Political Petrarchism: The Rhetorical Fashioning of Community in Early Modern Italy

Engaging with a variety of literary and historical sources, in both prose and verse, including letters, chronicles, treaties and the neo-Latin epic, this dissertation examines the centrality of the classically-informed, philosophical idea of friendship (amicitia) in the community-building discourse of Francesco Petrarca's Italy. The first chapter examines Petrarch's treatment of Scipio Africanus as humanistic leader and idealized friend in the Africa. The second chapter proposes a reading of Cola di Rienzo as the first "political Petrarchist" and contextualizes his epistolary campaign to unify mid-fourteenth century Italy. The third chapter explores Petrarch's politics of familiaritas in the letters he addressed to leaders of prominent Italian city-states attempting to reconcile old friends. This study presents an analysis of the rhetorical strategies underlying Petrarch's career as public intellectual, diplomat and poet.

Author dc:creator

• Baker, Steve J.

• Romance literature
• Comparative literature

Language dc:language

English

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.7916/D8D224TM

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/D8D224TM