A Cultural History of Sport in the Renaissance covers the period 1450 to 1650. Outwardly, Renaissance sports resembled their medieval forebears, but the incorporation of athletics into the educational curriculum signalled a change. As part of the scientific revolution, sport now became the object of intellectual analysis. Numerous books were written on the medical benefits of sport and on the best way to joust, fence, train horses and ride, play ball games, swim, practice archery, wrestle, or become an acrobat. Sport became the visible sign of the mind's control over the physical body, such...

A Cultural History of Memory presents an authoritative survey from ancient times to the present. The set of six volumes covers over 2500 years of history, charting the evolving nature and role of memory throughout history. This volume, A Cultural History of Memory in the Early Modern Age, explores memory in the period from 1450 to 1700 AD. As with all the volumes in the illustrated Cultural History of Memory set, this volume presents essays on memory and: power and politics; time and space; media and technology; science and education; philosophy, religion and history, high culture and...