Carrying on the line of thoughts of his earlier publications in Erdélyi Társadalom, the author focuses on the long-term transformation of Western masculinities. Based on the rationality concept, it is argued that, contrary to the Middle Ages in which the three main orders (clerics, knights, peasants) are structured on the basis of their functions, between 1300–1600 a stratified society, built on statuses, develops in urban centres. Two newly emerged forms of Renaissance masculinity are identified: the courtier and the humanist intellectual. The former, representing the hegemonic masculine model, is engaged in symbolic struggles for statuses and prestige within court societies. The latter, disseminating these hegemonic patterns, is involved in creating symbolic representations (arts) and in explaining natural phenomena (sciences). The elites are concentrated in royal courts and administrative centres. During this period, social fields (in the Bourdieuian sense) emerge in which positions are constructed on the basis of the institutionalization of specific rational knowledge.
Keywords: Renaissance, city, courtier, humanist intellectual, social field, hegemonic masculinity
