The renaissance of marriage in fifteenth-century Italy
By: Anthony F. D'Elia.
Series: Harvard historical studies ;; 146; Harvard historical studies ;; v. 146.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 262
Subjects: Marriage -- Italy -- History -- To 1500.; Marriage customs and rites -- Italy -- History -- To 1500.; Wedding speeches -- Italy -- History -- To 1500.; Humanism -- Italy -- History -- To 1500.; Renaissance -- Italy.; Italy -- Court and courtiers.
Description: "Weddings in fifteenth-century Italian courts were grand, sumptuous affairs that often required guests to listen attentively to lengthy orations given in Latin. In this book, Anthony D'Elia shows how Italian humanists used these orations to support claims of legitimacy and assertions of superiority among families jockeying for power, as well as to advocate for marriage and sexual pleasure." "In bringing to life this elite culture, D'Elia makes a valuable contribution to the history of the Renaissance, women, and the family, and to studies of rhetoric and the classical tradition."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Marriage and wisdom form antiquity to the renaissance; title: The revieal of the ancient Epithalanium in courtly weddings; title: Weddings as propaganda : rhetoric and court culture; title: The culture of marriage and sex in Italian courts; title: Humanist criticisms of celibacy adn the reformation.