- Italian Studies
School of Modern Languages and Cultures
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom
David Lines
University of Warwick, Italian, Faculty Member
- University of Warwick, Renaissance, Faculty Memberadd
- Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy, Renaissance Humanism, Book History, Intellectual History, History of Universities, History of Universities in the Middle Ages, and 26 moreItalian History, Aristotle's Ethics, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Scholastic Philosophy, History and Classical tradition studies, The Classical Tradition, Translation of classical and medieval texts in modern languages, History of Classical Scholarship, Italian Renaissance literature, Intellectual History of the Renaissance, Neo-latin literature, history of Bologna, History of Ethics, Renaissance Philosophy, Italian Humanism, Medieval History, Early Modern History, Università Di Bologna, Aristotle's Commentators, History of Moral Philosophy, Vernacular Philosophy, medieval and Renaissance Italian literature, Renaissance literature, Classical Reception Studies, Medieval Bologna, and Ulisse Aldrovandiedit
- I am a specialist in Renaissance philosophy and intellectual history, with a special interest in the traditions and c... moreI am a specialist in Renaissance philosophy and intellectual history, with a special interest in the traditions and contexts of Renaissance Aristotelianism. I have particularly studied moral and natural philosophy in the universities in Italy but also in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Low Countries. More recently I have been working on book history, the history of libraries, and the translation of philosophical and scientific texts. Since 2010 I have led or co-led research projects on Renaissance vernacular Aristotelianism in Italy, but am interested in the transmission of philosophical traditions more broadly, across all languages.
I am currently preparing a wide-ranging study on the teaching of arts and medicine in the University of Bologna between 1400 and 1750.
I am the Director of Warwick's Centre for the Study of the Renaissance and was recently elected Foreign Fellow of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti.edit - former adviser: James Hankinsedit
In contrast with a historiography that has viewed the University of Bologna as characterized by decline in the early modern period, this book argues that it remained a lively hub of cultural exchange, while its curriculum remained... more
In contrast with a historiography that has viewed the University of Bologna as characterized by decline in the early modern period, this book argues that it remained a lively hub of cultural exchange, while its curriculum remained flexible and adapted to new situations. The volume considers, in Part I, Bologna's institutional and cultural context, while Part II examines the teaching of the humanities, philosophy, mathematics and astronomy, medicine, and theology.
Research Interests: Renaissance History, Early Modern History, Renaissance Studies, Renaissance Humanism, History of Science, and 15 moreIntellectual History of the Renaissance, History of Astronomy, History of Astrology, History of Universities, Intellectual History of the Baroque Period, Renaissance Book Culture, History of Medicine in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Scholasticism, History of Humanities, History of theology, history of Bologna, History of Philosophy, Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, History of the Universities In Europe, and History of University of Bologna
This article investigates the claims made in the dedicatory epistle to Girolamo Manfredi's 'De homine' (also known as 'Il libro del perché') to have effected an Italian translation of various earlier works. First published in 1474, the... more
This article investigates the claims made in the dedicatory epistle to Girolamo Manfredi's 'De homine' (also known as 'Il libro del perché') to have effected an Italian translation of various earlier works. First published in 1474, the 'De homine' is strongly dependent on the pseudo-Aristotelian 'Problems', for which several translations into Latin were available by Manfredi's time as well as the highly influential commentary by Pietro d'Abano. Focusing on one particular section of the 'De homine' (II.x on voice), this article offers an analysis of the various sources used and of the extent to which Manfredi is indeed offering a translation or something different. This study concludes that Manfredi closely followed the translation by Bartolomeo da Messina and the commentary by Pietro d'Abano; it finds no clear evidence of his use of the translations by George of Trebizond or Theodore Gaza. Other sources used include especially Rhazes' 'Ad Almansorem'. The work by Manfredi raises rich questions about what qualified as a 'translation' in his time.
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This edited volume emerges from a conference of the same title held in Pisa in September 2012. It appeared in connection with a research project on Vernacular Aristotelianism in Renaissance Italy, funded by the Arts and Humanities... more
This edited volume emerges from a conference of the same title held in Pisa in September 2012. It appeared in connection with a research project on Vernacular Aristotelianism in Renaissance Italy, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK). Essays range chronologically from medieval Aristotelianism to the end of the sixteenth century, not only in Italy, but also in France and Spain.
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This volume offers a new survey of the contexts, approaches and genres, and themes of Renaissance ethics, asking in what ways it was different from the preceding tradition and from later developments. It takes into consideration... more
This volume offers a new survey of the contexts, approaches and genres, and themes of Renaissance ethics, asking in what ways it was different from the preceding tradition and from later developments. It takes into consideration developments across Europe, and in both Latin and the vernacular. Not limiting itself to philosophy, it also explores the ethical function of literary works.
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This volume provides an introduction to (and facsimile edition of) the Latin translation of the ancient and Byzantine commentators on Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" by Giovanni Bernardo Feliciano. It was one of the most-used means for... more
This volume provides an introduction to (and facsimile edition of) the Latin translation of the ancient and Byzantine commentators on Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" by Giovanni Bernardo Feliciano. It was one of the most-used means for approaching the ancient tradition on this work for those who had no Greek, coming to replace the version offered by Robert Grosseteste.
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This volume studies the teaching of Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" (the standard textbook for moral philosophy) in the universities of Renaissance Italy. Special attention is given to how university commentaries on this text reflect... more
This volume studies the teaching of Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" (the standard textbook for moral philosophy) in the universities of Renaissance Italy. Special attention is given to how university commentaries on this text reflect developments in educational theory and practice and in humanist Aristotelianism. Case studies are taken from the universities of Florence-Pisa, Padua, Bologna and Rome (including the Collegio Romano), although material on Pavia is also included.
The files below contain: the Table of Contents of the book; the Introduction; and Chapter 5 on the University of Florence, including Niccolò Tignosi and Donato Acciaiuoli.
The files below contain: the Table of Contents of the book; the Introduction; and Chapter 5 on the University of Florence, including Niccolò Tignosi and Donato Acciaiuoli.
Research Interests: History of Ethics, Renaissance Humanism, History and Classical tradition studies, Renaissance Philosophy, Italian Humanism, and 21 moreHistory of Universities, The Classical Tradition, Scholastic Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Moral Education, Renaissance Rome, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Curriculum and Instruction, Jesuit education, Italian Renaissance, Renaissance Italy, Bologna, 15th Century Florence, Renaissance Florence, 16th Century Florence, Piero Vettori, Università degli Studi di Firenze, University of Padova, Marc-Antoine Muret, Collegio Romano, and Educational Theory and Practice
This article addresses the question of whether and how philosophical translation was different from that of other works (e.g., of literature) and frames the special issue within a series of questions within current studies of the history... more
This article addresses the question of whether and how philosophical translation was different from that of other works (e.g., of literature) and frames the special issue within a series of questions within current studies of the history of translation in the Renaissance period.
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This essay examines Bernardo Segni's "Trattato dei governi", a translation and commentary in Italian on Aristotle's "Politics". In particular, it argues that in this work Segni is responding to more contemporary concerns and debates... more
This essay examines Bernardo Segni's "Trattato dei governi", a translation and commentary in Italian on Aristotle's "Politics". In particular, it argues that in this work Segni is responding to more contemporary concerns
and debates relating to Florence’s political situation. It shows
that Segni was strongly aware of and exploited Niccolò Machiavelli’s doctrines, both in his interpretation of Aristotle and even more strongly in his work of political history, the "Istorie fiorentine", even though he disagreed with some of Machiavelli’s premises. It also considers in what ways Segni expressed his discontent with the Medici regime, considering it a tyranny, even while he managed to praise and defend Duke Cosimo I.
and debates relating to Florence’s political situation. It shows
that Segni was strongly aware of and exploited Niccolò Machiavelli’s doctrines, both in his interpretation of Aristotle and even more strongly in his work of political history, the "Istorie fiorentine", even though he disagreed with some of Machiavelli’s premises. It also considers in what ways Segni expressed his discontent with the Medici regime, considering it a tyranny, even while he managed to praise and defend Duke Cosimo I.
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This essay considers the component of Aristotelian books within Aldrovandi's definitive library catalogue within the context of his Bolognese library as a whole. It also looks at holdings in the Biblioteca Universitaria of Bologna,... more
This essay considers the component of Aristotelian books within Aldrovandi's definitive library catalogue within the context of his Bolognese library as a whole. It also looks at holdings in the Biblioteca Universitaria of Bologna, matching surviving copies with items listed in the catalogue. Pages of actual publication are 303-379.
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This article studies a vernacular compendium compiled by Francesco Piccolomini (formerly professor of natural philosophy in Padua) of his much longer and more difficult Latin work 'Universa philosophia de moribus' (1583). It outlines how... more
This article studies a vernacular compendium compiled by Francesco Piccolomini (formerly professor of natural philosophy in Padua) of his much longer and more difficult Latin work 'Universa philosophia de moribus' (1583). It outlines how Piccolomini adapted his works to the expectations of the work's dedicatees, the Medici, as opposed to his Latin work, which was addressed to the Venetian Senate. Among other points, Piccolomini adapts his political views.
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Why do present works on Renaissance philosophy and intellectual history, particularly in the Anglophone world, focus nearly exclusively on texts written in Latin? How does this trend match the history of the discipline? And should we be... more
Why do present works on Renaissance philosophy and intellectual history, particularly in the Anglophone world, focus nearly exclusively on texts written in Latin? How does this trend match the history of the discipline? And should we be rethinking our practice, giving works written in the vernacular a much more prominent place? This essay focuses on these questions, while suggesting that a more linguistically inclusive approach will offer a better sense of the development of Renaissance thought overall.
Research Interests: Italian Studies, Renaissance Studies, Renaissance Humanism, Renaissance Philosophy, Intellectual History of the Renaissance, and 7 moreNeo-latin literature, Medieval vernacular translations (volgarizzamenti), Vernacular, Filologia Italiana Letteratura Italiana del Rinascimento, Umanesimo latino e tradizione dei classici tra sec. XIV e XVI, Umanesimo E Rinascimento Volgarizzamenti, and Filosofia del Rinascimento
This article considers the disposition of Aldrovandi's books in Bologna's Palazzo Pubblico, where they were placed around 1617, twelve years after the scholar's death. This library was an early example of a public library, deriving from a... more
This article considers the disposition of Aldrovandi's books in Bologna's Palazzo Pubblico, where they were placed around 1617, twelve years after the scholar's death. This library was an early example of a public library, deriving from a scholar's personal collection, to which other collections were added. One of the article's chief findings is that the new spaces tried to reflect as much as possible Aldrovandi's original arrangement in his home, but the books seem to have been re-ordered thematically before they were transferred to the Istituto delle Scienze in the early eighteenth century.
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This article focuses on the intense debates about the order of learning taking place in Bologna in the second half of the sixteenth century. A particularly interesting actor was Ulisse Aldrovandi, but many other documents of interest... more
This article focuses on the intense debates about the order of learning taking place in Bologna in the second half of the sixteenth century. A particularly interesting actor was Ulisse Aldrovandi, but many other documents of interest survive as well, testifying to remarkably different points of view about the challenges in Bologna's university and how to solve them.
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Research Interests: Italian Humanism, Intellectual History of the Renaissance, The Classical Tradition, History of Moral Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, and 8 moreItalian Renaissance literature, Classical Reception Studies, Aristotle's Ethics, Renaissance Aristotelianism, History of Renaissance Philosophy, Renaissance Florence, Aristotelian Ethics, and Vernacular Philosophy
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This article deals with L.B. Alberti's studies in Bologna in the 1420s. Scholars may find of particular interest the discussion on pp. 384-387 of the books lent out by Carlo Ghisilieri (c. 1400–1463) to various important figures in... more
This article deals with L.B. Alberti's studies in Bologna in the 1420s. Scholars may find of particular interest the discussion on pp. 384-387 of the books lent out by Carlo Ghisilieri (c. 1400–1463) to various important figures in Bologna, including not only Alberti, but also Gaspare Sighicelli, Giovanni Toscanella, Tommaso da Camerino, etc. The article suggests that Alberti may have received his doctorate in a nearby university where it could be obtained more cheaply, for instance in Ferrara or Perugia.
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This article deals with the debate about the method of ethics between Francesco Zabarella and Francesco Piccolomini in Padua. It then discusses how their views were received in Germany, particularly at Altdorf and Danzig by Michael... more
This article deals with the debate about the method of ethics between Francesco Zabarella and Francesco Piccolomini in Padua. It then discusses how their views were received in Germany, particularly at Altdorf and Danzig by Michael Piccart and Bartholomaeus Keckermann, respectively.
Research Interests: Renaissance Philosophy, History of Moral Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Classical Reception Studies, Aristotle's Ethics, and 6 moreRenaissance Aristotelianism, University of Padua, J. H. Alsted, B. Keckermann, Renaissance Educational History, History of German Philosophy, and Renaissance Ethics
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As far as is known, this was the first funded research project world-wide to study the Renaissance diffusion of Aristotelian works in the Italian vernacular. The project ran from October 2010 to December 2013, as a collaboration (funded... more
As far as is known, this was the first funded research project world-wide to study the Renaissance diffusion of Aristotelian works in the Italian vernacular. The project ran from October 2010 to December 2013, as a collaboration (funded by an AHRC standard grant, around £500k) between the University of Warwick and the Warburg Institute in London . This initiative tried to redress the almost exclusive concentration on Latin Aristotelianism among historians of philosophy and ideas in recent decades and provided an electronic census and description of all relevant materials in both manuscript and print.
The project brought together historians of language, literature, philosophy, science and culture to explore how Aristotelianism increasingly reached a broad and non-Latinate public. It was led by David Lines (PI, Warwick) together with Simon Gilson (Warwick and Jill Kraye (The Warburg Institute, London) as Co-Is. The research fellow was Eugenio Refini, and the PhD student was Grace Allen. The project partner was Luca Bianchi (Univ. del Piemonte Orientale, Vercelli).
The project, which has already given rise to an electronic census of relevant works as well as several articles, is also resulting in the publication of proceedings for two colloquia (Pisa, September 2012 and London, June 2013).
The project brought together historians of language, literature, philosophy, science and culture to explore how Aristotelianism increasingly reached a broad and non-Latinate public. It was led by David Lines (PI, Warwick) together with Simon Gilson (Warwick and Jill Kraye (The Warburg Institute, London) as Co-Is. The research fellow was Eugenio Refini, and the PhD student was Grace Allen. The project partner was Luca Bianchi (Univ. del Piemonte Orientale, Vercelli).
The project, which has already given rise to an electronic census of relevant works as well as several articles, is also resulting in the publication of proceedings for two colloquia (Pisa, September 2012 and London, June 2013).
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This research by Dr David Lines (funded by a British Academy Small Grant, August 2011–July 2014) studies the curricular and intellectual developments in the University of Bologna (particularly the Faculty of Arts and Medicine) between c.... more
This research by Dr David Lines (funded by a British Academy Small Grant, August 2011–July 2014) studies the curricular and intellectual developments in the University of Bologna (particularly the Faculty of Arts and Medicine) between c. 1400 and c. 1700. It is among the first attempts to place the changes taking place in the university within the broader context of cultural developments across the city, including in academies, studia of the religious orders, private libraries and printing presses. It will result in a monograph, currently intended for the University of Michigan Press, and has already given rise to several articles.
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The Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick (PI: Dr David Lines) is leading a Levehulme International Network together with six other institutions on the theme of ‘Renaissance Conflict and Rivalries’. This... more
The Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick (PI: Dr David Lines) is leading a Levehulme International Network together with six other institutions on the theme of ‘Renaissance Conflict and Rivalries’. This interdisciplinary project, which will result in three research colloquia, will examine the extent to which conflict and rivalries (between disciplines, institutions, art forms, literary genres, philosophical and religious allegiances, social/political groups, etc.) were a positive agent of cultural production and change across Renaissance Europe.
The other institutions are: The Warburg Institute (London), the University of Leuven, the University of Bonn, the Centre d'Études Supérieurs de la Renaissance (Tours), the University of Venice (Ca’ Foscari), and the University of Florence.
The other institutions are: The Warburg Institute (London), the University of Leuven, the University of Bonn, the Centre d'Études Supérieurs de la Renaissance (Tours), the University of Venice (Ca’ Foscari), and the University of Florence.
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This is an ERC-Starting Investigator Grant running for 5 years from May 2014. Building on an AHRC grant hosted at Warwick on 'Vernacular Aristotelianism in Renaissance Italy' (2010-2013), this project (€ 1.5m) aims to reconstruct the... more
This is an ERC-Starting Investigator Grant running for 5 years from May 2014. Building on an AHRC grant hosted at Warwick on 'Vernacular Aristotelianism in Renaissance Italy' (2010-2013), this project (€ 1.5m) aims to reconstruct the vernacularization of Aristotle in Renaissance Italy both by analysing its achievements in specific fields (e.g., logic, physics, ethics, psychology, rhetoric) and by considering its methodology and general context.
The project is led by Marco Sgarbi (Università Ca' Foscari, Venice); a separate team, led by David Lines and Simon Gilson at the University of Warwick, will supervise two postdoctoral research fellows and one PhD student.
The project is led by Marco Sgarbi (Università Ca' Foscari, Venice); a separate team, led by David Lines and Simon Gilson at the University of Warwick, will supervise two postdoctoral research fellows and one PhD student.
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Exhibition in the Sala Sansoviniana, Sale Monumentali della Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana Venice (21 April-19 May 2016) The University of Warwick and the Marciana Library (http://marciana.venezia.sbn.it) are pleased to announce the... more
Exhibition in the Sala Sansoviniana, Sale Monumentali della Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana
Venice (21 April-19 May 2016)
The University of Warwick and the Marciana Library (http://marciana.venezia.sbn.it) are pleased to announce the exhibition Venice and Aristotle (c. 1450-c. 1600): From Greek and Latin to the Vernacular, to be held in the Sale Monumentali of the Marciana Library in Venice, from 21 April to 19 May 2016.
This exhibition, curated by Alessio Cotugno and David A. Lines (University of Warwick), highlights the role played by Venice in the Renaissance interpretation and dissemination of the works of Aristotle, who remained the most intensely studied philosopher of antiquity until at least 1700. Around thirty manuscripts and printed editions show how Venice's engagement with Aristotle expanded from Greek and Latin to Italian, which increasingly became a legitimate language for literary and philosophical studies in the sixteenth century. Greek and Latin manuscripts (some of them extremely old and belonging originally to the humanist, Greek émigré, and cardinal Bessarion, † 1472) and printed editions testify to Venice as a significant centre of learned scholarship on Aristotle and his commentators. But its position as one of the great capitals of the European printing industry made Venice the chief promoter of a lively cultural movement to make Aristotle’s works available to a broader public, which came to include women, princes, participants in Academies, and educated amateurs interested in literature, philosophy, and science.
Venice (21 April-19 May 2016)
The University of Warwick and the Marciana Library (http://marciana.venezia.sbn.it) are pleased to announce the exhibition Venice and Aristotle (c. 1450-c. 1600): From Greek and Latin to the Vernacular, to be held in the Sale Monumentali of the Marciana Library in Venice, from 21 April to 19 May 2016.
This exhibition, curated by Alessio Cotugno and David A. Lines (University of Warwick), highlights the role played by Venice in the Renaissance interpretation and dissemination of the works of Aristotle, who remained the most intensely studied philosopher of antiquity until at least 1700. Around thirty manuscripts and printed editions show how Venice's engagement with Aristotle expanded from Greek and Latin to Italian, which increasingly became a legitimate language for literary and philosophical studies in the sixteenth century. Greek and Latin manuscripts (some of them extremely old and belonging originally to the humanist, Greek émigré, and cardinal Bessarion, † 1472) and printed editions testify to Venice as a significant centre of learned scholarship on Aristotle and his commentators. But its position as one of the great capitals of the European printing industry made Venice the chief promoter of a lively cultural movement to make Aristotle’s works available to a broader public, which came to include women, princes, participants in Academies, and educated amateurs interested in literature, philosophy, and science.