Transregional Lordship and the Italian Renaissance
Rene de Challant, 1504-1565
Published on 1. October 2025
330 pages
978-1-040-77331-4 (ISBN)
Description
Rene de Challant, whose holdings ranged from northwestern Italy to the Alps and over the mountains into what is today western Switzerland and eastern France, was an Italian and transregional dynast. The spatially dispersed kind of lordship that he practiced and his lifetime of service to the house of Savoy, especially in the context of the Italian Wars, show how the Sabaudian lands, neighboring Alpine states, and even regions further afield were tied to the history of the Italian Renaissance. Situating Rene de Challant on the edge of the Italian Renaissance helps us to understand noble kin relations, political networks, finances, and lordship with more precision. A spatially inflected analysis of Rene's life brings to light several themes related to transregional lordship that have been obscured due to the traditional tendencies of Renaissance studies. It uncovers an 'Italy' whose boundaries extend not just into the Mediterranean, but into regions beyond the Alps.
Reviews / Votes
This is a thoroughly researched study based on vast archival materials in over a dozen different archives in France, Italy, and Switzerland. And as a study of lordship-the exercise of noble privileges and responsibilities, or as the author puts it, the exercise of spatial politics-this is a fascinating and significant case study that deserves a wide readership.- Mack P. Holt, Renaissance and Reformation, 43.4 (Fall 2021),C'est donc un bel ouvrage qui, en plus de renouveler le regard sur un personnage important des guerres d'Italie et pour le duche de Savoie, propose de reconsiderer le role de l'Etat durant la Renaissance italienne en partant de la subsistance de liens feodaux etendus a l'echelle europeenne.- Jean Senie, Laboratoire italien, October 2020,
Specialists in the wide range of fields that Vester touches on, especially for those with interests in transregional connections, will find his work a treasure trove of useful information for comparative purposes. The breadth, depth, and thoroughness of Vester's scholarship are truly impressive, and offer a good indication of what research in the history of smaller states and less well-known political actors might yet produce.,- James R. Smither, Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 75, No. 2
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
File size
13,97 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-77331-4 (9781040773314)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 12/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€68.30
Not yet published
Book
04/2020
Amsterdam University Press
€176.60
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Matthew Vester is Professor of History at West Virginia University and the author of Renaissance Dynasticism and Apanage Politics: Jacques de Savoie-Nemours, 1531-1585 (Truman State, 2012). He is the editor of Sabaudian Studies: Political Culture, Dynasty, and Territory (1400-1700) (Truman State, 2013) and co-editor of Tra Francia e Spagna: Reti diplomatiche, territori e culture nei domini sabaudi fra Tre e Settecento (Carocci, 2018).
Content
Abbreviations, List of maps and tables, List of figures, Acknowledgments, Chapter 1 On the edge of the Italian Renaissance, The Italian Renaissance, The Renaissance nobility, Spatial analysis and mobility, Chapter 2 Rene's early career to 1536,Rene's early life, Rene and Sabaudo-Swiss politics prior to 1536, The lordship of Valangin and the counts of Neuchatel, Before the storm, 1531-1534, Chapter 3 Rene's growing influence during the war years, 1536-1553,The invasions of 1536, Valangin, the Reform, and relations with the Countess of Neuchatel, Political leadership and mobility during a time of uncertainty, Struggling for the sovereignty of Valangin, 1542-1565, Chapter 4 Rene and Duke Emanuel Filibert, Rene and Emanuel Filibert, Vercelli capture and efforts to get released, The twilight of a career, Family matters and Rene's last years, Historiographic perspectives of Rene's life, Chapter 5 Kinship and noble life, Kin relations, Relations with wives and children, Nobles and domestic life, Legal issues, Chapter 6 The Challant political networks,Rene's networks,-The regional scope of Rene's ties,-Rene's ecclesiastical network,-Rene's key subordinates, Mencia's network, Letters and information, Relations with officials, Chapter 7 Finance and brokerage, Nobles and finance, Rene as borrower and broker,-The financial situation inherited by Rene,-1526-1536: Finance and Swiss negotiations,-Finance during the war years to 1545,-From the 1545 'restructuring' to the second imprisonment, The financial implications of ransom, Financial recovery, Chapter 8 Lordship, Valangin during the war years,Beaufremont, Rene and the practice of lordship,-Fiefs and fiscality,-Sample castellany accounts: Chatillon, 1559-1560,-Administration of the fiefs, Chapter 9 The embodiment of spatial politics, Index.
