In his Nichomachean Ethics (VII.I.I), Aristotle suggests the possibility of a perfection of virtue so extreme that it could be characterized as "heroic" or "divine." In Shaping Heroic Virtue, eight scholars from different fields of the humanities explore the reception of this notion within a broad range of artistic, political and religious contexts and map its enduring importance in the self-fashioning of monarchs and political elites. The case studies included in the volume span from Late Antiquity to the 18th century and include material from different parts of Europe, with a...

Neo-Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland is the first detailed examination of the vibrant culture of literature written by Scots in Latin in the late-sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The essays in this collection draw on several recent ground-breaking research projects to examine a wide variety of aspects of Scottish Latin culture, including: Scottish participation in Latinate humanist circles across Europe, particularly in France and England; scientific, philosophical and didactic Latin culture in Scotland prior to the Scientific Revolution; and the...

Robin Raybould's The Sibyl Series of the Fifteenth Century examines the startling and sudden change that occurred in the representation of the sibyls throughout Europe during the early Renaissance. Raybould describes how and why during this period the number, names, attributes and prophecies of these archaic prophetesses were selected and stabilized thus providing new witness to the Christian message in sharp contrast to earlier representations where the sibyls had played a minor role in the history of classical and Christian divination and prophecy. The book examines all the...