An informative but light-hearted look at the popularity of the Renaissance today, this book was written by a Renaissance scholar intrigued with the way his subject continues to resonate outside the scholarly community. His purpose is to uncover and describe the many manifestations of America's love of the Renaissance. Why do millions don costumes to attend Renaissance Faires? Why do novels and films about the period enjoy continued popularity, as do Renaissance icons such as Elizabeth I, Michelangelo, Shakespeare and the Mona Lisa? How is it that American politicians and business leaders still look to Machiavelli as a symbol of wisdom-or of evil? Grendler posits that Americans embrace the Renaissance as a model of culture and sophistication, seeing it as confirmation that the individual can achieve greatness against long odds, a belief at the core of our own society.
After an examination of The Real Renaissance (1400-1620), the book looks at ways in which Americans relive the experience (including Faires and Living Last Suppers), ways in which we re-create the Renaissance in our own world, and finally, ways in which the Renaissance is portrayed, for better or worse, in fiction and film.

The European Renaissance in American Life

History

Grendler, Paul F.

Americas

Praeger

acknowledgments, note on references, I. Venetian Presses and Poligrafi; II. Three Popular Writers; III. La Misera Italia; IV. Religious Restlessness; V. The Rejection of Learning for the Vita Civile; VI. Utopian Alternatives; VII. Moralists or Maldicenti? ; Appendices: note on I-III, I. Nicolo Franco: Printede Works; II. Ortensio Lando: Printed Works; III. Anton Francesco Doni: Printed Works; IV. Doni's "Weaver's Confession"; V. "La Pazzia"; bibliography, index. Beige cloth with gilt lettering to spine. "This volume makes an important contribution to Renaissance intellectual history by examining the popular attitudes in mid-16th-century Italy, at a time of deep social and political turmoil when among the people, antagonism to the existing order was widespread but did not find support among the majority of writers; it required, instead the emergence of a new group of authors, the poligrafi --- adventurers of the pen ---, dependent for success upon how accurately they reflected the public mood." from the jacket flap.

Critics of the Italian World, 1530-1560: Anton Francesco Doni, Nicolo Franco & Ortensio Lando

Travel

United States

University of Wisconsin Press

The Roman Inquisition and the Venetian Press, 1540-1605 (Princeton Legacy Library)

One of the great European publishing centers, Venice produced half or more of all books printed in Italy during the sixteenth-century. Drawing on the records of the Venetian Inquisition, which survive almost complete, Paul F. Grendler considers the effectiveness of censorship imposed on the Venetian press by the Index of Prohibited Books and enforced by the Inquisition.
 Using Venetian governmental records, papal documents in the Vatican Archive and Library, and the books themselves, Professor Grendler traces the controversies as the patriciate debated whether to enforce the Index or to support the disobedient members of the book trade. He investigates the practical consequences of the Index to printer and reader, noble and prelate.
 Heretics, clergymen, smugglers, nobles, and printers recognized the importance of the press and pursued their own goals for it. The Venetian leaders carefully weighed the conflicting interests, altering their stance to accommodate constantly shifting religious, political, and economic situations. The author shows how disputes over censorship and other press matters contributed to the tension between the papacy and the Republic. He draws on Venetian governmental records, papal documents in the Vatican Library, and the books themselves.
Originally published in 1977.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

World

Princeton University Press

One of the great European publishing centers, Venice produced half or more of all books printed in Italy during the sixteenth-century. Drawing on the records of the Venetian Inquisition, which survive almost complete, Paul F. Grendler considers the effectiveness of censorship imposed on the Venetian press by the Index of Prohibited Books and enforced by the Inquisition.
 Using Venetian governmental records, papal documents in the Vatican Archive and Library, and the books themselves, Professor Grendler traces the controversies as the patriciate debated whether to enforce the Index or to support the disobedient members of the book trade. He investigates the practical consequences of the Index to printer and reader, noble and prelate.
 Heretics, clergymen, smugglers, nobles, and printers recognized the importance of the press and pursued their own goals for it. The Venetian leaders carefully weighed the conflicting interests, altering their stance to accommodate constantly shifting religious, political, and economic situations. The author shows how disputes over censorship and other press matters contributed to the tension between the papacy and the Republic. He draws on Venetian governmental records, papal documents in the Vatican Library, and the books themselves.
Originally published in 1977.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Winner of the Howard R. Marraro Prize for Italian History from the American Historical Association
Selected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2003
Italian Renaissance universities were Europe's intellectual leaders in humanistic studies, law, medicine, philosophy, and science. Employing some of the foremost scholars of the time―including Pietro Pomponazzi, Andreas Vesalius, and Galileo Galilei―the Italian Renaissance university was the prototype of today's research university. This is the first book in any language to offer a comprehensive study of this most influential institution.
In this magisterial study, noted scholar Paul F. Grendler offers a detailed and authoritative account of the universities of Renaissance Italy. Beginning with brief narratives of the origins and development of each university, Grendler explores such topics as the number of professors and their distribution by discipline, student enrollment (some estimates are the first attempted), famous faculty members, budget and salaries, and relations with civil authority. He discusses the timetable of lectures, student living, foreign students, the road to the doctorate, and the impact of the Counter Reformation. He shows in detail how humanism changed research and teaching, producing the medical Renaissance of anatomy and medical botany, new approaches to Aristotle, and mathematical innovation. Universities responded by creating new professorships and suppressing older ones. The book concludes with the decline of Italian universities, as internal abuses and external threats―including increased student violence and competition from religious schools―ended Italy's educational leadership in the seventeenth century.

The Universities of the Italian Renaissance

Reference

Johns Hopkins University Press

Italian Renaissance universities were Europe's intellectual leaders in humanistic studies, law, medicine, philosophy, and science. Employing some of the foremost scholars of the time—including Pietro Pomponazzi, Andreas Vesalius, and Galileo Galilei—the Italian Renaissance university was the prototype of today's research university. This is the first book in any language to offer a comprehensive study of this most influential institution. In this magisterial study, noted scholar Paul F. Grendler offers a detailed and authoritative account of the universities of Renaissance Italy. Beginning with brief narratives of the origins and development of each university, Grendler explores such topics as the number of professors and their distribution by discipline, student enrollment (some estimates are the first attempted), famous faculty members, budget and salaries, and relations with civil authority. He discusses the timetable of lectures, student living, foreign students, the road to the doctorate, and the impact of the Counter Reformation. He shows in detail how humanism changed research and teaching, producing the medical Renaissance of anatomy and medical botany, new approaches to Aristotle, and mathematical innovation. Universities responded by creating new professorships and suppressing older ones. The book concludes with the decline of Italian universities, as internal abuses and external threats—including increased student violence and competition from religious schools—ended Italy's educational leadership in the seventeenth century.

The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (Johns Hopkins Paperback)

Europe

Universities were driving forces of change in late Renaissance Italy. The Gonzaga, the ruling family of Mantua, had long supported scholarship and dreamed of founding an institution of higher learning within the city. In the early seventeenth century they joined forces with the Jesuits, a powerful intellectual and religious force, to found one of the most innovative universities of the time.Paul F. Grendler provides the first book in any language about the Peaceful University of Mantua, its official name. He traces the efforts of Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga, a prince savant who debated Galileo, as he made his family’s dream a reality. Ferdinando negotiated with the Jesuits, recruited professors, and financed the school. Grendler examines the motivations of the Gonzaga and the Jesuits in the establishment of a joint civic and Jesuit university.The University of Mantua lasted only six years, lost during the brutal sack of the city by German troops in 1630. Despite its short life, the university offered original scholarship and teaching. It had the first professorship of chemistry more than 100 years before any other Italian university. The leading professor of medicine identified the symptoms of angina pectoris 140 years before an English scholar named the disease. The star law professor advanced new legal theories while secretly spying for James I of England. The Jesuits taught humanities, philosophy, and theology in ways both similar to and different from lay professors.A superlative study of education, politics, and culture in seventeenth-century Italy, this book reconsiders a period in Italy’s history often characterized as one of feckless rulers and stagnant learning. Thanks to extensive archival research and a thorough examination of the published works of the university's professors, Grendler's history tells a new story.

The University of Mantua, the Gonzaga, and the Jesuits, 1584–1630

The Society of Jesus arrived in Italy in 1540 brimming with enthusiasm to found new universities. These would be better than Italian universities, which the Jesuits believed were full of professors teaching philosophical atheism to debauched students. The Jesuits also wanted to become professors in existing Italian universities. They would teach Christian philosophy, true theology, sound logic, eloquent humanities, and practical mathematics. They would exert a positive moral influence on students. The Jesuits were rejected. Italy already had fourteen universities famous for their research and teaching. They were ruled by princes and cities who refused to share their universities with a religious order led by Spaniards. Between 1548 and 1773 the Jesuits made sixteen attempts, from Turin in the north to Messina in Sicily, to found new universities or to become professors in existing universities. They had some successes, as they helped found four new universities and became professors of mathematics in three more universities. But they suffered nine total failures. The battles between universities, civil governments, and the Jesuits were memorable. Lay professors accused the Jesuits of teaching philosophy badly. The Jesuits charged that Italian professors delivered few lectures and skipped most of Aristotle. Behind the denunciations were profound differences about what universities should be. Italian universities were dominated by law and the Jesuits emphasized the humanities and theology. Nevertheless, the Society of Jesus had an impact. They added cases of conscience to the training of clergymen. They made four years of study the norm for a degree in theology. They offered a student-centered alternative to Italian universities that focused on research and ignored student misbehavior. Paul Grendler tells a new story based on years of research in a dozen archives. Anyone interested in the volatile mix of universities, religion, and politics will find this book fascinating and instructive, as will anyone who contemplates what it means to be a Catholic university.

The Jesuits and Italian Universities, 1548-1773

Grendler, Paul.

The Catholic University of America Press

Few eras took education so seriously or were so innovative in their approaches to schools and universities as the Renaissance. At the same time, religious and political concerns strongly influenced educational developments. This third volume of articles by Paul F. Grendler explores the close connections between education, religion, and politics at several levels and in different contexts. It combines detailed research into various kinds of schools with broad overviews of European and especially Italian education. The lead article compares Italian and German universities and assesses the impact of the Protestant Reformation on the latter. Even Erasmus, the great critic of university theologians, felt the need to acquire a doctorate in theology and did so. In Italy, the new schools of the Jesuits and the Piarists taught boys and young men gratis, but not without opposition. Two articles deal with students, the consumers of education. While teachers and students were most directly involved in schools and universities, ecclesiastical and political authorities, including the leaders of the Republic of Venice, the subject of the final study, kept a watchful eye on them.

Renaissance Education Between Religion and Politics (Variorum Collected Studies)

Routledge

Humanism, Universities, and Jesuit Education in Late Renaissance Italy (History of Early Modern Educational Thought, 4)

Brill Academic Pub

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Grendler, Paul F.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Grendler, Paul F.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Grendler, Paul F.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The European Renaissance in American Life

Critics of the Italian World, 1530-1560: Anton Francesco Doni, Nicolo Franco & Ortensio Lando

The Roman Inquisition and the Venetian Press, 1540-1605 (Princeton Legacy Library)

The Roman Inquisition and the Venetian Press, 1540-1605 (Princeton Legacy Library)

The Universities of the Italian Renaissance

The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (Johns Hopkins Paperback)

The University of Mantua, the Gonzaga, and the Jesuits, 1584–1630

The Jesuits and Italian Universities, 1548-1773

Renaissance Education Between Religion and Politics (Variorum Collected Studies)

Humanism, Universities, and Jesuit Education in Late Renaissance Italy (History of Early Modern Educational Thought, 4)