History 305 01W
The Italian Renaissance
Fall 2008
Scott Swanson
349 Jordan Hall
940-9680
259-4580
This course will study society, politics, culture, and art in the north Italian city states from the thirteenth to the early
sixteenth century. We shall be trying to figure out, in particular, why, as Italy was increasingly torn apart by an everwidening spiral of violence, its art rose to new magnificence.
This is a writing-intensive course which will offer much practice in the difficult skills of expository writing. The written work
of the course consists of a) a personal statement of your ideas and perspectives, b) three four-page papers, c) the rough draft
of a twelve-page research paper on a topic of interest to you, d) the final draft of that research paper, e) various overnight
writes and other exercises to prepare the way for class discussion.
Since the culture which we will be studying relied far more upon human memory than upon the written word, each person
in the course will commit to memory some of the poetry of Petrarch and Michelangelo.
Quite as important to the course as these specific tasks is class discussion based on thoughtful and imaginative reading of the
syllabus. Since a class of this nature must be a corporate venture and will quickly flounder without active participation of its
members, and since the formulation and sharing of ideas amongst a group of people is quite a different skill than expository
writing and valuable in its own right, class discussion will be replacing examinations in this course, and fully half of your
grade will rest on the quality of your efforts in class. Consequently, keeping your thoughts to yourself in this course is the
same as skipping your examinations in other courses. Moreover, if you do remain silent in class, I shall simply assume that
you have not prepared the reading. Please, without fail, bring the reading to class.
While the course has no absolute attendance policy and there are certainly circumstances which justify missing class, two
points should be emphasized. First, students themselves are responsible for knowing what went on in classes that they miss.
Second, students chronically absent will be asked to withdraw from the course and do something that interests them
instead; in any case they need not expect passing grades. As a rule of thumb, you might feel free to miss three classes
without explanation.
I will flunk any student discovered cheating during the semester. Period. I expect to be challenging you this semester and
asking you to undertake sometimes difficult tasks of reading, writing, and critical analysis to develop the skills of your mind.
You will not develop those skills by stepping around that challenge. Your ability to do your own work and your integrity will
be of far greater worth to you in the long run than anything appearing on your transcript. I do invite you and encourage to
talk about class material, talk over papers, study together, share ideas, show your work to other people. When that is done,
I expect you to write your papers yourself, attributing material you have taken other people (including, of course, your
friends) to the proper source.
Finally, you must complete all the work of the course to pass the course. If you fail to turn in a paper, you will fail not just
the paper but the course. If I find that you have cheated, you will fail not just the project in question but the course.
The following books should be obtained at the Butler Book Store:
Najemy, The History of Florence
Machiavelli, The Portable Machiavelli
Most readings are posted to Blackboard. They may be printed free in the libraries. Please bring all readings to class.
Schedule of Classes
1.
28 August: Course Introduction
Part I: Late Medieval Italy
2.
2 September: The Late Medieval Environment
Reading: J. K. Hyde, Society and History in Medieval Italy (#1)
Waley, The Italian City-Republics, pp. 1-31
3.
4 September: The Italian Commune
Reading: Waley, The Italian City-Republics, pp. 32-93
4.
9 September: Political Discord and Faction
Reading: Waley, The Italian City-Republics, pp. 117-157
Dino Compagni, Chronicle (#2)
5.
11 September: Reflections on the Commune: Dante and Marsilius
Reading: Dante, Paradiso 15-16, 33 (#3)
Dante, On World Government (#4)
Marsilius of Padua, Defender of the Peace (#5)
J. K. Hyde, Society and Politics in Medieval Italy (#6)
*****
6.
Conferences about Research Papers
16 September: The Dawn of Renaissance Art: Giotto
Reading: Bernard Berenson, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance (#7)
Part II: Renaissance Humanism
7.
18 September: Horror and Chaos
Reading: Geoffrey Parker, Europe in Crisis (#8)
Philip Ziegler, The Black Death (#9)
Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron (#10)
Lopez and Miskimin, "The Economic Depression of the Renaissance (#11)
Conferences about research paper
8.
23 September: The Advent of Humanism
Reading: Paul Kristeller, "The Humanist Movement" (#12)
Petrarch, The Ascent of Mount Ventoux (#13)
Petrarch, On His Own Ignorance (#14)
Hannah Gray, "Renaissance Eloquence" (#15)
9.
25 September: Petrarch the Humanist Poet
Reading: Sonnets (#16)
10.
30 September: Humanism, Education, Politics, and Gender
Reading: Grafton and Jardine, From Humanism to the Humanities (#17)
Part III: Renaissance Florence 1300-1500
11.
2 October: Florentine Society and Economy
Reading: Brucker, Renaissance Florence, pp. 51-127
12.
7 October: Florentine Politics
Reading: Brucker, Renaissance Florence, pp. 128-171
13.
9 October: Venice
Reading: Frederic C. Lane, Venice (#18)
14.
14 October: Florentine Sculpture and Architecture
Reading: Turner: Renaissance Florence (#19)
FALL READING PERIOD
15.
20 October: The Revival of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture
Reading: Millard Meiss, Painting in Florence and Siena after the Black Death (#24)
Bernard Berenson, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance (#25)
Brucker, Renaissance Florence, pp. 240-255
Annotated Bibliography Due
11.
16 February: The Collapse of the Republics
Reading: Waley, The Italian City-Republics, pp. 158-173
Philip Jones, "Communes and Despots" (#18)
14.
25 February: Florentine Religion
Reading: Brucker, Renaissance Florence, pp. 172-212
Myron Gilmore, The World of Humanism (#19)
*****
15.
Annotated Bibliography of Primary Sources Due
2 March: Family Life
Reading: Christine Klapisch-Zuber, "The Griselda Complex" (#20)
Christine Klapisch-Zuber, "The Cruel Mother" (#21)
16.
23 October: The Crisis of 1400, Civic Humanism, and Republican Virtue
Reading: Hans Baron, The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance (#22)
Leonardo Bruni, Panegyric to the City of Florence (#23)
Writing: Please bring your notes and discussion questions to class
17 .
28 October: The Medici I
Reading: J. R. Hale, Florence and the Medici, pp. 1-42
Writing
18.
Research paper introduction due
30 October: The Medici II
Reading: J. R. Hale, Florence and the Medici, pp. 43-95
Debate:
Resolved: Florence was better off with the Medici machine than without it.
Please come prepared to debate your side of the case. It will help to reflect on the experience
of Florence before the Medici, the experience of other city-states, the circumstances besetting
Florence, and the like. The best arguments grow out of evidence astutely analyzed. You
should also be prepared to counter opposing arguments.
Writing: Please bring your debate notes to class.
19.
4 November: C15 Florentine Culture
Reading: Paul Kristeller, "Renaissance Platonism" (#27)
Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man (#28)
Frances , Giordano Bruno, pp. 84-116
Writing: First three pages of research paper due
20.
6 November: NO CLASS
Work on research paper; first (not rough, first) draft of research paper due 11 November
SPRING VACATION
18.
18 March: Renaissance Magic
Reading: Frances Yates, Giordano Bruno, pp. 1-19, 44-84, 130-143
Bernard Berenson, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance (#26)
*****
19.
Annotated Bibliography of Secondary Sources Due
23 March: Renaissance Platonism
Reading: Frances Yates, Giordano Bruno, pp. 84-116
*****
20.
Introduction of Research Paper Due
25 March: Venetian Art
Reading: Bernard Berenson, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance (#29)
21.
30 March
No Class
*****
First Draft of Research Paper Due
Part IV: The Time of Invasions
24.
8 April: Machiavelli I
Reading: Machiavelli, Letters to Vettori, pp. 65-72
Machiavelli, The Prince cc. 5-7, 9, 14-19. 25-26
25.
13 April: Machiavelli III
Reading: Machiavelli, The Discourses on Livy Book I introduction + cc.1-5, 11-12, 14, 24, 29, 55, 57-58; Book II
introduction + cc. 1-2
20 November: Machiavelli II
Reading: Machiavelli, The Prince, chapters 25-26
Machiavelli, The Discourses on Livy
Book I introduction + chapters 1-5, 11-12, 14, 24, 29, 55, 57-58
Book II introduction + chapters 1-2
Discussion:
Analyze Machiavelli’s concept of fortuna in chapter 25 of the Prince.
Machiavelli is often said to justify any successful means in politics. What are the ends that
justifies those means? Examine chapter 26 of the Prince.
How do the Discourses compare with the Prince? Does Machiavelli retract views he expressed
in the Prince? What do both works share in common?
Why does Machiavelli really like the Roman Republic? Look carefully. His reasons may not
be the sort of reasons we use to justify republics.
2 December:
Botticelli and Leonardo
Reading: Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition [excerpt]
Berenson, Italian Painters of the Renaissance [excerpt]
Discussion:
Machiavelli himself compares what he is doing in the Prince to the work of a landscape painter,
and possibly he felt at a deeper level that the kind of creativity and imagination which a painter
brought to his work was the sort of creativity and imagination essential to a politician who was
going to succeed both in giving good government and holding onto power.
The period which Machiavelli lived through and about which he writes was just about the most
destructive in Italian history. It also witnessed the supreme achivements in Renaissance culture.
Leonardo da Vinci was the universal genius who gave rise to the notion of the omnicompetent
Renaissance man.
Please explore the connection between the two. Is there something about political, then,
spiritual crisis and disaster that was particularly fruitful for culture?
26.
15 April: Leonardo da Vinci
Reading: Leonardo, Notebooks (#32)
Berenson, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance (#33)
27.
20 April: Michelangelo
Reading: Bernard Berenson, The Italian Painters of the Renaissance (#34)
Michelangelo, Poems and Letters (#35)
28.
22 April: Last Things (required class)
Exam Period
Final Draft of Research Paper Due