his innovations in historical writing.
Related to Writing History in Renaissance Italy
Related ebooks
Florence in the Forgotten Centuries, 1527-1800: A History of Florence and the Florentines in the Age of the Grand Dukes Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Color of Equality: Race and Common Humanity in Enlightenment Thought Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsItalian Renaissance: All 7 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSleepwalking into a New World: The Emergence of Italian City Communes in the Twelfth Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Refugee-Diplomat: Venice, England, and the Reformation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Importance of Being an Individual in Renaissance Italy: Men, Their Professions, and Their Beards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVico and Naples: The Urban Origins of Modern Social Theory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Eye of the Lynx: Galileo, His Friends, and the Beginnings of Modern Natural History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDining Posture in Ancient Rome: Bodies, Values, and Status Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Virtues of Economy: Governance, Power, and Piety in Late Medieval Rome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTiber: Eternal River of Rome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCluny and the Muslims of La Garde-Freinet: Hagiography and the Problem of Islam in Medieval Europe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing History for the King: Henry II and the Politics of Vernacular Historiography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory and the Written Word: Documents, Literacy, and Language in the Age of the Angevins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeace and Penance in Late Medieval Italy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Children and the Politics of Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWomen and Aristocratic Culture in the Carolingian World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhere Three Worlds Met: Sicily in the Early Medieval Mediterranean Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Florence Under Siege: Surviving Plague in an Early Modern City Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFeeling Time: Duration, the Novel, and Eighteenth-Century Sensibility Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Eternal City: Roman Images in the Modern World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Milan Under the Sforza Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walk With the Emperors: A Historic and Literary Tour of Ancient Rome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Labor of the Mind: Intellect and Gender in Enlightenment Cultures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Impact of the Edwardian Castles in Wales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGenoa and the Genoese, 958-1528 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Papal States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBefore the Gregorian Reform: The Latin Church at the Turn of the First Millennium Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475-1497 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRiddles at work in the early medieval tradition: Words, ideas, interactions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
European History For You
A Short History of the World: The Story of Mankind From Prehistory to the Modern Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Negro Rulers of Scotland and the British Isles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMein Kampf: English Translation of Mein Kamphf - Mein Kampt - Mein Kamphf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Origins Of Totalitarianism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Celtic Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Sagas and Beliefs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Old English Medical Remedies: Mandrake, Wormwood and Raven's Eye Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Violent Abuse of Women: In 17th and 18th Century Britain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swingtime for Hitler: Goebbels’s Jazzmen, Tokyo Rose, and Propaganda That Carries a Tune Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of Magic and Witchcraft: Sabbats, Satan & Superstitions in the West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Slave Trade: The White European Slaves of Islam Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Writing History in Renaissance Italy
1 rating0 reviews