Transregional Lordship and the Italian Renaissance
Rene de Challant, 1504-1565
1st Edition
Published on 20. April 2020
330 pages
978-90-485-5067-8 (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
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Digital original
Illustrations
10 Illustrations, black and white
File size
1,92 MB
ISBN-13
978-90-485-5067-8 (9789048550678)
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
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
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
