Humanism and empire : the imperial ideal in fourteenth-century Italy / Alexander Lee.

9780191753107 (ebook) :

First edition.

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2018.

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For more than a century, scholars have believed that Italian humanism was predominantly civic in outlook. Often serving in communal government, 14th-century humanists like Albertino Mussato and Coluccio Saltuati are said to have derived from their reading of the Latin classics a rhetoric of republican liberty that was opposed to the 'tyranny' of neighbouring signori and of the German emperors. In this study, Alexander Lee challenges this long-held belief. From the death of Frederick II in 1250 to the failure of Rupert of the Palatinate's ill-fated expedition in 1402, Lee argues, the humanists nurtured a consistent and powerful affection for the Holy Roman Empire. Though this was articulated in a variety of different ways, it was nevertheless driven more by political conviction than by cultural concerns.

Oxford scholarship online.

Print version :

Books / Online

English

March 23, 2018

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Specialized.