Public life in Renaissance Florence

by Richard C. Trexler

Hardcover with dust jacket. G/G. Dust jacket and boards are edge worn and scuffed; covered with mylar.

Genres: History, Italy, Renaissance, European History, Nonfiction

591 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Mir]

Between 1470-1530 Florence experienced a revolution in ritual behavior. Local sovereignty declined as Urban economies shifted to become part of national and international economies and central monarchies and courts took over the work of ritual. Cults of saints were shifted from their original locations to cities, often with their holy relics essentially pillaged and carried to th cities.

This study deals with conscious behavior, of groups, in public. Ritual was a legitimizing and centripetal force that drew pilgrims and held inhabitants, mediated by clergy.

[Charles Nicholas Saenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Trexler's "Public Life in Renaissance Florence" both irritates and satisfies. All too often, historians avoid fruitful engagement with theory. Breaking with this trend, Trexler's study builds upon the theoretical work of anthropologists and sociologists, especially with regard to ritual practices. His engagement here does sometimes lead to questionable interpretions, but the boldness of his assertions deserve merit. Using the ritual practices of Renaissance Florence as a lens, Trexler identifies what he calls a "ritual revolution" that took place in the final years of the fifteenth century. During this period, young boys and older giovani displaced generations once at the heart of Florentine public life, prestaging the fall of the republic and the ultimate rise of the Medici family.

The absence of "ritual" in the title of this work, and use of "public life" in its stead is a conspicuous choice. Ritual certainly seems to be the focus of this book, however, the conclusion to be drawn is an important one. Trexler's work offers a strong challenge to the Burckhardtian view of the Renaissance as the birth of human individuality. The view of life in Renaissance life presented here is a communal one with its expression focused in human interactions.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meanders its way through the first two thirds, but picks it up by the last third and argues forcefully that the ritual landscape of Florence was irremediably changed through Medicean intervention, but that these changes were adopted and used equally by Savonarola, Soderini, and the Last Republic as they were by the Medici. This suggests a real cultural shift in the use and meaning of public rituals.

Would have benefited from a more textured and respectful treatment of religion as a true motivator, and less cynicism overall. Still trapped in the tradition of the secular Renaissance, which has been more or less exploded since publication.