Description
The Italian university has been credited with the rebirth of humanism and thus the flourishing of the Renaissance as we have come to understand it. Scholars of Italian humanism acknowledge the importance of the legal curriculum at universities in Pisa and Bologna for the rediscovery and renewed appreciation of classical texts. Few, however, have examined what life or the curriculum were like at Italian universities in general, in both major and minor city-states. This study, covering the period from 1400-1600, offers historians in the field not only an overview but also detailed information on the life of these Renaissance universities. According to the author, this book addresses Italian universities of the Renaissance in two complementary ways. It follows in broad lines the changes in various academic disciplines, as new issues and themes appeared and older ones waned. It also notes changes in the organization of the university, such as the creation of professorships in new subjects and their elimination in older ones. The impact of scholars in their disciplines in many cases depended on the structural changes their university was willing to make to accommodate new lines of inquiry. The book studies all sixteen of the leading Italian universities. Part I charts the rise and flourishing of Italian universities as institutions. Part II looks at their curricula, teaching methods, and research conducted by university professors. Part III explains the decline of the Renaissance university.
A magnificent achievement. Paul Grendler has written a stunningly comprehensive, detailed, and insightful history of the Italian universities from their origins to the eighteenth century. It will unquestionably become the standard work on the subject and remain so for a very long time. More than an institutional history, it is also a history of Italian culture over a span of five hundred years. Law, medicine, humanism, mathematics, philosophy, theology, and science all receive lucid and informative treatment. -- John Monfasani, State University of New York at Albany
About the Author
Paul F. Grendler is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Toronto, and former president of the Renaissance Society of America. He is the editor-in-chief of the prize-winning Encyclopedia of the Renaissance and author of several books including Schooling in Renaissance Italy, winner of the American Historical Association's Howard R. Marraro Prize for Italian History, also available from Johns Hopkins.
Reviews
Drawing on a lifetime of scholarship devoted to the history of schooling in late medieval and Renaisssance Europe, Grendler presents a magisterial study of the Italian universities... elegantly written. Choice A nuanced overview... Grendler offers a perceptive discussion of the effects of the Counter Reformation. -- Robert Black American Historical Review An important work of great erudition, an essential work for anyone wishing to understand Renaissance education. -- Duane J. Osheim Sixteenth Century Journal Erudite as well as entertaining; an instructive treatise as well as a useful reference tool for anyone interested in the topic. Catholic Historical Review For those interested in Renaissance intellectual history and the history of higher learning, this will be the quintessential study for some time. -- Mark Jurdjevic Canadian Journal of History No brief review can do justice to Paul A. Grendler's elegant study of Italian Renaissance universities. The Universities of the Italian Renaissance requires close reading and will doubtless become the definitive analysis of higher education in the period. Grendler blends the same depth of archival knowledge, familiarity with the secondary literature, organization, and clear writing that characterize his earlier works on Renaissance education. -- Michael J. Galgano History: Reviews of New Books Paul Grendler's comprehensive, methodical, and immensely learned study of the seventeen universities in Renaissance Italy is an enormous contribution to historians and scholars... A wide-ranging and authoritative study that will be a benchmark for years to come. -- Christopher Carlsmith H-Italy, H-Net Reviews This will certainly become the standard work on the subject. -- Darin Hayton Cithara This formidable erudite, beautifully presented and magisterial work is a reliable guidebook to one of the golden ages of university history. Between the early fifteenth and late sixteenth centuries, Italian universities were unrivaled in Europe except in theology. Grendler has produced a splendid framework within which to understand one of the great flowerings of intellectual life in European history. -- Diarmaid MacCulloch History of Education 2003 A recognized authority on the subject of education in the Italian Renaissannce, Paul Grendler has produced a magnificent study of Italian higher education in the period 1400-1600. -- David A. Lines Isis A vast, highly informative, and wide-ranging account... This monumental study, beautifully produced, crystal clear, and breathtakingly encyclopedic in scope, contains a wealth of valuable information and high-level scholarship. -- Jonathan Woolfson Modern Language Review 2003 Will remain a basic source of reference for all future work on Italian Renaissance universities. -- Alison Brown History 2003 Grendler's work is likely to remain for long an indispensable, and interdisciplinary, 'benchmark'. -- John Easton Law Journal of Ecclesiastical History 2004 A wide-ranging and comprehensive survey. -- Jill Kraye Times Literary Supplement 2004 Grendler succeeds in painting a picture of the Italian universities that is well founded in empirical data. His book is a great success. -- Jurgen Miethke Journal of Modern History 2004 Grendler's research provides the Renaissance scholar with a guide book to the Italian universities of the period. -- Mark A. Lewis Archivum Historicum 2005 This erudite work of scholarship will change the way that we look at the Renaissance intellectual history. -- Anthony F. D'Elia International Journal of the Classical Tradition 2005
Awards
Winner of Helen & Howard R. Marraro Prize for Italian History 2002 (United States).
Book Information
ISBN 9780801880551
Author Paul F. Grendler
Format Paperback
Page Count 616
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 862g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 156mm * 32mm
A magnificent achievement. Paul Grendler has written a stunningly comprehensive, detailed, and insightful history of the Italian universities from their origins to the eighteenth century. It will unquestionably become the standard work on the subject and remain so for a very long time. More than an institutional history, it is also a history of Italian culture over a span of five hundred years. Law, medicine, humanism, mathematics, philosophy, theology, and science all receive lucid and informative treatment. -- John Monfasani, State University of New York at Albany
About the Author
Paul F. Grendler is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Toronto, and former president of the Renaissance Society of America. He is the editor-in-chief of the prize-winning Encyclopedia of the Renaissance and author of several books including Schooling in Renaissance Italy, winner of the American Historical Association's Howard R. Marraro Prize for Italian History, also available from Johns Hopkins.
Reviews
Drawing on a lifetime of scholarship devoted to the history of schooling in late medieval and Renaisssance Europe, Grendler presents a magisterial study of the Italian universities... elegantly written. Choice A nuanced overview... Grendler offers a perceptive discussion of the effects of the Counter Reformation. -- Robert Black American Historical Review An important work of great erudition, an essential work for anyone wishing to understand Renaissance education. -- Duane J. Osheim Sixteenth Century Journal Erudite as well as entertaining; an instructive treatise as well as a useful reference tool for anyone interested in the topic. Catholic Historical Review For those interested in Renaissance intellectual history and the history of higher learning, this will be the quintessential study for some time. -- Mark Jurdjevic Canadian Journal of History No brief review can do justice to Paul A. Grendler's elegant study of Italian Renaissance universities. The Universities of the Italian Renaissance requires close reading and will doubtless become the definitive analysis of higher education in the period. Grendler blends the same depth of archival knowledge, familiarity with the secondary literature, organization, and clear writing that characterize his earlier works on Renaissance education. -- Michael J. Galgano History: Reviews of New Books Paul Grendler's comprehensive, methodical, and immensely learned study of the seventeen universities in Renaissance Italy is an enormous contribution to historians and scholars... A wide-ranging and authoritative study that will be a benchmark for years to come. -- Christopher Carlsmith H-Italy, H-Net Reviews This will certainly become the standard work on the subject. -- Darin Hayton Cithara This formidable erudite, beautifully presented and magisterial work is a reliable guidebook to one of the golden ages of university history. Between the early fifteenth and late sixteenth centuries, Italian universities were unrivaled in Europe except in theology. Grendler has produced a splendid framework within which to understand one of the great flowerings of intellectual life in European history. -- Diarmaid MacCulloch History of Education 2003 A recognized authority on the subject of education in the Italian Renaissannce, Paul Grendler has produced a magnificent study of Italian higher education in the period 1400-1600. -- David A. Lines Isis A vast, highly informative, and wide-ranging account... This monumental study, beautifully produced, crystal clear, and breathtakingly encyclopedic in scope, contains a wealth of valuable information and high-level scholarship. -- Jonathan Woolfson Modern Language Review 2003 Will remain a basic source of reference for all future work on Italian Renaissance universities. -- Alison Brown History 2003 Grendler's work is likely to remain for long an indispensable, and interdisciplinary, 'benchmark'. -- John Easton Law Journal of Ecclesiastical History 2004 A wide-ranging and comprehensive survey. -- Jill Kraye Times Literary Supplement 2004 Grendler succeeds in painting a picture of the Italian universities that is well founded in empirical data. His book is a great success. -- Jurgen Miethke Journal of Modern History 2004 Grendler's research provides the Renaissance scholar with a guide book to the Italian universities of the period. -- Mark A. Lewis Archivum Historicum 2005 This erudite work of scholarship will change the way that we look at the Renaissance intellectual history. -- Anthony F. D'Elia International Journal of the Classical Tradition 2005
Awards
Winner of Helen & Howard R. Marraro Prize for Italian History 2002 (United States).
Book Information
ISBN 9780801880551
Author Paul F. Grendler
Format Paperback
Page Count 616
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 862g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 156mm * 32mm
