Aims

This Special Subject uses the works of one of the greatest minds in history, that of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), to explore the world of Renaissance Florence. Using Machiavelli’s writings, scholarship, plays, letters, and diplomatic texts as a lens, we will discover the various cultural, political, religious, and social issues which shaped events in Florence across the fifteenth and into the sixteenth centuries. This was a period of radical change, political upheaval, violence, and high personal drama. Across the module we will encounter key figures of the period, such as Cesare Borgia, Caterina Sforza, Pope Alexander VI, Girolamo Savonarola, and members of the Medici family, while also examining the tensions at work in Italy at this time, between city states and the Papacy, and with respect to external threats from France and the Holy Roman Empire. Florentine culture during the Renaissance will also be studied, particularly the importance of humanism, the arrival of print, the role of the genders, and the occupation with questions of morality.

Students will engage with a rich and active historiographical tradition, in which debates concerning the character of Machiavelli, his aims and beliefs, and his ultimate importance, will be confronted different approaches which instead of placing Machiavelli from front and centre broaden that focus to consider the world within which he moved. Students will also engage with a diverse array of sources, encompassing not only Machiavelli’s written works of numerous genres, but also works by his contemporaries, examples of print and scholarship, and images drawn from the rich offerings of Renaissance Florence.

Outline Of Syllabus

Each week of the module will address a different theme related to Florentine history, approaching it through both the works of Machiavelli and a number of other sources, including print and images. Topics typically covered during this module may include:
• Citizenship and living in a civic society
• Political Power
• Religion
• Gender and morality
• The function of war
• Renaissance Humanism and Print Culture
• The afterlife of Machiavelli

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures will introduce topics with key debates and themes. Seminars encourage independent learning, discussion, and debate, while also guiding students on how to approach primary sources and historiography in a critical and effective manner.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The shorter written exercise will take place during the semester, and will focus on analysis of sources, allowing both the accumulation of understanding and a tool for tracking and informing student progress. The final essay will test both knowledge and understanding, and the students’ ability to synthesise and evaluate the themes studied during the module.

The presentations will, while developing the relevant skill-set for presenting ideas, build up knowledge of how to analyse primary sources.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending semester 1 only are required to finish their assessment while in Newcastle. Where an exam is present, an alternative form of assessment will be set and where coursework is present, an alternative deadline will be set. Details of the alternative assessment will be provided by the module leader.