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Preface
The World of Renaissance Italy: A Daily Life Encyclopedia is one in a series of
encyclopedias that is meant to expand the reader’s understanding of the ways
in which life was experienced by the people of a particular time and place. The
Renaissance is a label used for a cultural phenomenon that followed what histo-
rians have called the Middle Ages and that opened the early modern period of
European history. For purposes of this work, I have defined it as the period from
1350 to 1600. It is a time span that includes several other major historical trends
or phenomena, including the so-called Age of Exploration or Discovery, the Prot-
estant and Catholic Reformations, and the beginning of the Scientific Revolution.
Because many historians have chosen to avoid the label Renaissance, with its cul-
tural focus and frankly elitist implications, the period is often split between the late
medieval and early modern eras. The titles of many books and articles use these
terms instead of “Renaissance,” which may confuse the young researcher. For my
part, I acknowledge the problems with the use of “Renaissance” for the historical
period by referring to it as the Renaissance era, unless specifically referring to a
cultural or stylistic matter, such as Renaissance art or the Renaissance stage.
The publisher determined the ten topical sections into which this work is
divided, but I am fully responsible for the choice of articles that they contain.
In each case, I have tried to pick a range of topics that flesh out the general
subject—Food, Fashion, Religion—while introducing each topic on a level appro-
priate to an entry-level student of the era. This is, after all, a work directed to
upper-level high school and nonspecialist college students, though many others,
including nonspecialist public library patrons, will find it to be of use. I have
striven to avoid overly technical vocabulary, or to define such vocabulary within
the text, but this work does assume the reader has a basic textbook knowledge of
the time period and place.
Besides almost 300 entries, The World of Renaissance Italy includes an intro-
duction providing historical context to the entries and a detailed subject index pro-
viding effective access to important names and terms in the entries. A chronology
