TTC - Italians Before Italy: Conflict and Competition in the Mediterranean by Kenneth Bartlett 24 lectures of 30 minutes - mp3
Esteemed Italian history P. Kenneth Bartlett takes you on a riveting tour of the peninsula, from the glittering canals of Venice to the lavish papal apartments and ancient ruins of Rome.
This course traces the development of the Italian city-states of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, showing how the modern nation of Italy was forged out of the rivalries, allegiances, and traditions of a vibrant and diverse people.
A More Complete Picture of Italian History P. Bartlett offers something unique with this course: a more comprehensive portrait of Italian history than you'll find nearly anywhere else.
Those with no previous experience with Italian history and culture will find an exciting new world opening to them, and those who have visited Italy will be eager to return.
Through memorable stories and intriguing insights, Professor Bartlett shows how the particular circumstances of each independent state helped forge a distinct cultural character. Here's a sample of the many fascinating facts you'll learn:
Venice was so invested in its local glassmaking industry that its city fathers would send assassins after Venetian citizens who tried to leave the city-state and practice their craft elsewhere.
Merchants from Pisa used earth from Jerusalem as ballast on return voyages from the Crusades. They spread the soil in the city cemetery to ensure that Pisan citizens would be first in line to enter heaven on Judgment Day.
Birthplace to Virgil, the poet of ancient Rome, Mantua was home to the first opera, Monteverdi's Orfeo, as well as the amazing Mannerist palace, the Palazzo Te.
Intriguing stories like these create a rich, diverse portrait of Italy—a grand mosaic of lustrous and storied cultures as distinctive as the people who helped build them.
Course Lecture Titles 1. Italy—A Geographical Expression 2. The Question of Sovereignty 3. The Crusades and Italian Wealth 4. Venice—A Maritime Republic 5. The Terraferma Empire 6. Genoa, La Superba 7. Bankers and Dukes 8. Pisa 9. Christians vs. Turks in the Mediterranean 10. Rome—Papal Authority 11. Papal Ambition 12. Papal Reform 13. Naples—A Matter of Wills 14. Naples and the Threat to Italian Liberty 15. Milan and the Visconti 16. The Sforza Dynasty 17. Mantua and the Gonzaga 18. Urbino and the Montefeltro 19. Ferrara and the Este Family 20. Siena and the Struggle for Liberty 21. Florence and the Guild Republic 22. Florence and the Medici 23. The Italian Mosaic—E Pluribus Gloria 24. Campanilismo—The Italian Sense of Place