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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Renaissance treatises on 'successful ageing' | | Author(s) | Chris Gilleard |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 33, no 2, February 2013 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, February 2013 |
| Pages | pp 189-215 |
| Source | journals.cambridge.org/aso |
| Keywords | Ageing process ; Good Health ; Humanism ; Histories. |
| Annotation | Numerous treatises on 'successful ageing' were published during the late Renaissance. Gabriele Zerbi's 'Gerontocomia' and Luigi Cornaro's 'Trattato della Vita Sobria', in particular, have been considered as early precursors of modern gerontology. In this paper, the author revisits these two treatises, outlines their content and common themes, and sets them in the context of other literature written about ageing in this period. Among the factors that influenced this writing are the rise of civic humanism, increased access to classical texts on health and hygiene, and the emergence of environmental and public health concerns, particularly in the Italian city states. The powerful yet insecure position of older men in the upper ranks of Italian society gave the topic of 'seniority' added relevance. While their roots in the scholastic tradition prevent them from serving as forerunners of scientific gerontology, their humanist concern with 'lifestyle' succeeds in making them the prototypes of the 'do-it-yourself' manuals for successful ageing that now proliferate in our late modernity. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-130118200 A |
| Classmark | BG: CD: TR6: 6A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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