NB: Changes may occur. Any updates will be made to the on-line syllabus.
The project due date is open and it must be agreed upon with the instructor.
January
Week 1
21 M Course Intro: Historical Thinking and the Renaissance
- Marc Bloch,The Historian's Craft, pp. 17-24 (MY JCU)
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 1-13
23 W Humanism and Scholasticism
- Kristeller, Renaissance Thought, Ch. 5: "Humanism and Scholasticism in the Italian Renaissance", pp. 92-119 (on MY JCU)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. XIX-XX; 1-8 (Introduction; Quintilian)
Week 2
28 M Francis Petrarch and Trecento Italy
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 55-66;
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 25-34 (Petrarch: Introduction; Letter to Posterity; The Ascent of Mount Ventoux;
Letter to the Shade of Cicero)
30 W Humanist Learning and Education
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 69-90
February
Week 3
4 M Approaches to Culture Between the Fourteenth and the Fifteenth Centuries
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 66-82 (Coluccio Salutati, Letter to Peregrino Zambeccari; Vespasiano da
Bisticci: Life of Poggio Bracciolini; Life of Niccolò Niccoli; Lorenzo Valla, The Glory of the Latin Language)
6 W Women as Intellectuals
- Reading the Middle Ages, ed. by Rosenwein, document 8.20: Defending Women: Christine de
Pizan (on MY JCU)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 90-95 (Isotta Nogarola: Of the Equal or Unequal Sin of Adam and Eve)
Week 4
11 M Political Developments and Crises
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 113-117;
- The Council of Constance, Decrees, selection (on MY JCU)
13 W Lorenzo Valla and the Birth of Critical Thinking
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 117-134;
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 199-200 (The Church and the Papacy: Intro); pp. 206-210 (Lorenzo Valla: The
Principal Arguments from the Forged Donation of Constantine)
15 Fri The Popes and Their Art (Make-up day for Monday, April 25)
- Documentary TV + discussion
Week 5
18 M Love, Erotic Literature, and a Pope as a Writer: Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini's (Pope Pius II) Two Lovers
- Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, The Tale of the Two Lovers (on MY JCU)
20 W Renaissance Cities: Pisa, Genoa, and Venice
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 137-165
Week 6
25 M The Renaissance as a Crossroad of Cultures: Venice and the Islamic World
- Stefano Carboni, Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797 (selections, MY JCU)
- Nancy Bisaha, Creating East and West: Renaissance Humanists and the Ottoman Turks (selection, MY JCU)
27 W Florence and The "Universal Man" of the Renaissance
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 93-110;
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 39-41 (Florence in the Renaissance: Intro); pp. 61-62 (Benedetto Dei: Letter
to a Venetian); 176-181 (Leonardo da Vinci)
Week 7
March
4 M Neo-Platonism
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 209-222;
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 97-104 (Florentine Neoplatonism and Mysticism: Intro; Marsilio Ficino);
pp. 104-108 (Giovanni Pico della Mirandola)
6 W Midterm Exam
8 Fri Marriage, Family, and Women in the Renaissance (Make-up day for Wednesday, May 1)
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 35-51
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 111-133 (Marriage, the Family, and Women: Intro; Francesco
Barbaro; Leon Battista Alberti)
11 - 15 March: Spring Break
Week 8
18 M Courts and Courtiers
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 169-206;
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 142-144 (Baldassarre Castiglione, from The Book of the Courtier)
20 W Learning and Power or the Power of Learning
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 183-194 (Learning and Education: Intro; Pietro Paolo Vergerio;
Leonardo Bruni; Battista Guarino);
- Lauro Martines, Power and Imagination (Ch."Humanism: A Program for Ruling Classes") (on MY JCU)
Week 9
25 M The Italian Dynasties of the Renaissance: Myths and Realities
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 247-262;
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 108-109 (Angelo Poliziano: Stanzas on Giuliano de' Medici)
27 W An Age of Competition and Wars
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 225-244
Week 10
April
1 M Political Thought: Francesco Guicciardini
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 265-282;
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 240-244 (Guicciardini: A Portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici);
pp. 258-263 (Guicciardini: The French Artillery); pp. 266-273 (Guicciardini: Maxims and Reflections)
3 W Political Thought: Niccolò Machiavelli
- Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, in Bondanella and Musa (eds.), The Italian Renaissance Reader: Preface (pp. 260-261);
Ch. VI (pp. 261-264); Ch. VII (pp. 264-269); Ch. XV (pp. 273-274); Ch. XXVI (pp. 291-293) (on MY JCU)
Week 11
8 M Renaissance Art and Architecture
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 285-317;
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 157-160 (Art and Architecture: Intro; Filippo Brunelleschi; Mariano Taccola;
Lorenzo Ghiberti); 164-176 (Isabella d'Este; Pietro Vanucci Perugino; Leon Battista Alberti)
10 W The Late Italian Renaissance
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 265-266 (The Late Italian Renaissance: Intro); 273-279 (Giovanni della Casa);
- https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/indexlibrorum.asp
Week 12
15 M Developments of Naturalism
- Giordano Bruno, On the Infinite, the Universe, and the Worlds, selected pp. (on MY JCU)
- Link: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/brunolinks.html
17 W Paper Due, by 5 PM
From Theology to Science
- Galileo Galilei's Indictment and Abjuration (1633) here: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1630galileo.asp
Week 13
22 M No class (Holiday)
24 W Project Paper Due (for those who don't give a presentation), by 5 PM
Witchcraft: A Renaissance Contradiction?
- Brian Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, Ch. 2: "The Intellectual Foundations" (MY JCU)
- Fabrizio Conti, Witchcraft, Superstition, and Observant Franciscan Preachers (selections, MY JCU)
Week 14
29 M Humanism, Post-Humanism, and Neo-Humanism: Current Debates
- Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (selected pp., MY JCU)
- Brunello Cucinelli and the "Dream of Solomeo", Perugia (Video and discussion)
May
1 May (Holiday)
Final Exam