Renaissance Europe: Courts and Nobles

Catalog description

This course will examine the life and culture of the early modern European aristocracy, particularly in the princely and royal courts of the period. From the Medici of Florence to Queen Elizabeth of England and Louis XIV of France, the courts of this era were scenes of opulence, great literature, and brutal conflict, and have fascinated historians for centuries. Topics will include the social foundations of the nobility; ideology and political thought; artistic and literary culture; sex and gender; and warfare, violence, and dueling.