{"product_id":"ermolao-barbaros-on-celibacy-and-gareth-williams-9781350149427","title":"Ermolao Barbaro's on Celibacy 1 and 2","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis volume offers the first annotated English translation of the first two books of\u003ci\u003e On Celibacy \u003c\/i\u003e(1473) by the eminent Venetian humanist Ermolao Barbaro (1454-93); Books 3 and 4 of \u003ci\u003eOn Celibacy\u003c\/i\u003e are presented, along with Barbaro's \u003ci\u003eOn the Duty of the Ambassador\u003c\/i\u003e, in the companion piece to this first volume. Setting out the historical context that crucially conditions Barbaro's advocacy of the celibate life in Books 1 and 2, the introduction examines how \u003ci\u003eOn Celibacy \u003c\/i\u003eseeks to justify a contemplative existence that rejects the career path expected of a figure of Barbaro's standing within the Venetian patrician class. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Beyond setting out the essential facts of Ermolao Barbaro's life-story, Gareth Williams discusses how \u003ci\u003eOn Celibacy\u003c\/i\u003e is set in counterpoise to the treatise \u003ci\u003eOn Marriage\u003c\/i\u003e (1415) that was composed by Ermolao's eminent grandfather, Francesco Barbaro. If the latter's treatise was vitally concerned with the institution of marriage as a key factor in the safeguarding of family succession and the stability of patriciate participation in government at Venice, \u003ci\u003eOn Celibacy\u003c\/i\u003e presents an alternative ideal whereby the celibate can proudly renounce civic life in the name of self-discovery and the pursuit of wisdom, his abilities simply unsuited to the rigors of civic life. \u003ci\u003eOn Celibacy \u003c\/i\u003eis thus implicated in a much wider 15th-century debate about the claims of the contemplative as opposed to the active life - a debate that extends all the way back to Graeco-Roman antiquity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gareth Williams\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 135014942X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781350149427\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Academic\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/17\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 216\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.43w x 1.00d","brand":"Gareth Williams","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44071387857151,"sku":"9781350149427","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_520aeabc-3b9b-4a91-bdd3-17176ef761bb.jpg?v=1685435797","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/ermolao-barbaros-on-celibacy-and-gareth-williams-9781350149427","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}