Introduction: Hans Baron's Renaissance Humanism

Saving Renaissance and Reformation: History, Grammar, and Disagreements with the Dead

“…Hans Baron (1900-88) was right to stress the significance of Humanism, but not to identify it with a specific form of politics ( [29], cf. [30,31]). Paul Oskar Kristeller (1905Kristeller ( -1999 was equally right to point out that Humanism focused on the study of classical grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, and moral philosophy, but missed an opportunity to spell out why such studies mattered ( [32]; cf.…”

Political Views in the Preaching of Giovanni Dominici in Renaissance Florence, 1400-1406

“…The period was also marked by territorial conquests: Arezzo in 1384, Mon-23 tepulciano in 1390, and Pisa in 1406. 21 On the impact of the wars with Milan and Naples on Florentine culture see Baron's controversial thesis, reviewed in Hankins, 1995and 2000, and Witt, 1996. Florence was saved by the death of Milan's ruler in 1402.…”

“…His views are strongly rooted in the thought of the Tuscan Dominican Ptolemy of Lucca who wrote circa 1300and in his treatise De regimineprincipum. 5' He pointed out the danger of ignorant and unqualified rulers, and underlined wisdom and reputation as the criteria for selection: "Those who rule and govern others must be an exam-"On Ptolemy of Lucca, see Davis, 1974;Blythe. "On Salutati, see Witt, 1969, 1983. Dominici, however, pre- In short, Dominici supported the idea that a republic was superior to other forms of government.…”

“…5 He pointed out the danger of ignorant and unqualified rulers, and underlined wisdom and reputation as the criteria for selection: "Those who rule and govern others must be an exam-50 On Ptolemy of Lucca, see Davis, 1974;Blythe. 51 On Salutati, see Witt, 1969, 1983. On Bruni, see Hankins, 1995 "Rice.…”

“…"21 On the position of preachers in Italian cities, seeHoward, On the conflict between Florence and the papacy, see Holmes, 19-40; on The War of the Eight Saints and its impact on the Florentine collective memory, see Peterson, forthcoming b. 2 3 0n the rise of the territorial state, see Becker, 2: 201-51.24 On the impact of the wars with Milan and Naples on Florentine culture see Baron's controversial thesis, reviewed inHankins, 1995, and Witt, 1996. Baron argued that the civic ideals of independent self-government, political participation, and free speech were born in Florence in the early fifteenth century.…”