Burckhardt's Veil That Melted Away

A Veil Over Medieval Europe

In 1860 Jacob Burckhardt published a book in German that still shapes how many people picture the Renaissance.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Civilization_of_the_Renaissance_in_Italy)

One striking image in it is a veil. Medieval consciousness, he wrote, 'lay dreaming or half awake beneath a common veil.'[[1]](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2074/2074-h/2074-h.htm)

People knew themselves only 'through some general category.' Then came the turn: 'In Italy this veil first melted into air.'[[1]](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2074/2074-h/2074-h.htm)

An English translation followed in 1878.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Civilization_of_the_Renaissance_in_Italy) In 2010, historians met to mark 150 years of the book.[[3]](https://web.archive.org/web/20230129015812/https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/1283) So was he right?

How Politics Made Individuals

Burckhardt's story starts with politics, not with old books.

Italy's rival states were, in his words, 'the state as the outcome of reflection and calculation, the state as a work of art.'[[1]](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2074/2074-h/2074-h.htm)

Once an 'objective treatment and consideration of the state' became possible in Italy, he wrote, 'the subjective side at the same time asserted itself': 'man became a spiritual individual, and recognised himself as such.'[[1]](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2074/2074-h/2074-h.htm)

He called Florence 'the first modern state in the world' and the Italian 'the first-born among the sons of modern Europe.'[[1]](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2074/2074-h/2074-h.htm) Italian culture then conquered the West.

More Than Rediscovered Classics

Ask someone what caused the Renaissance and you may hear: 'They rediscovered the classics.'

Burckhardt rejected that shortcut in plain words:

'It was not the revival of antiquity alone, but its union with the genius of the Italian people, which achieved the conquest of the western world.'[[1]](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2074/2074-h/2074-h.htm)

In his account, ancient texts were one ingredient. The people already shaped by competitive states are what made those texts powerful.

Report or Interpretation?

Here is a figure in Burckhardt: Florence had about 90,000 'mouths', estimated from bread consumption.

That number is a report. He took it from the chronicler Villani and called it rough himself.[[1]](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2074/2074-h/2074-h.htm)

You can trace it to a named source and check it.

Now try the veil. No document can show that a whole civilization 'lay dreaming'. That is an interpretation, and so is 'the first modern state in the world'.

Test any sentence: can I trace this to a named source?

Famous Is Not Proven

A book still marked with an anniversary session 150 years after it appeared can feel like the official record. Fame is not the same as proof.

Burckhardt read deeply in Italian sources. But 'medieval people had no sense of self' is his generalization.

Historian John Monfasani calls this picture of medieval people a 'caricature'.[[3]](https://web.archive.org/web/20230129015812/https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/1283)

At the 2010 anniversary session, historians respected the book in its context. They also found it 'entertaining but wrong-headed', not to be 'exhumed for modern use'.[[3]](https://web.archive.org/web/20230129015812/https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/1283)

What Still Stands

Rejecting the veil does not mean nothing changed in Italy.

Burckhardt's big questions were about the state, the individual, and antiquity. Rejecting his answers does not require dropping those questions.

What falls is the caricature: medieval people as dreamers who could see themselves only through groups.

So was the Renaissance a sharp break or a continuation? Next, Peter Burke's continuity argument takes on that question.

Did Burckhardt connect Italy’s rival, carefully constructed states with the rise of individuals who saw themselves as distinct persons?

• Yes
• No

Answer: Yes

Yes. Burckhardt argued that competitive Italian states—“the state as a work of art”—encouraged people to develop a stronger sense of individual identity.

A figure of about 90,000 Florentine “mouths” is a _____ because it comes from Villani; “medieval minds lay dreaming” is an _____ because it is Burckhardt’s broad judgment.

Answer: A figure of about 90,000 Florentine “mouths” is a report because it comes from Villani; “medieval minds lay dreaming” is an interpretation because it is Burckhardt’s broad judgment.

A report can be traced to a named source and checked. An interpretation is a historian’s broader explanation or characterization, such as Burckhardt’s image of medieval consciousness.

Which statement best captures Burckhardt’s explanation of how Italian politics contributed to the Renaissance?

• Competitive Italian states encouraged people to see themselves as individuals.
• Monastic communities prevented people from developing personal identities.
• Ancient books alone transformed medieval people into modern individuals.
• Florence became important mainly because its population was exactly 90,000.

Answer: Competitive Italian states encouraged people to see themselves as individuals.

Burckhardt argued that rivalry among calculated Italian states encouraged individual self-awareness; Italian culture then spread this development more widely.