The Humanist World of Renaissance Florence

Synopsis

This Book Offers A Major Contribution For Understanding The Spread And Appeal Of The Humanist Movement In Renaissance Florence. Investigating The Connections Between The Individuals Who Were Part Of The Humanist Movement, Brian Jeffrey Maxson Reconstructs The Networks That Bound Them Together. Overturning The Problematic Categorization Of Humanists As Either Professional Or Amateurs, A Distinction Based On Economics And The Production Of Original Works In Latin, He Offers A New Way Of Understanding How The Humanist Movement Could Incorporate So Many Who Were Illiterate In Latin, But Who Nonetheless Were Responsible For An Important Intellectual And Cultural Paradigm Shift. The Book Demonstrates The Massive Appeal Of The Humanist Movement Across Socio-economic And Political Groups And Argues That The Movement Became So Successful And So Widespread Because By The 1420s-30s The Demands Of Common Rituals Began Requiring Humanist Speeches. Over Time, Deep Humanist Learning Became More Valuable In The Marketplace Of Social Capital, Which Raised The Status Of The Most Learned Humanists And Helped Disseminate Humanist Ideas Beyond Florence. -- Publisher's Description. Introduction: A Social Conception Of The Humanist Movement -- Learned Connections And The Humanist Movement -- Literary And Social Humanists -- The Social Origins Of The Florentine Humanists -- The Humanist Demands Of Ritual -- Failure Of The Literary Humanists Or Literary Failure Of The Civic Humanists? -- The Rise Of The Social Humanists, 1400-1455 -- Humanism As A Means To Social Status, 1456-1485. Brian Jeffrey Maxson, East Tennessee State University. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 255-281) And Index.