Product DescriptionPurchase of this book includes free trial access to www. million-books. com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: illegitunacy of his rule isolated the tyrant and surrounded him with constant danger ; the most honourable alliance which he could form was with intellectual merit, without regard to its origin. The liberality of the northern princes of the thirteenth century was confined to the knig. . . More >>
The civilization of the renaissance in Italy
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This is an antiquated work. I have disposed of it. It is not worthy of being on your list. I am a former college history major and this book was a major disappointment. Rating: 1 / 5
I was around twelve when my grandmother mentioned having heard a speech delivered by Woodrow Wilson. For me, until that moment, Woodrow Wilson had been in the same category with Julius Caesar: people who lived a long time ago. But for my grandmother, only Caesar could be in that category: Wilson was an early contemporary of her own. I began to realize that the citizens of the past were real people, that the lives of the past were lives as large and rich and strange as our own. Everybody who survives high school can remember at least one teacher who made the study of history look like a matter of memorizing names and dates. Such teachers often manage to create in their students a permanent allergy to the study of history. But it has been two hundred years since they could do so with a good conscience. Voltaire was the first modern writer of history–we might say, the first historian of culture. Chiefly through his masterpiece The Age of Louis XIV, he established the principle that history is not just about who ruled when and who killed whom–that it is about all the aspects of human culture, all the means–arts and entertainment, philosophy and religion and science, as well as economics, politics, and war–by which we seek to create permanent triumphs of mind over the natural forces of chaos and entropy. We need not fool ourselves: those forces will finally destroy us and all our works. But while we live, we can make life richer for ourselves and for those who will follow us. The writer from whom I first learned that historical writing could be such an enriching force was Burckhardt. The Renaissance was indeed the modern rebirth of ancient culture, but what makes it important is that through that rebirth people rediscovered a truth that the ancient Ionians had known and that had been lost sight of for more than a thousand years: that the natural world, and people as part of it, were worthy objects of study and understanding–not just creatures and tools of God. With this discovery, made permanent because it could now be broadcast by the new technology of printing, begins the process of modernity–the process that still continues to increase our world’s psychological distance from the ancient and the medieval world. Rating: 5 / 5
for a dedicated Renaissance scholar (of which I am not) this book is enchanting and informative and has been much enjoyed by my friend (who is a scholar) Rating: 5 / 5
For better or worse, this classic has shaped the concept of the “Renaissance” for most non-professionals. A century plus later, much of it still works, and is full of fascinating stories, asides, and bits of information. Keep in mind, though, that it IS a century old. I cringed every time I encountered phrases like this (in the Introduction): “[taxes were]. . . collected by those cruel and vexatious methods without which, it is true, it is impossible to obtain any money from Orientals. ” Similarly, his take on women’s status of the period is ill informed, if not wholly unfounded. Of course, most of the scholarship in this area happened in the last 50 years, so Burckhardt is not to blame. Most importantly, most scholars now believe that many “renaissance” elements actually occurred in the 12th century, not 15th (for example, the idea of man as an individual). This seriously undermines his entire thesis- that a revival of classical values, joined with the unique Italian setting was responsible for the Renaissance. It’s an interesting thesis, and attractive in its simplicity. It also does not hold up under closer examination. Overall, it’s a classic for good reason, and well worth a look– surprisingly, it’s also quite well written, with clear, engaging prose and wonderful anecdotes. It should N-O-T be seen as the ultimate guide to the Renaissance, though, or anything close to it! Rating: 3 / 5
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (Modern Library Classics)The Civilization offers a handy checklist for anyone wishing to delve deeper into the Medieval and Renaissance studies. The somewhat tortuous introduction which outlines the political turmoil in 15th century Italy adds weight to the two conclusions which Burckhardt makes towards the end: the Reformation had galvanized the Vatican into action and helped, inadvertently, the Catholic church to regain ground, and, secondly, a combination of a fragmented national identity, secularization and reliance on cunning and talent prompted the rise of the individual. Burckhardt then proceeds to chart out the different trends, fashions, and cultural shifts which made the Renaissance: revival of the interest in antiquity, search for classical manuscripts, studies in classical Latin, rediscovery of ancient literary forms, creation of libraries, patronage of the arts, exaltation of man in painting, dress and literature, interest in the human body, the opening up to the world – in short humanism. In his account of life in the Renaissance Burckhardt notes how laughter insinuated itself into artistic expression as a form of protest against dogma and despotism. Where its impact was felt most was in the celebration of religious festivals. Ridicule and paganism were never deep under the surface in miracle plays and pageants. After examining the Italian Renaissance man’s values and finding that honour had supplanted guilt, Burckhardt takes a closer look at religion. Inevitably there is reference to the medieval worship of relics, simony, sale of indulgences, moral corruption in the Church from top to bottom, but also an equally bitter treatment of the things which replaced, or rather reinforced, them: preachers of repentance, adoration of the Madonna, persecution of heretics and in particular the Epicureans. Added to the mix was superstition, which does not strike a student of the Renaissance as particularly modern but with which the ancients would certainly have been at home. This paradigm shift which touched the lives of many men in the 14th and 15th century left many men adrift, spiritually and intellectually. Along with the unquestionable achievements in all areas of life which were ushered in by the Renaissance, Burckhardt observes, the age was marked by a steady slide towards fatalism and skepticism. Welcome to modern times! Rating: 5 / 5