The Last Days of the Renaissance: And the March to Modernity - Hardcover

Rabb, Theodore K.

 
9780465068012: The Last Days of the Renaissance: And the March to Modernity

Synopsis

A leading Renaissance scholar examines what brought one of history's most fascinating eras to its end and gave rise to the modern era There is little debate that the Renaissance began at the end of the fourteenth century. Its end, though, is much more difficult to pin down. Here, for the first time, renowned classicist Theodore Rabb defines the changes that marked the shift away from the Renaissance to Modernity, and explains why these changes took place. The European Renaissance is usually characterized by the belief that a distinct antique civilization represented the ideal for all human endeavours. But there were other unities that defined the era: a shift in the role of the aristocracy from a warrior class to a cultural elite, a growth in education, a more thoughtful probing into the sciences, and the use of the arts for non-religious purposes. By the dawn of the seventeenth century, four developments had swept over the world, altering these unities and ending the Renaissance: a break with the period's obsession with the past, which invited openness to innovation; a quest for central political control to cure increasing instability; a change in direction of people's passion and enthusiasm; and a new commitment to reason. With thoughtful, wide-lens scholarship with close, detailed looks throughout at the significant moments of change, Rabb offers us a radically new understanding of one of the most pivotal shifts in modern history.

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About the Author

Theodore K. Rabb is a professor of Renaissance and early modern history at Princeton University. His books include Jacobean Gentleman and The Struggle for Stability in Early Modern Europe. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

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Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780465068029: The Last Days of the Renaissance: And the March to Modernity

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0465068022 ISBN 13:  9780465068029
Publisher: Basic Books, 2007
Softcover