What Remains of Manhood

Between the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, the emergence of the European territorial state was accompanied by a change in the gender balance, as women gained new and increased opportunities for leadership. In the sixteenth century, the new political anthropology, in the light of the s...

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Main Author: Eleonora Belligni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Università degli Studi di Torino 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Interdisciplinary History of Ideas
Online Access:https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/jihi/article/view/10921
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author Eleonora Belligni
author_facet Eleonora Belligni
author_sort Eleonora Belligni
collection DOAJ
description Between the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, the emergence of the European territorial state was accompanied by a change in the gender balance, as women gained new and increased opportunities for leadership. In the sixteenth century, the new political anthropology, in the light of the socio-political, religious and cultural phenomena that changed the dynamics of the various European regions, elaborated theoretical constructions of government, the state, the distribution of functions, legitimacy and the foundations of consensus. It is a cultural operation to define a masculine power that considers women as the embodiment of an exception or an aberration. The consequence is that this masculinisation of power is typical of the Renaissance and does not belong to the political culture of previous centuries. By extension, the so-called ‘paradigm of exceptionalism’ (in the modern state, women in power are the exception that proves the rule) is an invention, or rather a recreation, of modern political philosophy, which reflects on the relationship between sovereignty and power and assigns it a masculine identity value (whose non-feminine character is emphasised). The hypothesis will be tested in the relationship between different types of textual sources in Early Modern Italy: namely, the reports of ambassadors and nuncios in a period stretching from Isabella of Castile to Elizabeth I Tudor; political treatises; travelogues. Keywords: Renaissance, History of Female Power, Sovereignty, Exceptionalism, History of Gender Balance
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spelling doaj-art-325a8209e9104e1b9e1addab316d02922025-01-15T09:34:51ZengUniversità degli Studi di TorinoJournal of Interdisciplinary History of Ideas2280-85742024-12-01132610.13135/2280-8574/10921What Remains of ManhoodEleonora Belligni0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0756-7216Università degli Studi di TorinoBetween the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, the emergence of the European territorial state was accompanied by a change in the gender balance, as women gained new and increased opportunities for leadership. In the sixteenth century, the new political anthropology, in the light of the socio-political, religious and cultural phenomena that changed the dynamics of the various European regions, elaborated theoretical constructions of government, the state, the distribution of functions, legitimacy and the foundations of consensus. It is a cultural operation to define a masculine power that considers women as the embodiment of an exception or an aberration. The consequence is that this masculinisation of power is typical of the Renaissance and does not belong to the political culture of previous centuries. By extension, the so-called ‘paradigm of exceptionalism’ (in the modern state, women in power are the exception that proves the rule) is an invention, or rather a recreation, of modern political philosophy, which reflects on the relationship between sovereignty and power and assigns it a masculine identity value (whose non-feminine character is emphasised). The hypothesis will be tested in the relationship between different types of textual sources in Early Modern Italy: namely, the reports of ambassadors and nuncios in a period stretching from Isabella of Castile to Elizabeth I Tudor; political treatises; travelogues. Keywords: Renaissance, History of Female Power, Sovereignty, Exceptionalism, History of Gender Balance https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/jihi/article/view/10921
spellingShingle Eleonora Belligni
What Remains of Manhood
Journal of Interdisciplinary History of Ideas
title What Remains of Manhood
title_full What Remains of Manhood
title_fullStr What Remains of Manhood
title_full_unstemmed What Remains of Manhood
title_short What Remains of Manhood
title_sort what remains of manhood
url https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/jihi/article/view/10921
work_keys_str_mv AT eleonorabelligni whatremainsofmanhood