The Renaissance in National Context aims to dispel the commonly-held view that the great efflorescence of art, learning and culture in the period from c. 1350 to 1550 was solely or even primarily an Italian phenomenon. These essays address the development of art, literacy and humanism across the length and breadth of Europe, showing that the Renaissance had many sources independent of Italy, meeting numerous local needs, and serving diverse local functions, specific to the political, economic, social and religious climates of various regions and principalities. The authors show that though the Renaissance was in a fashion backward-looking, recovering the culture of antiquity, it nevertheless served as the springboard for many specifically modern developments, including the rise of diplomacy, education, printing, nationalism, and the "new science."

"This book provides a survey of European painting between 1260 and 1510, in both northern and southern Europe, based largely on the National Gallery collection ... some 70 of the finest and best known paintings in the Gallery are examined in detail"--Cover.

The 'scientific revolution' of the sixteenth and seventeenth century continues to command attention in historical debate. Controversy still rages about the extent to which it was essentially a 'revolution of the mind', or how far it must also be explained by wider considerations. In this volume, leading scholars of early modern science argue the importance of specifically national contexts for understanding the transformation in natural philosophy between Copernicus and Newton. Distinct political, religious, cultural and linguistic formations shaped scientific interests and concerns differently in each European state and explain different levels of scientific intensity. Questions of institutional development and of the transmission of scientific ideas are also addressed. The emphasis upon national determinants makes this volume an interesting contribution to the study of the Scientific Revolution.

More than ever before, the Renaissance stands as one of the defining moments in world history. Between 1400 and 1600, European perceptions of society, culture, politics and even humanity itself emerged in ways that continue to affect not only Europe but the entire world. This wide-ranging exploration of the Renaissance sees the period as a time of unprecedented intellectual excitement and cultural experimentation and interaction on a global scale, alongside a darker side of religion, intolerance, slavery, and massive inequality of wealth and status. It guides the reader through the key issues that defined the period, from its art, architecture, and literature, to advancements in the fields of science, trade, and travel. In its incisive account of the complexities of the political and religious upheavals of the period, the book argues that Europe's reciprocal relationship with its eastern neighbours offers us a timely perspective on the Renaissance as a moment of global inclusiveness that still has much to teach us today.

The collection of essays by prominent historians of the Reformation explores the experience of religious reform in 'national context', discussing similarities and differences between the reform movements in a dozen different countries of sixteenth-century Europe. Each author provides an interpretative essay emphasising local peculiarities and national variants on the broader theme of the Reformation as a European phenomenon. The individual essays thus emphasise the local preconditions and limitations which encountered the Reformation as it spread from Germany into most of the countries of western and central Europe. Together they present a picture of the many-sided nature of the Reformation as it grew up in each 'national context'. The book includes examples of countries where the Reformation was strikingly successful, as well as those where it failed to make an impact. A final comparative essay seeks to understand the different 'Reformations' as variations on an overall theme. This volume forms part of a sequence of collections of essays which began with The Enlightenment in national context (1981) and has continued with Revolution in history (1986), Romanticism in national context (1988), Fin de siecle and its legacy (1990), The Renaissance in national context (1991), The Scientific Revolution in national context (1992), and The national question in Europe in historical context (1993). The purpose of these and other envisaged collections is to bring together comparative, national and interdisciplinary approaches to the history of great movements in the development of human thought and action.

Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.