Challenges to Authority; The Renaissance in Europe: A Cultural Enquiry, Volume 3

by Edited by Peter Elmer

• ISBN13: 9780300082159
• ISBN10: 0300082150
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2000-09-10
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

The evolution and reception of the Renaissance was mediated by developments in various other spheres of early modern life and culture. Foremost among these were the religious changes initiated by the Protestant Reformation, which are discussed in the opening chapters of this book. Religious and cultural developments in Germany are contrasted with sixteenth-century Spain and are further explored through the study of the picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes.

The place of Renaissance science or natural philosophy is also the subject of critical evaluation in this book. Case studies on the anatomical revolution, Galileo and court patronage, and Paracelsus illustrate new approaches in the field. Subsequent chapters explore the Renaissance fascination with witchcraft and demonology in both learned discourse (Pico's Strix) and popular drama (The Witch of Edmonton). The volume concludes with a study of one of the most influential and provocative writers of the sixteenth century, Michel de Montaigne, whose Essays provide stimulating material for a reassessment of the

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	xiii
Peter Elmer
Renaissance and reform	1	(54)
Anne Laurence
Introduction	1	(3)
Reform before the Reformation	4	(7)
Humanism and reform	11	(2)
Humanism in pre-Reformation Germany	13	(7)
The prelude to reform	20	(1)
Luther	21	(7)
Luther and humanism	28	(3)
Luther and spiritual reform	31	(3)
Luther and institutional reform	34	(4)
Melanchthon	38	(5)
Zwingli	43	(3)
Calvin	46	(4)
The Protestant Reformation: a Renaissance of the north?	50	(5)
The spread of reform	55	(48)
Anne Laurence
Introduction	55	(1)
The study of reform	56	(3)
Augsburg	59	(11)
Zwickau	70	(12)
The Peasants' War	82	(6)
The progress of reform: success or failure?	88	(3)
Reform outside Germany: counter-reform or Catholic reform?	91	(8)
Conclusion	99	(4)
The representation of reform	103	(66)
Anne Laurence
David Matter
Nick Webb
Reform and ritual	103	(19)
The debate about images: iconoclasm and iconophobia	122	(7)
Reform and portraiture: Luther as `hero'	129	(8)
Music and the culture of reform	137	(6)
Reformation and Renaissance visual culture	143	(26)
Lazarillo de Tormes	169	(42)
Keith Whitlock
Introduction	169	(1)
Background	170	(8)
Lazarillo: humanist parody?	178	(8)
Lazarillo and the humanist critique of poverty	186	(1)
Autobiography: truth or fiction?	187	(3)
Lazarillo as social commentary	190	(2)
The friar, the pardoner and Luther	192	(3)
The tambourine-painter, the chaplain and prosperity	195	(3)
The constable, the civil service and illuminist vocabulary	198	(1)
Anti-Spanish propaganda	198	(8)
Western literary tradition: genealogy and innovation	206	(5)
Did science have a Renaissance?	211	(38)
Peter Elmer
Introduction	211	(2)
Recent developments in the history of Renaissance science	213	(1)
The Renaissance and the scientific revolution	214	(2)
The anatomical revolution of the sixteenth century	216	(16)
Renaissance natural philosophy	232	(1)
Natural philosophy, the court and the role of patronage	233	(5)
Galileo, the Medici, and scientific patronage in Renaissance Italy	238	(6)
Conclusion	244	(5)
The `dark side': occult philosophy, magic and witchcraft	249	(38)
Peter Elmer
Introduction	249	(1)
Occult philosophy and Renaissance science	250	(8)
Paracelsus and the paracelsian revolution in medicine	258	(10)
Renaissance demonology	268	(13)
Conclusion	281	(6)
`Out of my door you witch': The Witch of Edmonton	287	(46)
Richard Danson Brown
Introduction: representing witches	287	(5)
Witchcraft in England	292	(13)
Collaboration in The Witch	305	(5)
Studying The Witch	310	(4)
The literary language of The Witch	314	(10)
The Witch and The Merry Wives	324	(4)
Conclusion: Renaissance drama and witchcraft	328	(5)
Montaigne on Montaigne	333	(64)
Antony Lentin
Introduction	333	(1)
Montaigne and the Essays	334	(22)
Montaigne on Renaissance beliefs and attitudes	356	(37)
Conclusion	393	(4)
Glossary	397	(7)
Acknowledgements	404	(1)
Index	405