Scholars have long recognized the pervasive influence and bewildering complexity of rhetoric in the Renaissance. But these recognitions have not led to systematic scholarly investigation, much less to a comprehensive history of the subject. These twenty-three essays by internationally respected authorities on the Renaissance define Renaissance rhetoric and explore its contributions to literary, political, religious, linguistic, philosophical, and educational discourse in France, Italy, Germany, England, Spain, and the Low Countries over three centuries. The essays gathered here reflect both the diversity and the unity of rhetorical theory and practice in the Renaissance and represent the first major step toward a systematic understanding of this formative influence on the entire range of written and spoken utterance in the early modern period.