Cover: Street Life in Renaissance Rome, 1st Edition by Rudolph M. Bell
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Street Life in Renaissance Rome

A Brief History with DocumentsFirst Edition ©2013 Rudolph M. Bell

Traditional histories of the Renaissance usually focus on the eras development of high art and culture. In this intriguing volume, Rudolph M. Bell offers an alternative — and broader — portrait, highlighting daily life in Renaissance Rome, the center of western Christendom. Bells introduction provid...
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ISBN:9781319243012

ISBN:9780312622978

Cover: Street Life in Renaissance Rome, 1st Edition by Rudolph M. Bell

Traditional histories of the Renaissance usually focus on the eras development of high art and culture. In this intriguing volume, Rudolph M. Bell offers an alternative — and broader — portrait, highlighting daily life in Renaissance Rome, the center of western Christendom. Bells introduction provides a look at this era from the bottom up, focusing on the streets of Rome to view the eras impact on ordinary citizens, the plight of social outcasts, and the dangers of urban life. A rich collection of primary sources and illustrations bring to life the experience of everyday Romans, including women, the homeless, the ostracized (especially Jews), and other marginalized people. Protestant and Catholic reformers are also present, allowing for discussion about critical themes in sixteenth-century religious history. Documents include poetry, short fiction, songs, letters, trial records, household inventories, a diary entry, a papal bull, and travelers accounts. Additional pedagogy includes a chronology, questions for consideration, and selected bibliography.

Features

New to This Edition

"This lively collection of stories, songs, biographies and histories provides a fresh look at the Renaissance by focusing not on the great art and literature of the period, but instead on the way diverse Romans experienced it."
— Amanda Pipkin, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

"Bells introduction provides a witty and concise overview of the period and topic that will prepare student readers to understand and analyze a collection of sources that will take them into an exciting world of Renaissance Rome from the perspective of the street and through the eyes of visitors."

— Nichola Harris, State University of New York, Ulter

"This sophisticated collection gives an appropriate overview of the Roman Renaissance, an area of Italian history that is often neglected and deserves to be better known."

— Pietro Frassica, Princeton University 　

"This lively and accessible book is focused enough to elicit discussions among relatively inexperienced readers, yet the issues it raises — religion, class and status, political and economic exploitation — are certainly broad."

— Duane J. Osheim, University of Virginia

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

A Note about the Documents

List of Maps and Illustrations

PART ONE. Introduction: Rome: An Untold Story

     Defining the Renaissance

     A Pyramid of Renaissance Romes Peoples

     The Apex

     The Base

     The Excluded

     The Economics of Renaissance Rome (Legitimate and Not)

     Civic Re-Birth Defeated

     The Sack of Rome

     Western Christendom Sundered

PART TWO. The Documents

1. Renaissance Beginnings

     1. Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, ca. 1350-1352

     2. Anonymous, The Life of Cola di Rienzo, ca. 1358

     3. Catherine of Siena, Letter to Pope Gregory IX, ca. September 13, 1376

2. Renaissance Romans

     4. Giovanni Mattiotti, Francesca Romana, ca. 1440

     5. Johannes Burchardus, Lucretia Borgia and her family, 1501

     6. Anonymous, Canti Carnascialeschi, 15th and 16th centuries

     7. Anonymous, Pasquinate, 16th century

     8. Pope Paul IV, Cum Nimis Absurdum, 1555

     9. Alessandro Trajano Petronio, Del viver delli Romani, et di conservar la Sanita, 1592

     10. Giovanni Belori, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio: A Biography (1672) and an Inventory, 1605

     11. Testimony, Artemisia Gentileschi, 1612

3. Renaissance Visitors

     12. William Thomas, The History of Italy, 1549

     13. Joachim Du Bellay, The Regrets, 1555

     14. Anthony Munday, The English Roman Life, 1581

     15. Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Travel Journal: Rome, 1580-1581

4. The Sack of Rome

     16. Luigi Guicciardini, The Sack of Rome, 1527

         17. Francisco Delicado, La Lozana Andaluza, 1528

           18. Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, 1566

           19. Pietro Aretino, Aretinos Dialogues, 1536

      5. Reformation Voices

             20. Alfonso de Valdes, Dialogue of Lactancio and an Archdeacon, with a rebuttal letter from Baltasar Castiglione, 1528

             21. Desiderius Erasmus, Julius Excluded from Heaven: A Dialogue, 1514 and Selections from Letters, 1514-1531

             22. Martin Luther, Table Talk, ca. 1525-39

             23. Caspar Schoppe, Letter to Conrad Rittershausen on Giordano Bruno, February 8, 1600

        Appendixes

             A Chronology of Renaissance Rome

             Questions for Consideration

             Selected Bibliography

        Index
Headshot of Rudolph M Bell

Rudolph M Bell

Rudolph M. Bell (Ph.D. City University of New York) is a professor of European, Italian and Renaissance History at Rutgers University. His research focuses on Italian civilization and culture from the Middle Ages to the present. His books include The Voices of Gemma Galgani: The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint; How to Do It: Guides to Good Living for Renaissance Italians; and Holy Anorexia. He has also co-edited with Virginia Yans, Women on Their Own: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Being Single.