The explosion of creativity that marked the European Renaissance provoked an unprecedented age of exploration and of cross-cultural encounter. From the depths of the Black Plague to the heights of Shakespeare's sonnets, book three of The Humanistic Tradition provides an exciting portrait of this period. In a compelling counterpoint to her description of the Renaissance, Fiero devotes a section to the cultures that came into increasing contact with the burgeoning West - the kingdoms of West Africa and the societies of North, Central, and South America.
BOOK 3: THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE, THE REFORMATION, AND GLOBAL ENCOUNTER
Part I: The Age of the Renaissance
Chapter 15: Adversity and Challenge: The Fourteenth-Century Transition
The Black Death / 3.1 From Boccaccio: Introduction to the Decameron / Europe in Transition / The Decline of the Church / Literature in Transition / 3.2 From Boccaccio: "Tale of Filippa" from the Decameron / 3.3 From Christine de Pisan: Book of the City Ladies / 3.4 From Chaucer: "Prologue" and "The Miller's Tale" in the Canterbury Tales / Art and Music in Transition
Chapter 16: Classical Humanism in the Age of the Renaissance
Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance / 3.5 From Petrarch: Letter to Lapo da Castiglionchio / 3.6 From Petrarch: Canzioniere / Italian Renaissance Humanism / 3.7 From Pico: Oration on the Dignity of Man / 3.8 From Alberti: On the Family / 3.9 From Castiglione: Book of the Courtier / 3.10 From Machiavelli: The Prince
Chapter 17: Renaissance Artists: Disciples of Nature, Masters of Invention
Renaissance Art and Patronage / The Early Renaissance / 3.11 From Leonardo da Vinci: Notes / The High Renaissance / 3.12 From Vasari: Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Architects, and Sculptors / The Music of the Renaissance
Part II: A Brave New World
Chapter 18: Protest and Reform: The Waning of the Old Order
The Temper of Reform / Luther and the Protestant Reformation / 3.13 From Luther: Address to the German Nobility / Nothern Renaissance Art / Nothern Renaissance Literature / 3.14 From Erasmus: The Praise of Folly / 3.15 From More: Utopia / 3.16 From Cervantes: Don Quijote / 3.17 Shakespeare: Sonnets 18 and 116 / 3.18 From Shakespeare: Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
Chapter 19: Africa, the Americas, and Cross-Cultural Encounter
Cross-Cultural Encounter / The African Cultural Heritage / 3.19 From Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali / 3.20 Three African Myths on the Origin of Death / 3.21 Selections from African Poetry / Cross-Cultural Encounter / 3.22 From Ibn Battuta: Book of Travels / The Americas / 3.23 "A Prayer of the Night Chant" (Navajo) / 3.24 Two Native American Tales / Cross-Cultural Encounter / 3.25 From Cortés: Letters from Mexico
