De viris illustribus and the self-conception of Italian humanism in the 15th century

Abstract

What did it mean to be a humanist in fifteenth-century Italy? Like so many questions in life and scholarship, the answer naturally depends on whom you ask. Jacob Burckhardt would say that it entailed working as a half-conscious agent for the coming of modernity. Hans Baron would insist on the relevance of classical models for the defense of republican institutions. Paul Oskar Kristeller would describe the professional habitus of chanceries, courts, and classrooms and intone the central place of the cycle of disciplines known as the studia humanitatis. One genre in particular stands out as being particularly worthy of close study, promising a mature, considered view of the humanists' notion of themselves. Such works take three basic forms, (1) registers of works and achievements after the manner of Jerome's De viris illustribus ; (2) biographical collections in the tradition of Cornelius Nepos, Plutarch; and (3) dialogues modeled on Cicero's Brutus . Keywords:Cornelius Nepos; fifteenth century; Hans Baron; Jacob Burckhardt; Paul Oskar Kristeller; viris illustribus