This syllabus is preliminary and may be subject to change
ü All readings are available either on Moodle or accessible as e-books via the Frohring Library Online Catalogue
January
Week 1
M 15 Historical Thinking and the Renaissance
- Marc Bloch,The Historian's Craft, pp. 17-24
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 1-13 (Defining the Renaissance)
W 17 The Renaissance and Humanism
- Kristeller, Renaissance Thought, Ch. 5: "Humanism and Scholasticism in the Italian Renaissance", pp. 92-119
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. XIX-XX; 1-8 (Introduction; Quintilian)
Week 2
M 22 From Dante and Boccaccio to Francis Petrarch: The First Humanist
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 17-32 (Before the Renaissance)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 13 (Dante and Medieval Italy), 17-19 (Canto V excluded), 25-30 (Petrarch: Introduction,
Letter to Posterity)
W 24 Petrarch: The First Humanist as a Transitional Figure
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 55-66 (Petrarch)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 30-34 (Petrarch: The Ascent of Mount Ventoux; Letter to the Shade of Cicero)
Week 3
M 29 Civic Pride and Cultural Glory
- 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)
W 31 Women and Humanism
- Christine de Pizan, Defending Women, in B. Rosenwein (ed.), Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 497-499
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 90-95 (Isotta Nogarola: Of the Equal or Unequal Sin of Adam and Eve)
February
Week 4
M 5 Florence: The Cradle of the Renaissance
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 93-110 (The Republic of Florence)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 39-52 (Florence in the Renaissance: Intro; Giovanni Villani;
Giovanni Boccaccio: A Description of the Plague); 61-62 (Benedetto Dei: Letter to a Venetian)
- Richard Trexler, Public Life in Renaissance Florence,pp. 9-43
W 7 The Renaissance Critical Thinking
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 117-134 (Rome and the Papacy: The Renaissance Comes to Rome
Grandeur, Reaction, Catastrophe, and Renewal)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 199-206 (The Church and the Papacy: Intro; Pius II: The Election); pp. 206-210
(Lorenzo Valla: The Principal Arguments from the Forged Donation of Constantine)
- As for the Donation of Constantine, see: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/donatconst.asp
F 9 Make-up day for Monday, April 1
The Humanist School Curriculum
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 69-90 (Humanism)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 183-186 (Learning and Education: Introduction, Pietro Paolo Vergerio);
p. 196-198 (Laura Cereta)
Week 5
M 12 Life in the Italian Courts
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 137-165 (Venice); pp. 169-206 (The Principalities)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 142-144 (Baldassarre Castiglione, from The Book of the Courtier)
W 14 Family and Women in the Renaissance
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 111-133 (Marriage, the Family, and Women: Intro; Francesco Barbaro; Leon Battista Alberti);
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 35-51 (Social Continuities)
Week 6
M 19 The Age of Explorations
- Barry Ife, Introduction to Cristopher Columbus: http://www.ems.kcl.ac.uk/content/pub/b001.html
- Columbus, Journal of the First Voyage (Moodle): pp. 15-18, 39-40,56-58,130-132.
W 21 Neo-Platonism
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 209-222 (Renaissance Neo-Platonism)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 97-104 (Florentine Neoplatonism and Mysticism: Intro; Marsilio Ficino)
- First Paper due on February 23, 11:59PM
February 26-March 1 (Mon-Fri) Spring Break
March
Week 7
M 4 The "Universal Man" of the Renaissance
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 104-108 (Giovanni Pico della Mirandola); 176-181 (Leonardo da Vinci)
W 6 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, selected pp.
- Take-Home Mid-Term Exam due on 13 March, 11:59PM
Week 8
M 11 Learning and Power
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 186-194 (Leonardo Bruni; Battista Guarino)
- Lauro Martines, Power and Imagination (Ch."Humanism: A Program for Ruling Classes")
W 13 The Italian Dynasties of the Renaissance
- Poliziano, "The Pazzi Conspiracy" (selected pages)
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 247-262 (Medici Popes and Princes)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 108-109 (Angelo Poliziano: Stanzas on Giuliano de' Medici)
Week 9
M 18 An Age of Competition and Wars
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 225-244 (The Age of Crisis)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 221-222 (Savonarola: A Preacher of Reform), pp. 258-260 (Guicciardini: The French Artillery)
W 20 Political Thought: Francesco Guicciardini
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 265-282 (The Counsel of Experience...)
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 240-244 (Guicciardini: A Portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici)
- Guicciardini, Ricordi, selections from Bondanella and Musa (eds.), The Italian Renaissance Reader, pp. 298-303
Week 10
M 25 Political Thought: Niccolò Machiavelli
- Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, in Bondanella and Musa (eds.), The Italian Renaissance Reader, pp. 258-264; 273-274; 291-293
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 236-237 (Machiavelli, Letter to Francesco Vettori)
W 27 Renaissance Reforms
- Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, pp. 177-196 (The Renaissance Popes)
- Libellus to Pope Leo X (excerpts)
April
Week 11
M 1 NO CLASS
W 3 Renaissance Art and Architecture
- Bartlett, A Short History of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 285-317 (Art and Architecture)
- 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)
Week 12
M 8 The Late Italian Renaissance and Mannerism
- Bartelett, The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, pp. 265-266 (The Late Italian Renaissance: Intro); 273-279 (Giovanni della Casa)
- The Index of Forbidden Books: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/indexlibrorum.asp
W 10 The “Ugly” Renaissance
- Alexander Lee, The Ugly Renaissance: Sex, Disease and Excess in an Age of Beauty (2013), selected pp.
- Second Paper: due on April, 12 11:59PM
Week 13
M 15 6PM: "Galileo Night Lecture" at the American Academy in Rome
Prof. David Spergel, "Physics as Aesthetics, Cosmology as a Historical Science: From Galileo to the Big Bang"
W 17 Philosophy and Science Confronting Authority
- Giordano Bruno, On the Infinite, the Universe, and the Worlds, selected pp.
- Galileo Galilei's Indictment and Abjuration (1633): https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1630galileo.asp
Week 14
M 22 The Humanist and the Witches: A Renaissance Contradiction?
- Walter Stephens, "Learned Credulity in Gianfrancesco Pico's Strix", Renaissance and Reformation 42-4 (2019): 17-40
W 24 Humanism: Past, Present, and Future
- Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, selected pp.
Final Exam