The Renaissance in Europe

Book excerpt: Current research on the Renaissance has emphasized the need to look again at the original texts, documents and artefacts which, taken together, constitute the primary source of evidence for the re-evaluation of its historical significance. This volume represents one attempt to reflect this renewal of interest in returning to first principles. The Anthology presents a series of carefully selected primary sources across a wide range of disciplines, ordered thematically and reflecting the interests of scholars in a variety of fields of Renaissance studies. There are sections on humanism and its impact on philosophy and politics; Renaissance court culture, with particular emphasis on the courts of northern Italy and the Kingdom of Hungary; poetry and drama in Renaissance Britain; the Reformation; and science, magic and witchcraft. While some of the extracts are short and familiar, others appear here, in translation, for the first time, including, for example, an early sixteenth-century demonology by the Italian humanist Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola. The volume is illustrated throughout and each extract is introduced by a brief headnote describing the author and the source. Peter Elmer is Staff Tutor and Lecturer in the History of Science and Techology, Nick Webb is Staff Tutor and Lecturer in Art History, and Roberta Wood is Course Manager in the Arts Faculty, all at the Open University.