Remembering the Renaissance: Humanist Narratives of the Sack of Rome by Kenneth Gouwens (review)

book reviews307 ing with Luther's view of education as the principal means of Christian witness in a complex world. The first four chapters present Luther's own detailed experiences of learning from elementary education to the doctorate in biblical studies; the last three chapters present an assessment of Luther's "success" in changing medieval and sixteenth-century education. The "introduction" addresses the question of "Luther and Education in the Age of Internet"; and the "conclusion" offers a summary of what Luther viewed as "learning for life." What makes the book very useful is its clear compilation and critical assessment of the complex evidence on the young Luther in primary and secondary sources. Neuralgic issues are soberly presented and analyzed, be they the problematic study of Erik Erikson, the controversies about the date of Luther's spiritual "breakthrough," or the research of Gerald Strauss on Luther's failure as an educator. Reading this book will enforce the author's conclusion that Luther was quite independent in his view of learning. He was neither a Humanist, nor an elitist, but an advocate of a broad, inclusive program of education based on his insight that all Christians are priests through baptism and have a clear vocation in this world. Luther fought not only illiteracy, be it rational or spiritual, but an ideology that refused to grant education to everyone. In this sense, Luther's view of learning is quite consistent with his vision of Christian freedom: liberation from the spiritual bondage of righteousness by moralistic works leads to freedom from the ideological chains on the minds of naive Christians. The book is minimally illustrated,with an index and a bibliography. It belongs on any shelf of books on Luther. Eric W Gritsch Gettysburg Iutheran Seminary (Emeritus) Remembering the Renaissance:HumanistNarratives ofthe Sack ofRome. By Kenneth Gouwens. [Brill's Studies in Intellectual History. Vol. 85.] (Leiden: Brill. 1998. Pp. xix, 232. $85.50.) The year of the Lord 1527 is a pivotal date for students of Early Modern Europe . I vividly remember hearing a revered professor, more than three decades ago, announce that the Sack of Rome was the end of the Renaissance! The number of publications dealing with the Italian Renaissance that conclude with the infamous Sack reinforced this conclusion. Over the years, I have found this agreed-upon notion most puzzling, because my own research into the institutions and practices of the Roman Curia before and after the catastrophe seemed to indicate more continuity than change. I now begin to understand. Kenneth Gouwens' analysis of the work of four Roman humanists written dur- 308BOOK REVIEWS ing and shortly after these events sheds light on perceptions that have endured for four centuries and more. Professor Gouwens studied the literary reactions of four of the humanists who had been part of the court of Clement VII; although these works vary in form and substance, they are all set in prescribed classical forms: orations,Virgilian narrative poetry, Ciceronian "familiar" letters, and a dialogue. The first two authors, Pietro Alcionio and Pietro Corsi, were unfortunate enough to have endured the sack in person—indeed,Alcionio's death within the year probably resulted from a wound he sustained fleeing for the protection of the Castel Sant'Angelo. The third,Jacopo Sadoleto,had prudently left Rome for his diocese of Carpentras in Provence shortly before the attack;the fourth, Pierio Valeriano, was in Florence as tutor to the Medici nephews during that fateful May. Professor Gouwens discusses the reactions of each at length. Alcionio's orations range from outrage over the Christian burial of the slain Charles of Bourbon , leader of the Imperial forces, to a plea to the Emperor Charles V to a violent denunciation of the same emperor, to a panegyric of the author's new patron, the imperialist Cardinal Pompeo Colonna. Corsi vividly describes the devastation of the city and its contado in his poem, Romae Urbis Excidium, a long lament. Sadoleto's epistles to his friends show that he was hesitant in approaching his old patron, the pope, and only wrote to him directly in September of 1527. During the 1530's, Valeriano wrote a dialogue in which he catalogues the unhappy fate...