Brian FitzGerald
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198808244
- eISBN:
- 9780191845956
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198808244.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History, History of Religion
The work of the Paduan humanist Albertino Mussato is the focus of this chapter. Mussato shared many of Nicholas Trevet’s views on the nature and purview of prophetic inspiration: he turned away from ...
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The work of the Paduan humanist Albertino Mussato is the focus of this chapter. Mussato shared many of Nicholas Trevet’s views on the nature and purview of prophetic inspiration: he turned away from a predictive, apocalyptic understanding of prophecy and saw the workings of the Spirit in philosophical poetry, which combined harmonious expression with ethical import. Yet unlike Trevet, Mussato was a layman, and he staked his claim to prophetic status as a poet in opposition to much of scholastic and clerical tradition. Mussato thus became involved in a polemical exchange with a local Dominican more concerned with articulating limits than with furthering the implications of work such as Trevet’s. By insisting that the prophetic office could not be restricted to the professional theologian, Mussato encapsulated the complicated manner in which multiple strands of the medieval prophetic tradition intertwined.Less
The work of the Paduan humanist Albertino Mussato is the focus of this chapter. Mussato shared many of Nicholas Trevet’s views on the nature and purview of prophetic inspiration: he turned away from a predictive, apocalyptic understanding of prophecy and saw the workings of the Spirit in philosophical poetry, which combined harmonious expression with ethical import. Yet unlike Trevet, Mussato was a layman, and he staked his claim to prophetic status as a poet in opposition to much of scholastic and clerical tradition. Mussato thus became involved in a polemical exchange with a local Dominican more concerned with articulating limits than with furthering the implications of work such as Trevet’s. By insisting that the prophetic office could not be restricted to the professional theologian, Mussato encapsulated the complicated manner in which multiple strands of the medieval prophetic tradition intertwined.
Alexander Lee
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199675159
- eISBN:
- 9780191753107
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199675159.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, History of Religion
In the sixth canto of the Purgatorio, Dante Alighieri lamented the pitiable condition of Italy. Though once the donna di provincie, it was now the ‘dwelling place of sorrow’. Bereft of peace, its ...
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In the sixth canto of the Purgatorio, Dante Alighieri lamented the pitiable condition of Italy. Though once the donna di provincie, it was now the ‘dwelling place of sorrow’. Bereft of peace, its cities were wracked by constant strife. Attributing this to the absence of imperial governance, he called on Albert of Habsburg to right Italy’s woes with all haste. As this chapter shows, the earliest humanists embraced the imperial cause for much the same reasons. Although aware of the condition of the regnum Italicum, they were concerned primarily with the affairs of individual cities, and used their classical learning to rationalize the character of urban life. Worn down by civil strife, they too called upon kings and emperors to restore their peace and liberty. But while some associated the Empire with signorial government, the most striking and persistent appeals to imperial authority came from humanists living under communal regimes.Less
In the sixth canto of the Purgatorio, Dante Alighieri lamented the pitiable condition of Italy. Though once the donna di provincie, it was now the ‘dwelling place of sorrow’. Bereft of peace, its cities were wracked by constant strife. Attributing this to the absence of imperial governance, he called on Albert of Habsburg to right Italy’s woes with all haste. As this chapter shows, the earliest humanists embraced the imperial cause for much the same reasons. Although aware of the condition of the regnum Italicum, they were concerned primarily with the affairs of individual cities, and used their classical learning to rationalize the character of urban life. Worn down by civil strife, they too called upon kings and emperors to restore their peace and liberty. But while some associated the Empire with signorial government, the most striking and persistent appeals to imperial authority came from humanists living under communal regimes.
Robert S. Miola
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112648
- eISBN:
- 9780191670831
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112648.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Shakespeare Studies
Albertino Mussato's Ecerinis, the first tragedy of the Trecento, exhibited the first of many instances of the how the portrayal of certain protagonists and tyrants seems relatively similar across ...
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Albertino Mussato's Ecerinis, the first tragedy of the Trecento, exhibited the first of many instances of the how the portrayal of certain protagonists and tyrants seems relatively similar across several different tragedies of Senecan form and style. Such tyrants are illustrated as characters that exude lawless egoism, glorification, and an almost absurd degree of persistent self-expression. In this case, political power for such characters presents opportunities for fulfilling all sorts of desires. Senecan style facilitates and features the shift of such insatiability of desires to theomachic aspiration. For tyrants with such power, possibilities are endless because their actions are not merely limited to those that can be recognized by making use of the plain senses. This chapter focuses on providing a comparison of how Mussato and Shakespeare express their thoughts regarding Renaissance and Senecan tyrants.Less
Albertino Mussato's Ecerinis, the first tragedy of the Trecento, exhibited the first of many instances of the how the portrayal of certain protagonists and tyrants seems relatively similar across several different tragedies of Senecan form and style. Such tyrants are illustrated as characters that exude lawless egoism, glorification, and an almost absurd degree of persistent self-expression. In this case, political power for such characters presents opportunities for fulfilling all sorts of desires. Senecan style facilitates and features the shift of such insatiability of desires to theomachic aspiration. For tyrants with such power, possibilities are endless because their actions are not merely limited to those that can be recognized by making use of the plain senses. This chapter focuses on providing a comparison of how Mussato and Shakespeare express their thoughts regarding Renaissance and Senecan tyrants.
