Transregional Lordship and the Italian Renaissance

Matthew Vester is Professor of History at West Virginia University and the author of Renaissance Dynasticism and Apanage Politics: Jacques de Savoie-Nemours, 1531-1585 (Truman State, 2012). He is the editor of Sabaudian Studies: Political Culture, Dynasty, and Territory (1400-1700) (Truman State, 2013) and co-editor of Tra Francia e Spagna: Reti diplomatiche, territori e culture nei domini sabaudi fra Tre e Settecento (Carocci, 2018).

• Abbreviations, List of maps and tables, List of figures, Acknowledgments, Chapter 1 On the edge of the Italian Renaissance, The Italian Renaissance, The Renaissance nobility, Spatial analysis and mobility, Chapter 2 René's early career to 1536,René's early life, René and Sabaudo-Swiss politics prior to 1536, The lordship of Valangin and the counts of Neuchâtel, Before the storm, 1531-1534, Chapter 3 René's growing influence during the war years, 1536-1553,The invasions of 1536, Valangin, the Reform, and relations with the Countess of Neuchâtel, Political leadership and mobility during a time of uncertainty, Struggling for the sovereignty of Valangin, 1542-1565, Chapter 4 René and Duke Emanuel Filibert, René and Emanuel Filibert, Vercelli capture and efforts to get released, The twilight of a career, Family matters and René's last years, Historiographic perspectives of René's life, Chapter 5 Kinship and noble life, Kin relations, Relations with wives and children, Nobles and domestic life, Legal issues, Chapter 6 The Challant political networks,René's networks,-The regional scope of René's ties,-René's ecclesiastical network,-René's key subordinates, Mencia's network, Letters and information, Relations with officials, Chapter 7 Finance and brokerage, Nobles and finance, René as borrower and broker,-The financial situation inherited by René,-1526-1536: Finance and Swiss negotiations,-Finance during the war years to 1545,-From the 1545 'restructuring' to the second imprisonment, The financial implications of ransom, Financial recovery, Chapter 8 Lordship, Valangin during the war years,Beaufremont, René and the practice of lordship,-Fiefs and fiscality,-Sample castellany accounts: Châtillon, 1559-1560,-Administration of the fiefs, Chapter 9 The embodiment of spatial politics, Index.

This is a thoroughly researched study based on vast archival materials in over a dozen different archives in France, Italy, and Switzerland. And as a study of lordship—the exercise of noble privileges and responsibilities, or as the author puts it, the exercise of spatial politics—this is a fascinating and significant case study that deserves a wide readership.- Mack P. Holt, Renaissance and Reformation, 43.4 (Fall 2021), C'est donc un bel ouvrage qui, en plus de renouveler le regard sur un personnage important des guerres d'Italie et pour le duché de Savoie, propose de reconsidérer le rôle de l'État durant la Renaissance italienne en partant de la subsistance de liens féodaux étendus à l'échelle européenne.- Jean Sénié, Laboratoire italien, October 2020, Specialists in the wide range of fields that Vester touches on, especially for those with interests in transregional connections, will find his work a treasure trove of useful information for comparative purposes. The breadth, depth, and thoroughness of Vester's scholarship are truly impressive, and offer a good indication of what research in the history of smaller states and less well-known political actors might yet produce.,- James R. Smither, Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 75, No. 2