Our first unit is about the Renaissance. It turns out, the idea of Renaissance is more complicated than you probably thought. In fact, whether or not there was a Renaissance is a fundamental question of Early Modern European historical scholarship.
Merriman presents a fairly uncomplicated view of the Renaissance, highlighting achievements. Like many historians, he sees the Renaissance as the beginning of modernity. This does not mean that everyone experiencing the Renaissance movement was fully modern. Rather, it means that cracks in the Medieval worldview started to open the possibility of change toward more modern concepts of history, time, and self.
But other historians contest this characterization of the Renaissance. Joan Kelly famously asked if women had a Renaissance. She concluded that they did not. The advent of women's history was revolutionary not because it started to put women into view, but because it forced a change in how we understood history altogether. If half of the population had no Renaissance, is it right to discuss that movement as if it were a universal phenomenon?
This kind of questioning does not mean we deny that there were achievements or that there was a Renaissance for some. It does ask that we think in a complicated way about how events affected different people differently. Women's history set the stage for other lines of questioning that have given the historical discipline texture and nuance in the past several decades.
I continue to meet historians who fall on both sides of this question of women and the Renaissance. They are all intelligent, humble scholars who truly think the evidence leads them to their answer. History is a living discourse, and some questions stay active for generations! Guido Ruggiero uses the Decameron to disprove Kelly's argument. He claims that some stories in the book prove Renaissance readers approved of virt in women.
In this paper, I'd like you to choose a side: Kelly or Ruggiero. Use the stories I assigned (and only those ones) from Boccaccio's Decameron to make your case. Be sure to summarize Kelly's and Ruggiero's arguments and take them on directly as you make your argument. You are also welcome to use other material from this unit as you see fit: Merriman, my lectures, other lectures. The bulk of your analysis should be devoted to the primary source (Boccaccio). Stay close to the text and quote directly from it to "show not tell" what your evidence is. No outside material should be included; no bots should be authors.
Happy writing!
Below is a more succinct prompt:
Joan Kelly argues that women were not able to participate in the Renaissance. Their sex barred them from practices that enabled men to become modern individuals, an essential element of the Renaissance experience. Guido Ruggiero analyzes some of Boccaccio's stories from the Decameron to argue that women were in fact lauded for the kind of boldness and heroism that met the standard of Renaissance individuals. Analyze the stories I have assigned from Boccaccio to decide which historian makes the better claim. Do the stories better support Kelly's assertion that women did not experience the advances of the Renaissance or Ruggiero's assertion that women could achieve virt just as men could and could therefore claim the status of Renaissance individuals?
Important details:
- Five pages double spaced.
- Original title.
- Do not include material from outside the assignments. This includes Decameronstories that I did not assign.
- Chicago citations to the best of your ability. If some bibliographic information is not available due to pdf alignment (for example), just do your best.
- I will look for well-chosen evidence (lots of direct quotations), good organization (each paragraph has a single objective, and paragraph by paragraph the argument comes together to prove the thesis), and thoughtful analysis (don't leave this work to the reader--explain thoroughly how the evidence supports the claim).
- Papers will be accepted up to 24 hours past the deadline without penalty (you do not need to contact me to explain or ask for permission). If you cannot submit your paper by then, get in touch.