{"product_id":"medieval-lucca-and-the-evolution-of-the-renaissance-state-9780199542901","title":"Medieval Lucca: And the Evolution of the Renaissance State","description":"Although there are many books in English on the city and state of Lucca, this is the first scholarly study to cover the history of the entire region from classical antiquity to the end of the fifteenth century. At one level, it is an archive-based study of a highly distinctive political\u003cbr\u003ecommunity; at another, it is designed as a contribution to current discussions on power-structures, the history of the state, and the differences between city-states and the new territorial states that were emerging in Italy by the fourteenth century. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThere is a rare consensus among historians on the characteristic features of the Italian city-state: essentially the centralization of economic, political, and juridical power on a single city and in a single ruling class. Thus defined, Lucca retained the image of an old-fashioned, old-style\u003cbr\u003ecity-republic right through until the loss of political independence in 1799. No consensus exists with regard to the defining qualities of the Renaissance state. Was it centralized or de-centralized; intrusive or non-interventionist? The new regional states were all these things. And the comparison\u003cbr\u003ewith Lucca is complicated and nuanced as a result. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLucca ruled over a relatively large city territory, in part a legacy from classical antiquity. Lucca was distinctive in the pervasive power exercised over its territory (largely a legacy of the region's political history in the early and central middle ages). In consequence, the Lucchese state\u003cbr\u003eshowed a marked continuity in its political organization, and precociousness in its administrative structures. The qualifications relate to practicalities and resources. The coercive powers and bureaucratic aspirations of any medieval state were distinctly limited, whilst Lucca's capacity for\u003cbr\u003eindependent action was increasingly circumscribed by the proximity (and territorial enclaves) of more powerful and predatory neighbors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e M. E. Bratchel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/15\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.20lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.20w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780199542901\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/30\/2009 pg. 19\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eM. E. Bratchel\u003c\/strong\u003e is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the Witwatersrand and has held visiting fellowships at many institutions, including the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti, Cambridge, the University of London, the Bellagio Study and Conference Center, and the Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanities at Bogliasco. He has written numerous articles on the social and economic history of Tuscany and on state-formation in late medieval Italy and is the author of \u003cem\u003eLucca 1430-1494: The Reconstruction of an Italian\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eCity-Republic\u003c\/em\u003e, also published by Oxford University Press.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":39934218109043,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":195.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_9c14ff88-f13e-4a9a-aa8c-5b5a1b7db755.jpg?v=1647878046","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/medieval-lucca-and-the-evolution-of-the-renaissance-state-9780199542901","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}