Collection
Language
Publication
Barnes & Noble Books (2005), 452 pages
Description
In The Book of the Courtier (1528), Baldesar Castiglione, a diplomat and Papal Nuncio to Rome, sets out to define the essential virtues for those at Court. In a lively series of imaginary conversations between the real-life courtiers to the Duke of Urbino, his speakers discuss qualities of noble behaviour - chiefly discretion, decorum, nonchalance and gracefulness - as well as wider questions such as the duties of a good government and the true nature of love. Castiglione's narrative power and psychological perception make this guide both an entertaining comedy of manners and a revealing window onto the ideals and preoccupations of the Italian Renaissance at the moment of its greatest splendour.
Media reviews
In the Cinquecento a genre of courtesy literature developed and resulted in the publication of a number of books of advice on the behaviour of men and women. The best-known book of this genre is Il Libro del Cortegiano by Count Baldassare Castiglione(1478–1529). The book consists of a series of
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fictional conversations by courtiers of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, that took place in 1507, while Castiglione was himself serving as attaché to the Duke. Castiglione, who was painted by Raphael, was an Italian diplomat and writer who throughout his life held a number of posts in the great courts of Italy and Spain It was upon his observations of courtly life that he based his book, first published in Italian in 1528, and translated into English as The Courtier by Sir Thomas Hoby in 1561. It is written in the form of a dialogue, and is a treatise on the accomplishments and code of behaviour essential for the ideal male and female courtier. The book was translated into several European languages and became a primer of aristocratic manners, influencing Renaissance nobility and writers throughout Europe, including, notably, the English courtier-poet Sir Philip Sidney. Apart from its importance as a practical book of etiquette, Cortegiano is a record of an important period in Renaissance civilization. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member jpsnow
Several centuries ago, writing was simpler and more direct. Even though the sentences were longer, the word choice and meaning were always precise. This book is a Socratic exploration about greatness, framed as the recollection of a discussion held at court sometime in the early 1400's. Various
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characters discuss what traits are most important for those who would comprise a prince's court. Included in these virtues are grace, health, knowledge of arms, candor, trust, and beauty. All of these are explained through clever dialogue that invokes a sense of the 15th century and their appreciation of the classics. My favorite excerpt: "I have discovered a universal rule which seems to apply more than any other in all human actions or words: namely, to steer away from affectation at all costs, as if it were a rough and dangerous reef, and (to use perhaps a novel word for it) to practice in all things a certain nonchalance which conceals all artistry and makes whatever one says or does seem uncontrived and effortless." Show Less
LibraryThing member BillMcGann
The Book of the Courtier
There really was a Camelot. But it was in Italy, Urbino in northern Italy to be exact, in the 1500s. Perched on top of a couple of hills in the region Le Marche, Urbino was ruled by the Montefeltro family. From 1444 to 1482 Federigo de Montefeltro skillfully steered his tiny
His less fortunate son Guidobaldo inherited this charming and well-run dukedom. Guidobaldo married the cultivated Elisabetta of the Gonzaga family from Mantua. He was an invalid and not made of his father’s stern military stuff. A victim of the brilliant military campaigns of Cesare Borgia that so enchanted Machiavelli, Guidobaldo was temporarily deposed. When the Borgias (Cesare and his father Pope Alexander VI) died, the people of Urbino rose up, drove out Borgia’s soldiers and cheered Guidobaldo and Elisabetta upon their return.
For the next few years the court of Elisabetta and Guidobaldo was the most beautiful, enlightened, genteel place on earth. They attracted musicians, scholars and artists. Conversation was honed into a fine art. Into this paradise strode our Lancelot, Baldasare Castiglione, a diplomat descended from minor Italian nobility. He loved Elisabetta, but as far as we know the devotion remained platonic
It is because of Castiglione that we believe we have a sense of what the court of Montefeltro was like, or at least how they would have like to have been remembered. His “The Book of the Courtier” (Il Cortigiano) painstakingly analyzes the attributes of a gentleman through conversations (probably highly idealized) of refined visitors to Urbino.
It’s a long, slow, but thoroughly enjoyable book. It is a window into the renaissance mind. It does not describe how the Italians of the sixteenth century were, Machiavelli and Cellini are probably more useful there. But it tells how they wanted to be. The book was read and studied by nobility all over Europe.
It’s also how I wanted them to be. Urbino is one of my favorite places. It’s a crowded student city now. But on a quiet morning when only a few people are about and the sun has made its way over the hills from the Adriatic, I can imagine that I can see the ghosts of Elisabetta and Guidobaldo walking on the cobbled streets outside their beautiful palace. Fussy, snobbish, yet kind and gentle Castiglione and his wonderful book help make that fantasy more real.
There really was a Camelot. But it was in Italy, Urbino in northern Italy to be exact, in the 1500s. Perched on top of a couple of hills in the region Le Marche, Urbino was ruled by the Montefeltro family. From 1444 to 1482 Federigo de Montefeltro skillfully steered his tiny
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domain through the rough storms of Italian Renaissance realpolitik. Federigo was a successful soldier of fortune yet maintained one of the largest libraries in Italy, spoke Latin, read Aristotle, helped orphans and in general earned the love of his people. He built a beautiful fairy-tale palace and had Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca decorate it. His less fortunate son Guidobaldo inherited this charming and well-run dukedom. Guidobaldo married the cultivated Elisabetta of the Gonzaga family from Mantua. He was an invalid and not made of his father’s stern military stuff. A victim of the brilliant military campaigns of Cesare Borgia that so enchanted Machiavelli, Guidobaldo was temporarily deposed. When the Borgias (Cesare and his father Pope Alexander VI) died, the people of Urbino rose up, drove out Borgia’s soldiers and cheered Guidobaldo and Elisabetta upon their return.
For the next few years the court of Elisabetta and Guidobaldo was the most beautiful, enlightened, genteel place on earth. They attracted musicians, scholars and artists. Conversation was honed into a fine art. Into this paradise strode our Lancelot, Baldasare Castiglione, a diplomat descended from minor Italian nobility. He loved Elisabetta, but as far as we know the devotion remained platonic
It is because of Castiglione that we believe we have a sense of what the court of Montefeltro was like, or at least how they would have like to have been remembered. His “The Book of the Courtier” (Il Cortigiano) painstakingly analyzes the attributes of a gentleman through conversations (probably highly idealized) of refined visitors to Urbino.
It’s a long, slow, but thoroughly enjoyable book. It is a window into the renaissance mind. It does not describe how the Italians of the sixteenth century were, Machiavelli and Cellini are probably more useful there. But it tells how they wanted to be. The book was read and studied by nobility all over Europe.
It’s also how I wanted them to be. Urbino is one of my favorite places. It’s a crowded student city now. But on a quiet morning when only a few people are about and the sun has made its way over the hills from the Adriatic, I can imagine that I can see the ghosts of Elisabetta and Guidobaldo walking on the cobbled streets outside their beautiful palace. Fussy, snobbish, yet kind and gentle Castiglione and his wonderful book help make that fantasy more real.
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LibraryThing member hsifeng
REENACTORS NOTES: 367 pages: A handbook for young gentlmen from the period. Shameless opportunism, melancholy about the state of the human condition and the traping of court life abound. Italian but more global in it's scope as it deals with the proper courting of power by those who seek it
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anywhiere. Maybe, if you are playing a high ranking officer you might have even read it if you had done your 'finishing' in Italy. Show Less
LibraryThing member RubyA
I had to read this for a graduate class. Some of it was interesting, but the Renaissance style of rhetoric is just so drawn out. It gets old fast. It's a great resource for teaching students about the values of the court system, though.
LibraryThing member cakecop
It's difficult to read because the sentences are excessively elegant and artificially pleasing. After several failed attempts I began to read aloud and then I was able to break through to the style and demeanor of the author and subject.
It is divided into 4 books were members of the court of Urbino
Some, but not all of the qualities are ability to dance, play an instrument, give good advice to the Prince, compete in mock battles, and compete in real battles.
The second book is full of short entertaining stories that they find amusing. Occasionally they are funny and the stories are a good representation of comedy in the 1500s.
There are many examples of poor behavior and what the courtier should avoid.
There are examples of a successful female in court and how she should behave. One gentleman criticises women. His criticisms are valid and and he is fiercely scolded. I suspect the author included the excoriation in order to please his female readers.
The last book concerns love and raises the discourse to a lofty level concerning the value of love.
It is divided into 4 books were members of the court of Urbino
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discuss the qualities that make for a successful courtier.Some, but not all of the qualities are ability to dance, play an instrument, give good advice to the Prince, compete in mock battles, and compete in real battles.
The second book is full of short entertaining stories that they find amusing. Occasionally they are funny and the stories are a good representation of comedy in the 1500s.
There are many examples of poor behavior and what the courtier should avoid.
There are examples of a successful female in court and how she should behave. One gentleman criticises women. His criticisms are valid and and he is fiercely scolded. I suspect the author included the excoriation in order to please his female readers.
The last book concerns love and raises the discourse to a lofty level concerning the value of love.
Show Less
Original publication date
1528
Physical description
452 p.
ISBN
0760768323 / 9780760768327