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Matthew Brennan

Dr. Dale A. Hoover

Renaissance Age of Reason (HUM-2235-103)

September 2, 2011


Brunis Panegyric to the City of Florence


Support your claims with lines from the Panegyric. Identify the
section and the page where the line of the text is found.

1. What does Bruni find praiseworthy in Florence?

Bruni finds the ancestry of its people praiseworthy. (Section 2, Page 2,
Paragraph 1)

He claims that since Florence was founded at the height of Roman
eudemonia, it inherited all the rights and privileges of the early Roman
Empire, e.g. ability to wage just war against its neighbors to reclaim the
empire, and to oppose tyranny that might rise up against the Florentine
Republic. (Section 2, Page 2, Paragraph 2)

Bruni finds the complete goodwill and supreme generosity (Section 3,
Page 4, Paragraph 5) of the citys social policies praiseworthy. He claims
that Florence welcomes all and has become a secure asylum for all of
Italy.

Bruni claims there are many examples of Florence coming to the aid of
cities who were oppressed by the conspiracies of neighboring states or
by the violence of domestic tyrants. Florence has never sat on the
sidelines while weaker states faced destruction. Florence has never been
led by a desire for leisure. I think the gist of all this is that Bruni is trying
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to say that Florence has never been stingy with its culture or has tried to
wall itself off from the rest of Italy, (even though it did wall itself off)
(Section 3, Page 4, Paragraph 6)

2. Who is Brunis model for speechwriting?

Per the Introduction, Brunis model for his panegyric comes from Aulius
Aristides Panathenaicus.

3. What makes Florentine citizens so special to Bruni?

Florentine citizens are the descendants of the Romans when the Romans
were at the height of their greatness. Bruni proposes that in the case of
royal successions there is a custom observed by most peoples, namely,
that the person who is finally declared to be heir to the king must be born
at the time his father possessed the royal dignity. Those offspring who are
born either before or after are not considered to be the sons of a king, nor
are they permitted to have the right of succession to their fathers
kingdom. (Section 2, Page 2, Paragraph 4) Because the city of Florence
was founded during the time of Roman greatness, it inherited the right of
succession from Rome.

4. What ancestry do Florentines claim?

Florentines claim their ancestry derives from the Roman people, the most
renowned, the lords and conquerors of the entire world. (Section 2, Page
2, Paragraph 1)

5. What is Florentine republicanism like?

Its a checks and balances system that is based on a series of individual
councils and an elected group of 9 that come from the 4 districts of
Florence. There is also a group of magistrates that are empowered to
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punish criminals. They serve for 2 months. (Section 4, Page 5, Paragraph
3)

6. How is Florentine government organized?

Per Bruni, the Florentine government is based on a Republican form of
government like ancient Rome was before the Caesars stamped down on
freedom. (Section 2, Page 2, Paragraph 5)

(Section 4, Page 6, Paragraph 3) There are 9 magistrates that mete out
justice. They serve a term of only 2 months.

The city is divided into 4 sections so that each section can never lack its
own representative. From each section, 2 men are elected by popular
vote of the citizens. The leader of this group is chosen on a rotating basis
from each of the sections (Section 4, Page 6, Paragraph 3)

Besides this group of 9 there is also a Council of the People, Council of
the Commune and the Twelve Good Men

Per Brunis description, The Florentine Republic has many built in Checks
and Balances to keep power from amassing with any one person.

7. How does Brunis speech mix secular with religious concerns?

(Section 4, Page 7, Paragraph 7) Bruni doesnt mention religious concerns
until the last paragraph and then its only as an afterthought because he
does not credit God, the Virgin Mother, or J ohn the Baptist as the cause of
any of Florences greatness. All throughout the speech Bruni points back
to Florences Roman heritage and adherence to Roman Republicanism as
the cause for the greatness of Florence and its people. To my eye, Bruni
includes praise for God as the only thing that remains to be done to
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satisfy the Church. From the excerpt read, Bruni is the archetype Italian
Humanist. He pays the Church lip service.