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Baroque Personae

Translated by Lydia G. Cochrane
The Baroque, which stretched from the end of the sixteenth to the second half of the seventeenth century, is one of the most enigmatic eras in history. In this book, thirteen distinguished scholars develop a portrait of institutions, ideologies, intellectual themes, and social structures as they are reflected in Baroque personae, or characteristic social roles.

Studying the statesman, soldier, financier, secretary, rebel, preacher, missionary, nun, witch, scientist, artist, and bourgeois, the essays depart dramatically from traditional accounts of this era. The statesman, for example, is seen here as the exact opposite of a benevolent man working for the common good; and the soldier is depicted as part of an institution that could be savage and destructive but that also, by the end of the Baroque age, helped shape a more rational relationship with the military and civil society.

The contributors are Rosario Villari, Henry Kamen, Geoffrey Parker, Daniel Dessert, Salvatore S. Nigro, Manuel Morán, José Andrés-Gallego, Adriano Prosperi, Mario Rosa, Brian P. Levack, Paolo Rossi, Giovanni Careri, and James S. Amelang.



364 pages | 4 halftones | 6 x 9 | © 1995

History: European History

Table of Contents

Introduction by Rosario Vallari
1. The Statesman
Henry Kamen
2. The Soldier
Geoffrey Parker
3. The Financier
Daniel Dessert
4. The Secretary
Salvatore S. Nigro
5. The Rebel
Rosario Vallari
6. The Preacher
Manuel Morán and José Andrés-Gallego
7. The Missionary
Adriano Prosperi
8. The Nun
Mario Rosa
9. The Witch
Brian P. Levack
10. The Scientist
Paolo Rossi
11. The Artist
Giovanni Careri
12. The Bourgeois
James S. Amelang
Index


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