ITAL30260 Politics and Morals in Renaissance Italy

Academic Year 2024/2025

What do we mean by the Renaissance? Why has this particular period of human history been presented as a decisive moment in the evolution of our thinking? What were the main literary, cultural and philosophical innovations developed in 16th-century Italy? Students will address these questions through the study of two masterpieces of Italian Renaissance literature, both written by Niccolò Machiavelli: Il Principe (The Prince, 1513), considered the first political text in the history of European culture, and his La Mandragola (The Mandrake, 1518ca.), one of the first new comedies in Italian and European theatre. These texts will be examined not only as a way to understand the main coordinates of Renaissance literature, but also as tools to uncover the relationship between politics and morality in the Italian Cinquecento and the relevance of the ideas developed in these period to the present day. Students will also be introduced to Renaissance popular culture, the relationship with what was perceived as ethnic otherness, the role of women in Renaissance societies, and the debate on the vernacular.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- have a general understanding of the main cultural and literary trends of the Italian Renaissance.
- analyse the proposed Renaissance texts in terms of both form and content by providing a detailed critical reading of them;
- understand how Renaissance ideas about politics and morality could be conveyed in the literary texts of the period;
- engage effectively in class and tutorial discussions, presenting personal ideas or critical readings orally;
- complete written assignments, focusing on content, structure, style of the analysed texts.

Indicative Module Content:

Reading of the following books (in Italian):
Niccolò Machiavelli, 'Il Principe'
Niccolò Machiavelli, 'La Mandragola'

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12
Tutorial

12
Specified Learning Activities

32
Autonomous Student Learning

56
Total

112
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
All classes are scheduled according to the university timetable.
Active participation in these classes is required.
In addition to that, full engagement with material and tasks made accessible in Brightspace is expected every week. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Additional Information:
The knowledge of Italian language.


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Exam (In-person): Class test Week 7 Graded Yes

50

 Yes
Exam (Take-Home): Narrated presentation Week 14 Graded Yes

50

 Yes

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students will receive individual written feedback on their assignments and class tests. Feedback will normally be given one week after the submission of the assignments and class tests.

1) COMPULSORY PRIMARY SOURCES (IN ITALIAN)

• Niccolò Machiavelli, Il principe, ed. by G. Inglese (Turin: Einaudi, 2014; or other Italian edition)

• Niccolò Machiavelli, Mandragola, ed. by Eric Haywood (Dublin: UCD Foundation for Italian Studies, 2002; or other Italian edition)

2) SECONDARY READINGS

• Skinner, Q., Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) [Library or Bookshop]

• Andrews, R., Theatre, in The Cambridge History of Italian Literature ed. by P. Brand and L. Pertile (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) pp. 277–298 [on Brightspace]


3) OTHER USEFUL SOURCES AND ARTICLES AVAILABLE ON BRIGHTSPACE

On Machiavelli’s Il Principe:
• N. Machiavelli, Letter to Francesco Vettori (1513);
• N. Machiavelli’s Descrizione del modo tenuto dal duca Valentino nello ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli...;
• Advice to rulers before Machiavelli;
• Anthologies of texts on Machiavelli’s reception;
• F. Bausi, ‘«L’aureo libro moral». Circolazione e fortuna del Principe prima della stampa (1516-1531)’, in Machiavelli Cinquecento. Mezzo millennio del Principe, a cura di G.M. Anselmi, R. Caporali, C. Galli (Milan-Udine: Mimesis, 2015), pp. 25-41;
• R. Blake, ‘The Prince: Message and Meaning’, in Blake, Machiavelli (London: Routledge, 2013), pp. 99-126;
• W. Connell, ‘The Puzzle of The Prince’, in Connell, The Prince with Related Documents (Boston: Bedford, 2015), pp. 1-34.

On Machiavelli’s La Mandragola:
• W.P. Baumgarth, ‘Deception and Enlightenment: The Politics of Machiavelli's The Mandragola’, Perspectives on Political Science, 44(1) (2015), pp. 55–62.
• K. Eisenbichler, ‘Sex and Marriage in Machiavelli’s Mandragola: A Close(t) Reading’, Renaissance and Reformation, 40(1) (2017), 13–35.
• B. Turner, ‘Privates Vices, Public Benefits: Mandragola in Machiavelli’s Political Theory’, Polity, 48(1) (2016), 109–132.
• H. Mansfield, ‘The Cuckold in Machiavelli’s Mandragola’, in The Comedy and Tragedy of Machiavelli: Essays on the Literary Works, ed. by Vickie B. Sullivan (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000), pp. 1–29.
• R. Andrews, ‘Scripts and Scenarios’, in Andrews, The Performance of Comedy in Renaissance Italy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), pp. 31–63.
• H. Wright, ‘Lucrezia in Mandragola: Machiavelli’s New Prince’, Interpretation 36(2) (2009), 145–164.
• M. O’Brien, ‘The Root of the Mandrake: Machiavelli and Manliness’, in Feminist Interpretations of Niccolò Machiavelli, ed. by Maria Falco (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004), pp. 173–195.
Name Role
Assoc Professor Paolo Acquaviva Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Professor Ursula Fanning Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Serena Laiena Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Matteo Leta Lecturer / Co-Lecturer