Antiquarian studies on ancient banqueting during the Renaissance

Abstract

During the Renaissance, studies on ancient banqueting became part of mainstream ancient history. Among the early treatments of the subject, the monumental treatise, Antiquitatum convivialium libri, written by the Swiss humanist and Reformed theologian, J. W. Stucki, was a notable breakthrough. The article argues that Stucki was the first humanist to conceive of ancient banqueting as having universal significance, influencing all later writers on the topic. In addition, he used his book as a resource to intervene in confessional disputes with data from antiquarian erudition. After Stucki’s publication and its censorship by the Roman Catholic Church, there was a significant boost in such works throughout Europe. The phenomenon was very heterogeneous in light of diversities relating to contrasting Protestant and Catholic regions. This article focuses on the development of different approaches to the topic arising from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds at the time.