Europe (c. 1400-1458)

Nancy Bisaha is professor of history at Vassar College.Robert Brown is the Sarah Mills Raynor Chair of Classical Studies, Department of Greek and Roman Studies at Vassar College.

“Brown and Bisaha have together made Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini’s unique history, Europe, available in English for the first time. There is much here for students of Renaissance history to learn about geography, culture, the humanist approach to history, and attitudes toward the Turks, among many other topics. The translation is clear and the notes essential; the introduction skillfully contextualizes Piccolomini and his history.”—Choice“Given the continual reinvention of Europe and the importance of the region today from a geopolitical, economic, and international point of view, we would do well both to give careful attention to Nancy Bisaha’s fine introduction and to familiarize ourselves with Aeneas’s text in Robert Brown’s excellent translation. The utility of this version is enhanced by copious and exemplary explanatory notes and bibliography.”—Fides et Historia“This translation is a notable contribution to an ever-expanding number of works by Aeneas Silvius (Enea Silvio) Piccolomini (1405–64) recently published in new editions, new translations, or first-time English translations such as this one. This volume provides a valuable perspective in our understanding of Piccolomini as he prepared for his pontificate and of Europe as the concept was in the process of formulation. Will appeal to both scholars in the field as well as to the general reader.”—Renaissance Quarterly“Provides a significant service to scholars interested in fifteenth-century Europe, particularly church and Italian history, as well as emerging notions of both ‘Europe’ and ‘history.’ It is a valuable contribution to the growing body of early modern scholarship on relations among Mediterranean nations, as well as a major advance in the ongoing effort to give Piccolomini’s works the attention they deserve.”—Speculum