TheHumanistWorldofRenaissanceFlorence Thisbookoffersamajorcontributionforunderstandingthespreadand appealofthehumanistmovementinRenaissanceFlorence.Investigating the connections among the individuals who were part of the humanist movement,BrianJeffreyMaxsonreconstructsthenetworksthatbound themtogether.Overturningtheproblematiccategorizationofhumanists as either professionals or amateurs, a distinction based on economics and the production of original works in Latin, he offers a new way of understandinghowthehumanistmovementcouldincorporatesomany whowereilliterateinLatin,butwhononethelesswereresponsibleforan important intellectual and cultural paradigm shift. The book demon- strates the massive appeal of the humanist movement across socioeco- nomic and political groups and argues that the movement became so successfulandsowidespreadbecausebythe1420s–30sthedemandsof common rituals began requiring humanist speeches. Over time, deep humanist learning became more valuable in the marketplace of social capital,whichraisedthestatusofthemostlearnedhumanistsandhelped disseminatehumanistideasbeyondFlorence. Brian Jeffrey Maxson is an assistant professor of history at East Tennessee State University. His research focuses on the cultural and political history of late medieval and Renaissance Europe. His articles haveappearedinRenaissanceStudiesandITattiStudies,amongother journals. He has held fellowships from the Fulbright and Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Foundations and has given invited lectures at the University of Oxford and the Ludwig Maximilians Universität in Munich. The Humanist World of Renaissance Florence BRIAN JEFFREY MAXSON EastTennesseeStateUniversity 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013–2473,usa CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107043916 ©BrianJeffreyMaxson2014 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2014 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Maxson,Brian,1978– ThehumanistworldofRenaissanceFlorence/BrianMaxson,EastTennessee StateUniversity. pages cm Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. isbn978-1-107-04391-6(hardback:alk.paper)isbn978-1-107-61964-7 1. Humanism–Italy–Florence–History. 2. Renaissance–Italy– Florence. 3. Florence(Italy)–History–1421–1737 1. Title. dg737.55m39 2014 9450.51105–dc23 2013027341 isbn978-1-107-04391-6Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof urlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. ToJenniferandAlex Contents Acknowledgments pageix Introduction:ASocialConceptionoftheHumanist Movement 1 1 LearnedConnectionsandtheHumanistMovement 18 2 LiteraryandSocialHumanists 40 3 TheSocialOriginsoftheFlorentineHumanists 63 4 TheHumanistDemandsofRitual 85 5 CivicFailureoftheLiteraryHumanistsorLiterary FailureoftheCivicHumanists? 107 6 TheRiseoftheSocialHumanists,1400–1455 128 7 HumanismasaMeanstoSocialStatus,1456–1485 153 Conclusion 177 Notes 185 Bibliography 255 Index 283 vii