The Wisdom of the Renaissance

Kellogg (The Wisdom of the Middle Ages) lauds the intellectual and literary accomplishments of nine key Renaissance authors in a work that doesn’t pretend to provide any new scholarship, but does provide an illuminating and accessible synthesis of established knowledge. Moving from Petrarch through such writers as Erasmus, Rabelais, Montaigne, Cervantes, and Shakespeare, Kellogg shows how each contributed to a worldview that, leaning into classical thought, elevated the centrality of the human being and of reason. Each chapter follows a similar format: Kellogg introduces his theme, offers a brief biography of his subject, and then focuses on explaining that person’s significance. For example, Kellogg portrays Machiavelli as a man driven not by a rejection of Christian morality but by a desire to seize the moment and unite the Italian city-states under a strong ruler capable of expelling foreign invaders. Even in chapters, such as on Thomas More, that primarily summarize biography, Kellogg’s writing is so skillful as to leave one impressed. This clearly and cogently written book will be a valuable resource for readers whenever they have a question about Kellogg’s subject that runs deeper than what Wikipedia can supply. (July)