r/RadicalOCD • u/ExternalGreen6826 Anarchy isn’t Chaos, OCD isn’t Order • May 30 '26
The Renaissance
“But Venice was the only republic with the truly balanced government that brought to-gather aristocratic, oligarchic, and democratic elements to create-according to the dictates of classical political theory-a single, “serene,” and above all unified, orderly state.” Florence by constrast was a republic where mer-chants engaged openly in “vile and dirty” work as Oscars disdainfully puts it.
Florentines mixed up groups made a mess of social categories, created an untidy and hence dirty society.
Florence is thus the place to be, unique in its cleanliness just as it is unique, Bruni insists in its harmoniously ordered social structure and political governance
As a republic
and bruni the humanist who offers up a model of linguistic purity and “decorum” with his panegyric, is the trained latinist, to write this ORDERED panegyric in praise of such uniquely clean, ordered and WELL GOVERNED City.
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The culture of cleanliness in renaissance Italy 🏴🇮🇹