Humanist Biography in Renaissance Italy and Reformation Germany: Friendship and Rhetoric

Boston College professor Weiss has gathered essays from a variety of publications for this collection of his work on humanist biography. He has provided an in-depth introduction along with updates of secondary literature. The articles begin with biographies written by early Italian humanists but the center of interest soon moves to Germany. Weiss looks first at hagiographies by Catholics and then how they were modified by Martin Luther. Biographies become more secular as the authors and subjects cease to be connected to a church but rather to humanistic philosophy. Weiss questions the belief that the biographers emphasized individuality. In a comparison of six lives of Rudolph Agricola, he shows how the author's individuality is more obvious than that of the subject. The treatment given by Philip Melanchthon to the lives of Luther and Erasmus is an example of this, as well. Weiss mentions the apparent sense of inferiority felt by the Germans toward their Italian predecessors and how this was gradually overcome. The final two articles demonstrate the increased confidence of the Northern Humanists. The articles blend well into a thematic whole. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

James M. Weiss is Director, Capstone Vocational Discernment Seminar Program, and Associate Professor, Department of Theology, at Boston College, USA