Twilight of the Renaissance: The Life of Juan de Valdes - Softcover

Crews, Daniel A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1487526091 ISBN 13: 9781487526092

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2008

Synopsis

Diplomat, courtier, and heretic, Juan de Valdés (c.1500-1541) was one of the most famous humanist writers in Renaissance Spain. In this biography, Daniel A. Crews paints a lively portrait of a complex and fascinating figure by focusing on Valdés's service as an imperial courtier and how his employments in Italy - after brushes with the Spanish Inquisition - influenced both Spanish diplomacy and his own religious thought. Twilight of the Renaissance focuses on Valdés's political activities in Charles V's Italian alliance system and negotiations with the papacy, while painting a lively portrait of an intriguing and complex Renaissance figure.

Crews examines how Valdés, who was praised by two popes and, the emperor, was also branded a heretic almost immediately after his death. By considering Valdés's spirituality, as well as egotism, this incisive work reveals how the libertine atmosphere of the late Renaissance challenges the saintly Socratic image Valdés fashioned for himself in his writings.

About this title

About the Author

Daniel A. Crews is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Central Missouri.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1487526091
• ISBN 13: 9781487526092
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320