In Praise Of Florence

by Leonardo Bruni, Alfred Scheepers (Translator)

The beginning of the Renaissance is marked in this translation of Leonardo Bruni's first work, the "Laudatio Florentinae Urbis" (Panegyric of the City of Florence). Written around 1400, this treatise introduces many of the ideas that became central to the Italian Renaissance--republican liberty, free competition, and the balance of power--and influenced many later thinkers of the Renaissance, including Machiavelli. With the ideas outlined in this work, Bruni decisively influenced all later European and American thought about republican and democratic government. In addition to the translation, this edition offers an introduction to Bruni's life and philosophy in the context of the political situation of the early Florentine republic.

Genres: History, Renaissance

150 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1403

About the author

Leonardo Bruni was an Italian humanist, historian and statesman, often recognized as the most important humanist historian of the early Renaissance. He has been called the first modern historian.

Reviews

[Finton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This man really did love Florence.

[Nico Bruin · Rating 2 out of 5]

According to Bruni:
15th century Florentines love freedom because the city was founded during the Roman republic.
Founded by veterans of the dictator Sulla, mind you.
If the city was founded just a few decades later, during that terribly oppressive age of the Ceasars, Florence would not have inherited that love of freedom.

Bruni even cites Tacitus, who wrote in the late 1st century AD, as a support for this view.

[AB · Rating 2 out of 5]

This piece is quintessential Florentine humanism.

[Gloria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vale como lectura del diálogo a Pier Paolo Vergerio