Baldassare Castiglione - The Fortunes of The Courtier

The Fortunes of The Courtier

Have you read Castliglione’s Cortegiano? The beauty of the book is such that it deserves to be read in all ages; and as long as courts endure, as long as princes reign and knights and ladies meet, as long valor and courtesy hold a place in our hearts, the name of Castiglione will be held in honor.” —Torquato Tasso, Il Malpiglio overo de la corte (1585)

The Book of the Courtier caught the "spirit of the times" and was speedily translated into Spanish, German, French, Polish, and English. One hundred and eight editions were published between 1528 and 1616 alone. (Pietro Aretino's La cortigiana is a parody of this famous work.) Castiglione's depiction of how the ideal gentleman should be educated and behave remained, for better or for worse, the touchstone of behavior for all the upper classes of Europe for the next five centuries. Nowhere was its influence greater than in England, where it was translated by Sir Thomas Hoby in 1561 and is a recognizable source for Shakespeare. Queen Elizabeth’s tutor and later secretary, Roger Ascham, wrote that a young man who carefully studied The Book of The Courtier would benefit from it more than from three years travel in Italy. Later commentators have not infrequently accused it of advocating superficiality (with "slight justice" according to June Osborne), yet it has also been called, “The most important single contribution to a diffusion of Italian values” throughout Europe. The definitive study of reception of The Courtier is Peter Burke's magisterial The Fortunes of the Courtier: The European Reception of Castiglione's Cortegiano, Penn State University Press, 1995.