A Cultural History of Insects in the Renaissance

A Cultural History of Insects in the Renaissance covers the period from 1300 to 1600, examining the profound impact of insects on the flowering of culture. In the early part of this period, the unprecedented number of deaths caused by the Plague - spread in part by fleas - encouraged the later rise of a middle class. Meanwhile, much of the wealth which funded Renaissance politics and patronage came from trade in honey, silk, and insect dyes, notably cochineal, one of the most valuable exports from the New World. And, as perceptions of humans and the natural world changed, interest in insects shifted from the symbolic to the scientific. The six-volume set of the Cultural History of Insects presents the first comprehensive history from antiquity to today of all forms and aspects of human-insect interaction. The themes covered in each volume are insect knowledge; insects and disease; insects and food; insect products; insects in mythology and religion; insects as symbols; insects in literature and language; and insects in art.

List of contents

Series Preface
List of Illustrations

Introduction, Sherilyn G.F. Smith
1. Insect Knowledge, Peter Mancall
2. Insects & Disease: Unsuspected Agents of Death, Michelle Ziegler and Sherilyn G.F. Smith
3. Insects and Food Michael, Blust, E.M. Aldosoro Maya, and Evangelina Blust
4. Insect Products, Sherilyn G.F. Smith and Gene Kritsky
5. Insects in Mythology & Religion, Darryl Caterine
6. Insects as Symbols: Symbolism in the Christian Renaissance, Lucinda Cole
7. Insects in Literature & Language: From Chaucer to Shakespeare, Ann Martinez
8. Insects in Art: Art as Culture, Art as Science, Cynthia M. Pyle

Endnotes
Bibliography
Contributors List
Index

About the author

Sherilyn G.F. Smith, PhD, Associate Professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Le Moyne CollegeGENE KRITSKY is Dean and Professor in the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences at Mount St. Joseph University, USA.

Product details

• Authors: Ian C Beavis, Gene Kritsky, Sherilyn G F Smith
• Assisted by: Sherilyn G.F. Smith (Editor), Gene Kritsky (Editor of the series)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 19.02.2026
• EAN: 9781350003071
• ISBN: 978-1-350-00307-1
• No. of pages: 272
• Dimensions: 168 mm x 246 mm x 18 mm
• Series: The Cultural Histories Series
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Plastic arts; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Zoology; SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / Entomology, HISTORY / Social History, NATURE / Animals / Insects & Spiders, SCIENCE / Natural History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, History of Medicine, History of Science, Social and cultural history, History of engineering and technology, Social and cultural anthropology, Environmentalist thought and ideology, Zoology: invertebrates, Animals and society / Animal rights - issues and debates