HISTORY 4680
LOVE AND SEX IN RENAISSANCE ITALY
Spring Term 2015
Wednesdays, 2:30-4:25; Lincoln Hall B08
Prof. J. Najemy (318 McGraw Hall; jmn4@cornell.edu)
The seminar explores the history of love and sex in Renaissance Italy through their representation in
literature and attempts by governments and the Church to manage, discipline, and punish sexual
transgression. Primary source readings include Boccaccio’s Decameron; the popular genre of short stories
(novelle); plays by Niccolò Machiavelli (Mandragola, Clizia), Bernardo Bibbiena (The Comedy of
Calandro), the Academy of the Intronati (The Deceived), and Pietro Aretino (The Master of the Horse);
Giulia Bigolina’s romance Urania; and Moderata Fonte’s dialogue The Worth of Women. Recent
secondary studies deal with sexual crime, love across social boundaries, male homosexuality, and
lesbianism in the Renaissance.
Course Requirements:
1. Attendance and informed participation in class discussions (40% of final grade)
2. In-class presentation (20% of final grade): Each member of the seminar will introduce the
readings of one week in a presentation of approximately 20-25 minutes. For primary texts, briefly provide
information concerning the author and historical context, and say how the text illuminates the history of
love and/or sex in the Renaissance. For a modern secondary study, summarize its findings and assess the
nature of the evidence on which its interpretation is based. For both primary and secondary works, offer
your own critical assessment and propose questions and specific passages for discussion. Each presenter
will be asked to read an additional essay or two and explain briefly the interpretations they offer. Prepare
an outline of your presentation and bring copies for everyone in the seminar.
3. Take-home final exam essay (40% of final grade) of approximately 4,500 words, due on
the course’s scheduled exam day (as yet unannounced). Send your essay to me as an email
attachment. Exam questions will cover the whole course and will be distributed at the last class meeting.
Schedule of meetings and readings
January 21:
Introduction and organization
January 28:
Guido Ruggiero, The Boundaries of Eros: Sex Crime and Sexuality in
Renaissance Venice
February 4:
Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron:
Author’s Foreword and Introduction
Day one, stories 4, 5, 10
Day two, stories 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Day three, all stories
2
February 11:
Boccaccio, Decameron:
Day four, all stories
Day five, all stories
Day six, story 7
Day seven, all stories
February 18:
Boccaccio, Decameron:
Day eight, stories 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10
Day nine, stories 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10
Day ten, stories 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Author’s Afterword
February 25:
Gene Brucker, Giovanni and Lusanna: Love and Marriage in Renaissance
Florence
March 4:
In Renaissance Comic Tales of Love, Treachery, and Revenge:
Gentile Sermini, “Montanina’s Deception,” and “Sir Giovanni da Prato
and Baldina,” 1-41
Lorenzo de’ Medici, “Giacoppo,” 64-76
Masuccio Salernitano, “Jealous Ioan Tornese,” “How Viola Tried to
Satisfy Her Three Lovers on the Same Night,” and “Two Dear
Friends,” 128-138, 152-165
In Five Comedies from the Italian Renaissance:
The Venetian Comedy (La veniexiana), 185-321
March 11:
Niccolò Machiavelli, Mandragola, in Five Comedies, 71-116
Niccolò Machiavelli, Clizia
March 18:
Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena, The Comedy of Calandro, in Five Comedies, 1-70
Academy of the Intronati of Siena, The Deceived, in Five Comedies, 205-284
March 25:
Michael Rocke, Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in
Renaissance Florence, 3-147, 195-235
April 8:
Pietro Aretino, The Master of the Horse, in Five Comedies, 117-204
Rocke, Forbidden Friendships, 148-191
April 15:
Giulia Bigolina, Urania: A Romance, Introduction, 1-35
Novella of Giulia Camposampiero and Tesibaldo Vitaliani, 47-72
Urania, 73-174
April 22:
Judith Brown, Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy
April 29:
Moderata Fonte, The Worth of Women, 27-241, 249-260
May 6:
Final discussion
Take-home final exam will be handed out