The Prince and the «Condottiero» in Italian Humanism and Renaissance

This volume investigates the process of definition, evolution and representation of the figures of the prince and the condottiero in Italian Humanism and Renaissance. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach and considering different cultural centers, the essays explore this subject across historiography, literature, political theory and art.

This volume explores the process of definition, evolution and representation of the figures of the prince and the condottiero in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy: two roles that often appear as interconnected and, in some cases, are embodied by the same political actor. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach and considering different cultural centres (e. g. Milan, Florence, Naples, Ferrara), the contributions to this book examine different forms and genres through which these key political figures have been portrayed and theorised: historical narratives, political treatises, chivalric romances, historical-epic poetry, and visual and artistic representations. These media overlap in various ways but have been rarely considered through a comparative and unified perspective. This viewpoint helps to highlight the synergies, similarities and specificities of these fields and brings recognition to their contribution to the evolution of political ideologies in the Italian Renaissance.

Contents: Marta Celati: The Felix Prince-Condottiero in Humanist Literature: The Portrayal of Alfonso the Magnanimous's Felicitas - Antonietta Iacono: Le parole del re- condottiero - Hester Schadee: Poggio Bracciolini's Mirrors-for-Prelates: Constructing Grievable Lives - James Hankins: Italian Humanists on Reform of the Condottieri System: The Case of Francesco Patrizi of Siena - Guido Cappelli: Classicismo e tirannide nell'Italia umanistica - Maria Pavlova: 'Dengnissimo mio chapitano': The Figure of the Military Commander in Lorenzo degli Olbizi and Leonardo di Francesco Benci - Valentina Gritti: Eroi antichi alla corte di Ferrara: Alessandro, Cesare, Ciro il Grande ed Ercole specula principis della casa d'Este - Anna Carocci: Buoni e cattivi: Agnadello nelle guerre in ottava rima - Claudia Daniotti: Ancient Heroes to Teach the Young Ludovico il Moro: Alexander the Great and the Indian King Porus in the Codice Sforza - Daniel Jaquet: The Condottiero in Bronze: Portrait Medals of Masters of Arms in Italian Courts (1480-1580) - Livia Stoenescu: The Dynastic Portrait of Charles V and the Habsburgs in the Ephemera of Early Modern Italian Art - Stefano Jossa: Un principe caduto da cavallo: Il Principe e Gli Heroici di Giovan Battista Pigna tra poetica e politica - Bryan Brazeau: Highway to Heaven? Dissimulating Christian Leadership in Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata - Simone Testa: Sanguine and Melancholic: The Ideal Prince according to Scipione Di Castro - Cristina Zampese: 'Salerno alto e gentile': Fermenti intellettuali e rovina politica nel principato di Ferrante Sanseverino e Isabella Villamarina - Eugenio Refini: The Unhappy Prince: Queering a Renaissance Myth.