Florentine Political Writings from Petrarch to Machiavelli

Nonfiction, History, Renaissance, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, History & Theory, Social Science
Cover of the book Florentine Political Writings from Petrarch to Machiavelli by , University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: ISBN: 9780812296020
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc. Publication: May 1, 2019
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press Language: English
Author:
ISBN: 9780812296020
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication: May 1, 2019
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Language: English

In the fifteenth-century republic of Florence, political power resided in the hands of middle-class merchants, a few wealthy families, and powerful craftsmen's guilds. The intensity of Florentine factionalism and the frequent alterations in its political institutions gave Renaissance thinkers ample opportunities to inquire into the nature of political legitimacy and the relationship between authority and its social context.

This volume provides a selection of texts that describes the language, conceptual vocabulary, and issues at stake in Florentine political culture at key moments in its development during the Renaissance. Rather than presenting Renaissance political thought as a static set of arguments, Florentine Political Writings from Petrarch to Machiavelli instead illustrates the degree to which political thought in the Italian City revolved around a common cluster of topics that were continually modified and revised—and the way those common topics could be made to serve radically divergent political purposes.

Editors Mark Jurdjevic, Natasha Piano, and John P. McCormick offer readers the opportunity to appreciate how Renaissance political thought, often expressed in the language of classical idealism, could be productively applied to pressing civic questions. The editors expand the scope of Florentine humanist political writing by explicitly connecting it with the sixteenth-century realist turn most influentially exemplified by Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini. Presenting nineteen primary source documents, including lesser known texts by Machiavelli and Guicciardini, several of which are here translated into English for the first time, this useful compendium shows how the Renaissance political imagination could be deployed to think through methods of electoral technology, the balance of power between different social groups, and other practical matters of political stability.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the fifteenth-century republic of Florence, political power resided in the hands of middle-class merchants, a few wealthy families, and powerful craftsmen's guilds. The intensity of Florentine factionalism and the frequent alterations in its political institutions gave Renaissance thinkers ample opportunities to inquire into the nature of political legitimacy and the relationship between authority and its social context.

This volume provides a selection of texts that describes the language, conceptual vocabulary, and issues at stake in Florentine political culture at key moments in its development during the Renaissance. Rather than presenting Renaissance political thought as a static set of arguments, Florentine Political Writings from Petrarch to Machiavelli instead illustrates the degree to which political thought in the Italian City revolved around a common cluster of topics that were continually modified and revised—and the way those common topics could be made to serve radically divergent political purposes.

Editors Mark Jurdjevic, Natasha Piano, and John P. McCormick offer readers the opportunity to appreciate how Renaissance political thought, often expressed in the language of classical idealism, could be productively applied to pressing civic questions. The editors expand the scope of Florentine humanist political writing by explicitly connecting it with the sixteenth-century realist turn most influentially exemplified by Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini. Presenting nineteen primary source documents, including lesser known texts by Machiavelli and Guicciardini, several of which are here translated into English for the first time, this useful compendium shows how the Renaissance political imagination could be deployed to think through methods of electoral technology, the balance of power between different social groups, and other practical matters of political stability.

More books from University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

Cover of the book Wordsworth's Poetry, 1815-1845 by
Cover of the book The Oldest Revolutionary by
Cover of the book Between Cultures by
Cover of the book Matching Organs with Donors by
Cover of the book Deterring Rational Fanatics by
Cover of the book Seeing the Myth in Human Rights by
Cover of the book Energy Politics by
Cover of the book Tales of the Jazz Age by
Cover of the book Creating Human Rights by
Cover of the book This Is Our Music by
Cover of the book Human Rights in Our Own Backyard by
Cover of the book Food Chains by
Cover of the book The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd by
Cover of the book What Is Populism? by
Cover of the book Grammar and Christianity in the Late Roman World by
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy