David A. Lines Libri

Cultural and intellectual dynamism often stand in close relationship to the expression of viewpoints and positions that are in tension or even conflict with one another. This phenomenon has a particular relevance for Early Modern Europe, which was heavily marked by polemical discourse. The dimensions and manifestations of this Streitkultur are being explored by an International Network funded by the Leverhulme Trust (United Kingdom). The present volume contains the proceedings of the Network’s first colloquium, which focused on the forms of Renaissance conflict and rivalries, from the perspectives of history, language and literature.

The book challenges the notion of cultural decline in early modern Italian universities by highlighting the University of Bologna's dynamic contributions to the arts and medicine. Utilizing extensive archival materials, it reveals the institution's vibrant academic life and its significant role in fostering intellectual growth during this period, countering the stereotype of stagnation in higher education.

This volume studies the teaching of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics (the standard textbook for moral philosophy) in the universities of Renaissance Italy. Special attention is given to how university commentaries on the Ethics reflect developments in educational theory and practice and in humanist Aristotelianism.After surveying the fortune of the Ethics in the Latin West to 1650 and the work's place in the universities, the discussion turns to Italian interpretations of the Ethics up to 1500 (Part Two) and then from 1500 to 1650 (Part Three).The focus is on the universities of Florence-Pisa, Padua, Bologna, and Rome (including the Collegio Romano). Five substantial appendices document the institutional context of moral philosophy and the Latin interpretations of the Ethics during the Italian Renaissance.Largely based on archival and unpublished sources, this study provides striking evidence for the continuing vitality of university Aristotelianism and for its fruitful interaction with humanism on the eve of the early modern era.