Edited By Mark Jurdjevic and Rolf Strøm-Olsen

This volume celebrates the considerable contributions of Edward Muir to the history of Renaissance Italy and early modern Europe. In keeping with Muir’s signature interdisciplinary approach to history, the fifteen essays in this volume include contributions on the ritual dimensions of early modern politics, religion, literature, and art and range from the Venetian and Florentine capitals of Renaissance high culture to Germany, Spain, the Low Countries, and China. Janus-faced, like all good historians, the volume looks forward and back, combining distinguished senior scholars and new voices with venerable debates and new fields. In doing so, the collection testifies to the vibrancy, vitality, and significance of early modern studies today and the degree to which Muir’s scholarship over the past thirty years has powerfully fueled the field’s dynamism.

Advance Praise:

“For almost forty years, Edward Muir has encouraged us to pay attention to ritual, to see meaning in trifles, and to think from Venice to the world. Rituals of Politics and Culture in Early Modern Europe  is an eloquent interdisciplinary tribute to his scholarship, teaching, and inspiration. Readers will delight in this historical feast in honour of one of the foremost practitioners of Renaissance and Reformation history.

~Paula Findlen, Stanford University

“This volume offers a rich sampling of how fruitful Edward Muir’s insights into ritual, law, and community have proven to be. The articles, written in a lively and accessible style, will be of interest to students of art, literature, politics, gender, and religion. Indeed, Jurdjevic and Strøm-Olsen’s anthology provides one of the most stimulating introductions to the field of early modern Europe now available; it will prove indispensable to scholars and students alike.

~John Jeffries Martin, Duke University

“The volume is a fitting tribute to Ed Muir’s outstanding career and his groundbreaking scholarship. The essays, based on extensive archival research, are of the highest quality. The sophisticated and far reaching blend of topics represents well Muir’s range of intellectual interests.

~William Caferro, Vanderbilt University

Contents:

Introduction—Mark Jurdjevic and Rolf Strøm-Olsen

Edward Muir: A Bibliography

1. Ritual Geographies in Venice’s Mediterranean Empire – Patricia Fortini Brown
2. The Multiple Meanings of Ritual: Orations and the Tensions of Venetian Empire – Monique O’Connell
3. Burning the Candle at Both Ends: Candle Making as State Making in Renaissance Siena and Florence – Michael Paul Martoccio
4. The Certame Coronario as Performative Ritual – Brian Jeffrey Maxson
5. Sex Crimes and Rituals of Redemption in Civic Humanist Florence – John M. Najemy
6. Imagining Love, Lust, and Virtù in Boccaccio and the Italian Renaissance – Guido Ruggiero
7. The History of a Story: Manetti’s “La Novella Del Grasso Legnaiuolo”- Albert Russell Ascoli
8. Real Presences: Literature and Artifacts in Early Modern Italy – Antonio Ricci
9. Deep Play in Renaissance Italy – Nicholas Scott Baker
10. Apollo in the Counter-Reformation: Giovan battista Andreini, Literary Authority, and the Commedia dell’arte – Sarah Gwyneth Ross
11. Confraternities and Rural Devotion in the Veneto – Celeste McNamara
12. Taking Belief Seriously? An Early Modern Catholic Perspective – Ethan H. Shagan
13. French History as Burgundian Historiography in the Histories of Thomas Basin – Rolf Strøm-Olsen
14. “With Covered Faces”: Emotion Rituals in Early Modern Germany – Susan C. Karant-Nunn
15. Goddesses of the Seas: Rituals in Sino-Portuguese Maritime History – Ronnie Po-chia Hsai

Index

The Editors:

Mark Jurdjevic is Associate Professor of History at Glendon College, York University. His work focuses on Florentine political and intellectual history

Rolf Strøm-Olsen is Associate Professor of Humanities at IE University and Director of the Humanities Program and IE Business School. He studies patterns of state formation in late medieval Burgundy.

Reviews:

Historische Zeitschrift, 307.1. pp. 213-215. Reviewed by Thomas Weller.

Parergon, 35.1. pp 221-222. Reviewed by Frances Mueke.

Renaissance Quarterly, 70.2. pp 717-718. Reviewed by John M. Hunt.

Catholic Historical Review., pp 375-376. Spring 2019 issue. Mount Saint Mary’s University. Reviewed by Gregory Murry.

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490 pp / Paperback / May2016 / ISBN 978-0-7727-2185-3 / $49.95 (Price includes applicable taxes, Shipping: $5.99 CAD within North America, $21.99 CAD to Europe, and $24.99 CAD to all other International addresses; prices may vary for bulk orders)