Possible Lives : Authors and Saints in Renaissance Italy

Review
"In this book Alison Frazier proposes a fresh and radical re-reading of Renaissance humanism that is both deeply learned and utterly compelling. Moving beyond the conventional definitions of humanism in terms of secular ethics or rhetorical eloquence, Frazier reclaims for our considered attention the hitherto ignored 'hagiographic renaissance'. Her nuanced and suggestive analysis of the extensive and complex engagements of Italian humanists with saints' life writing (1420-1520 ca) is complemented by an invaluable catalogue of extant authors and their (mostly unpublished works). Taken together, these elements of the book constitute a tour-de-force of scholarship and interpretation, whose implications for our understanding of this seminal period of religious and cultural history are as wide-ranging as they are profound." -- Simon Ditchfield, University of York, UK


Book Description
The lives of saints were among the most reproduced and widely distributed literatures of medieval and early modern Europe. This study examines how humanist authors received, criticized, and rewrote the traditional stories of exemplary virtue for patrons and audiences who were surprisingly open to their textual experiments.


About the Author
Alison Knowles Frazier is an associate professor of history at the University of Texas, Austin and a fellow of the American Academy in Rome.


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"The lives of saints were among the most reproduced and widely distributed literatures of medieval and early modern Europe. During the century before the Reformation, these narratives of impossible goodness fell into the hands of classicizing intellectuals known as humanists. This study examines how the humanist authors received, criticized, and rewrote the traditional stories of exemplary virtue for patrons and audiences who were surprisingly open to their textual experiments." Drawn from a newly constructed catalog of primary sources in manuscript and print, the cases in this book range from the lure of martyrdom as the West confronted Islam to the use of saints' lives in local politics and the rhetorician's classroom. Frazier discusses the writers' perceptions of historical sanctity, the commanding place of the mendicant friars, and one unique account of a contemporary holy woman.


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