Patronage and Humanist Literature in the Age of the Jagiellons

"The literature of early modern Europe arose as a part of the patronage system. Patronage and Humanist Literature in the Age of the Jagiellons looks at the relationship between humanist scholars and their patrons in east central Europe during the early sixteenth century, and analyses the neo-Latin literature printed at Cracow in 1510-30 as a product of that relationship. It is the first study in English of this literature in the context of the social and political phenomenon of patronage." "Focusing on the writings of three itinerant scholar-poets associated with the courts of Cracow, Buda, and Vienna, Jacqueline Glomski argues that, even while these writings supported the imperial pretensions of the Jagiellonian rulers, they served as effective propaganda for the humanists and their cause. Drawing on a wide array of source material, from dedicatory letters to panegyric and political literature, Glomski describes how, by forming an identity for their patrons and conferring fame on them according to humanist ideals, the scholar-poets advanced themselves and furthered the spread of humanism throughout east central Europe."--Jacket.