History 125
James Overfield
Summer 1993
All other readings are on reserve at Bailey-Howe Library
Jensen, 7-12; 85-103; Charles G. Nauert, Jr., "Medieval Society in Disarray," in The Age of Renaissance and Reformation; Bartlett, 43-53.
July 8: From Communes to City States
Jensen, 12-16, 51-61; Daniel Waley, The Italian City Republics (3rd edition), 59 68, 101-116 ("The Presuppositions of Government," Citizenship," "Patriotism," "Civic Spirit and the Visual Arts."), Bartlett, 67-70, 53-60.
July 9: From City States to Foreign Subjugation
Week 2:
July 12: The Renaissance Church and its Problems
Jensen, 29-34; 227-257; Bartlett, 297-315; 329-339.
July 13: Women and Families in the Renaissance
Jensen, 16-17; 103-117; Bartlett, 139-160; 174-181, 195-201, 206-208; Christine Klapisch-Zuber, "Childhood in Tuscany at the Beginning of the Fifteenth Century," in Women, Family, and Ritual in Renaissance Italy.
July 14: Vernacular Literature
Jensen, 23-25, 137-144; selections from Hack, Masterpieces Of World Literature (Dante: 849-862, 902-905, 1022-1026 [Inferno, cantos 1-3; 14; Paradiso, canto 33]; Petrarch: 1186-1191; Boccaccio: 1032-1045 [Decameron, 9th day, 5th tale: 9th day, 8th tale])
July 15: Petrarch and the Origins of Humanism
Jensen, 121-125; Donald J. Wilcox, "Petrarch and the Beginning of the Renaissance," in In Search of God and Self; Selections from Petrarch's letters in Petrarch, Petrarch: A Humanist Among Princes, ed. David Thompson: "To Posterity," "Letter to Cicero," "On Logicians," and "Latin Writers vs. Aristotle."
July 16: The Development of Italian Humanism
Jensen, 125-130; Bartlett, 71-88; 282-289, 292-296.
Week 3:
July 19: Machiavelli and Renaissance Political Thought
Jensen, 144-1 i, 320-323; Machiavelli, The Prince, Introductory Letter, Chs. 1-3, 6-10, 12, 14-19, 21, 24-26
July 20: Renaissance Philosophy and Science
Jensen, 131-137; Bartlett, 117-125, 129-137.
July 21, July 22: Renaissance Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
Jensen, 155-190; Bartlett, 212-239.
July 23: Final Examination
On the last day of class, there will be a short-answer test based largely Oh the terms listed on the study guides. This will count 10% of your grade.
On Monday, July 26 a final essay is due. It can be handed in at my office in Wheeler House (NW corner of Main and Prospect) or it can be mailed to me.
History Department
UVM
Wheeler House
Burlington VT 05405
If mailed, it must have a July 26 postmark to avoid penalty. This essay will be worth 30% of your grade.
The final 10% of your grade will be based on attendance and class participation. Formal lecturing will make up a comparatively small part of our class time. Discussion of reading material and responding to your questions will be our main activities, but not if participation levels are low. To help class discussion and focus your reading, everyone will be required to bring to class a few questions on the day's reading assignment. These will be collected every day. Handing in thoughtful quest ions on each assignment will improve your class participation grade. Failure to do so will have the opposite effect.
Good Luck!
ENDNOTES
1. Short answer test will be held at 9:30 on Friday, July 23. Plan on twenty to thirty minutes to complete the test. These questions will be based largely, but not exclusively, on the terms included in the assignment sheets.
2. The packet of your daily homework assignments can be handed in on Thursday or at the time of the short answer test. These assignments should all be individually stapled or paper clipped. Each assignment should be numbered handed in order of completion.
3. The final essay is due in my office or your local post office on Monday, July 26. Mailed essays must have a postmark of July 26 to avoid a penalty. Late papers will be accepted until Wednesday, July 28, but will be penalized one letter grade for each d ay late. Essay need not be typed, but as a gauge for length, it should run about 5 to 7 typed pages. If you have more to say, write to your heart's content. I'll read what you've written no matter how long it takes!
You may write on one of the following questions:
1. You have been chosen to deliver a guest lecture in an introductory course on European history on the subject of "Why the Renaissance took place in Italy." What would you include in your talk?
2. Ever since Burckhardt, at least some historians have tended to see the whole Italian Renaissance as a unified whole in which its characteristics, once established in the early 1300s, remained basically the same until the Renaissance ended in the e arly 1500s.