The 400 years between the birth of Dante and the death of Galileo are among the most dazzling in history. As said in the title of our Core Book, it led the “Transformation of Western Civilization.” Florentine humanism promoted the ideas of common humanity and reason, rather than faith alone. These ideas began and flourished in Florence. It argued the importance of this world, as opposed to complete concentration on the next world. Its artists are regarded to this day as among the greatest ever, as travelers to Italy can attest. Its businessmen and bankers pioneered trade and banking. Its leaders were sometimes ruthless, but fostered the progress of Florence all these fields. In literature, it produced Dante, Petrarch, Bocaccio and Machiavelli. In science, it produced Galileo and that led to the debate (still going on) between religion and science. In politics, the Medici family were the political leaders for much of our period—they were uniquely talented and produced four important popes--and the Borgias exercised ruthless leadership.
This SDG will focus on the people who made Florence into the transformative place that it was, including the works they produced and the lasting results. They are among the giants in each of their fields. They are shown in the list of weekly topics. In the course of discussing each of them, we will necessarily deal with the history of Florence and the political, social and religious context in which each of them lived and worked. To understand Florence is to understand the Renaissance and the Core Book emphasizes how the lives of the individuals contributed to this transformation of society.
The Core Book, Paul Strathern’s “The Florentines—from Dante to Galileo—The Transformation of Western Civilization,” is well written and reads easily. There are, of course, many books dealing with the history of Florence, some of which are listed in the Bibliography, and many books and on-line articles dealing with the individuals. It is anticipated that Presenters will include art works and literary excepts.
