Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Introduction
- 1 The republican idea
- 2 “Civic humanism” and medieval political thought
- 3 Civic humanism and Florentine politics
- 4 The two myths of civic humanism
- 5 Rhetoric, history, and ideology: the civic panegyrics of Leonardo Bruni
- 6 De-masking Renaissance republicanism
- 7 Civic humanism, realist constitutionalism, and Francesco Guicciardini's Discorso di Logrogno
- 8 Bruni and Machiavelli on civic humanism
- 9 Rhetoric, reason, and republic: republicanisms – ancient, medieval, and modern
- 10 Situating Machiavelli
- Index of manuscripts and archival documents
- General index
- Ideas in context
2 - “Civic humanism” and medieval political thought
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Introduction
- 1 The republican idea
- 2 “Civic humanism” and medieval political thought
- 3 Civic humanism and Florentine politics
- 4 The two myths of civic humanism
- 5 Rhetoric, history, and ideology: the civic panegyrics of Leonardo Bruni
- 6 De-masking Renaissance republicanism
- 7 Civic humanism, realist constitutionalism, and Francesco Guicciardini's Discorso di Logrogno
- 8 Bruni and Machiavelli on civic humanism
- 9 Rhetoric, reason, and republic: republicanisms – ancient, medieval, and modern
- 10 Situating Machiavelli
- Index of manuscripts and archival documents
- General index
- Ideas in context
Summary
Hans Baron's fame rests largely upon his characterization of what he called “civic humanism.” Central to this is what he saw as the emergence in early fifteenth-century Florence of a new emphasis on the participation of the citizen in the government and civic life of a city-republic, and on the necessity of such participation for the nurturing of individual virtue and the prosperity and liberty of the city. Although his idea stirred controversy from the start, the term itself has become part of the common historical vocabulary, in spite of the shortcomings of Baron's formulation. That formulation has come under attack from both medievalists and Renaissance historians who disagree about the evolution and content of the phenomenon, its connection with republicanism, its chronology, and its geographical origin and extent. In particular, there has been much debate over Baron's claim that civic humanism arose during the intense struggle between Milan and Florence, in which Florence was saved only when Giangaleazzo Visconti of Milan died suddenly of plague in September 1402.
A review article by James Hankins shows that the controversy continues.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Renaissance Civic HumanismReappraisals and Reflections, pp. 30 - 74Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000
- 10
- Cited by