Ebook: Florentine Studies: Politics and Society in Renaissance Florence

"The present volume grew out of discussions among friends who some years ago were working at the Archivio di Stato in Florence. Although it does not make any pretence at comprehensiveness of a chronological or systematic order, it does not entirely lack unity of purpose or direction. By assembling studies that are representative of contemporary research in Florentine history, it may not only provide the reader with new information on a variety of topics and problems, but also acquaint him with some of the principal currents and aims of that research. Its very incompleteness is not entirely accidental, but reflects a similar incompleteness in historical scholarship. While some aspects and fields of Florentine history have been thoroughly investigated, others still await elucidation; and as so often, the increase in our knowledge has not been without an increased awareness of the gaps that remain to be filled. Even so, our knowledge of Florentine politics and economy from the 14th to the 16th century has been notably widened and deepened during the last 20-odd years; and if the present volume succeeds in conveying to the reader some of this fuller vision, its plan would seem to have been amply justified.
That it could be planned at all on this level and with so great a variety of topics, in itself bears witness to the remarkable flourishing of Florentine historical studies since the Second World War; that all but one of the contributors come from Great Britain and the United States, shows the popularity of these studies in those countries."