Re-examines the place of the Renaissance in European and World history. Views the culture of Western Europe in co-existence with it's neighbours especially Byzantium and Islam. Examines the Renaissance movement in the whole of Europe from the centre to the peripheries.

List of Illustrations vi Series Editor’s Preface ix Acknowledgements xi Introduction: Framing the Renaissance 1 1 The Age of Rediscovery: Early Renaissance 18 2 Reception and Resistance 47 3 The Age of Emulation: High Renaissance 66 4 The Age of Variety: Late Renaissance 101 5 The Domestication of the Renaissance 170 Coda: The Renaissance after the Renaissance 227 Chronology 242 References 247 Bibliography 256 Index 275

This is a fascinating account of the geography, chronology and sociology of one of the major cultural movements in European history. It provides an original examination of the Renaissance across the whole of the continent. Peter Burke begins by examining the conditions in which innovation took place in cultural centers such as Florence, Avignon, Flanders and Rome in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. But his emphasis falls on the late Renaissance, c.1530-1630, when the new cultural forms and ideas reached the Celtic, Scandinavian and Slav peripheries. He discusses the process of the active reception or creative imitation of classical and Italian models at the level of everyday life as well as that of art, literature and music, noting the importance of the reproduction of famous works of art by means of engravings and ceramics. He also examines the social and political structures which shaped local responses to the movement. The book concludes with an assessment of the effects of the Renaissance movement on later centuries, including its contribution to the "Europeanization" of Europe.

"Nothing by Peter Burke should ever be left unread, and this book displays many of his admirable talents: the unerring eye for evidence, the gift for concise language, the reliable habit of detailed exemplification." Times Literary Supplement "This is a delightfully nimble book distinguished by the coherence of its general structure and the clarity of its connections, qualities which are complemented by the vivid deployment of compressed detail." History Today "Few themes have consumed as much ink as the Italian Renaissance. However, this book by Peter Burke, professor at the University of Cambridge, is original in that it explains, in a suggestive and highly accessible manner, the reasons for the success and spread of the Renaissance spirit throughout Europe between the Quattrocento and the 17th century." Bulletin Quotidien Europe "Burke's remit remains refreshingly wide-ranging. Here, as in previous titles, he confirms that his metier is the synthetic, and always enviably accessible, introduction." Times Higher Education Supplement