“The Horseshoe Nail”: Structure and Contingency in Medieval and Renaissance Italy
Gene A. Brucker
This essay considers the role of contingency in history late medieval and Renaissance Italy. Were there any events — a birth, marriage, or death; battle; natural catastrophe that might have changed decisively trajectory Italian history? The Roman papacy is one institution whose history, replete with contingent (1305, 1378, 1418, 1527) had profound impact on experience. foreign invasions fifteenth early sixteenth centuries were product cluster historical accidents France Spain, which combined to create most significant development modern
Renaissance Quarterly