Time Schedule:
Sean F. Cocco
HSTEU 401
Seattle Campus
Conditions of Renaissance culture: Italian republics and despots, humanism, the classical ideal of the arts, Machiavelli and the foundations of modern political thought; the end of an era.
Class description
Early lectures will trace the evolution of the Italian city-states in the Middle Ages, outlining the social and political conditions that fostered the cultural flourishing of the peninsula in the 1400s and 1500s. Particular attention will be given to Florence in the early Renaissance, and to Rome in the “High Renaissance” that is closely associated with the art of Michelangelo and Raphael. Venice, Naples, and lesser city-states will also be the focus of lectures. The final week will address the waning of the Renaissance by considering the catastrophic Sack of Rome (1527) and the shifting sensibilities of the Baroque period. I will try to strike a balance between social, political, and cultural history. This means that art, humanism, and the close connection between cultural patronage and political power will be the object of study, but so will be the lives of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italians.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
No prerequisites.
Class assignments and grading
Essays, Midterm, Final.
