Castiglione: The Book Of The Courtier

The Florentine Chronicle is an interestingly organized piece of work, in which Stefani mixes a chronicling of the presentation of the bubonic plague and its effects with the wider effects on Florentine society. Written in the late 1370s and 1380s, Stefani begins by describing some of the effects of the disease, and how it would alienate families from each other. He goes on to explain how the sick were abandoned in droves,

14th century verona italy is known as the scaliger period because of being ruled by the scaligeri family.  the houses in verona where usually 2 to 3 story homes which were built with large living rooms. Life in verona was not bad verona was a medieval center of painting in the 14th century. Verona is home to the 3rd largest amphitheater which was built in 30 A.D.  and could accommodate 30,000+ people this structure was almost completely destroyed in 1117 A.D. due to an earthquake the people reused its stone for other projects.

The diaries of Buonaccorso Pitti and Gregorio Dati have shown the multiple masculinities that are present for Renaissance Florentine merchant elites. Each of these men have led a different lifestyle, during a different frame of time, but each of them has written a diary that they knew their families will read. In these diaries, the men told stories about their lives from their own perspective and reflect the values and expectations from that age. Even though their stories may differ, a common theme in both diaries is masculinity and its features that are essential to merchant elites. The ideal man in the Renaissance Florence has honor, bravery and nobility, values their family and the importance of lineage and upholds a reputation in business and relationships with others.

The Courtier, originally written as a “courtesy book”, can now be considered to provide significant insight into the norms and practices associated with courtship and gender during the Renaissance era. The book’s third volume is a particularly insightful window into 16th century romantic ideals. Throughout Book Three, Baldassare Castiglione builds an elaborate perspective on what makes the perfect court lady, what sexual and social behavior is acceptable, and how an ideal couple (both courtier and court lady) should function.

Giovanni and Lusanna: Love and Marriage in Renaissance Florence by Gene Brucker provides a unique look into the life of commoners in the 15th century. This book follows the 1455 court case surrounding the alleged marriage between Giovanni della Casa and Lusanna, the daughter of Maestro Benedetto di Girolamo. Throughout this trial testimonies, from witnesses with a vast array of socioeconomic backgrounds are presented. These were people whose voices would likely have never been heard if not for this case. This particular cross-section of people creates a very clear picture of the hierarchical system in place during the renaissance. Throughout this book, it becomes clear that each person had his or her place within society.

Castiglione's The Courtier presents a set of female and male indications for being ideal or well-rounded persons, spread across four books of what was to become a Renaissance-specific manual for achieving the human etiquette ideal. A parallel is to be traced between these precepts that were drawn five centuries ago, and the current situation.

European literature of the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century was a time marked by increased individualism and an inclination to remove all of the remnants of medieval society. It was a time of protest and reform of the ideals, that were once thought to be correct, to more modern ideas, such as free will and that the self-made individual occupies the center of a rational universe. As this new concept of individualism began to spread, there were apparent discrepancies between the noble ideals presented by the modern renaissance humanists and the reality of human behavior. The discrepancies are shown clearly by the Pico’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man” and Erasmus’ “Praise of Folly.” In the text by Pico, he describes the ideal characteristics of this new renaissance humanist movement emphasizing the individual. While in the text by Erasmus, he shows the shocking reality between human fallibility and human perfectibility.

The topic my group researched was of Roman courtship, dress, and marriage. I specifically researched Roman courtship.

“I’ll be out of here and away from all you knaves for one time anyway, as not a month will pass before you’ll see whether I’m nobody or a somebody.” The story of Bianco Alfani reflected the nature of 14th century Florentine society where, as Alfani remarked, the election to public office could make or destroy a person. In late 14th century and early 15th century Florence, decreased population and expanding commerce provided a favorable environment for ambitious individuals. The real life examples of Buonaccorso Pitti and Gregorio Dati demonstrated the positive role of ambition in Florence. Pitti, a nobleman had an extremely successful career, partaking in military campaigns, holding public office in Florence and being an ambassador to

The Book of the Courtier by Baldassar Castiglione was the book of proper etiquette for men and women from 1528 to the end of the 18th century. This book was found in French, Latin, Spanish, Dutch, English, German, and Polish. This book was written in a dialogue well, four different dialogues, with each dialogue pushing and explaining different “rules” that needed to be fallowed if a person was considered to be high class; these rules were basically held as law to most of the high class citizens of Europe. There are some rules that are able to be paired or grouped together because they either said the same thing or were pointing towards the same major point on how to act; some of these major key points

When it comes to music history, the Castrati are one of the most important and debated topics. The Castrati were men (in Italian opera) that had been castrated during puberty to stop a flow of hormones, causing them to have the voice of a soprano woman, but the vocal power of an older, full-grown man. A general estimate said that four thousand boys a year were castrated in Italy. Some Castrati tried to make it in church choirs (which often gave them almost nothing of monetary value), most chose the opera route. They reigned supreme when they got onstage, being the obvious star of the show. They were the master performers that drew the crowd in with their amazing voices. During the Baroque

Girolamo Savonarola, the man many saw as the precursor of Martin Luther, was born in 1452 in Ferrara Italy. Savonarola first became recognized as a friar for the Dominican party and quickly escalated to become a significantly influential figure of the fifteenth-century. Meeting many important intellectuals of the Medici court and even becoming good friends with Pico della Mirandola. It was after Pico de Medici’s downfall in 1494 that Savonarola transitioned his focus to politics. We notice Savonarola’s involvement in the debate on the creation of an anti-medici government, being elected as prior of the famous San Marco Church in Florence, and in the work I will be analyzing, “Treatise of the Florentine Government.”

A post Middle Age Italy was afflicted by medieval wars and the bubonic plague. A change was needed to restore the vision of what Italy could become. This change was found within one family: the Medici’s, who helped to return the glory and influence to Florence. The Medici’s saw the value in contributing to the advancement of the greatest minds of the period. This was evident in their patronage of leading Artists such as Michelangelo and of renowned Teachers such as Galileo. The sphere of influence the Medici’s enjoyed also extended to the political arena, which happened to be heavily influenced by the Catholic Church at the time. The Medici’s were able to capitalize on the power of the Church and through this influence and the use of

As a ship is without a sail or a king with no castle, so too is a courtier without a Court lady. In "The Book of the Courtier" Baldesar Castiglione not only included a perfect courtier, he also molded his female equivalent, a Court lady. "The Courtier" itself was a step by step guide intended to instruct the young, affluent and upwardly mobile in areas of manners, learning, sport and conduct. It was published in 1528, at a high point of humanistic thought and antiquarian chivalric interest in Renaissance Italy. Often overlooked or undervalued is the discussion of the ideal Court lady, described in eloquent and perfect detail by the characters of Caesar and Magnifico, who was assigned by the Duchess to

The Shepperdess of Sienna: A Novel of Renaissance Tuscany, by Linda Lafferty, is a story about a young orphan shepperdess named Virginia Tacci, who loves horses, the ony problem is she's never ridden one; That all changes when she saves the Duchess's horse and recieves a bridle in return. Sienna hosts a horse race (called a Palio); Virginia enters, however there appear to be forces working to keep her from racing. While some would argue that Virginia Tacci was suppressed by the De'Medici because she was a woman, in truth they suppressed her because she was the embodiment of the rebellion in Sienna.