Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1

Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1
(of 7), by

John Addington Symonds
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Title: Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7)
Author: John Addington Symonds
Release Date: March 18, 2005 [eBook #15400]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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RENAISSANCE IN ITALY, VOLUME 1 (OF 7)***
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RENAISSANCE IN ITALY
The Age of the Despots
by
JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS
Author of _Studies of the Greek Poets_, _Sketches in Italy and Greece_,
etc.

'Di questi adunque oziosi principi, e di queste vilissime armi, sarà piena
la mia Istoria'
Mach. 1st. Fior. lib. i.

New York Henry Holt and Company
1888

TO
MY FRIEND
JOHN BEDDOE, M.D., F.R.S.,
I DEDICATE MY WORK
ON
THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE.
AUTHOR'S EDITION

AUTHOR'S NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.
Though these books taken together and in the order planned by the
author form one connected study of Italian culture at a certain period of
history, still each aims at a completeness of its own, and each can be
read independently of its companions. That the author does not regard
acquaintance with any one of them as essential to a profitable reading
of any other has been shown by the publication of each with a separate
title-page and without numeration of the volumes, while all three bear
the same general heading of "Renaissance in Italy."

PREFACE.
This volume is the First Part of a work upon the 'Renaissance in Italy.'
The Second Part treats of the Revival of Learning. The Third, of the
Fine Arts. The Fourth Part, in two volumes, is devoted to Italian
Literature.
Owing to the extent of the ground I have attempted to traverse, I feel
conscious that the students of special departments will find much to be
desired in my handling of each part. In some respects I hope that the
several portions of the work may complete and illustrate each other.
Many topics, for example, have been omitted from
Chapter VIII
. in this volume because they seemed better adapted to treatment in the
future.
One of the chief difficulties which the critic has to meet in dealing with

the Italian Renaissance is the determination of the limits of the epoch.
Two dates, 1453 and 1527, marking respectively the fall of
Constantinople and the sack of Rome, are convenient for fixing in the
mind that narrow space of time during which the Renaissance
culminated. But in order to trace its progress up to this point, it is
necessary to go back to a far more remote period; nor, again, is it
possible to maintain strict chronological consistency in treating of the
several branches of the whole theme.
The books of which the most frequent use has been made in this first
portion of the work are Sismondi's 'Républiques Italiennes'; Muratori's
'Rerum Italicarum Scriptores'; the 'Archivio Storico Italiano'; the
seventh volume of Michelet's 'Histoire de France'; the seventh and
eighth volumes of Gregorovius' 'Geschichte der Stadt Rom'; Ferrari's
'Rivoluzioni d' Italia'; Alberi's series of Despatches; Gino Capponi's
'Storia della Repubblica di Firenze'; and Burckhardt's 'Cultur der
Renaissance in Italien.' To the last-named essay I must acknowledge
especial obligations. It fell under my notice when I had planned, and in
a great measure finished, my own work. But it would be difficult for
me to exaggerate the profit I have derived from the comparison of my
opinions with those of a writer so thorough in his learning and so
delicate in his perceptions as Jacob Burckhardt, or the amount I owe to
his acute and philosophical handling of the whole subject. I must also
express a special debt to Ferrari, many of whose views I have adopted
in the
Chapter on
'Italian History.' With regard to the alterations introduced into the
substance of the book in this edition, it will be enough to say that I have
endeavored to bring each chapter up to the level of present knowledge.
In conclusion, I once more ask indulgence for a volume which, though
it aims at a completeness of its own, is professedly but one part of a
long inquiry.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I

.
THE SPIRIT OF THE RENAISSANCE.
Difficulty of fixing Date--Meaning of Word Renaissance--The
Emancipation of the Reason--Relation of Feudalism to the
Renaissance--Mediæval Warnings of the Renaissance--Abelard, Bacon,
Joachim of Flora, the Provencals, the Heretics, Frederick II.--Dante,
Petrarch, Boccaccio--Physical Energy of the Italians--The Revival of
Learning--The Double Discovery of the World and of
Man--Exploration