My father was a professor of Italian Renaissance history and Florence is where he met and wooed my mother. Salman Rushdie creates a mirror between these two cultures in The Enchantress of Florence. As evident in the book, other religions were tolerated and even assimilated into the courts of the Muslim Mughals. The empires forged by the various lines of Mongol warriors, the Ottoman and Mughal for example, were likewise ecumenical. Both societies shared a certain ecumenical character though: the Italian Renaissance was made possible by the reintroduction of pagan ( Greek and Roman) myth and learning, which was transmitted via Muslim and Jewish scholars and traders who had preserved and translated the works of the Classical world. The Mongol Empire, in contrast, is one which conquered in a more traditional manner, by brute strength. It is an historical locale steeped in creativity, beauty, intrigue, possibility. Renaissance Florence is widely hailed as the birthplace of modern Humanism, as well as the place where the mercantile class became the ruling class (the Medici). Most educated people have heard of Niccolo Machiavelli, the author of The Prince, and a character in this book.

It has been widely portrayed in popular culture from best-selling novels and films to the iconic art of Michelangelo, Botticelli, and others.

Renaissance Florence fascinates many of us. The Enchantress of Florence feeds into two deep psychological tributaries for me: Renaissance Italy and the Mongol (Mughal) Empire.

The enchantress of florence themes