Classics, Medieval & Renaissance 2012 - University of Toronto ...

HISTORY
NEW
Marsilius of Padua at the Intersection of Ancient
and Medieval Traditions of Political Thought
Vasileios Syros
This book focuses on the reception and transmission
of classical political ideas in the thought of fourteenthcentury
Italian scholar Marsilius of Padua. Vasileios
Syros investigates many facets of Marsilius’ work,
including his use of efficient cause in his discussion
of political phenomena, and the causes of civil strife
in the Italian city-states of his day.
Syros demonstrates that Marsilius was committed
to the idea of a sharp demarcation between ethics
and politics, thereby foreshadowing the writings of
Machiavelli and a number of other early modern
writers. He also elucidates Marsilius’ use of examples
from Greek mythology in his work on the emergence
and political dimension of pagan religions. Finally,
this study highlights linkages between Marsilius’
thought and the ideas of his medieval Muslim and
Jewish predecessors and contemporaries.
Vasileios Syros is a docent in the Centre of Excellence
in Political Thought and Conceptual Change at the Academy
of Finland and the University of Helsinki.
Approx. 304 pp / 6 x 9 / December 2012
Cloth 978-1-4426-4144-0 $65.00 (£45.99)
NEW
The Christ Child in Medieval Culture
Alpha es et O!
Edited by Mary Dzon and Theresa M. Kenney
The cult of the Christ Child flourished in late medieval
Europe across lay and religious, as well as geographic
and cultural boundaries. Depictions of Christ’s boyhood
are found throughout popular culture, visual
art, and literature. The Christ Child in Medieval Culture
is the first interdisciplinary investigation of how
representations of the Christ Child were conceptualized
and employed in this period.
The contributors to this unique volume analyse
depictions of the Christ Child through a variety of
frameworks, including the interplay of mortality
and divinity, the medieval conceit of a suffering
Christ Child, and the interrelationships between
Christ and other figures, including saints and ordinary
children. The Christ Child in Medieval Culture synthesizes
various approaches to interpreting the cultural
meaning of medieval religious imagery and illuminates
the significance of its most central figure.
Mary Dzon is an associate professor in the Department
of English at the University of Tennessee. Theresa
M. Kenney is an associate professor in the Department
of English at the University of Dallas.
Approx. 360 pp / 47 illustrations / 6 x 9 / April 2012
Cloth 978-0-8020-9894-8 $80.00 (£50.99)
The Politics of Law in Late Medieval
and Renaissance Italy
Edited by Lawrin Armstrong and Julius Kirshner
Foreword by Lauro Martines
The Politics of Law in Late Medieval and Renaissance
Italy features original contributions by international
scholars on the fortieth anniversary of the publication
of Lauro Martines’s Lawyers and Statecraft in Renaissance
Florence, which is recognized as a groundbreaking
study challenging traditional approaches to both
Florentine and legal history.
Essays by leading historians examine the professional,
social, and political functions of Italian jurists from
the thirteenth to the late fifteenth centuries. The
volume also examines the use of emergency powers,
the critical role played by jurists in mediating the
rule of law, and the adjudication of political crimes.
Lawrin Armstrong is an associate professor in the
Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto.
Julius Kirshner is a professor emeritus in the Department
of History at the University of Chicago.
‘Scholars of legal history will be grateful for The
Politics of Law in Late Medieval and Renaissance
Italy, a fitting introductory volume to the Toronto
Studies in Medieval Law series.’
William J. Connell, Seton Hall University
(Toronto Studies in Medieval Law)
240 pp / 1 illustration / 6 x 9 / 2011
Cloth 978-1-4426-4075-7 $55.00 (£38.99)
16 University of Toronto Press