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Alberto Hadad

Dr. Christi Ivers

Great Works of the Renaissance and Baroque (HUM 6331)

15 Sep. 2022

Nature vs. Nurture

One of the topics underlying the game of describing the perfect courtier in “The Book of

the Courtier” written by Baldassare Castiglione is if the greatness of a person is due to natural

gifts of to virtue and skill gained through education. Along the dialogues presented by the author

there are numerous references to the origin of the person and his natural gifts as something, in a

sense, essential to the office of a courtier. This element reflects an important characteristic of the

humanist education of the Renaissance: it was focused on elite men who could occupy positions

in government.

The first idea presented is if the courtier should be born of noble race. The argument

raised in favor of nobility seems reasonable when it is described as a “bright lamp that manifests

and makes visible good and evil deeds, and kindles and stimulates to virtue both by fear of

shame and by hope of praise” (Castiglione. I.14). From this perspective, what moves a noble

person to pursue virtue and excellence is mostly an external motivation due to what other in his

lineage have accomplished together with the fear of not meeting the standard of his ancestors.

Adding to this topic, Gaspar Pallavicino intervenes saying that “nobility of birth does not appear

(…) so essential in the Courtier” (Castiglione. I.15) since there are men of noble birth full of

vices and humbly born men renown for their virtue. Taking into account these two arguments, it

would seem nobility would not be essential for the courtier.

Following this line of thought, there is a statement referring to the importance of

education which would perfect the nature of those not so naturally gifted who “with study and

toil can in great part polish and amend their natural defects” (Castiglione. I.14). This idea seems

to suggest suggest that many could be “tailored” to be courtiers based on the idea of the
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possibility of polishing one’s natural defects through education but, along the discussion, the

balance seems to go in favor of the necessity of a person born noble and with remarkable gifts to

be suited to occupy the position of a courtier.

There is a sense of a courtier should have remarkable natural gifts and abilities, being not

only a well-integrated gentleman but also someone of elevated intellect, refined social skills and

a corageous warrior. Regarding social skills, the courtier should be a charming person who

would be, in a sense, “loved at fist sight” because of his grace. Regarding the art of war, he

should be be a man of arms, a coargeous warrior who would also be “gentle, modest, reserved”

(Castiglione. I.17). Maybe in other historical periods, the man called to war would not

necessarily be refined and able to socialice with grace, but apparently for society of the

renaissance, this “dual nature” was expected of a courtier who at the same time should have the

capacity of acting without effort in the different endeavors acting “nonchalantly” showing “that

what is done and said is done without effort and almost without thought” (Castiglione. I.26).

The perspective of the effortlessness seems to incline the balance to the idea of a courtier

as someone particularly gifted by nature who could be perfected or shaped through education.

The following are some examples of the importance of nature for the person to be up to the task

of being a courtier: “that this Courtier of ours must be endowed by nature with beauty of

countenance and person, and with a grace that shall make him so agreeable” (Castiglione. I.19);

“But since you said that this is oftentimes the gift of nature and of heaven (…) those men who

are born so fortunate and so rich in this treasure as are some we see, seem to me in this to have

little need of other master” (Castiglione. I.24).

In conclusion, it seems to be the case that not only nobility but also natural gifts were

highly valued during the Renaissance and those who received a humanist education were part of

an elite destined to occupy important positions in society. On the other hand, the reflections

along the dialogue questioning if being noble of gifted is essential to be a courtier seem to open a

path towards a more inclusive education.

 
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Works Cited

Castiglione Baldassarre and Leonard Eckstein Opdycke. The Book of the Courtier. Immortal

Classics 1929.