Contesting the Renaissance

In the nineteenth century, the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt famously defined the Renaissance as a period of progress, reason, the emergence of the individual, and the beginning of modernity. In this book, William Caferro asks how accurate Burckhardt s definition was and summarizes recent scholarly debates about the nature of the Renaissance.

Caferro s account engages with a range of specific controversies, including: the nature of the Renaissance (wo)man; whether or not the Renaissance was a period of prosperity; and how the relationship between reason and faith altered during this period. The book takes a balanced approach to the many different problems and perspectives that characterize Renaissance studies.