A brief mention of my other interest which is Italian Renaissance history, with a focus on Rome and Florence – and cardinals.
After graduating in Medieval and Modern History from St.Andrew’s University, I completed a Ph.D. in cultural and economic history at the European University Institute (EUI, 1983) in Florence (supervised by Prof. Carlo Cipolla, Dr. David Chambers and Prof. Richard Goldthwaite).
At the EUI I was privileged to be taught by leading historians, including Denys Hay and Charles Wilson. While working in the Florentine State Archives – which were still in the Uffizi at the time – I also met other well-known experts on Florentine Renaissance history who were incredibly generous with their knowledge and expertise. My research also involved time spent in the Vatican Library and the State Archives in Rome (which vied with Florence for their extraordinary location – in the courtyard of Borromini’s church Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza).
The title of my thesis was “Una suprema magnificenza”: Niccolo’ Ridolfi, a Florentine Cardinal in Sixteenth-Century Rome. The following articles are based on the research, but I hope more will soon be published ….
“Aspetti giuridici e finanziari di una “famiglia” cardinalizia del XVI secolo: un progetto di ricerca”, in Famiglia del Principe e famiglia aristocratica, C. Mozzarelli (ed), Rome: Bulzoni Editore (1988) pp. 611-630.
“The Concept of Hospitality in a Cardinal’s Household in Renaissance Rome”, in Renaissance Studies, 2 (1988) pp. 312-320.
“Cardinal Ridolfi and Sant’Agata dei Goti”, in Early Modern Rome, Edisai Edizioni, Ferrara (2012), pp. 230–40
And also the following entries in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (now available online):
“Antonio Elio”, Dizionario Biografico Nazionale, XLII (1993), pp. 480-84
“Cardinal Ippolito D’Este”, Dizionario Biografico Nazionale, XLIII (1993), pp. 361-74
“Cardinal Ippolito II D’Este”, Dizionario Biografico Nazionale, XLIII (1993), pp. 374-76
From September 2013 I will teach a course on Machiavelli and his World in the History Department at Edinburgh University.
Over the past few years I have taught a number of 10-week Open Studies courses at Edinburgh University:
The Florentine Renaissance: A Chronological Assessment
Rome ‘Caput Mundi’: Curia, Cardinals and Courtesans from 1300 to 1590
The State as a Work of Art: Power and Politics in Renaissance Italy
Food and Society in Early Modern Europe
Short summer courses have included “Viridaria perpulchra: Gardens in and around Rome during the High Renaissance and Early Baroque” and “Food in Italy: the Middle Ages to the Risorgimento“. This summer I am teaching a short summer course on the Northern Italian gardens.
Please contact Open Studies at Edinburgh University if you’re interested in enrolling in a course.
(Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza, Rome)
