Though he had begun life as an energetic mercenary soldier, writes Alan Haynes, the Duke of Urbino became a celebrated humanist and a generous patron of contemporary art and learning.

Read more about the Renaissance's only "Renaissance Man" here: LINK

A nice set of podcasts to help you understand some of the big issues in the Italian Renaissance.

Machiavelli and the Italian City States

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli. With Quentin Skinner, Lisa Jardine and Evelyn Welch .

Download 20MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

The Schism

Melvyn Bragg examines events surrounding the medieval division of the Christian Church. With Henrietta Leyser, Norman Housley and Jonathan Sheppard.

Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

The Borgias

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Borgias, the most notorious family in Renaissance Italy. Famed for their treachery and corruption, the Borgias produced two popes during their time of dominance in Rome in the late 15th century. Murder, intrigue and power politics characterised their rule, but many of the stories now told about their depraved behaviour emerged after their demise. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London; Catherine Fletcher, Lecturer in Public History at the University of Sheffield and Christine Shaw, Honorary Research Fellow at Swansea University.

Download 20MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

F.M. Godfrey describes how, during the fifteenth century, the courtly civilization of Ferrara gave birth to splendid works of art. Read more HERE

Alexander Lee admires an article by Frederick Godfrey from 1952, reflecting new attitudes towards the Renaissance.

An interesting look into the historiography of the Renaissance period. Lee shows how historians moved from Burckhardt's rose-tinted view of patronage, through Godfrey's interpretation and towards a modern view of the Medici where art was more about power than beauty.

Read more HERE

You can read the original Godfrey article HERE

A sumptuary law passed in Florence in 1356 forbade servant women to wear buttons above the elbow. Stella Mary Pearce uses this as a window through which the state of mind of Florence, not only towards buttons and servant girls, but also towards the highly-complicated phenomenon of emergent humanism might be examined.

Simon Sebag Montefiore charts Rome's rise from the abandonment and neglect of the 14th century into the everlasting seat of the papacy recognised today. His story takes us through the debauchery and decadence of the Renaissance, the horrors of the Sack of Rome and the Catholic Reformation, through to the arrival of fascism and the creation of the Vatican State. By taking us inside Rome's most sensational palaces and churches and telling the stories behind some of the world's most beloved art, Sebag Montefiore's final instalment is a visual feast.

Some extracts and key details on main Renaissance humanists are given below:

• Petrach
  
• Poliziano
• da Vinci
• Vasari
• Machiavelli

If there is such a thing as a "manifesto" of the Italian Renaissance, Pico della Mirandola's "Oration on the Dignity of Man" is it; no other work more forcefully, eloquently, or thoroughly remaps the human landscape to centre all attention on human capacity and the human perspective. Pico was a "humanist," following a way of thinking that originated as far back as the fourteenth century. Late Medieval and Renaissance humanism was a response to the dry concerns for logic and linguistics that animated the other great late Medieval Christian philosophy, Scholasticism. The Humanists, rather than focussing on what they considered futile questions of logic and semantics, focussed on the relation of the human to the divine, seeing in human beings the summit and purpose of God's creation. Their concern was to define the human place in God's plan and the relation of the human to the divine; therefore, they centred all their thought on the "human" relation to the divine, and hence called themselves "humanists." At no point do they ignore their religion; humanism is first and foremost a religious movement, not a secular one (what we call "secular humanism" in modern political discourse is a world view that arises in part from "humanism" but is, nevertheless, essentially conceived in opposition to "humanism").  You can read the whole of the Oratio (only 68 pages) by clicking the image or following the link HERE.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Borgias, the most notorious family in Renaissance Italy. Famed for their treachery and corruption, the Borgias produced two popes during their time of dominance in Rome in the late 15th century. The most well-known of these two popes is Alexander VI, previously Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia. He was accused of buying votes to elect him to the papacy and openly promoted his children in positions of power. Rodrigo's daughter, Lucrezia, is widely remembered as a ruthless poisoner; his son, Cesare, as a brutal soldier.

Murder, intrigue and power politics characterised their rule, but many of the stories now told about their depraved behaviour and evil ways emerged after their demise and gave rise to the so-called 'Black Legend'. The sullied reputation of the Borgia dynasty endures even today and their lives have provided a major theme for plays, novels and over forty films.

A crash course introduction to the Renaissance. An amusing introduction to some of the complexities of a fascinating period of history.