RENAISSANCE Authors
Baldassare Castiglione
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Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) was a secular author. One of his more famous works was The Courtier,which he published in1528.The Courtier outlined in detail how a renaissance gentleman or gentlewoman should act. Castiglione was educated at Milan and entered the service of the Duke of Milan in 1496. He then entered the service of the the duke of Urbino in 1504 but fled into Spain in 1524 after being charged with arranging a dispute between Pope Celment VII and Charels V. In Spain, He was made the Bishop of Avila and died in1529.
Niccolo Machiavelli
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Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was most famous for writing The Prince,which was published in 1513. Machiavelli was known for his encouragement of harsh treatment of citizens and rival states. A famous quote of his is "the end Justifies the means." In 1513, he was arrested for conspiring against his patron, but denied all knowledge of a conspiracy. He was obliged to retire from public life and devoted himself to literature.
Desiderius Erasmus
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Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) was a Dutch humanist. He worked as a priest in the Netherlands and wrote about the need for a pure and simple christian life, free of rituals and policies. He also believed that educating children was important. The following quote is from his Praise of Folly, which was published in 1509:" After the lawyers come the philosophers, who are reverenced for their beards and the fur on their gowns. They announce that they alone are wise and that the rest of men are only passing shadows. . . . The fact that they can never explain why they constantly disagree with each other is sufficient proof that they do not know the truth about anything. They know nothing at all, yet profess to know everything. They are ignorant even of themselves, and are often too absent-minded or near-sighted to see the ditch or stone in front of them."
Christine de pisan
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Christine de Pisan(1365-1430) was a French Poet. She became the first female author in Europe to make a living with her writing when her husband died in 1389. In addition to poetry, she also wrote several books for women that encouraged women's rights, including Dit de la Rose, which was written in1402.