Renaissance humanists were often engaged in a wide variety of polemics, ranging from matter-of-fact debate to scathing invective. The programmatic nature of Renaissance humanism, intent on a fundamental reform of language, education, and society at large, led the humanists almost inevitably to conflicts with those who represented other intellectual traditions, first and foremost the Scholastics. In addition, internal competition among humanists sparked violent quarrels, in which opponents walked a thin line between defensive self-preservation and aggressive self-promotion.

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During his lifetime the historian and antiquarian Biondo Flavio (1392 1463) struggled to obtain recognition as a major contributor to the humanistic movement of the fifteenth century. Throughout the Renaissance, fellow Italian scholars far too often condemned rather than endorsed his scholarly works. His troublesome career and mixed reputation among his peers stand in stark contrast with the highly innovative character of his learning, which proved to be ground-breaking for the further development of various strands of historical and antiquarian research in the...