Leonardo+Bruni

**Biography**

Born in 1370 in A rezzo, Tuscany, Leonardo Bruni was the renowned pioneer of Renaissance humanist history writing (Fryde 533). In the early 1390s, Bruni moved to Florence to attend university (Bruni xii), where his early area of study was law, but shifted to the classics under the influence of his mentor and father figure, [|Coluccio Salutati]. Under Salutati's guidance, and as a result of his interest in the works of Thucydides and Sallust, Bruni developed a "terse Latin style" of writing, and an ability to discuss the causes of historical events (Fryde 534). In 1404 he announced his plans to write a history of Florence, only to leave the city at the start of the following year to join the Roman curia, where he worked as a Papal secretary (Burke). Despite a slight interruption in 1410, in which Bruni returned to Florence to take the position of chancellor (from which he resigned shortly after returning to his service under the Pope), he remained in the curia until 1415. After the death of Salutati in 1406, Bruni underwent an explosion of self-discovery and discarded his former enthusiasm for Thucydides, claiming that his ideas were "irrelevant to the sorts of moral and ethical questions" that Bruni had turned to (Ianziti 13). Upon returning to Florence permanently in 1415, Bruni's work had transformed from the translation of history, to the writing of his own histories, which continued throughout his second Florentine chancellorship, lasting from 1427 until his death in 1444.


 * Works**

Bruni's greatest work is the //History of the Florentine People. // Arranged in twelve books, this major work began after Bruni received a tax exemption in 1416 and was completed during his second chancellorship in 1442 (Bruni xi). The narratives investigate Florence's past politics and wars.

In writing his text, Bruni defied the practice of solely gathering historical information from biblical texts, "dismissing superstitious medieval legends", and traditional views present in the Middle Ages (Oppenheimer 487). Instead, he looked at secular historical documents to explore and research Florence’s history.

In addition to the //History of the Florentine People //, Bruni wrote less extensive books, including the //History of the First Punic War; 1418-1422 //, //Commentary on Greek Affairs; // //1439 //, and //Commentary on the Events on his Time; 1440// (Grendler 303-304)//.// He composed the biographies of Cicero, Aristotle, Petrarch, and Dante as well.

Bruni’s commentary, interwoven throughout his text, suggests that by reading and learning about history one may become morally and culturally improved. Two such commentaries are presented in Bruni’s //History// and //Commentaries//.

“In those days popes presided with humility and holiness, not with the intolerable arrogance that has crept into the pontificate today” (Bruni 73).

The above comment hints at Bruni's, as well as fellow humanist's, failing faith in the modern church.

“I sense an obligation to this my age, to give some notice of it to posterity in whatever light it may appear to the future. If only those who lived before us, who had some literary ability, had done this, we would not today find ourselves in such a state of darkness and ignorance” (Jensen 146).

 One of Bruni's major contributions to the Renaissance was translating ancient classics of Aristotle, Plato, and others, from Greek into Latin, as he believed that "the foundation of all true learning must be laid in the sound and thorough knowledge of Latin" (Jensen 130). The translations made these ancient philosophical texts available to a much larger audience, making it possible for more people to be exposed to them and begin practicing the ideals from the thinkers of antiquity. Being so interested and captivated by ancient philosophical texts, Bruni exemplifies typical Renaissance humanism.
 * Contributions**

Bruni incorporated knowledge and ideas from the classical texts into politics, under the concept of [|civic humanism] as noted by 20th century historins, the idea for which he so admired Cicero, the "ideal union of the active political and philosophical life" (Jurdjevic 1001). This concept affected Italy's politics as"civic humanism did, however, help to create and express new foci for the city's political culture in the Quattrocentro" (Jurdjevic 1015).

In addition to his translation of texts and prmotion of civic humanism, Bruni advocated learning, as he "and his friends certainly believed learning to be possible in their time" (Seigel 14). Akin to many humanists, Bruni believed that the classics could be "guides to [the active] life" (Jensen 127) and that education would lead to citizenship.


 * Bibliography**

Bruni, Leonardo. //History of the Florentine People. Vol. 1: Books I–IV//. Edited and translated by James Hankins. The I Tatti Renaissance Library, Vol. 3. Harvard University Press, 2001.

Burke, Edmund. "Leonardo Bruni." //The Catholic Encyclopedia// (1908). Drake, Richard. "Leonardo Bruni and Humanist Historiography." The European Legacy (2005): 633-635. Fryde, Edmund. "The Beginnings of Humanist Historiography: The 'New Cicero' of Leonardo Bruni." //The English Historical Review// (1980): 533=552.

Ianziti, Gary. "Bruni on Writing History." //Renaissance Quarterly// 51. 2 (1998), 367-391, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2901571. (accessed February 15, 2010).

Ianziti, Gary. "The Plutarchan Option: Leonardo Bruni's Early Career in History, 1405-1414." //I Tatti Studies: Essays in the Renaissance// (1999): 11-35.

Jensen, De Lamar. //Renaissance Europe: age of recovery and reconciliation.// 2 ed. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1992. Jurdjevic, Mark. "Civic Humanism and the Rise of the Medici." //Renaissance Quarterly// (1999): 994-1020.

Morrish, Jennifer. "Latin Translation in the Renaissance. The Theory and Practice of Leonardo Bruni." Seventeenth-Century News (Online) (2006): 255-259.

Oppenheimer, Paul. "Review." //Renaissance Quarterly// (2006): 486-488.  Seigel, Jerrold E. "'Civic Humanism' or Ciceronian Rhetoric?" //Past and Present //(1966): 3-48.

//Encyclopedia of the Renaissance//. Ed. Paul F. Grendler (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1999). s.v. "Bruni, Leonardo."

//Biography//: Alicia Bratlien //Works//: Kelli Raines //Contributions:// Jennay Smith