Leonardo Bruni’s career unfolded within a century of intense papal change that shaped the politics, patronage, and civic culture of Italy. The two figures below place Bruni’s life against that institutional background. Figure 1 presents a complete sequence of papal reigns from Urban V to Eugene IV, tagging

Leonardo Bruni's "History of the Florentine People" is the story of republican glory.  The History is a tome of nostalgia written by an aged man whose life was wholly given to the development of his beloved Florence.  His narrative was an attempt to promote the future

Bruni, author of the History of the Florentine People, wrote of the greatness of the citizens and the magnificence of the city of Florence. Bruni was a man of letters and a historian who dwelled among the great classics written by ancient authors. Authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and

"A Story of the Guelfs and Ghibellines Through the Eyes of Leonardo Bruni" is an essay by Shawn D. Mathis, submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for HU 7311 "Introduction to Humane Letters" at Faulkner University. The essay, written under the guidance of Dr. Robert

In the heart of Florence once stood “the temple where the baptistery is now located.”[1] Positioned as a Florentine centerpiece, the temple served as a sacred relic to Mars, son of the king of the gods in Roman mythology, Jupiter.[2] Mars, the god of war, was the lover

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is founded on a simple yet demanding premise: decisions should be grounded in the best available research evidence, informed by professional expertise, and shaped by contextual factors such as organisational priorities or patient values. In healthcare and other leadership contexts, this balance is not achieved by chance

To live the life of the mind is to navigate the deep currents of thought and the restless tides of the world with the scholar’s precision and the poet’s eye. Here, the arc of a life bends toward the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, and the work

The keynote address for incoming doctoral students at Freed-Hardeman University, titled On Being Scholarly, was delivered by Dr. Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, on May 13, 2018, in Henderson, TN. You are a scholar; these are your fellows. Individually, you are scholars. A scholar is one given to serious academic inquiry.