LONDON, 1584: TRANSLATION AND CULTURAL POLITICS

Abstract

London, in the year 1584, was a crossroads of cultural exchange, philosophical elaboration, religious dissent. The present contribution focuses on this year considering the circulation of people – especially foreign intellectuals – and books: it looks at the cultural circle established in the household of the French ambassador, Michel de Castelnau; at works such as Giordano Bruno’s his Cena de le ceneri and John Florio’s First Fruites; at a cultural mediator, William Fowler, and at his translation of Machiavelli’s Prince. Through the investigation of the meetings and exchanges that took place in this pivotal year the present contribution attempts to shed light on the cultural dynamics, supported by book-buying, translation, quotation and allusion, that constitute such a fundamental element of the construction of Elizabethan culture.