The Italians before Italy: Conflict and Competition in the Mediterranean
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The Italians before Italy: Conflict and Competition in the Mediterranean
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Narrated by:
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Kenneth R. Bartlett
About this listen
Take a riveting tour of the Italian peninsula, from the glittering canals of Venice to the lavish papal apartments and ancient ruins of Rome.
In these 24 lectures, Professor Bartlett traces the development of the Italian city-states of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, showing how the modern nation of Italy was forged out of the rivalries, allegiances, and traditions of a vibrant and diverse people.
This comprehensive portrait of Italian history opens an exciting new world-a grand mosaic of lustrous and storied cultures as distinctive as the people who helped build them. As you come to know these many "Italys," you'll see how the Italian states defined themselves against the others, competing for territory, trade, and artistic supremacy - and how the vestiges of these interactions are visible even today.
Among other things, you'll consider the rivalry between the Genoese and the Pisans, which stems from a nearly 800-year-old grudge; examine how the crusades influenced the development of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice; and explore Italy's troubled relationship with the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
You'll also get a glimpse into the lives of the powerful and influential, including Pope Paul IV, who championed the Roman Inquisition, and Luigi Gonzaga, who cut out the hearts of his enemies and nailed them to the doors of their palaces as a warning to others who might challenge his power.
As you get to know the distinctive personalities and events that define the peninsula, you'll gain fresh insights into the Italy of today. Surprising, enriching, always engaging, this course offers a unique perspective on one of the most dynamic and creative cultures of the modern world.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2007 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2007 The Great CoursesListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Italians before Italy: Conflict and Competition in the Mediterranean
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- LC
- 17-12-21
Nice introduction
I enjoyed this book and learned quite a lot from it. It did feel like it just scratched the surface though, and would have been good to be longer and cover more of the last 500 years too.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T S
- 19-01-21
Good overview
Good overview of the period and bar a couple mispronounced names itnis narrated well. Interesting introduction to a history of Italy during the period.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dennis Sommers
- 26-08-20
It fills all the gaps!
For someone who tries to connect up all the different bits from art, music and literature this course has it all. To know about Venice I the Renaissance, or to visit Pisa; to try to place the major families and their lo
Histories is difficult without the overview this well-designed and
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Adam Boome
- 12-01-24
Completely changed everything I know about Italy
This was an absolutely fascinating lecture series. It filled in many holes in my knowledge of European history and made sense of many things I now realise were linked to Italy. I look forward to visiting some of the cities mentioned with this knowledge.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Gary
- 28-01-22
Well delivered overview of the key states...
...of this fascinating period of Italian history. Each state is presented in a very accessible, informative manner, telling us what made it unique, how it interacted with its peers, who its key people were and what events and decisions led to its successes and failures. All presented at a rhythm that kept my focus despite my tendency to let my mind wander. I've just bought the series of lectures about the Tudor and Stuarts because i love comparative history. what was happening in England while Medici was patronising Boticelli?
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Manchester12
- 10-03-21
Fascinating and thorough
I learned so much from this course. The research was impressive but it was very digestible because the presenter focussed his chapters on individual cities and their leading personalities that had lead Italy to its eventual unification.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- L Minnema
- 23-07-17
excellent overview of interactions between cities
If you could sum up The Italians before Italy: Conflict and Competition in the Mediterranean in three words, what would they be?
This course offers an excellent overview of the political and economic interactions between the major Italian cities Venice, Genua, Milan, Rome, Mantua, Urbino, until the Napoleonic take-over of Italy. Medieval and Renaissance Italy is the battlefield for the competition between the Habsburg empire and the French kingdom fighting each other in Italy, the Italian cities becoming allies of either the one or the other. Within most of the Italian cities, the aristocrats oppose the merchant classes, the aristocrats linking themselves to the Habsburg emperor, the merchant classes linking themselves to the French king or to the pope, cities having to shift sides if the tide turned.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- P Hemming
- 03-08-19
A good general introduction to the states of Italy
As per the headline, this is a good overview of most places of importance within Italy. For example, I knew little about Pisa and now have a good general idea of its rise and fall.
The narration is pretty good considering this isn't supposed to be a spy novel (though the clearly studio-added clapping at the outset of each lecture is rather strange).
However, as someone who knows a bit about Florence, a few questions have to be asked about historical accuracy. The Medici are treated very positively here, there is little by way of counterpoint.
For example, Bartlett states that Piero was just acknowledged as hereditary ruler after the death of Cosimo. This just isn't true: there was absolutely a succession crisis and it's one of the pivotal moments in Florence moving from Republic to Ruled.
Secondly, it is stated that the Pazzi plot occurred on Easter Sunday. Almost any academic history book would tell you otherwise. This is a myth. And one which would be understandable in the average person but not in an expert.
Although I have enjoyed the several I have listened to thus far, I do have reservations as to how accurate the other lectures are, given the above.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Geany
- 29-01-23
Excelent
Loved it. I always wondered why it took 1500 years to have an united Italy.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-02-21
interesting but not exceptional
An interesting review of Italian history but as an Italian I have to object on some observation (in particular the last chapters)
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