The Politics of Exile in Renaissance Italy

A systematic analysis of the role of exiles in the political life of fifteenth-century Italy, first published in 2000.

Christine Shaw (Author)

9780521037662, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 July 2007

272 pages, 4 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.418 kg

" The book is at its best...It offers a systematic and detailed survey of myriad and instances and outcomes of political exile. On the arcana of political and judicial procedures it is remarkably claer and incisive, and on the calculus of expectations for and against exiles the book is as tough minded as any of its poltical actors." Renaissance Quarterly

Political exiles were a prominent feature of political life in Renaissance Italy, often a source of intense concern to the states from which they were banished, and a ready instrument for governments wishing to intervene in the affairs of their rivals and enemies. This book, first published in 2000, provides a systematic analysis of the role of exiles in the political life of fifteenth-century Italy. The main focus is on the experiences and reactions of the exiles, and on how Italian states dealt with their own exiles and those of other powers. Siena, notorious in the 1480s for the numbers of her citizens in exile, is used as the model with which other cities are compared. Such a detailed study of the phenomenon of exile also provides alternative perspectives on the nature and power of governments in fifteenth-century Italy, and on ideas about the legitimacy of political authority and political action.

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction: the wheel of fortune
1. Into exile
2. The justice of exile
3. Places of exile
4. Life in exile
5. Keeping track
6. Finding friends
7. Going home
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]