The Book of the Courtier, Baldassare Castiglione
The Book of the Courtier, Baldassare Castiglione
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The Book of the Courtier

Author: Baldassare Castiglione

Narrator: Nicholas Boulton

Unabridged: 11 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Naxos

Published: 05/11/2018


Synopsis

Set in the court of Urbino in 1507, Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier presents an invaluable look at court life and culture during the Renaissance. Over four nights of dialogue, the book explores the key question, ‘What should a courtier be like?’ and presents a deep and timeless discussion that is reminiscent of Plato’s Symposium and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, and invites comparisons with Machiavelli’s The Prince. It is absorbing and enlightening, and encompasses a wide range of topics that include dancing, fencing, war, religion, culture, courtly and corporeal love and gender relations, with a surprisingly modern defense of women and equal rights.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Elle

how in god’s name do you rate a book you read for a class in two days when you haven’t read a whole book in two weeks I think what I found interesting about this is the parallelism between today and later; ideals and mistakes and the desire for perfection. Through his set of Renaissance-era conversat......more

Goodreads review by Mary

A book to read to learn about the Renaissance and how they thought. It features conversation among courtiers discussing what the ideal courtier should be like. How, ideally, he should be noble birth; others dispute that many marvelous courtiers have risen from humble stations, but the original speake......more