Widely acknowledged as the sixteenth century's most significant handbook on leadership, The Book of the Courtier offers an insider's view of court life and culture during the Renaissance. Set in 1507, when the author himself was an attaché to the Duke of Urbino, the book consists of a series of fictional conversations between members of the Duke's retinue. All aspects of leadership come under discussion, but the primary focus rests upon the relationship between advisors...
First published in 1528 and written over several years by Baldesar Castiglione, count of Novilara, “The Book of the Courtier” is one of the most important and definitive accounts of Italian Renaissance court life. Organized as a series of fictional conversations that occur between the courtiers of the Duke of Urbino in 1507, “The Book of the Courtier” is a book of manners and etiquette and discusses the expectations for a perfect courtier. Castiglione had intimate knowledge of these rules and...