Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy

A bold, revisionist account of the political thought of the Italian Renaissance―from Petrarch to Machiavelli―that reveals the all-important role of character in shaping society, both in citizens and in their leaders.
Convulsed by a civilizational crisis, the great thinkers of the Renaissance set out to reconceive the nature of society. Everywhere they saw problems. Corrupt and reckless tyrants sowing discord and ruling through fear; elites who prized wealth and status over the common good; military leaders waging endless wars. Their solution was at once simple and radical. “Men, not walls, make a city,” as Thucydides so memorably said. They would rebuild their city, and their civilization, by transforming the moral character of its citizens. Soulcraft, they believed, was a precondition of successful statecraft.
A dazzlingly ambitious reappraisal of Renaissance political thought by one of our generation’s foremost intellectual historians, Virtue Politics challenges the traditional narrative that looks to the Renaissance as the seedbed of modern republicanism and sees Machiavelli as its exemplary thinker. James Hankins reveals that what most concerned the humanists was not reforming laws or institutions so much as shaping citizens. If character mattered more than constitutions, it would have to be nurtured through a new program of education they called the studia humanitatis: the humanities.
We owe liberal arts education and much else besides to the bold experiment of these passionate and principled thinkers. The questions they asked―Should a good man serve a corrupt regime? What virtues are necessary in a leader? What is the source of political legitimacy? Is wealth concentration detrimental to social cohesion? Should citizens be expected to fight for their country?―would have a profound impact on later debates about good government and seem as vital today as they did then.

History

Hankins, James

Europe

Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press

The first full-length study of Francesco Patrizi-the most important political philosopher of the Italian Renaissance before Machiavelli-who sought to reconcile conflicting claims of liberty and equality in the service of good governance. At the heart of the Italian Renaissance was a longing to recapture the wisdom and virtue of Greece and Rome. But how could this be done? A new school of social reformers concluded that the best way to revitalize corrupt institutions was to promote an ambitious new form of political meritocracy aimed at nurturing virtuous citizens and political leaders. The greatest thinker in this tradition of virtue politics was Francesco Patrizi of Siena, a humanist philosopher whose writings were once as famous as Machiavelli's. Patrizi wrote two major works: On Founding Republics, addressing the enduring question of how to reconcile republican liberty with the principle of merit; and On Kingship and the Education of Kings, which lays out a detailed program of education designed to instill the qualities necessary for political leadership-above all, practical wisdom and sound character. The first full-length study of Patrizi's life and thought in any language, Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy argues that Patrizi is a thinker with profound lessons for our time. A pioneering advocate of universal literacy who believed urban planning could help shape civic values, he concluded that limiting the political power of the wealthy, protecting the poor from debt slavery, and reducing the political independence of the clergy were essential to a functioning society. These ideas were radical in his day. Far more than an exemplar of his time, Patrizi deserves to rank alongside the great political thinkers of the Renaissance: Machiavelli, Thomas More, and Jean Bodin.

Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy: The Virtuous Republic of Francesco Patrizi of Siena

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Harvard University Press

Winner of the Helen and Howard Marraro Prize 
A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year\n“Perhaps the greatest study ever written of Renaissance political thought.” 
―Jeffrey Collins, Times Literary Supplement\n“Magisterial…Hankins shows that the humanists’ obsession with character explains their surprising indifference to particular forms of government. If rulers lacked authentic virtue, they believed, it did not matter what institutions framed their power.” 
―Wall Street Journal\n“Puts the politics back into humanism in an extraordinarily deep and far-reaching way…For generations to come, all who write about the political thought of Italian humanism will have to refer to it; its influence will be…nothing less than transformative.” 
―Noel Malcolm, American Affairs\n“[A] masterpiece…It is only Hankins’s tireless exploration of forgotten documents…and extraordinary endeavors of editing, translation, and exposition that allow us to reconstruct―almost for the first time in 550 years―[the humanists’] three compelling arguments for why a strong moral character and habits of truth are vital for governing well. Yet they are as relevant to contemporary democracy in Britain, and in the United States, as to Machiavelli.” 
―Rory Stewart, Times Literary Supplement\n“The lessons for today are clear and profound.” 
―Robert D. Kaplan\nConvulsed by a civilizational crisis, the great thinkers of the Renaissance set out to reconceive the nature of society. Everywhere they saw problems. Corrupt and reckless tyrants sowing discord and ruling through fear; elites who prized wealth and status over the common good; religious leaders preoccupied with self-advancement while feuding armies waged endless wars. Their solution was at once simple and radical. “Men, not walls, make a city,” as Thucydides so memorably said. They would rebuild the fabric of society by transforming the moral character of its citizens. Soulcraft, they believed, was a precondition of successful statecraft.\nA landmark reappraisal of Renaissance political thought, Virtue Politics challenges the traditional narrative that looks to the Renaissance as the seedbed of modern republicanism and sees Machiavelli as its exemplary thinker. James Hankins reveals that what most concerned the humanists was not reforming institutions so much as shaping citizens. If character mattered more than laws, it would have to be nurtured through a new program of education they called the studia humanitatis: the precursor to our embattled humanities.

The life of Sandro Botticelli coincided with the close of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th, a period that saw transition from the rule of the Medici, whose name is synonymous with patronage of the arts, to the fanatical reforms of the Dominican Savonarola. A focussed exhibition of major paintings from all decades of Botticelli's career, along with works by his followers and contemporaries, enabled three experts to explore the relationship between his distinct yet changing visual "voice" and the turbulent Florence society of his day.

Botticelli's Witness: Changing Style in a Changing Florence

Arts & Photography

Goldfarb, Hilliard T.

Kanter, Laurence

History & Criticism

Isabella Stewart Gardner

The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Philosophy

Cambridge University Press

Five days ago, aspiring crime novelist Jason Swike awoke chained to the wall of a run-down horse stable, convinced he would soon die at the hands of Crackerjack, the infamous serial killer who had terrorized the residents of Massachusetts for the past year—capturing and tormenting men, painting whimsical designs on their faces before shattering their bones and ending their lives. Just when death seems inevitable, Jason, with the help of another captive, manages to kill the madman and escape.
Hailed as a hero, Jason reaps the benefits of his newfound fame: a book deal, a possible reconciliation with his estranged wife, and reward money he can use to pay for his son’s costly medical treatments. But he soon realizes the nightmare that began in the deserted stable is far from over, as he is drawn into a twisted game where the darkest terror may not be the psychopath manipulating his every move, but what Jason may have to do to survive…

The Inside Dark

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Thomas & Mercer

In one hand, small-time crook Stokes holds a backpack stuffed with someone else’s money—three hundred and fifty thousand dollars of it.
In the other hand, Stokes has a cell phone, which he found with the money. On the line, a little girl he doesn’t know asks, “Daddy? Are you coming to get me? They say if you give them money they’ll let you take me home.”
From bestselling author James Hankins comes a wrenching story of an unscrupulous man torn between his survival instincts and the plight of a true innocent. Faced with the choice, Stokes discovers his conscience might not be as corroded as he thought.

Shady Cross

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thrillers & Suspense

When Caitlin Sommers finds herself alone in a deserted parking lot with blood on her clothes and no memory of the past few months, it seems like one of the nightmares that have tormented her for years…but it’s all too real. Desperate to learn the truth about where she’s been and what has happened to her but terrified of what she may find, Caitlin embarks on a search for answers. Her journey takes her from the safe suburban world she knows to a seedy town she’s never heard of, where a terrible truth from her past lies hidden—a truth she can’t quite remember yet can’t completely forget.

The Prettiest One: A Thriller

In one hand, small-time crook Stokes holds a backpack stuffed with someone else's money--three hundred and fifty thousand dollars of it. In the other hand, Stokes has a cell phone, which he found with the money. On the line, a little girl he doesn't know asks, "Daddy? Are you coming to get me? They say if you give them money they'll let you take me home." From bestselling author James Hankins comes a wrenching story of an unscrupulous man torn between his survival instincts and the plight of a true innocent. Faced with the choice, Stokes discovers his conscience might not be as corroded as he thought.

BRILLIANCE AUDIO ^

When Caitlin Sommers finds herself alone in a deserted parking lot with blood on her clothes and no memory of the past few months, it seems like one of the nightmares that have tormented her for years…but it’s all too real. Desperate to learn the truth about where she’s been and what has happened to her but terrified of what she may find, Caitlin embarks on a search for answers. Her journey takes her from the safe suburban world she knows to a seedy town she’s never heard of, where a terrible truth from her past lies hidden—a truth she can’t quite remember yet can’t completely forget.

United States

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hankins, James. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hankins, James

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hankins, James. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy

Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy: The Virtuous Republic of Francesco Patrizi of Siena

Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy

Botticelli's Witness: Changing Style in a Changing Florence

The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Philosophy

The Inside Dark

Shady Cross

The Prettiest One: A Thriller

Shady Cross

The Prettiest One: A Thriller