First published in 1998. This is the ninth volume of Historical Sociology and contains an extended essay on the Renaissance of Sociology which was originally written in response to write articles on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance by Alfred Vierkandt for his Handwortenbuch der Soziologie. As a rile the Renaissance is studied as a period of fine art and great intellects; this essay attempts to go behind these outward forms and analyses the social realities which gave rise to this culture.