Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

History

Date of Award

5-2013

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Dr. Brian Maxson

Committee Members

Dr. Newcomer, Dr. Burgess

Abstract

During the Italic Wars, the Italian peninsula experienced foreign invasions and internal discord between rivaling duchies and city-states. Florence and Venice both faced internal and external discord due to the constant wars and political in fighting. Venetian Pietro Bembo wrote historical accounts of this period during the Renaissance. His contemporaries, Marino Sanudo, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Francesco Guicciardini, also wrote historical accounts of this time. My research spotlights Bembo’s history of the Venetian Republic. This history was written in a supposedly objective fashion, yet, scholarship shows that historical writing from this time contained bias. I focused on Bembo because there is a lack of scholarship that looks at his historical writings. This bias can be linked with the socio-political ties these men had. Examining his accounts of historical events and comparing them with the other three historians, Bembo’s slanted accounts illustrate the effect and importance of having a strong patronage network.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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