Civic Christianity in Renaissance Italy

Reviews / Votes

One of the book's greatest virtues is D'Andrea's minute attention to the evidence; he makes full use of the wealth of records left behind by Renaissance Italy's accountants and bureaucrats. . . The book is well-designed and clearly written, suitable for upper-level courses in Italian and early modern history. -- Carrie Benes * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW * D'Andrea succeeds very well in bringing out the special characteristics of Battuti of Treviso. He displays a sharp eye for detail, closely examines the social and political context of the institution, and writes the kind of satisfying history that springs from account and minute books rather than chronicles. -- Brian Pullan * AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, December 2007 * With its clear presentation and broad-ranging topics, this work makes an important contribution to the field of contraternity studies, as it highlights the multiple significances of these institutions in the centuries after their foundations. -- Roisin Cossar * RENAISSANCE QUARTERLY, Spring 2008 * This lively and richly-documented study goes beyond social and religious themes and directly addresses some of the key political questions of the Renaissance: the relations of center and periphery in the early modern state, the informal exercise of power in subject cities, the construction of social order through charity, medical care, and popular religion, and the relation of lay and clerical elements in civic religion. Necessary reading for those wanting to know what made the Renaissance city tick. -- Nicholas Terpstra * ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY * As lucid an account of confraternity life as one could hope to find, this study lays bare the myriad ways in which religion permeated the social fabric at the dawn of the modern age, and the role it played in the creation of a new civic consciousness. Based on meticulous archival research, Civic Christianity in Renaissance Italy enhances our understanding of several topics at once, as all great books do: the history of Venice and Treviso, and also the history of medicine, popular piety, confraternities, urban poor relief, and religious reform. A remarkable achievement. -- -- Carlos Eire, Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies, Yale University, and author of From Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth Century Spain A valuable contribution...based on extensive research in an unusually rich archive. * SIXTEENTH CENTURY JOURNAL *