Abstract
Among the many issues that Ronald G. Witt's work has made central to the study of the Italian Renaissance is the question of humanism's relationship to the vernacular. Humanism is often taken to be an elite movement affecting only persons wealthy enough to enjoy an education in the classics. Since Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444) was the best-selling author of the Quattrocento and a model for humanists throughout Italy, the concentration on Bruni's Latin and vernacular writings should not suffer quite so much from the usual methodological defect of the case study. The first part of this chapter talks about Bruni's contributions to vernacular literature and the motivations leading him to write in the vernacular. The second part of the chapter discusses the translation of Bruni's Latin writings into the vernacular, a subject that has been much neglected, not just for Bruni, but for the humanist movement in general. Keywords: Humanism; Italy; Latin writings; Leonardo Bruni; Quattrocento; vernacular
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