The Renaissance in Historical Thought

Five Centuries of Interpretation

Bibliographic Data

ID23128583
AuthorsHans Baron, Wallace K Ferguson
Year1950
Volume55
Issue4
Pages864
Publication date1950-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe American Historical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-8762 • E-ISSN: 1937-5239
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1841166
OpenAlexW2052855599
LanguageEN
Citations received12

For centuries, the idea of a Renaissance at the end of the Middle Ages has been an active agent in shaping conceptions of the development of Western European civilization. Though the idea has enjoyed so long a life, conceptions of the nature of the Renaissance, of its sources, its extent, and its essential spirit have varied from generation to generation. Confined at first to a rebirth of art or of classical culture, the notion of the Renaissance was broadened as scholars of each successive generation added to what they regarded as the essence of modern, as opposed to medieval, civilization. Originally published in 1948, Wallace K. Ferguson's The Renaissance in Historical Thought is a key piece of scholarship on Renaissance historiography. Ferguson examines how the Renaissance has been viewed from successive historical and national viewpoints, and by canonical thinkers over the centuries, including Francois-Marie Arouet de Voltaire and Jacob Burckhardt. Republished as part of the Renaissance Society of America Reprint Text series (RSARTS), Ferguson's study remains an essential part of Renaissance scholarship and will once again be available for students and scholars in the field.

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Civilization · Early Modern Europe · Historiography · Interpretation (philosophy) · Literature · Middle Ages · Political science · Renaissance literature · Scholarship · The Renaissance · Viewpoints · Visual arts · Classics · Financial Crisis of the 21st Century · History · Law · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

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