The fruit of liberty : political culture in the Florentine Renaissance, 1480-1550 / Nicholas Scott Baker ; sponsored by Villa I Tatti.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baker, Nicholas Scott, 1975-

Contributor:

Villa I Tatti (Florence, Italy)

Series:

I Tatti Studies in Italian Renaissance History

I Tatti studies in Italian Renaissance history

I Tatti Studies in Italian Renaissance History ; 9

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Florence (Italy)--Politics and government--1421-1737.

Florence (Italy).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (382 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Political culture in the Florentine Renaissance, 1480-1550

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the middle decades of the sixteenth century, the republican city-state of Florence--birthplace of the Renaissance--failed. In its place the Medici family created a principality, becoming first dukes of Florence and then grand dukes of Tuscany. The Fruit of Liberty examines how this transition occurred from the perspective of the Florentine patricians who had dominated and controlled the republic. The book analyzes the long, slow social and cultural transformations that predated, accompanied, and facilitated the institutional shift from republic to principality, from citizen to subject. More than a chronological narrative, this analysis covers a wide range of contributing factors to this transition, from attitudes toward officeholding, clothing, the patronage of artists and architects to notions of self, family, and gender. Using a wide variety of sources including private letters, diaries, and art works, Nicholas Baker explores how the language, images, and values of the republic were reconceptualized to aid the shift from citizen to subject. He argues that the creation of Medici principality did not occur by a radical break with the past but with the adoption and adaptation of the political culture of Renaissance republicanism.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Introduction

1. Imagining Florence

2. Great Expectations

3. Defending Liberty

4. Neither Fish nor Flesh

5. Reimagining Florence

Conclusion

APPENDIX 1. A Partial Reconstruction of the Office-Holding Class of Florence, ca. 1500

APPENDIX 2. Biographical Information

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674727625

0674727622

9780674726390

0674726391

OCLC:

861692955