Synopses & Reviews
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.
Synopsis
Winner of the Howard R. Marraro Prize for Italian History from the American Historical AssociationSelected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2003
Italian Renaissance universities were Europe's intellectual leaders in humanistic studies, law, medicine, philosophy, and science. Employing some of the foremost scholars of the time--including Pietro Pomponazzi, Andreas Vesalius, and Galileo Galilei--the Italian Renaissance university was the prototype of today's research university. This is the first book in any language to offer a comprehensive study of this most influential institution.
In this magisterial study, noted scholar Paul F. Grendler offers a detailed and authoritative account of the universities of Renaissance Italy. Beginning with brief narratives of the origins and development of each university, Grendler explores such topics as the number of professors and their distribution by discipline, student enrollment (some estimates are the first attempted), famous faculty members, budget and salaries, and relations with civil authority. He discusses the timetable of lectures, student living, foreign students, the road to the doctorate, and the impact of the Counter Reformation. He shows in detail how humanism changed research and teaching, producing the medical Renaissance of anatomy and medical botany, new approaches to Aristotle, and mathematical innovation. Universities responded by creating new professorships and suppressing older ones. The book concludes with the decline of Italian universities, as internal abuses and external threats--including increased student violence and competition from religious schools--ended Italy's educational leadership in the seventeenth century.
Synopsis
Italian Renaissance universities were Europe's intellectual leaders in humanistic studies, law, medicine, philosophy, and science. Employing some of the foremost scholars of the time--including Pietro Pomponazzi, Andreas Vesalius, and Galileo Galilei--the Italian Renaissance university was the prototype of today's research university. This is the first book in any language to offer a comprehensive study of this most influential institution.
In this magisterial study, noted scholar Paul F. Grendler offers a detailed and authoritative account of the universities of Renaissance Italy. Beginning with brief narratives of the origins and development of each university, Grendler explores such topics as the number of professors and their distribution by discipline, student enrollment (some estimates are the first attempted), famous faculty members, budget and salaries, and relations with civil authority. He discusses the timetable of lectures, student living, foreign students, the road to the doctorate, and the impact of the Counter Reformation. He shows in detail how humanism changed research and teaching, producing the medical Renaissance of anatomy and medical botany, new approaches to Aristotle, and mathematical innovation. Universities responded by creating new professorships and suppressing older ones. The book concludes with the decline of Italian universities, as internal abuses and external threats--including increased student violence and competition from religious schools--ended Italy's educational leadership in the seventeenth century.