Charlemagne in Italy 9781843846710, 9781800109025, 9781800109032

Table of contents :
Front cover
Contents
Illustrations
Contributors
General Preface: Charlemagne: A European Icon
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
A Note on Terminology
Introduction
1: Franco-Italian Vernacular Textual Witnesses of the Charlemagne Epic Tradition
2: The Italian cantari on Charlemagne
3: The Image of Charlemagne in the Prose Compilations of Andrea da Barberino
4: Tradition and Innovation in the Fifteenth Century
5: Matteo Maria Boiardo: Inamoramento de Orlando
6: Crisis and Continuity at the Turn of the Century
7: From Emperor to Pawn: Charlemagne in the Orlando Furioso
8: An Undying Tradition: the Afterlife of Charlemagne in Italy
Afterword: Charlemagne in Italy: a Never-Ending Story
Bibliography
Index
Bristol Studies in Medieval Cultures

Citation preview

Charlemagne in Italy

Bristol Studies in Medieval Cultures ISSN 1757–2150

Series Editors George Ferzoco (emeritus) Ronald Musto Benjamin Pohl Editorial Advisory Board Marianne Ailes Rhiannon Daniels Peter Dent Helen Fulton Tristan Kay Stuart Prior Ad Putter Leah Tether Ian Wei Beth Williamson Peter Crooks (Trinity College Dublin) Rebecca Maloy (Colorado Boulder) Carolyn Muessig (Calgary) Alheydis Plassmann (Bonn) Richard Trachsler (Zurich) David Wallace (Pennsylvania) Established in 2009, the Bristol Studies in Medieval Cultures series draws on a long and well-established tradition of multidisciplinary medieval research at the University of Bristol and its world-leading Centre for Medieval Studies. It is served by an international editorial advisory board of globally recognised experts and features titles from across the field of Medieval Studies. The series welcomes submissions addressing a broad range of disciplines, including literature, art, history, religion, and thought. We particularly encourage proposals that engage with medieval cultures from a comparative perspective. Our aim is to publish the best in current research and to help readers appreciate the Middle Ages in cross-cultural and global contexts. Queries about the series, or proposals for monographs, editions, or collections of essays, should be sent in the first instance to the Series Editors.

email: [email protected]  [email protected] Previously published titles are listed at the back of this volume

Charlemagne in Italy

Edited by Jane E. Everson

D. S. BREWER

© Contributors 2023 All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner First published 2023 D. S. Brewer, Cambridge ISBN 978 1 84384 671 0 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 80010 902 5 (ePDF) D. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620–2731, USA website: www.boydellandbrewer.com A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate Cover image: Charlemagne, seated between his senior counsellors, Namo on his right and bishop Turpin on his left, and surrounded by his army. From Entrée d’Espagne, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS Fr Z 21 (=257), fo 296r. By permission of the Ministry of Culture – Marciana National Library. Reproduction prohibited. Design: Toni Michelle

For Anthony, in memoriam

Contents List of Illustrations

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List of Contributors

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General Preface: Charlemagne: A European Icon Ӱ  Marianne Ailes and Philip E. Bennett

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Acknowledgements xv Abbreviations xvii A Note on Terminology

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Introduction Ӱ  Jane E. Everson

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1. The First Franco-Italian Vernacular Textual Witnesses of the Charlemagne Epic Tradition in the Italian Peninsula: Hybrid Forms 26 Ӱ  Claudia Boscolo and Leslie Zarker Morgan 2. The Italian cantari on Charlemagne Ӱ  Franca Strologo

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3. Carlo Magno, Ideal Progenitor of Country and Lineage: the Image of Charlemagne in the Prose Compilations of Andrea da Barberino Ӱ  Leslie Zarker Morgan

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4. Tradition and Innovation in the Fifteenth Century: from Anonymous Poems to Luigi Pulci’s Morgante 141 Ӱ  Annalisa Perrotta 5. Matteo Maria Boiardo: Inamoramento de Orlando Ӱ  Maria Pavlova

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6. Crisis and Continuity at the Turn of the Century Ӱ  Jane E. Everson

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7. From Emperor to Pawn: Charlemagne in the Orlando Furioso Ӱ  Stefano Jossa

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Contents

8. An Undying Tradition: the Afterlife of Charlemagne in Italy Ӱ  Luca Degl’Innocenti

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Afterword: Charlemagne in Italy: a Never-Ending Story Ӱ  Jane E. Everson

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Bibliography 313 Index 361

Illustrations Carlo Magno, Ideal Progenitor of Country and Lineage: The image of Charlemagne in the prose compilations of Andrea da Barberino, Leslie Zarker Morgan 3.1

Narrative chronology of Andrea da Barberino’s prose romances.

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3.2 Genealogical table of the royal house of Anjou in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries.

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Matteo Maria Boiardo: Inamoramento de Orlando, Maria Pavlova 5.1

Genealogical table of the Este family thirteenth to sixteenth centuries.

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An undying tradition: the afterlife of Charlemagne in Italy, Luca Degl’Innocenti 8.1

Trabisonda (Venice: Cristoforo de Pensis, 1492), fol. 2r2 recto, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, 4 Inc.c.a. 956, p. 130r, urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00058240-0. 289

8.2 Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso (Venice: Zoppino, 1536), fol. 71 recto, su concessione del Ministero della Cultura. Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze. Divieto di riproduzione. 290 8.3

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso (Venice: Giolito, 1542), fol. 204 verso canto XXXVIII, su concessione del Ministero della Cultura. Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze. Divieto di riproduzione. 290

8.4 Panfilo de’ Renaldini, Innamoramento di Ruggeretto (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1554), fol. A1 recto, su concessione del Ministero della Cultura. Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze. Divieto di riproduzione. 300 8.5 Panfilo de’ Renaldini, Innamoramento di Ruggeretto (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1554), fol. I1 verso, su concessione del Ministero della Cultura. Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze. Divieto di riproduzione.

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The editor, contributors and publisher are grateful to all the institutions and persons listed for permission to reproduce the materials in which they hold copyright. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders; apologies are offered for any omission, and the publisher will be pleased to add any necessary acknowledgement in subsequent editions. ix

Contributors Claudia Boscolo completed a Ph.D. in Italian Studies at Royal Holloway University of London. Her area of expertise is Franco-Italian literature, on which she published a monograph entitled L’Entree D’Espagne: Context and Authorship at the Origins of the Italian Chivalric Epic (2017). She is also interested in contemporary Italian narratives, and co-edited (with Stefano Jossa) Scritture di resistenza. Sguardi politici dalla narrativa italiana contemporanea (2014). She currently teaches Italian Literature and Language at secondary level in Italy. Luca Degl’Innocenti is Senior Researcher in Italian Literature at the University of Florence. Previously he has been a Teaching Fellow at the University of Birmingham and a Research Fellow at the University of Leeds (2012–15) and at the University of Florence (2007–12), where he took part in projects on the interactions between texts and images and between oral and written cultures in Renaissance Italy. His main research interests are chivalric literature, narratives in verse and prose, history of the book and of book illustration, the oral performance of literary texts, popular culture and visual arts in Renaissance Italy. His publications include: I ‘Reali’ dell’Altissimo: un ciclo di cantari fra oralità e scrittura (2008) and “Al suon di questa cetra”. Ricerche sulla poesia orale del Rinascimento (2016), the edition of Altissimo’s Primo libro de’ Reali, six edited volumes and numerous articles and book chapters on authors including Ariosto, Aretino, Boiardo, Dante, Dolce, Machiavelli, Pulci, Italian street singers as well as on painters like Beccafumi and Allori. Jane E. Everson is Emeritus Professor of Italian Literature at Royal Holloway University of London. She has published extensively on medieval and Renaissance Italian literature. She is the author of The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism. The matter of Italy and the world of Rome (2001); Bibliografia delle edizioni del ‘Mambriano’ di Francesco Cieco da Ferrara (1994); and co-editor of The Italian Academies 1525–1700. Networks of Culture, Innovation and Dissent (2016) and Ariosto, the ‘Orlando Furioso’ and English Culture (2019). Recent studies on the chivalric epic include ‘“E più e men che re”: Carlo Magno nel Mambriano’, in Carlo Magno in Italia e la Fortuna dei Libri di Cavalleria (2016); ‘Lettore’, in Lessico critico dell’‘Orlando Furioso’ (2016); ‘Canto XXI’, in Lettura dell’‘Orlando Furioso’ (2016); ‘“Orlando Furioso” 1516: Something old, something new’, Modern Language Notes (2018); ‘Pulci e il Morgante nel Mambriano di Francesco Cieco’, in Luigi Pulci, la Firenze laurenziana e il ‘Morgante’ (2019). Together with Annalisa Perrotta and Anna Carocci, she is cur-

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Contributors

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rently completing a critical edition of Il Mambriano of Francesco Cieco da Ferrara. From 2006 to 2014 she directed the AHRC-funded projects The Italian Academies 1525–1700. A themed collection database and The Italian Academies 1525–1700. The first intellectual networks of early modern Europe. Stefano Jossa is Honorary Research Fellow at Royal Holloway University of London and Professor of Italian Literature at the Università degli Studi di Palermo. His scholarly interests range from the Italian Renaissance to Italian national identity as expressed through literature. Among his studies on Ariosto: La fantasia e la memoria: Intertestualità ariostesche (1996); La fondazione di un genere: Il poema eroico tra Ariosto e Tasso (2002); Ariosto (2009); (together with J. E. Everson and A. Hiscock) Ariosto, the ‘Orlando Furioso’ and English Culture (2019). He contributed to: G. Bucchi, F. Tomasi (eds), Lettura dell’‘Orlando Furioso’ (2016); A. Izzo (ed.), Lessico critico dell’‘Orlando Furioso’ (2016); M. Dorigatti, M. Pavlova (eds), ‘Dreaming again on things already dreamed’. 500 years of ‘Orlando Furioso’ (1516–2016) (2019); M. Casari, M. Preti, and M. Wyatt (eds), Ariosto and the Arabs (2021); A. Ricci (ed.), ‘Orlando Furioso’ from Print to Digital: 500 Years of Reading Ariosto (forthcoming). Among his other volumes: L’Italia letteraria (2006); Un paese senza eroi: L’Italia da Jacopo Ortis a Montalbano (2013); La più bella del mondo: Perché amare la lingua italiana (2018); (with Luciano Curreri) In balìa di Dante e Pinocchio (2022). Maria Pavlova is a Deborah Loeb Brice Fellow at Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. From 2018 to 2020 she held a Leverhulme Research Fellowship at the University of Warwick, and prior to that she was a Randall MacIver Junior Research Fellow at St. Hugh’s College. She is the author of Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto (2020). She co-edited ‘Dreaming again on things already dreamed’. 500 years of ‘Orlando Furioso’ (1516–2016) (2019), to which she contributed the essay: ‘Nicolò degli Agostini’s Quinto libro and the 1516 Furioso’. She has published on a range of different aspects of Italian Renaissance literature, especially narrative poetry from fifteenth-century anonymous cantari to Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata. Annalisa Perrotta is Associate Professor of Italian Literature at the University of Rome La Sapienza. From 2009 to 2011 she held a Marie Curie Fellowship at Royal Holloway University of London. Her research concerns the chivalric narratives in ottava rima produced between the 15th and 16th centuries. She is the author of I cristiani e gli altri. Guerre di religione, politica e propaganda nel poema cavalleresco di fine Quattrocento (2017), and has published studies on the cantari, Luigi Pulci, Francesco Cieco da Ferrara’s Mambriano, the reception of Boiardo’s Inamoramento di Orlando and Ariosto’s Orlando furioso. She is co-editing the critical edition of Il Mambriano with Jane Everson and Anna Carocci. She teaches Gender Studies and is co-ordinator of the Feminist Studies Workshop Sguardi sulle differenze and LIA-Letterate Italiane in Archivio at La Sapienza.

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Contributors

Franca Strologo is Adjunct Professor of Italian Literature at the Romanisches Seminar at the University of Zurich. She has published studies on various authors, from Dante to Moravia. Her main field of research is the history of chivalric literature, with a focus on cantari and poems in ottava rima, through to Morgante, Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso. She edited a special issue of the Rassegna Europea di Letteratura Italiana, entitled Orlando in Italia: epos e cavalleria dalle origini al Cinquecento (2011); she published the volume ‘La Spagna’ nella letteratura cavalleresca italiana (2014); and edited with Johannes Bartuschat the proceedings of the International Conference Carlo Magno in Italia e la fortuna dei libri di cavalleria (2016). She is currently working on a monograph entitled Il caso dell’‘Orlando’ laurenziano. Leslie Zarker Morgan is Professor Emerita of Italian and French at Loyola University Maryland. She edited the Franco-Italian Geste Francor (2009) and has published a series of articles concerning other Franco-Italian texts. She continues to work on a number of collaborative projects, including online editions of the multiple witness to the Franco-Italian Huon d’Auvergne together with a translation. She has served as President of the International Société Rencesvals as well as President of the American-Canadian Branch, and as President of the North American Branch of the International Courtly Literature Society.

General Preface Charlemagne: A European Icon

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his series of volumes examining the reception of the Charlemagne myth in different linguistic cultures of medieval Europe springs from ‘Charlemagne in England’, a project supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to study the literary presence of the emperor in medieval England, an area where the historical Charlemagne had never set foot, let alone reigned. The spread of Charlemagne’s myth after his death was even more extensive than was his empire during his life. This larger enterprise, therefore, an investigation of the appropriation of the matter of Charlemagne across Europe, required a network of specialists working on texts written in different languages and different geographical areas. Yet these languages were culturally interdependent: it was largely through the medium of French with its cultural hegemony that the legend of Charlemagne spread widely, though Latin was also an important vehicle for texts perceived as historical truth. Furthermore, the same geographical area could also be the ‘host’ for more than one language, the literatures of which would draw upon each other. One particular challenge for the project was thus the question of overlap between geographical areas and cultural or linguistic zones. This is exemplified by the original project focused on Charlemagne in England, a multilingual land of overlapping cultural zones in one geographic area, with Latin, French and English literary cultures and other languages operating in particular areas or social groups. The solution was to allow some overlap in coverage with, for example, French texts written in England covered from different perspectives in both Charlemagne in England and Charlemagne in Medieval Francophonia and Occitan, and with awareness that texts in Latin were circulating at the same time and in the same geographic areas as the vernacular narrative. Given the variety of material in different languages and the varying amounts of research that have been produced, the volumes do not all follow the same pattern. Some areas, notably France, have been the object of more than a century of study. Others, such as the Celtic narratives, have received far less critical attention; indeed, one of the aims of the project has been to stimulate research in these under-studied areas. The legends and myths of Charlemagne found expression in epics and romances, chronicles and pseudo-chronicles and were alluded to in political and ecclesiastical documents across medieval Europe. According to these later texts, Charlemagne was at the same time king of the Franks / the French and ‘empereur d’Occident’. Even xiii

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General Preface

in seven volumes we could not aim for encyclopaedic coverage of the Matter of France. We aim rather to address the same research question, a consideration of how the matter of Charlemagne was appropriated in different contexts, whether that exploitation was for political purposes or was more concerned with literary responses. We also limited ourselves in this series to written texts. A similar series of volumes could have been written about the visual representations of Charlemagne. The geographical areas covered include much of Charlemagne’s empire, but also areas beyond its reach, such as England and Scandinavia and medieval Spain, where he was often seen as an aggressor, rather than a heroic king-emperor. We found a mythic emperor whose legend was infinitely malleable and open to (re)interpretation. Even in his own lifetime Charlemagne was the pater Europae, but the phrase no doubt meant something different to the poet of the Paderborn epic from the resonances it has today in a European Union of nation states. In the Middle Ages Charlemagne was often cited to promote local interests and cults, while at the same time he served as an exemplum of Christian unity. Our project will, we trust, shed some light on the many faces of Charlemagne: Karles li rois, nostre emperere magnes, as he is named in the opening line of the Oxford Chanson de Roland. This interdisciplinary project was made possible through the work of many. We are grateful to the collaborators who have contributed to this, and in particular to the editors of the volumes. We would also like to thank the British Branch of the Société Rencesvals for their support and the opportunities offered to present research papers at both British Branch and International conferences. The Bristol Institute for Research in the Humanities and Arts at the University of Bristol funded a workshop on translating Charlemagne material, as part of a series of workshops on pre-modern translation, which enabled many of the collaborators to meet and develop the project in its early stages. For more information, please see our website:

We are also grateful to the Leverhulme Trust for its financial support of the network, giving us opportunities to meet and discuss research findings and to develop a website for the project. Marianne Ailes Philip E. Bennett

Acknowledgements

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uring the long gestation of this volume the contributors have incurred many debts of gratitude to colleagues and institutions around the world. We are grateful to all those who have accompanied us on this journey and thank them for their support, advice and encouragement. Our first and most important thanks go to Professor Marianne Ailes who devised the Charlemagne: A European Icon project and invited us to prepare a volume on Italy. Through our participation in that project, we thank the funding bodies who supported it, in particular the Leverhulme Trust. We are also deeply grateful to Marianne Ailes and to Professor Philip Bennett for guidance through the later stages of preparation of the volume, for their careful and attentive reading of the contents and their invaluable suggestions and comments which have greatly improved the volume. The contributors received valuable financial support for participation in seminars of the Charlemagne: A European Icon workshop, and for attendance at conferences of the International Société Rencesvals (Oxford 2012, Rome 2015, Toronto 2018), the Renaissance Society of America (Berlin 2015), and the Society for Italian Studies (Hull 2017, Edinburgh 2019), which allowed us to present the work in progress and benefit from feedback from numerous colleagues. We thank those funding bodies which made attendance possible, including the Leverhulme Trust under the Charlemagne: A European Icon project and Loyola University Maryland. Individual contributors also gratefully acknowledge the support of the Leverhulme Trust for the award of a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the University of Warwick which supported Maria Pavlova during the preparation and refining of her chapter here; and Loyola University Maryland and its Center for the Humanities for a grant to Leslie Zarker Morgan to support research for the chapter on Andrea da Barberino. We are also deeply grateful to a considerable number of libraries and individual colleagues who have provided help and information during the research and compilation of this volume. We especially thank all who assisted during the Covid pandemic in tracking down and scanning articles, chapters and books and answering queries while libraries were closed: in particular Loyola-Notre Dame Library Interlibrary Loan for help on the Franco-Italian chapter; M. Luca Jaccod (Biblioteca Diocesana di Aosta) for his help in finding the current location of the MS fragments of the Entrée d’Espagne formerly at the Château of Châtillon; Dr. René Specht, Prof. Giulio Romero Passerin D’Entreves, Dr. Alessandra Perriccioli xv

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Acknowledgements

Saggese, Andrea Canova, Cesare Mascitelli, Luca Morlino, Giovanni Palumbo, Marco Dorigatti and Fabio Zinelli. For assistance in the production of illustrations for the volume and the relevant permissions to reproduce these, we sincerely thank Simona Mammana, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze; the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München; and the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice. We must thank also those colleagues who helped with translating and checking the chapters originally written in Italian, in particular George Ferzoco, Philip Bennett and Marianne Ailes, and the anonymous reader for a generous report. Grateful thanks are due too to the editorial team at Boydell for guiding us through the stages to publication, and to Marie-Pierre Evans for her invaluable work on the Index.

Abbreviations GSLI

Giornale storico della letteratura italiana

MLN

Modern Language Notes

LRL

Lexikon der romanistischen Linguistik

GRLMA

Grundriss der romanischen Literaturen des Mittelalters

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A Note on Terminology Rifacitore – an author who rewrites, emends and adds to an existing narrative; this may include putting a prose narrative into verse. Cantastorie / Canterino / Cantimbanco – a professional reciter and performer who performed in public places. Cantare – (i) a narrative poem, originally designed for public recitation; (ii) a section of such a poem, also termed canto. References to Charlemagne: the historical figure of the Emperor is referred to as Charlemagne; the fictional character within literary texts as Carlo Magno or Carlo/Charles.

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Introduction Jane E. Everson

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istory or fiction? Myth or fact? Cultural memory or deliberate appropriation? Elite culture or popular entertainment? Oral or written, performed or read? Grand opera, street theatre or itinerant puppet shows? All of these interpretations can be put forward when considering the long life of Charlemagne in Italian culture. This volume will be concerned with the presence of Charlemagne in the Italian literary tradition, both oral and written, and indeed within one particular genre, that of chivalric narratives in verse and prose. Yet even within that necessarily circumscribed focus, many of the approaches set out above will recur as the individual chapters consider the presentation of the Emperor and his exploits in texts dating from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Before focussing specifically on the literary tradition, however, it is important to say something about the presence of Charlemagne more broadly in the history and culture of the Italian peninsula. For Charlemagne belongs both to the recorded history of Italy and to many different forms of culture including painting and sculpture, social customs and fashions, politics and ideology, music and theatre as well as literature. The focus of this volume is on the three centuries when the figure of Charlemagne was prominent in literary culture and the genre of chivalric epic, but the broader history of the Emperor in Italy which in this context extends from the late eighth century to the sixteenth provides the fundamental background to the Italian literary interpretations.

O

Charlemagne in Italian History

n Christmas Day in the year AD 800 Charlemagne was crowned Emperor in Rome by the Pope. This well-known and much rehearsed fact constitutes the key point and culmination of the historical Charlemagne’s dealings with the states of the Italian peninsula, but it was to have far-reaching historical, political and eventually literary consequences. It re-established the concept of the western (later Holy) Roman Empire, ruled by an Emperor as overlord of Christendom and began a process of myth-making around both the role of Emperor and the figure of Charlemagne. Charlemagne’s involvement in the affairs of Italy began a quarter of a century before his coronation, and was repeatedly the result of appeals by successive Popes for aid against enemies and internal rivals. Thus Charlemagne conducted campaigns against the powerful duchy of Benevento, in 770 and again in 786. In 773 he was 1

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Jane E. Everson

pressed by the Pope, Hadrian I, to come to his aid against the military aggression of Desiderius, King of the Lombards, whose expansionist aims were endangering papal territory and even Rome itself. Charlemagne responded, conducting a campaign against the Lombard kingdom and laying siege to Pavia. Victory in 774 brought him the title King of the Lombards. Both in the 770s, and later in 799 attacks on the person of the Pope by rival families in Rome brought Charlemagne once again into Italy, and it was the second of these occasions that culminated in his coronation in St. Peter’s by Pope Leo. Nevertheless, in spite of these several interventions, Charlemagne himself spent no more than 14 months in Italy in the whole of his long reign.1 Yet in spite of the brief period spent in the peninsula, Charlemagne’s historical impact in Italy was considerable. A very large number of charters and grants of land in Italy were issued over his seal and many more privileges granted or confirmed than for other parts of Charlemagne’s extended empire. But both the close and frequent involvement with the Papacy and these numerous grants and privileges were to prove problematic, and frequently would provoke disputes, civil strife and warfare.2 This uneasy historical background to Italian views on Charlemagne and the Empire forms the bedrock on which Italian cultural memory and literary interpretations are based. Indeed, even at the time, the imperial coronation in AD 800 was characterised by political opportunism and deliberate ambiguity on the part of both the Pope and the newly crowned Emperor,3 and it left unresolved or 1 As McKitterick writes, Charlemagne’s coronation on Christmas Day was ‘a spectacular culmination of the long association of the Pippinids with the popes’. She calculates that more than half of the total of 14 months was spent in Rome, not on active campaigning. Rosamund McKitterick, Charlemagne. The Formation of a European Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 114–15. On Charlemagne in Italy, see also Janet L. Nelson, Charlemagne: King and Emperor (London: Penguin, 2019), pp. 119–48. 2 As McKitterick’s discussion makes clear, the relationship between the Italian states and their rulers on the one hand, and the Emperor on the other, was never very settled. Neither the duchy of Spoleto, nor that of Benevento, nor indeed the Lombard kingdom were ever fully pacified by Charlemagne: assertions of autonomy and open revolt even in Charlemagne’s lifetime were the prologue to a long and contested relationship. 3 Political opportunism had in fact coloured the relationship between Pepin III and the Papacy. Pepin’s donation, in 756, of lands across central Italy won from the Lombards (the former exarchate of Ravenna, but also towns and regions in Romagna and the Marche) was a political act and hence fragile and subject to changing alliances and aims. It expressed recognition on Pepin’s part of the special status given to the Frankish monarchy by his coronation by the Pope Stephen II while ensuring for the Papacy the military support of the Franks. The donation, which constituted the foundation of the Papal States, was subsequently confirmed by Charlemagne in 774. This historical donation would subsequently be deliberately confused with the fake Donation of Constantine. See

Introduction

3

unstated questions of ultimate authority which were to return perennially in the politics of the Italian peninsula and which thus also come to mark the characterisation of the Emperor in Italian chivalric fictions. On Charlemagne’s death in 814 the Empire included the whole of northern and central Italy to just south of Rome, and, in view of the reasons for Charlemagne’s interventions in the peninsula, as McKitterick concludes, Italy and Rome occupied a special place within the Carolingian territories. But the Empire was a fragile construct on account of the Frankish custom of dividing the realm between surviving sons, and thus, in spite of the efforts of Louis the Pious to establish coherent systems of administration throughout the three realms, as Maurice Keen writes: ‘long before Louis surnamed the Pious died [in 840] the empire founded by Charlemagne had begun to fall apart’.4 It is to this period, however, that the Saracen incursions into southern Italy particularly belong, with repeated campaigns against Sicily culminating in the establishment of the Saracen kingdom there in 843, and attacks even on Rome, in 846. These too left a long shadow on the cultural memory of Italians and re-emerged in the literary narratives centred on Charlemagne, and in particular on the early choices of texts for adaptation for Italian audiences.5

I

The Holy Roman Empire and Italy: history and memory

n the centuries following the death of Louis the Pious the Empire remained for the most part distant from Italian realities, and in any event the relationship to the Empire concerned only the northern city states. France, the western realm of Charlemagne’s original territories, had become independent of the Empire by the end of the tenth century, creating an alternative power block and an alternative, French-centred Charlemagne memory, while internal rivalries between the leading German families had further weakened the reality of Empire. Successive Emperors continued to recognise the importance of coronation by the Pope for confirming their status, but interventions to restore the idea and reality of imperial rule most often met with failure. In the mid-twelfth century Frederick I Barbarossa attempted to reassert imperial authority over the Lombard cities, and to revive the idea and ethos of the Roman Empire.6 The wealthy and powerful cities and communes of northern and central Italy were, however, determined not to sacrifice their effective autonomy and, supMcKitterick, Charlemagne. The Formation of a European Identity, pp. 110–11, 114; Alessandro Barbero, Charlemagne Father of a Continent, trans. by Alan Cameron (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004), pp. 18–20, 32–3, 79. 4 Maurice Keen, A History of Medieval Europe (Routledge and Kegan Paul,

1968), p. 34. Reprinted as Pelican History of Medieval Europe (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1969).

5 The most important of these are the various Aspromonte narratives, for which see below, Chapters 1, 2, and 3. 6 See Keen, Medieval Europe, pp. 114–15.

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ported by the Pope, formed the Lombard League to oppose the Emperor. The defeat of Barbarossa at Legnano in 1176, and the Treaty of Constance in 1183 left, in Keen’s words, ‘the cities of the league in untrammelled control of their internal affairs’.7 Yet the technical dependence on the Emperor as overlord which still remained could also on occasion be useful and was equally often exploited on the Italian side. The quasi-independent rulers of Milan, Mantua, Ferrara and other northern states from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries regularly sought confirmation of their titles of Duke or Marquis from the Emperor,8 but were on occasion prepared to seek military alliances, for their own rather than the Emperor’s benefit; this manipulation of the Empire for personal reasons also came to be reflected in the literary productions around Charlemagne. The relationship was nonetheless perennially unstable. Moreover, by the end of the eleventh century the Papacy under Gregory VII emerged as a powerful political player, one whose authority was not only temporal but also spiritual, and consequently to be considered as the ultimate authority over all. As the examples of both Henry IV in the 1080s, and Barbarossa a century later demonstrate, the automatic, unchanging alliance of Pope and Emperor evident in the days of Charlemagne no longer pertained. In attempting to impose their supreme authority over the peninsula, successive Popes allied themselves alternately with the Empire and with the Norman rulers of Sicily and the southern kingdom, setting up an opposition between Empire and (loosely) the French that was to have a long, divisive and often tragic history in the peninsula, and to underpin the literary interpretations of the chivalric texts discussed in this volume. In the thirteenth century the marriage of the last descendant of the Norman kings of Sicily, Constance d’Hauteville to the Hohenstauffen heir Henry changed the power politics again and thus the perception of Empire in Italy. The early death of both handed not only all the northern Imperial fiefs to their son, Frederick II, but also the whole of southern Italy – the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, creating a pincer movement around the central Papal States. At first the Popes held the upper hand, but after his coronation as Emperor by the Pope, Frederick determined to re-establish imperial authority and control over central and northern Italy. The result, in spite of an early alliance with the Papacy, was no more successful than that of his grandfather, Barbarossa. The conflict spiralled out into interstate rivalries exacerbated by the alliances of individual states with either the Emperor or the Pope, establishing a history of political feuds and factions which characterised internal Italian politics throughout the thirteenth century and into the subsequent centuries. 7 Keen, Medieval Europe, p. 115. This rebelliousness against the imperial overlord and assertion of autonomy surfaces in the literary tradition in Italy in the popularity in the peninsula of the figure of Renaud de Montauban (Rinaldo). 8 See for example the efforts and eventual success of Borso d’Este in being elevated from Marquis to Duke of Modena and Reggio (imperial fiefs) in 1452, on which see the lively description in E. G. Gardner, Dukes and Poets in Ferrara (New York: Haskell House publishers, 1968, repr. of 1st, 1904 ed.), pp. 70–3. For his elevation to Duke of Ferrara, see ibid., pp. 113–17.

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5

Empire and France

nder the threat of losing temporal power over Italian states, the Popes sought a counterbalance against the power of the Emperor through alliance with the French monarchy. After the defeat and subsequent death of Frederick II in 1250, the Pope invited Charles of Anjou, brother of the French king, Louis IX, to take over the southern kingdoms – a regime change which was effected fully after the death of Frederick’s legitimate and illegitimate sons, Conrad (in 1254) and Manfredi (in 1266), and Conrad’s son Conradin (1268). Thus was set the stage for the opposition between Pope and Emperor so frequently lamented by Dante in the Divine Comedy, and thus too the internal Italian factional strife between those states which broadly allied themselves with the Pope and the French (the Guelfs) and those who supported the Emperor (the Ghibellines). And this factionalism, pro-Emperor or pro-Papacy (or rather anti-Emperor), is vital for understanding the presentation of the Emperor by authors and texts of the Carolingian narrative tradition. The beginnings of an Italian tradition of narratives on Charlemagne date to the very end of the thirteenth century and developed increasingly successfully during the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, but from the point of view of the opposition of Empire and Papacy this was a period in which both superpowers were largely weak, absent and ineffective in Italian politics. After 1282 the southern kingdom was divided between Angevin rule in Naples and Aragonese in Sicily; Pope Clement V, under pressure from Philip IV of France, transferred the Papacy to Avignon, where successive Popes became virtually the vassals of the French monarch; while successive, elected Emperors were consistently preoccupied with the German states, neglecting what both Dante and Petrarch called ‘the garden of Empire’ – Italy and Rome. Dante’s vehement denunciation of Albert I of Austria, ‘Alberto tedesco’, dramatically spells out how a lack of imperial authority has destroyed the peace of the peninsula: O Alberto tedesco ch’abbandoni Costei ch’è fatta indomita e selvaggia, e dovresti inforcar li suoi arcioni, […] Ch’avete tu e ’l tuo padre sofferto, per cupidigia di costà distretti che ’l giardin de lo ’mperio sia diserto. (Purg. VI, 97–9, 103–5) [O German Albert, who abandon her / now that she is untamed and wild / you who should bestride her saddle-bow / … / In that far land, both you and your father, / dragged along by greed, allowed / the garden of the empire to be laid waste.]9

9 Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia: Purgatorio (VI, 97–105), trans. by Jean and Robert Hollander, Purgatorio (New York: Doubleday, 2003). Petrarch, having enthusiastically welcomed the arrival of Charles of Bohemia in October 1354, expressed his bitter disappointment over Charles’ brief stay in Italy and lack of

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More soberly John Larner sums up: … the 130 years which follow his [Frederick II] death present a picture of everincreasing disunity and disintegration of the larger political units. The southern kingdom is divided … The Papacy … is driven from the peninsula and takes refuge in Avignon … Emperors, when they intervene in Italy, appear as ghosts feared at first through their re-evocation of the past, yet soon mocked with the swift realisation of their impotent insubstantiality.10

Nevertheless it was in this period of non-intervention by the Emperor that the seeds of the major conflicts of the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the Wars of Italy, were sown. The most significant of these was not in fact directly connected with the Empire, but rather with the southern kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. Charles of Anjou was invested by the Pope with sovereignty over both in the mid-thirteenth century and he and his direct descendants continued to rule in Naples until 1435. Even after defeat by the Aragonese, the Angevins, and subsequently the French monarchy, continued to proclaim their right to sovereignty over Naples.11 With the conclusion of the Hundred Years’ War, the consolidation of the French state and the establishment under Louis XI (ruled 1461–83) of a modernised standing army, the French were free to re-enter Italian politics and attempt to re-establish their rule. The deaths of key players among the rulers of the Italian states between 1492 and 1494 (Lorenzo dei Medici, Ferrante of Naples) provided the opportunity and thus began the Wars of Italy with the first invasion of Charles VIII in autumn 1494.12 Charles’ key objective was recovery of the kingdom of Naples, but he aimed also at political domination in Italy and more idealistically of leading a crusade to recover Jerusalem.13 Most important for the authors writing Charlemagne

10 11 12

13

interest in the peninsula first in a letter to the Emperor, and then to his friend Neri Morando, see Francesco Petrarca, Ad Familiares XIX, 12 and XX, 1 and 2. On Petrarch’s views on Charlemagne, see also Andrew J. Romig, ‘Charlemagne the Sinner: Charles the Great as Avatar of the Modern in Petrarch’s Familiares I.4’, in The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, ed. by William J Purkis and Matthew Gabriele (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2016), pp. 181–201. John Larner, Italy in the Age of Dante and Petrarch, 1216–1380 (London and New York: Longman, 1980), p. 38. See for example the summary by Larner, Italy in the Age of Dante and Petrarch, pp. 43–9. For the effects of this invasion on Italian politics and culture, see Francesco Guicciardini, Storia d’Italia, 5 vols, ed. by Costantino Panigada (Bari: Laterza, 1929), I, 1; Adelin Charles Fiorato, Italie 1494 (Paris: Presses de la Sorbonne nouvelle, 1994); Italy in Crisis. 1494, ed. by Jane E. Everson and Diego Zancani (Oxford: Legenda, 2000). See Robert Morrissey, L’empereur à la barbe fleurie. Charlemagne dans la mythologie et l’histoire de France (Paris: Gallimard, 1997), pp. 143–55 (p.149). See also Chapter 6 by Everson below.

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7

narratives in this period he saw himself as the successor of Charlemagne – defender of the Papacy, overlord of Italy, liberator of the Holy Land and scourge of the Saracens – thus reviving the centuries-old Angevin claims to the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.14 But Charles was, of course, essentially the King of France, and support for him among the Italian states reflected individual alliances and the old Guelf-Ghibelline divide.15 The conflicts initiated by Charles’ invasion continued under his successors, Louis XII (ruled 1498–1515) and Francis I (1515–47), and drew back into Italy Maximilian I (Emperor from 1493) and most significantly his successor Charles V – king of Spain from 1516, Emperor from 1519. By 1530 the political power of the Hapsburg Emperor extended over virtually the whole of the peninsula and, as in the days of Charlemagne, the Papacy had become dependent on the Emperor. It is in this period, between 1494 and the 1530s, that the most varied portraits of Charlemagne in the Italian chivalric tradition are to be found, as authors reflect the constantly changing alliances of the state in which they reside, and the participation in the conflicts of their patrons.16

H

King or Emperor

istorically Charlemagne’s empire was centred on Aachen and comprised territories in modern-day Germany, France, and the Low Countries as well as Italy. But, as will be clear, for Italian authors and their audiences, the historical developments just summarised created around the historical figure of Charlemagne a double, even conflicting aura. On the one hand he remained the Holy Roman Emperor, whose successors in that role owed their position to their great predecessor, and thus he could be understood in Italian culture. But on the other hand, from the outset in AD 800, the title of Emperor was bestowed on the King of the Franks. The subsequent conflation of Franks (effectively Germans) and French allowed those who allied themselves in later centuries with the French state to understand and present Charlemagne increasingly as ruler of France, in particular as the French monarchy emerged as a powerful force in European politics. This association was supported by the frequency with which French kings and princes bore the name Charles and were keen to adopt an imagined descent from Charlemagne.17 From Charles I of Anjou, through Charles of Valois and Charles II of 14 See Morrissey, L’empereur à la barbe fleurie, pp. 145–6; and discussion in Chapter 1 below concerning Charles I of Anjou. 15 It is conventional to use these terms – Guelf for the pro-papal and later French allies, Ghibellline for the Imperial allies – though the definitions are often only of general application. 16 See the chapters by Everson, Perrotta, and Jossa below. For responses by Italian authors writing in Latin in this period, see Oren Margolis, ‘The Quattrocento Charlemagne: Franco-Florentine Relations and the Politics of an Icon’, in The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, pp. 203–30 (pp. 218–30). 17 From Louis VIII onwards the kings of France could trace their line of descent

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Anjou in the later thirteenth century to Charles VIII at the end of the fifteenth, the figure of Charlemagne was repeatedly presented to Italians as reincarnated in the French monarch.18 Yet Charles V, the Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor also saw himself as the successor of Charlemagne, his Empire the one first constituted in AD 800; and he too, by chance, could exploit the name of Charles as the poems of Ariosto and his successors reveal. Thus when Italian authors of narratives on Charlemagne present the character of the Emperor and select the types of episodes in which he appears, inevitably their selections and interpretations are conditioned by the historical period in which they are composing their narratives, by the region or state of Italy where they are located, and by the political allegiances in force, as well as the presence or absence of the real historical Emperor. Moreover, the historical record also provided some key events which would condition the emphases given to Charlemagne narratives in Italy from the earliest texts. In particular the Moorish incursions into southern Italy which began in the Carolingian era and recurred repeatedly right through into the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries provided a historical basis for the central opposition of Christian versus Saracen on which the chivalric narratives were based, and made the narratives centred in Italy and dealing with campaigns against Moorish invaders, such as the Chanson d’Aspremont, especially appealing.19 The presence of Charlemagne in Rome during his historical campaigns in Italy provided in turn a basis for the stories of the fictional Roland’s early years, born in exile in Sutri, and first encountering his imperial uncle during the time the Emperor spent in the peninsula; while the campaigns against the Lombards lingered long in cultural memory resurfacing much later, in Ariosto’s Cinque Canti, in the third decade of the sixteenth century.20 back to Charlemagne through the female line. The conflation of Franks and French occurs already in the French chansons de geste. 18 Petrarch, for example, in 1334, addresses Philip VI as ‘il successor di Carlo, che la chioma / con la corona del suo antiquo [Charlemagne] adorna’ [the successor of Charles who with the crown / of his ancestor now adorns his hair] (Francesco Petrarca, Rerum Vulgaria Fragmenta, XXVII, v. 1); for the English translation, see Petrarch. The Canzoniere, translated into verse with notes and commentary by Mark Musa (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996). A century later Francesco Cieco in the late 1490s writing of Louis XII speaks of ‘del nuovo Carlo la eccelsa memoria’ [the lofty memory of the new Charles] (Mambriano c. XXXI, 1); see below Chapters 1 and 6. 19 The Arabic kingdom of Sicily was established in 843, and there were repeated attacks on southern Italy in the ninth century, see also above. By the fifteenth century the Arabs had been replaced by the Turks as the Muslim other, with repeated incursions along the Adriatic coasts of Italy culminating in the siege of Otranto in 1480 and the threat of a full-scale invasion heading for Rome. Turkish threats to Italy remained very much alive in the sixteenth century at least until the battle of Lepanto in 1571. 20 See chapter by Jossa below.

Introduction

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9

History into myth: telling tales about Charlemagne

yth making around the figure of Charlemagne, the conversion of historical fact into legendary exploits, began soon after the Emperor’s death, as the Latin biographies and chronicles testify, but the vernacular tradition from which the Italian Carolingian narratives derive dates from the twelfth century when the Chanson de Roland is first attested in written form.21 That seminal narrative had already reached Italy by the third decade of the twelfth century, brought there by travellers – pilgrims, crusaders, merchants – and spread through repeated oral recitation and retellings. For nearly two centuries the Carolingian narrative tradition in Italy remained a largely if not wholly oral genre – and the oral dimension of the narratives was to remain a fundamental aspect of the Italian tradition even after the introduction of printing and the development of literacy.22 The widespread knowledge of Charlemagne narratives throughout the Italian peninsula in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is attested in particular in visual representations – frescoes, sculpted reliefs and inscriptions.23 The oldest piece of written evidence attesting to a fictional as opposed to historical interest in Charlemagne is the inscription from Nepi, near Rome, dated to 1131, threatening those who commit perjury with the punishment and fate of Ganelon, providing evidence of familiarity with the ending of the French legend of Roland. A rich crop of sculpted reliefs and frescoes can be dated to the later

21 For the early fictionalisation of Charlemagne’s life, see The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, in particular on the inscription on the church of Santi Apostoli in Florence, pp. 202–4, and for the mixture of history and myth that underlies the Chanson de Roland, see Phillipa Hardman and Marianne Ailes, The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England: The Matter of France in Middle English and Anglo-Norman Literature (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2017), pp. 221–47. 22 In addition to reception through oral performance, it should be remembered that cantastorie varied the narrative with each performance, so a certain amount of independent, free oral composition occurred at any recitation. It is likely too, given the wholly original narratives found in the earliest Italian texts, that in some cases such oral composition produced completely new narratives which in due course were written down in the surviving manuscripts (see also Chapter 2 below). On the continued importance of oral reception, see the chapter by Degl’Innocenti below; also Raffaele Morabito, ‘The Italian Cantari between Orality and Writing’, in Medieval Oral Literature, ed. by Karl Reichl (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012), pp. 371–86. 23 On artistic representations related to the Carolingian narratives, including in Italy, see Rita Lejeune and J. Stiennon, La Légende de Roland dans l’art du Moyen Âge (Brussels: Arcade, 1967); see also Henning Krauss, ‘Aspects de l’histoire poétique de Charlemagne en Italie’, in Charlemagne et l’épopée romane, Actes du VIIe congrès international de la Société Rencesvals, Liège 28 August–4 September 1976 (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1978), pp. 103–23 (p. 103); Marco Villoresi, La Letteratura cavalleresca. Dai cicli medievali all’Ariosto (Rome: Carocci, 2000), Introduction, pp. 17–19.

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1130s.24 These are attested in the northern towns and courts of the Po plain, along the pilgrim routes such as the ‘via francigena’ leading from France down to Rome, and even further south in Campania and Puglia. In Verona, Roland and Ferragu are represented in two scenes sculpted as one of the stone reliefs of the portal of the west porch on the church of San Zeno (dated c. 1138), and Roland and Oliver on the cathedral façade, of similar date (1138–9); in this latter scene Roland’s sword is also named – Durindarda (later Durlindana). A statue of Roland (dated 1169–79) carrying the Olifant and his sword stands on the Ghirlandina tower of the cathedral in Modena, while in the far south now lost floor mosaics from the cathedral in Brindisi, dated to 1178, displayed among other Carolingian scenes representations close to the narrative of the Chanson de Roland, of Roland leading the dying Oliver from the battlefield of Roncevaux, and killing the Saracen who attempted to steal the Olifant. At the end of the twelfth century, the sculpted frieze of the cathedral of Borgo San Donnino (Fidenza) tells the story of Berthe and Milon, significantly one of the narratives codified almost a century later in the Geste Francor, possibly the oldest extant Italian manuscript of the narratives of Charlemagne;25 the story, which originated in Italy, was clearly already well known and popular at the earlier date. Nor did artistic representations, visual story-telling, cease once manuscripts began to transmit the texts in written form. As Boscolo and others show, frescoes in the region of Treviso dating from the late thirteenth to fourteenth centuries depict the story of Otinel, and a similar date can be assigned to frescoes of the same story found at Sesto al Reghena (Pordenone).26 Curiously, however, the Emperor rarely if ever figures in these scenes of fiction, but his image is found, often very early, on archival documents, such as the privilege granted to the diocese of Modena within Charlemagne’s lifetime (in 782). Whether the absence of artistic representations during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is due to a continuing reverence for the historical figure or a lack of interest in his role in the narratives is impossible to say. Ironically these are the centuries in which the Emperors, in particular Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick II, were aggressively attempting to reassert imperial authority in Italy. Perhaps therefore the lack of images is a silent protest by potential Italian patrons. Further evidence of the presence of the Carolingian narrative tradition in Italy in these centuries prior to the survival of written texts can be found in the study of 24 The identification, by Lejeune and Stiennon, of the murals dating to 1123 in the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin as scenes representing the narratives of Charlemagne is no longer accepted. For the current identification of these frescoes as representations of the prophet Ezekiel, and the more recent relevant bibliography, see Anne Derbes, ‘Crusading Ideology and the Frescoes of S. Maria in Cosmedin’, The Art Bulletin, 77. 3 (1995), 460–78. 25 On the dating of the Geste Francor, see Chapter 1 below. 26 See Claudia Boscolo, ‘Two ‘Otinel’ frescoes in Treviso and Sesto al Reghena’, Francigena, 2 (2016), 201–18.

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names – both baptismal and surnames – recorded throughout the peninsula. First studied by Pio Rajna at the end of the nineteenth century,27 the archives reveal a quite extensive list of names relating to (if not always directly derived from) characters in these narratives. Alongside Rolando/Orlando and Oliviero/Uliviero, which are the most common, and which appear also as family names, the names of both Christians and Saracens are recorded. Fassanelli notes the presence of Marsilio and Viviano already in twelfth-century Padua, and can add for the thirteenth century Turpino, Baligante, Agolante, Naimerio and, significantly, Mainetto (the diminutive applied to the young Charlemagne), Milone and Berta.28 These names variously indicate familiarity with the narratives of the Chanson de Roland, the Chanson d’Aspremont, and the texts eventually codified into the Geste Francor. Although in Fassanelli’s survey of just one region of northern Italy the percentage overall of such names is small, as she stresses, these Carolingian epic names are found across all social classes from nobles and merchants to peasants and artisans, and are equally recorded for both urban and rural communities. As she emphasises, the widespread diffusion of names derived from the Carolingian (and Arthurian) narrative traditions underline the popularity of these tales in the centuries before manuscript evidence survives.29 Evidence of yet another kind concerning the circulation and recitation of Carolingian tales in this period can be found in personal testimonies recalling public recitations as well as in allusions in other literary texts, such as those in the Divine Comedy.30 It is clear from the way in which Dante incorporates references to Charlemagne into his poem that he assumes familiarity on the part of his readers/ 27 Pio Rajna, ‘Contributi alla storia dell’epopea e del romanzo. L’onomastica italiana e l’epopea carolingia’, Romania, 18 (1889), 1–69; Id., ‘Contributi alla storia dell’epopea e del romanzo. Altre orme antiche dell’epopea carolingia in Italia’, Romania, 26 (1897), 34–73. 28 Rachele Fassanelli, ‘“Oliverius filius domini Rolandi”. La diffusione dell’onomastica letteraria romanza nella Padova dei secoli XII e XIII’, in Lingua, testi, cultura. L’eredità di Folena vent’anni dopo, ed. by Ivano Paccagnella and Elisa Gregori (Padua: Esedra, 2014), pp. 231–48. 29 ‘La presenza e la diffusione di nominativi carolingi e arturiani nei documenti d’archivio ci informa sulla notorietà di cui godevano temi, vicende ma soprattutto personaggi della produzione epico-cavalleresca, e di conseguenza, potrebbe fornire validi indizi sulla fortuna e circolazione del genere’ [the presence and the distribution of Carolingian and Arthurian proper names in archive documents is evidence of the popularity enjoyed by the themes, exploits and above all the characters of the chivalric epic narratives, and consequently furnish valuable indications concerning the circulation and the fortunes of the genre] (Fassanelli, p. 243). 30 Dante Alighieri, La Commedia: Inferno XXXI, 16–18; Paradiso VI, 94–6; XVIII, 43–7.

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audience with the episodes mentioned; indeed the very succinct nature of his allusions underlines that point.31 These forms of evidence of oral recitation and familiarity, scattered and spasmodic though they are, confirm the widespread reception in Italy of the original French narratives of Charlemagne and the peers of France. Evidence of the presence and production in Italy of these narratives in their original French form is nonetheless harder to establish. That copies of these texts were produced in Italy, at least by the thirteenth century, seems certain, as Meneghetti indicates.32 Pointing to the very small percentage of French chansons de geste produced in Italy, Meneghetti emphasises, once again, the overwhelming importance of oral diffusion, both through oral recitation and public performance33 – which remained a feature of the Carolingian tradition in Italy into the sixteenth century and beyond – and through synopses and résumés of the epic narratives – a form which would allow for ready adaptation to the Italian context.34 Nonetheless, Meneghetti argues for a particular popularity around the Chanson de Roland, which would seem borne out by the visual evidence just mentioned, and this popularity in turn supported the relatively large proportion of manuscripts of the narratives of Anseis and Aliscans. Almost as popular, on the basis of the number of manuscripts produced in Italy, was the Chanson d’Aspremont, for reasons already indicated.35 But Meneghetti stresses also that these manuscripts were all produced in the north-east of the peninsula, in spite of interest in the tales along the pilgrim routes to Rome, and that there is equally 31 On Dante and the Carolingian narrative tradition, see Girolamo Arnaldi, ‘Carlomagno’, in Enciclopedia Dantesca, 5 vols (Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1970), I, 840–1; Jane E. Everson, ‘Les prolongements romanesques de la matière épique’, in Epic Studies. Acts of the seventeenth international congress of the Société Rencesvals for the Study of Romance Epic, Storrs, CT, July 22–28, 2006, Olifant special issue, 25. 1–2 (2008), pp. 41–68 (pp. 46–51). Giovanni Palumbo, ‘La “dolorosa rotta” nella Commedia e negli antichi commenti’, in La Chanson de Roland in Italia nel Medioevo (Rome: Salerno, 2013), pp. 160–92. 32 Maria Luisa Meneghetti, ‘Fortuna e canone dell’epopea francese in Italia’, in Carlo Magno in Italia e la fortuna dei libri di cavalleria, ed. by Johannes Bartuschat and Franca Strologo (Ravenna: Longo, 2016), pp. 55–66 (p. 57). 33 Meneghetti, ‘Fortuna’, pp. 60–3. 34 On the repertoire of reciters in the fourteenth century, see Pio Rajna, ‘Il “Cantare dei cantari” e il “serventese di tutte le arti”’, Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie, 2 (1878), 425–533; translated and re-edited by Leslie Zarker Morgan, ‘The “Cantare dei cantari”: A Fifteenth-Century Vernacular Menu of Song’. Re-Edition, Annotation and Translation into English of Pio Rajna’s “Cantare dei Cantari”, Letteratura cavalleresca italiana, 2 (2020), 61–115. 35 For a full discussion of the development of narratives of the Chanson d’Aspremont, see The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature, ed. by Marianne J. Ailes and Philip E. Bennett (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming).

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a dearth in the south, despite the presence of the Normans and then Angevins in those territories.36

T

The development of a native Italian Carolingian tradition: from transcription to innovation

he extent to which the oral recitations of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries moved beyond a simple retelling of the original French narratives is impossible to judge, though oral performance almost always implies some modification of the original either deliberately or through lapses of memory, audience intervention or external forces. Villoresi and after him Laradji identify three distinct phases of reception into Italy:37 the first, covering the twelfth to early thirteenth centuries, defined as a phase of relatively faithful transcription for a public familiar with French (langue d’oïl) and transmitting major narratives such as the Roland and Aspremont; the second, corresponding to the second half of the thirteenth century, is represented by the transposition of texts into Franco-Italian, to render the texts comprehensible to a wider public, a shift of emphasis and tone towards a bourgeois rather than a solely aristocratic public, and the inclusion of new episodes; while the third phase is represented by the texts of the first half of the fourteenth century, still in Franco-Italian but largely original compositions and now aimed at both an aristocratic audience and the rising merchant classes.38 This is a neat but problematic codification of the passage of Carolingian narratives from France to Italy. The greatest problem is constituted by the fact that the oldest manuscripts known to have been produced in Italy date to the first half of the fourteenth century. There is no surviving written evidence for the first two of these phases. Apart from the visual evidence discussed above, the only other significant confirmation for these phases comes from contemporary comments on public performance, which relate mainly to recitations for popular rather than elite audiences, for whom in any event, even in the earliest period, the language would 36 A notable exception should be made for the Enfances Renier, a text of the William of Orange cycle, which seems to have been produced in southern Italy or Sicily; see Enfances Renier, chanson de geste du XIIIe siècle, ed. by Delphine Dalens-Marekovic (Paris: Champion, 2009), pp. 9–16 and Ella Williams, ‘Francophone Literature in Angevin Italy’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of London, University College, 2020), pp. 176–8. 37 Marco Villoresi, La letteratura cavalleresca, pp. 48–9; Aline Laradji, La Légende de Roland. De la genèse française à l’épuisement de la figure du héros en Italie (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2008), p. 116; both following on from Krauss, ‘Aspects’, pp. 103–4. 38 See Boscolo (Chapter 1) below for the effect of this shift on the characterisation of the emperor; and Ead., L’Entrée d’Espagne. Context and Authorship at the Origins of Italian Chivalric Epic, Medium Aevum monographs XXXIV (Oxford: Society for Medieval Languages and Literature, 2017).

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have been modified depending on the linguistic origins of the reciter and to ensure comprehension by a north Italian public. Moreover, as Krauss effectively argues, there is a steady progression in the texts present in these early manuscripts from an aristocratic to a bourgeois ethos. In terms of a literary tradition of Carolingian narratives in Italy, to which the chapters of this volume are dedicated, one must start from the beginning of the fourteenth century.39 Nevertheless, although literary evidence is lacking for the first two periods identified by Villoresi and Laradji, the process indicated of simple transmission through transposition, amplification and modification to innovation and original composition provides one element of a structure for tracing, over the three centuries studied here, the history of Charlemagne in Italy. Interwoven with the chronology, it is useful then to consider the development of Carolingian narratives in Italy under a number of subdivisions: language; content; style, metre and form; emphasis and tone. Language The Carolingian narratives arrived in Italy from France, and as Renzi emphasises, in the original language.40 By the mid-thirteenth century, as Martin da Canal notes, French was widely used and understood in northern Italy, as well as being considered the language of culture and elegant communication.41 Moreover, as Renzi also points out, the langue d’oïl was both grammatically and lexically close to northern Italian dialects, while lyric poetry in the langue d’oc forms a not insignificant strand of early lyric in Italy. Dante’s comment in De Vulgari Eloquentia I, x, 2 recording the use of French/langue d’oïl in the divulgation of both the matter of Rome and that of Arthur and other such narratives (presumably those of Roland and Charlemagne) suggests a widespread comprehension of French across northern and central Italy in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, even if, as the famous letter of Lovato notes, cantastorie reciting in public tended to distort and murder the French – to Lovato’s distress, but, as he observes, to the delight of the audience listening.42 The distortions noted by Lovato led inevitably to the hybrid language of Franco-Italian, but it must be noted that Carolingian narratives in French con39 Krauss, ‘Aspects’, pp. 106 ff. 40 Lorenzo Renzi, ‘Il francese come lingua letteraria e il franco-lombardo. L’epica carolingia nel veneto’, in Storia della cultura veneta, 6 vols (Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 1976), I, 563–89. 41 Quoted at the beginning of Renzi, ‘Il francese’, pp. 563–4. 42 ‘Francorum dedita linguae / carmina barbarico passim deformat hiatu / tramite nulla, suo nulli innitentia penso / ad libitum volvens. Vulgo tamen illa placebat’ [the singer deformed, in a barbaric fashion throughout, the poems composed in the language of the French, carelessly and with no concern for the narrative order, distorting them at will. But the tales pleased the listening populace]; see Lovato Lovati, Epistola metrica, quoted with comments by Renzi, ‘Il francese’, pp. 569–70.

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tinued to flourish in Italy through the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The great libraries of the northern courts held copies in French that were borrowed, read, and recopied in the original language, and French as the language of Carolingian narrative remained for a long time that in which the aristocratic elite read the narratives.43 This is an important point, since the original French narratives thus persisted in Italy alongside the innovations constituted by the newer, native compositions; it is thus often difficult, particularly where the court poets of the later fifteenth century are concerned, to establish sources and influences. Nevertheless, as both Lovato’s comments on distortion in recitation, and Renzi’s point about close proximity between French and northern Italian dialects underline, the French language of Carolingian narratives inevitably gradually shifted away from French and towards forms of Italian. The early manuscripts continue to show varying linguistic forms, ranging from French (if not very correct or well represented orthographically) through different forms of Franco-Italian (showing differing amounts of Italian dialects – Lombard and Venetian mostly – mixed with French) to texts that are in effect written in Italian (but again with doubtful orthography), depending in every case upon both the compiler and the intended recipients. This shift is clearly marked in the earliest manuscripts, the Geste Francor, the Entrée d’Espagne, the Prise de Pampelune, all dated to the first half of the fourteenth century and all commonly described as composed in Franco-Italian.44 Yet already by the mid-fourteenth century the linguistic context was changing rapidly, and though Franco-Italian texts continued to be composed in the second half of the century, Carolingian narratives of the later fourteenth century, in both prose and verse, have already made the transition to Italian.45 The linguistic influence of Dante’s Commedia is undeniable, but so also are the narrative and metrical experiments of Boccaccio.46 In order to maintain a place in the literary and indeed performance 43 On holdings of French books in the Este library and borrowings of these, see Giulio Bertoni, La biblioteca estense e la coltura ferrarese (Turin: Loescher, 1903); Id., ‘Lettori di romanzi francesi nel Quattrocento alla corte estense’, Romania, 45 (1918–19), 117–22; Jane E. Everson, The Italian Romance Epic: the matter of Italy and the world of Rome (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 127–60; Ead., ‘Read what I say and not what I read: reading and the romance epic in fifteenth-century Ferrara’, Italian Studies, 58 (2003), 31–47. 44 La Geste Francor, Edition of the chansons de geste MS Marc. Fr. XIII (= 256), edited with glossary, notes and introduction by Leslie Zarker Morgan, 2 vols (Tempe, Arizona: ACMRS, 2009); L’Entrée d’Espagne. Chanson de geste franco-italienne, ed. by A. Thomas, 2 vols (Paris: Société des Anciens Textes Français, 1913; anastatic reprint Florence: Olschki, 2007); La Prise de Pampelune. Ein antfranzösisches Gedicht, ed. by Adolf Mussafia (Vienna, 1864); on the language of the Entrée d’Espagne, see L. Renzi, ‘Per la lingua dell’Entrée d’Espagne’, Cultura neolatina, 30 (1970), 59–87 and on all these texts, see Chapter 1 below. 45 See Chapters 2 and 3 below, by Strologo and Zarker Morgan. 46 Of particular relevance are two of Boccaccio’s early works, the Filostrato and the

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market, the Carolingian narrative tradition was obliged to sever connection with its linguistic parent and emerge as fully fledged and linguistically independent. Narrative choices Turning to focus on the choice of particular narratives within the tradition, and the selection of material within any one narrative, it is possible to identify a similarly overlapping picture as the genre develops in the course of the fourteenth century. The original French narrative content was clearly well known and popular long before the production of manuscripts, as the historical, visual and performance evidence cited confirm. Over the two centuries of solely oral performance the exploits of Charlemagne and his peers had become deeply embedded at all levels of culture and society. These narratives can be usefully grouped into several different strands according to content and hence origin in the French tradition: the tragic campaign culminating at Roncevaux; the preceding campaigns in Spain; the Aspromonte narratives; childhood and coming of age narratives relating to Charlemagne and to Roland; narratives linking Charlemagne back to the time of Constantine and thus reaffirming the dimension of Empire. These, together with narratives linked to, but not specifically about, Charlemagne – the Buovo d’Antona narratives and the Guillaume cycle in particular – can be linked to French originals as well as to the wider European tradition. Yet modifications to the narrative content of even the best known chansons can be found in the earliest written accounts, and in some cases complete narratives are unique to Italy. Each of these narrative strands continued to live in the substratum of the Carolingian tradition throughout the period considered in this volume, but with different levels of success and of emphasis. The battle of Roncevaux came to be seen as the final act of the narratives of the ‘Spagna’ tradition, though often continually postponed, so that in some cases ‘Spagna’ narratives never reach the tragic conclusion.47 Those narratives themselves, springing from the statement made in Teseida, both written in ottava rima; on the relevance of the Teseida especially for the development of chivalric literature in Italy, see Everson, The Italian Romance Epic. 47 On the ‘Spagna’ poems and the whole tradition of this strand see La Spagna: Poema cavalleresco del secolo XIV, ed. by Michele Catalano, 3 vols (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1939–40); Franca Strologo, ‘La Spagna’ nella letteratura cavalleresca italiana (Rome-Padua: Antenore, 2014); and discussion below, by Strologo in Chapter 2. Pulci does narrate the battle of Roncevaux at the end of the Morgante, but none of the Este poets do so. Boiardo and Ariosto seem faintly to keep this conclusion at the back of their minds, while Cieco, in rewriting the figure of Gano, seems to exclude altogether such an ending. See Chapters 4–7 below and also Jane E. Everson, ‘Sconvolgere gli stereotipi: la caratterizzazione del traditore e della donna guerriera nel Mambriano’, in Diffusion et Réception du genre chevaleresque, ed. by Jean-Luc Nardone (Toulouse: CIRILLS, 2006), pp. 165–82.

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the Chanson de Roland that Charlemagne has been campaigning in Spain for seven years, were almost endlessly extendable backwards by the addition of new episodes envisaged as preceding the Roncevaux campaign, and in particular by inserting the departure of Roland/Orlando from Spain to the Middle East, following a dispute with the Emperor. Such a narrative insertion forms a very significant part of the Entrée (for which only part of the section survives), is taken up in the Spagna in rima texts, and, with the extension to Rinaldo, Astolfo and other paladins, is also a major part of Pulci’s and Boiardo’s poems. For an Italian audience, the narratives of the ‘Aspromonte’ tradition held a special interest, both geographical and historical, but these are also linked to the development of ‘enfances’ tales, the pre-history of a hero, in this case Roland.48 The earliest manuscripts, however, are concerned much more centrally with Charlemagne and his forebears, establishing a genealogical paradigm which, for an Italian audience, could be linked back (however tenuously and fictitiously) to their own early history and the presence of the real Charlemagne in the peninsula. Developed mostly by anonymous authors in the course of the fourteenth century, these various strands were gathered together in the early fifteenth century by Andrea da Barberino in his great prose compilations.49 These accounts rapidly came to constitute the essential point of reference for later retellings, but beyond their intrinsic interest they are invaluable for preserving the memory of earlier narratives for which no manuscripts now survive. The popularity of Andrea’s versions is testified to by the use made of his works by the poets of the fifteenth century and even by Ariosto, as well as by the number of printed editions produced after 1465.50 Alongside editions of Andrea’s works, the continuing widespread demand for the older cantari, on several of the narrative strands, is evident in the early printings of these texts. This is the context into which first Pulci in Florence, then Boiardo, Cieco and Ariosto in Ferrara, and a range of anonymous or little known cantastorie inserted themselves when taking up and retelling the narratives of Charlemagne, and however far those of Boiardo and Ariosto in particular may seem from the originals of the fourteenth century, as the relevant chapters show, both authors are conscious of working with firmly established traditions. Style, metre and form It was suggested at the beginning that it is important when reading the Carolingian narratives to set these in the context of political and social history, but it is equally important to set them in the context of a wider literary history in Italy. For it is in the area of metre and form that the Italian tradition is most clearly, and early, innovative. The earliest narratives, as evidenced by the Geste Francor and the Entrée, 48 The enduring influence of the Aspromonte tradition is noted for Boiardo by Maria Pavlova, Chapter 5 below. 49 See Chapter 3, by Zarker Morgan, below. 50 See Marina Beer, Romanzi di Cavalleria. Il ‘Furioso’ e il Romanzo italiano del primo Cinquecento (Rome: Bulzoni, 1987), pp. 328–34.

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continued to be cast in assonanced or rhymed laisses, following the French models. But laisses were already being superseded even before the probable dating of some of these poems. In the 1330s there emerged a new metrical form – the ottava rima – which was to have an immense literary fortune in Italian narrative poetry. How this metre emerged, and who was responsible for pioneering its development remain a matter of debate, but in the hands of Boccaccio (one of the putative inventors) it became an instant success, establishing its credentials for epic and romance in the Filostrato and the Teseida.51 From Boccaccio’s classicising romances the metre rapidly spread to Arthurian and chivalric romances, and was popularised especially in the short cantari of Antonio Pucci, a fellow Florentine.52 By the later fourteenth century it had become the form of choice for many Carolingian narratives, and this is confirmed in the following century by the so-called great cantari of the middle of the fifteenth century and by the adoption of the same metre by the court poets at the apex of the tradition.53 It is interesting to speculate what might have been the fortunes of the Carolingian narrative tradition if the ottava rima had never been invented. It is a metre ideally adapted for narrative segmentation, for ease of recall through the rhyme scheme, and for the creation of comic, ironic and tragic effects in the hands of a master craftsman.54 Ottava rima is fundamental to the success of the tradition in Italy, but it should not be seen in isolation. Prose, as already suggested for Andrea da Barberino, also played a crucial role, and here too one should see the influence of Boccaccio. Prose retellings of the Carolingian narratives are a particularly Tuscan phenomenon. Boccaccio’s prose works, the Decameron, but also others, were eagerly consumed by Tuscan readers, and it is for these Boccaccio-influenced readers that prose versions of the Charlemagne tales were produced, and for these same readers that Andrea is composing his compilation.55 But prose and verse Charlemagne narratives should not be seen as distinct and separate. A constant interplay between verse 51 For a summary of views on the invention and development of the ottava rima, see Everson, The Italian Romance Epic, pp. 113–18. 52 On Pucci, see for example, Gismirante, Madonna Leonessa, ed. by Maria Bendinelli Predelli (Edinburgh: British Rencesvals Publications, 2013), introduction and bibliography, pp. vii–lxxxi. 53 See Chapters 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 below. 54 Ariosto is famous for his ability to manipulate the ottava rima to create a whole range of effects from lyric and tragic to comic and ironic; see Stefano Jossa, ‘Ironia’, in Lessico critico dell’‘Orlando furioso’, ed. by Annalisa Izzo (Rome: Carocci, 2016), pp. 177–97. For later understandings of, and reactions and adaptations to Ariosto’s irony, see Christian Rivoletti, Ariosto e l’ironia della finzione. La ricezione letteraria e figurativa dell’‘Orlando furioso’ in Francia, Germania e Italia (Venice: Marsilio, 2014). 55 See the discussion of Boccaccio’s readers and owners of manuscripts by Rhiannon Daniels, Boccaccio and the Book. Production and Reading in Italy 1340– 1520 (Oxford: Legenda, 2009), pp. 76–136; and Chapter 3 below.

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and prose narratives is already evident in the later fourteenth century, and redactors and authors in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries draw on and mix from earlier accounts in both forms. Emphasis and tone It has been repeatedly stressed here that the Charlemagne narratives do not exist in a vacuum. In relating the narratives imported from France the cantastorie first, and subsequently the compilers of manuscripts, and the poets, named or anonymous, were obliged to consider the interests of their audience, patrons and social world. As Krauss makes clear in his magisterial study,56 the Italy of the twelfth century into which these narratives were first transposed was much less a feudal society than France, their country of origin. By this date Italy was already very significantly an urban society, especially in the regions of reception – Tuscany and the Po plain. Thus, the feudal norms which underpinned French chansons de geste were inevitably modified or particular narratives selected to suit the expectations of particular audiences. Thus, as Krauss suggests, narratives aimed specifically at the old, if declining, feudal nobility might leave virtually unchanged the original French narrative, creating for this audience a powerful sense of nostalgia for a lost past. But increasingly the newer versions of these narratives were aimed at the rising merchant classes for whom feudalism was at best an anachronism, at worst a system to be defeated in the power struggles of the communes against the Empire, noted above. In these texts characters emerge or decline, or change significantly. Charlemagne becomes a less exalted (or even at times comic) figure, one who must often be opposed or manipulated for others to achieve their goals.57 Reflecting the factionalism of Italy in the thirteenth century, Italian narratives develop the perennial opposition of the Chiaramontesi (the house of Clermont) – the families of Orlando, Ulivieri and Rinaldo – and the Maganzesi (the house of Mayence/Mainz) – the family of Gano – and turn this perennial hostility into the leitmotiv of the narrative, the constantly renewed spring of further action, still vigorous and effective in Pulci’s Morgante and in Ariosto’s Cinque Canti. Under the influence of the parallel development of the novella tradition, and in particular of the Decameron, the Italian Charlemagne narratives import characters from lower social classes, alongside a range of comic situations, tricks and dialogue, most evident in Pulci’s Morgante, but firmly established as early as the Rolandino, a text of the Geste Francor. Most notable of all, the shifts of emphasis and tone are the result of the early fusion of Arthurian romance material into the Carolingian 56 Henning Krauss, Epica feudale e pubblico borghese. Per la storia poetica di Carlomagno in Italia, trans. by F. Brugnolo, A. Fassò and M. Mancini (Padua: Liviana, 1980). 57 For similar developments in the characterisation of Charlemagne in other literary traditions, see The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature; and Albrecht Classen, Charlemagne in Medieval German and Dutch Literature (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2021).

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narratives, evident already in the Entrée d’Espagne. Combining romance, comic and bourgeois interests with the originals produced narratives in which the serious, religious, crusading and feudal aspects increasingly give way to quests, adventures, enchantments, love stories and romantic liaisons. To these vernacular literary influences should be added, and again from early on, the incorporation of motifs derived from classical literature – first in the retellings of the Aeneid, the fall of Troy, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses – and from the fifteenth century onwards, as the classical revival spread further across social classes – directly from the originals of Vergil, Statius, Lucan, Ovid, Livy and Herodotus.58

A

Charlemagne in print

fter the introduction of printing into Italy in 1465 the romance or chivalric epic narratives of Charlemagne rapidly became one of the best-selling genres in the new book market. The success of these narratives is attested by the large number of different titles printed even in the incunabula period.59 Indeed the Carolingian narratives began to circulate in print from very early on. The Altobello e re Troiano, first printed in Venice in 1476, appeared in a further five editions before the end of the century, and its sequel, the Persiano, in two Venetian editions (1483 and 1493). The Regina Ancroia was first printed in 1479, and there followed four more editions before 1500; the Buovo d’Antona in 1480 and then in five more editions up to 1500. Other notable first printed editions include poems of continuity with the long-standing Charlemagne tradition, such as the Libro delle battaglie del Danese (1480), the Spagna (1488) and the Aspromonte (1491). A major impetus to the printing of Charlemagne narratives was given by the appearance, in 1478, of the first edition of Pulci’s Morgante, and even more by the publication in 1483 of both the longer version of his poem, the Morgante maggiore, and the appearance of the first two books of Boiardo’s Orlando innamorato. In the period after 1500, Beer lists a total of 12 new titles appearing up to 1516, and further editions of 15 titles that were already in print before this date. Of these there were five editions of Il Mambriano (first edition 1509), four more Aspromonte, three Danese, four more of the Morgante and two of the Spagna, as well as seven of Boiardo’s poem in some cases published with the continuations by Niccolò degli Agostini and Raffaele Valcieco.60 It is easy to understand that the works of authors writing at princely courts and supported by patronage should attract the interest of printers, but it is important to note that the majority of Charlemagne narratives that appeared in print before 1500 were anonymous or by minor authors and cantastorie – in receipt only of occasional patronage and financial support. The production of these poems in printed versions from an early date suggests, as I have argued elsewhere, that printers felt 58 On this see Everson, The Italian Romance Epic, pp. 52–95. 59 Beer, Romanzi, pp. 328–34. 60 See Chapter 6 below.

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assured of a large potential readership, were confident of the popularity of such texts, in short that printing Carolingian narratives constituted a sound commercial proposition.61 The popularity of the genre, and its commercial success, is further underpinned by the increasing size of the print runs.62 Though evidence is lacking in many cases, especially for the incunabula period, the final version of the Orlando innamorato (1495) had a print run of 1,250 copies, the first edition of the Orlando furioso came out in a similar print run, and it is reasonable to assume that the full Morgante maggiore appeared in a run of similar length.63 Even if the other poems mentioned here were printed in shorter print runs, similar to those recorded for classical texts before Aldus – say 300–400 copies – the frequency with which new editions were produced suggests an increasingly large market of buyers and readers. The five editions of the Buovo d’Antona which appeared between 1487 and 1500 would on these calculations total some 2,000 printed items in circulation, while the six editions of the Bradiamonte sorella di Rinaldo printed between 1489 and 1498 reached perhaps a total of more than 2,000 copies in circulation in less than a decade. This is by any measure a very significant number of Carolingian narrative texts that are being actively produced and marketed. Thus it seems logical to conclude that the printed book guaranteed the future of Italian Charlemagne narratives into the sixteenth century and beyond. This commercial success depended naturally on readers and even more on buyers of books and so raises questions about levels of literacy, reading habits and the ownership of books.64 Of more interest here are the uses to which literacy was 61 Everson, The Italian Romance Epic, pp. 132–9, and ‘Read what I say’; Cristina Dondi and Neil Harris, ‘I romanzi cavallereschi nel “Zornale” di Francesco de Madiis’, in Carlo Magno in Italia, pp. 251–99 (p. 268). 62 Neil Harris deals with the size of print runs, and the subsequent disappearance of editions and survival of small numbers of copies from large runs in various publications; see for example Dondi and Harris, pp. 266–8; Neil Harris, ‘Sopravvivenze e scomparse delle testimonianze del Morgante di Luigi Pulci’, in Paladini di carta. Il modello cavalleresco fiorentino, ed. by Marco Villoresi (Rome: Bulzoni, 2006), pp. 89–159; Id., ‘The Italian Renaissance Book. Catalogues, Censuses and Survival’, in The Book Triumphant. Print in Transition in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, ed. by M. Walsby and G. Kemp (Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2011), pp. 26–56. 63 See Harris, ‘Sopravvivenze e scomparse’. 64 Studies in these areas, by Richardson and Grendler indicate that among males literacy levels in this period averaged around one third of the population across virtually all classes. Among women a much smaller percentage, generally only members of the wealthier classes, were literate. See Brian Richardson, Printing, Writers and Readers in Renaissance Italy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 107–12; Paul Grendler, Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Literacy and Learning 1300–1600 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989), pp. 42–6, 74–8.

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put and the distinctions between phonetic literacy, practical literacy for business, and what we now call reading for pleasure and leisure. It must be borne in mind that reading aloud to a group, what might be termed communal reading, considerably extended access to texts even to the functionally illiterate, in particular once the printed book spread the written version of these narratives across a wider social spectrum. It is these last types of literacy, reading for pleasure and communal or shared reading, which concern the exponential production of chivalric literary texts, and in view of the statistics just noted suggest that reading habits in the late fifteenth and especially in the early sixteenth century are changing rapidly with the advent of printing. That change was driven also by the rapidly descending costs of purchasing books.65 The availability of affordable texts and the increasing number of habitual readers had an important impact on the relationship between audience and narrative text, between poet and public. In the manuscript period, as noted, the Charlemagne narratives were primarily transmitted orally through recitations in public by cantastorie. Gradually, as printed versions of the text circulated ever more widely, reception became increasingly through the written word, through reading – sometimes aloud in a group, increasingly in private. The total size of the public engaging with Charlemagne narratives probably did not change significantly from the mid-fifteenth to the mid-sixteenth centuries. What does change notably is the poet’s conception of his public and the way in which the author’s relationship to his audience is expressed, the extent to which the old idea of a public recitation is retained and for what purposes, and how much the reality of the printed word and the individual reader is evident in the poems. These changes in the poet’s conception both of himself and of his public occurred slowly over a period of perhaps 40 or 50 years up to the first edition of Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, but they help to shed light on the modifications and tones of Ariosto’s poem, and perhaps above all on aspects of his irony.66 The modifications in forms of reception affected also the portraits of Charlemagne and the key protagonists. A cantastorie reciting in public could easily and rapidly gauge whether his audience approved of his presentation of the Emperor or not, and could conceivably alter the portrait from one recitation to the next according to circumstances and location. The printed text circulating widely across a varied public meant that the portrait developed by any one author was received in ways beyond this kind of control and might provoke simultane65 Where in the mid-fifteenth century even a modest manuscript would have constituted a considerable outlay for any but the most wealthy, by 1491, as Richardson notes, a popular narrative work was well within the reach of even a labourer; see Richardson, Printing, pp. 114–17. 66 See Lessico critico dell’‘Orlando furioso’, esp. Jossa, ‘Ironia’, and Jane E. Everson, ‘Lettore’, pp. 199–224; also essays in Interactions between Orality and Writing in Early Modern Italian Culture, ed. by Luca degl’Innocenti, Brian Richardson and Chiara Sbordoni (Farnham-Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2016).

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ously positive and negative reactions. It is perhaps for reasons like this that Ariosto’s portrait in the Orlando furioso, as Jossa shows, is essentially grounded in reality, even in Realpolitik, borrowing ideas from both Machiavelli and the speculum principis tradition, an Emperor who is both a political and military leader, and with strong and weak points in both spheres; an Emperor who could reflect the qualities Ariosto hoped for in his patrons, and who could equally reflect both the historical Charlemagne and the contemporary Emperor, Charles V.67 This approach, of using the fictional Charlemagne to reflect on the personality, role and duties of a sovereign and his relationship with his subjects continued to characterise portraits of the Emperor in the narratives composed in the wake of the Orlando furioso. Episodes in which Charlemagne figures in these texts are used to display the Emperor’s military, political but also ethical and moral qualities, a sovereign characterised by wisdom, justice, and courage. Yet the strain of ridicule which appears in fifteenth-century texts, and even as early as the Entrée d’Espagne did not disappear in the sixteenth century. It reappears in the poems of two iconoclastic and idiosyncratic writers whose contribution to the continuing literary tradition is not always sufficiently recalled: Pietro Aretino and Teofilo Folengo. The mid-sixteenth century, nonetheless, constitutes the high-water mark of the Carolingian literary tradition in Italy in terms of original compositions; Tasso’s Rinaldo (1562) forms perhaps the last element in this long and illustrious literary tradition. The religious and literary-critical climate of the later sixteenth century damped down and virtually extinguished the possibility of creating new narratives. Old and existing narratives continued to be printed throughout the sixteenth century and into the seventeenth, but in gradually decreasing numbers and for the most part confined to the most literary exponents, to Ariosto in particular. Yet two of the most ancient elements in the Italian Carolingian tradition found novel ways of surviving: oral performance, on the one hand, and artistic representation on the other. The later sixteenth century saw the creation of the first dramatic pieces and then of operas based on the Charlemagne narratives, usually those derived from the Furioso.68 It is also the Orlando furioso which from the 1520s sparked off a tradition in the visual arts of representing Charlemagne and the paladins in forms as varied as maiolica, frescoes, oil paintings and book illustrations.69 In these as in the earliest 67 For the dual characterisation of Charlemagne as political and military leader, see also texts of the old and middle French literary tradition, discussed in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature. 68 For a discussion of these, see especially Tim Carter, ‘Lessons in Madness: The Orlando Furioso on the eighteenth-century operatic stage (with special reference to Handel)’, in Ariosto, the ‘Orlando Furioso’ and English Culture, ed. by Jane E. Everson, Andrew Hiscock and Stefano Jossa, Proceedings of the British Academy 221 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), pp. 169–85. 69 See the summary of the Carolingian tradition and the visual arts in London in Jane E. Everson and Stefano Jossa ‘An Ariosto walk in London’, Rivista, 399

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artistic representations mentioned above, Charlemagne may be only a secondary figure, but the tradition based around the Emperor is thus continually reinvigorated. The chapters of this volume thus aim to trace the development of the Carolingian narrative tradition in Italy through a central focus on the figure of Charlemagne himself. Each chapter addresses both the purely literary characterisation and actions of the Emperor and the extent to which that characterisation can be linked to historical and cultural memory, contemporary politics and society, local, national and international circumstances and events. The balance between literary and historical influences varies considerably and is part of what renders the history of Charlemagne narratives in Italy so fascinating. The volume opens with an examination (Chapter 1) by Claudia Boscolo and Leslie Zarker Morgan, of the earliest manuscripts and their relationship to French models, before focussing in particular on those tales which are original to Italy: narratives in the Geste Francor; the Entrée d’Espagne. This is followed by two chapters on the first major period of Italian innovation, between the later fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, characterised on the one hand by the emergence of the cantari in ottava rima on Carolingian themes, studied by Franca Strologo (Chapter 2), and the prose compilations of Andrea da Barberino, examined by Leslie Zarker Morgan (Chapter 3). These narrative developments underpinned the second major phase of Italian Carolingian narratives, between the mid-fifteenth and the mid-sixteenth centuries, which can be divided into those composed before the impact of the French invasions from 1494, and those which came after. Three chapters explore the first of these two periods. Pulci and the Florentine context of his poem, and the anonymous poems which reached large audiences through printing as well as recitation throughout the peninsula are discussed by Annalisa Perrotta (Chapter 4). Boiardo’s innovations – the import of classical material, in particular the dynastic theme directed at his patron; the consolidation of adventure as the key driver of the narrative; and the characterisation of Orlando as a lover are discussed by Maria Pavlova (Chapter 5). The crisis produced by the French invasions and its impact on the Carolingian genre in respect of the works of poets whose activities spanned that fraught decade is examined (Chapter 6) by Jane Everson. There follows a detailed consideration (Chapter 7), by Stefano Jossa, of the characterisation of the Emperor by Ariosto, as he moves from a French to an Imperial perspective, and builds on the innovations of his immediate predecessors to achieve a portrait that becomes increasingly serious. The last chapter (Chapter 8), by Luca degl’Innocenti, discusses the ways in which poets after Ariosto reacted to the range of portraits present in the tradition, stressing now the serious, now the military, now the comic, and reaching through the medium of printed books with illustrations an ever wider audience. The volume concludes with a brief afterword surveying the survival of Carolingian narratives, both literary and less sophisticated, into the modern world through the traditions of the Sicilian (Winter 2016/17), originally published as a blog: [accessed 1 April 2020].

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puppet theatre (l’opera dei pupi) and the popular folk dramas (i maggi) of Tuscany and Emilia. The historical Charlemagne’s arrival in the Italian peninsula in the late eighth century was thus the beginning of what became, in literature, a never-ending story of tales told and retold in different languages and different forms, to widely differing audiences and readers. Yet throughout the period dealt with here political history and the figure of the Emperor in that context are never far from the surface of the narrative. The ambivalence and changing political perspectives of the various Italian states, the involvement in, or absence from, the peninsula of the Emperor, the identification of Charlemagne with France and the kings of France all contribute to the multifarious portraits of the Emperor to be found in Italian chivalric narratives from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. In the Orlando furioso, as he passes from one narrative strand to another of his epic of Charlemagne, Ariosto likens the poem to a loom on which is being woven a great tapestry made of many different threads and colours.70 In the text, the metaphor applies to the various narrative elements present in and fused together in his poem. It could, however, equally well be applied to the whole Carolingian literary tradition in Italy, as the threads of history, politics, culture, patronage, other literary traditions, and audience preferences and forms of reception weave in and out of the texts examined here and more broadly characterise Italian tales based on the Emperor Charlemagne; threads in a tapestry that are constantly unpicked and woven afresh to create images that are new and yet recognisable, and to create, across the centuries, new tapestries adapted to new circumstances, and thus sustain the literary tradition of Charlemagne in Italy from the thirteenth to the twenty-first centuries.

70 Orlando furioso, II, 30; XIII, 81.

1 The First Franco-Italian Vernacular Textual Witnesses of the Charlemagne Epic Tradition in the Italian Peninsula: Hybrid Forms Claudia Boscolo and Leslie Zarker Morgan

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A change of perspective

he earliest representations of Charlemagne in the Italian literary tradition are derived from the preceding tradition of French chansons de geste.1 These portraits are then progressively modified and adapted to the cultural and political milieu of Italy, a process that begins as early as the end of the thirteenth century. In the Italian peninsula, a power void opened in the absence of emperor and pope from the peninsula in the years after Frederick II’s death in 1250.2 Literary models and the real world clashed, making their mark on literature: in the Italian Charlemagne epic, the main characters are clans of nobles, the pope and the emperor, in a multifaceted society that includes women, children and less privileged individuals like dwarves and woodsmen. The emperor is placed in his family context, from his forefathers to selected descendants, in order to display the origin of his characteristics and their results. In this literary context, Charlemagne may represent not only the actual eighth- to ninth-century emperor, but may also reflect other, subsequent imperial figures, as well as rulers contemporary with the surviving MSS. The poems furthermore, as is typical of the chanson de geste, play a didactic role. So on the one hand, Carlo Magno is the ideal Holy Roman Emperor offering a

The chanson de geste is an Old French format, initially assonanced then rhymed, of ten or twelve-syllable lines in strophes (laisses) of varying length. For more details, see The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature in this series; and Catherine M. Jones, An Introduction to the Chansons de Geste (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2014). 2 See Rudolf Hiestand, ‘Aspetti politici e sociali dell’Italia settentrionale dalla morte di Federico II alla metà del ’300’, in Testi, cotesti e contesti del franco-italiano: Atti del 1° simposio franco-italiano (Bad Homburg, 13–16 aprile 1987), ed. by Günter Holtus, Henning Krauss, and Peter Wunderli (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1989), pp. 27–47, and the introduction to this volume. 1

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model to follow,3 ruling western Christendom: in Aspremont, chronologically the earliest composition where the action is set in the Italian peninsula, he is the absolute hero of the international scene for his leadership when he defeats the Saracen Agoulant. On the other hand, he constantly confronts domestic national enemies: his baron Girard de Fraite revolts against him.4 This is a reflection of the political environment typical of the regions of Lombardy and Veneto at the end of the thirteenth century and into the fourteenth, when Franco-Italian epic appears.5 The ʻCycle of the King’ (French Cycle du roi)6 is a perfect means of expression for multiple voices since it speaks both to the role of emperor and to the role of local rulers – not only rising local rulers, but also descendants of the Carolingians 3 The Italian literary character here is called ‘Carlo Magno’ in order to maintain consistency through this volume, though he is referred to as ‘Karles’, ‘Çarlo’, and many other variants in these Franco-Italian texts. The historical figure, French character, and literary concept is ‘Charlemagne’. 4 The theme of the baron révolté is very common in Franco-Italian chansons, where Carlo Magno is the object of challenges and open hostility from his own barons. This theme derives from the so-called Cycle des barons révoltés, of which the most famous is the tale of Renaud de Montauban, who became Rinaldo da Montalbano in the Italian tradition. That plot development affects the characterisation of Carlo Magno, because the emperor is made to face a challenge within his court. 5 For a preliminary outline on the mixed linguistic forms generally termed Franco-Italian, see above, Introduction. For recent critical discussions relevant to this chapter, see Cesare Segre, ʻLa letteratura franco-venetaʼ, in Storia della Letteratura italiana, I. Dalle origini a Dante, ed. by Enrico Malato (Rome: Salerno, 1995), pp. 631–47; Gianfranco Contini had noted that since so many of the MSS are at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, that might also be a reason for the term ʻfranco-venetoʼ (Gianfranco Contini, ʻLa canzone della Mort Charlemagneʼ, in Mélanges Maurice Delbouille, ed. by Jean Renson, 2 vols (Gembloux: Duculot, 1964), II, 105–26 (p. 112); quoted in part in Günter Holtus, ʻPlan- und Kunstsprachen auf romanischer Basis IV. Franko-Italienisch / Langues artificielles à base romane IV. Le franco-italienʼ, in LRL, VII, pp. 705–56 (p. 705). See also Luca Morlino, ʻLa letteratura francese e provenzale nell’Italia medievale’, in Atlante della letteratura italiana, ed. by Amedeo De Vincentiis, Sergio Luzzatto and Gabriele Pedullà, 3 vols (Turin: Einaudi, 2010), I, 27–40 (p. 33). For a discussion of the full extent of Franco-Italian see Luca Morlino, ‘Spunti per un riesame della costellazione letteraria franco-italiana’, Francigena, 1 (2015), 5–81, [accessed 14 May 2022]. 6 Jones defines these: ‘The geste of the King(s) could theoretically encompass any works featuring Charlemagne, his father Pepin the Short, his grandfather Charles Martel, or his son Louis the Pious. Modern scholars, however, speak of a more limited “Charlemagne cycle,” […] divide[d] into two thematically coherent subgroups: works pertaining to the disaster at Roncevaux and works in which Charlemagne figures prominently’. See Introduction to the Chansons de Geste, p. 27.

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in the form of the house of Anjou with its aspiration to replace the Holy Roman (German) Emperor, and the papacy. Political alliances influence the depiction of Charlemagne in these poems: it tends to be negative in Ghibelline areas, where the Germanic emperor theoretically held sway, and positive in Guelph lands, where the French monarchy and papacy supported Charlemagne/Carlo. Difficult political relationships between Church and State as well as between States recur throughout the poems, all of which are ostensibly under the obligation of crusade against pagans or pagan response to Christian threat. The texts discussed here are primarily anonymous and frequently survive in a single copy and incomplete form. Furthermore, the ‘language’ in which they are written varies from text to text, in the proportion of Italian or dialect that appears. Attempts have been made to locate their place of origin,7 but the phenomena of their forms are such that certain general principles can be delineated, and aspects of these appear across many texts though it is not uniform in the sense of a modern language.8 Critics also raise questions about the intentions and culture of the authors – were they uneducated? Were they trying to adapt to an uneducated audience? Who was the audience, in fact?9 The language debate predominated through much of the late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, 7 For example, Carlo Beretta, ʻPer la localizzazione del testo rolandiano di V4’, Medioevo romanzo, 10 (1985), 225–48. 8 See Segre, ʻLa letteratura franco-venetaʼ, p. 643; Marco Infurna, ʻLa lette­ ratura franco-veneta’, in Lo spazio letterario del medioevo 2. Il medioevo volgare, 5 vols (Rome: Salerno, 2003), III, 405–30 (p. 410); Günter Holtus and Peter Wunderli, Franco-italien et épopée franco-italienne, GRLMA, III, Les Épopées romanes, ed. by R. Lejeune et al. (Heidelberg: Winter, 2005), pp. 43–6; Carlo Dionisotti, ‘Entrée d’Espagne, Spagna, Rotta di Roncisvalle’, in Studi in onore di Angelo Monteverdi, ed. by Giuseppina Gerardi Marcuzzo et al., 2 vols (Modena: Mucchi, 1959), I, 207–41 (pp. 213–14). See also Lorenzo Renzi, ‘Il francese come lingua letteraria e il franco-lombardo. L’epica carolingia nel Veneto’, in Storia della Cultura Veneta, ed. by Gianfranco Folena, 6 vols (Vicenza: Neri Pozza editore, 1976–86), I: Dalle Origini al Trecento (1976), pp. 563–89. 9 The physical MSS have come down to us together with testimonials of oral presentations. On early recitation and reception, see Paul Meyer, ‘De l’expansion de la langue française en Italie pendant le Moyen Âge’, in Atti del Congresso Internazionale di scienze storiche. Volume 4: Atti della sessione III: Storia della letteratura, Roma, 1–9 aprile 1903 (Rome: Salviucci 1904), pp. 61–104; Marco Infurna, ‘Aristocratici e villani nella Geste Francor’, in Il Medioevo nella Marca: Trovatori, giullari, letterati a Treviso nei secoli XIII e XIV: Atti del convegno (Treviso: 28–29 settembre 1990), ed. by Maria Luisa Meneghetti and Francesco Zambon (Treviso: Zoppelli Chiari and Forti, 1991), pp. 129–49 (pp. 130–1); Holtus and Wunderli, Épopées, pp. 40–1; Giovanni Palumbo, La Chanson de Roland in Italia nel Medioevo (Rome: Salerno, 2013), pp. 25, 50–4.

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and can be summarised in the opposing views of Rajna, who argued that authors wanted to, but didn’t know how to compose in Old French (so were making unconscious errors), versus that of Ruggieri, who argued that authors wanted to, and knew they were writing the mixed language, that is, the mixture was deliberate and calculated.10 Similarly, like the languages in which they are written that reuse certain unorthodox Old French linguistic forms, plots in Franco-Italian Charlemagne epics repeat certain general themes – derived from their origins, from their environment, and from their redactors: ‘redactors’ since the roles of scribe, author, and copyist intersected in numerous ways, and add local themes and concerns. Thus, the Franco-Italian texts derive from traditional tales (Old French chansons de geste; folk tales; earlier history), from writers’ own imaginations and abilities, as well as from contemporary events, requiring multi-layered readings and interpretations that may be valid for only a portion of a longer work.11

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Texts in the Franco-Italian Charlemagne tradition

his chapter analyses the fundamental texts of the Italian corpus of the Cycle du roi, namely the Franco-Italian Roland; the Franco-Italian Aspremont; the Geste Francor; the Entrée d’Espagne; the Prise de Pampelune, that is, the continuation of the Entrée; and the Mort Charlemagne. The Chanson de Roland is the most famous and earliest chanson de geste and begins the narrative cycle. In the Old French tradition, it is the oldest extant text, and recounts the end of Charlemagne’s fictional seven-year campaign in the Iberian peninsula; the first Old French MS is most frequently dated to the second quarter of the twelfth century (see below for more information), though the poem itself is usually dated to the last decade of the eleventh century. Italian MSS based upon the French, however, are dated to the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Though the Chanson de Roland is set late in Charlesʼs life, his earlier years were rapidly filled by other narratives. His accomplishments in the prime of life and during his many military campaigns together with his men appear in Aspremont, which was very popular throughout the Francophone world, to judge by the number of surviving manuscripts.12 It tells, varying slightly from MS to MS, of 10 Pio Rajna, ʻLa rotta di Roncisvalle nella letteratura cavalleresca italiana’, Il Propugnatore, 3.2 (1870), 384–409 (p. 396); Ruggero Ruggieri, ʻOrigine, struttura e caratteri del franco-veneto’, in Saggi di linguistica italiana e italo-romanza (Florence: L. S. Olschki, 1962), pp. 159–68 (p. 163). Among those who repeat the expressions is Marcello Barbato, ‘Il Franco-Italiano: Definizione tipologia fenomenologia (Seminario 2014), In Memoria di Cesare Segre’, Medioevo romanzo, 39.1 (2015), 20–51 (pp. 35 and 39). 11 For a discussion of the role of scribes in our particular situation, see Holtus and Wunderli, ʻLe rapport auteur, scribe et langue’, L’Épopée, pp. 46–52. 12 See other volumes in this series: Charlemagne in England and The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature.

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Carlo’s campaign in Calabria, southern Italy, with a version of the youth of Roland. The Geste Francor elaborates upon the Chanson de Roland with prequels and a sequel derived from it: Berta da li pe grant, for Carlo Magno’s conception and birth, followed by Karleto, for his childhood. The Geste Francor sewed these together in one poem with other Old French classics, Bovo d’Antona and Uggieri il Danese, in addition to the new compositions Berta e Milone and Orlandino narrating Roland’s origins; it ends with Macario, in Carlo Magno’s old age. Therefore, while the Geste is one poem, it is an interwoven narrative in which some segments are traditional and some are new, combined in a different way. Also from the first half of the fourteenth century, the Entrée d’Espagne and the Continuation de l’Entrée (alternative title, Prise de Pampelune) fill in the seven years that precede the Chanson de Roland in Iberia, and are from the Italian peninsula; as single-plot poems, unlike the Geste, their depictions of Carlo Magno are more coherent throughout. They are also the first step towards important developments in Italian literature discussed in following chapters. Carlo Magno’s life ends in the Franco-Italian Mort Charlemagne (also known as the Testament de Charlemagne), that will also be incorporated in Andrea da Barberino’s work (Chapter 4). It is a new Italian creation, with no Old French antecedents. While all these Franco-Italian poems are found in MSS dating to approximately the same era, their attitudes towards Charlemagne differ depending both on the origin of the poem itself and the conditions under which it developed. Critics have long characterised the development of epic tradition in Italy on a scale from a) copies of Old French originals to b) rewrites of those originals to c) new stories about the characters, their friends and family.13 The Franco-Italian MSS in which Charlemagne plays a significant role are attested in inventories from seigneurial courts in what is now northern Italy; the first such inventory dates to 1407.14 Numerous chanson de geste MSS appear there, including these of the 13 Antonio Viscardi, Letteratura franco-italiana, Istituto di filologia romanza della R. Università di Roma, ed. by Giulio Bertoni, Testi e manuali, 21 (Modena: Società tipografica modenese, 1941), p. 37. Others have followed him with more or fewer modifications, e.g., Holtus and Wunderli, Épopées, pp. 22–4; Barbato, ‘Il Franco-Italiano’, p. 31; see also the Introduction. 14 Willelmo Braghirolli et al. first published the inventory of 1407 in ʻInventaire des manuscrits en langue française possédés par Francesco Gonzaga I, capitaine de Mantoue, mort en 1407ʼ, Romania, 9 (1880), 497–514; for further details, see Francesco Novati, ‘I Codici francesi dei Gonzaga attraverso nuovi documenti’, Romania, 19 (1890), 161–200 and Pio Girolla, ‘La Biblioteca di Francesco Gonzaga secondo l’inventario del 1407’, Atti e memorie della R. Accademia Virgiliana di Mantova, 14–17 (1923), 30–72. See also Sebastiano Bisson, Il fondo francese della Biblioteca Marciana di Venezia (Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 2008), and Kevin B. Reynolds, ‘A proposito di due inventari manoscritti relativi al fondo francese antico della Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana di Venezia’, Romania, 127 (2009), 460–86 for a history of the MSS now housed at the Biblioteca Marciana.

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Charlemagne cycle, the ‘Cycle of the King’. There are no titles in the MSS; modern critics named them. One thus finds different names for narratives in French and in Italian, and for a given MS in various critics.15

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Chanson de Roland [Song of Roland] MS V4, MSS V7 and C

here are three manuscripts from the Italian peninsula of great importance to the Chanson de Roland tradition. Two date to the end of the thirteenth century (MSS V7, C), one to the beginning of the fourteenth (MS V4). As Ian Short has said, the ‘twelfth-century Anglo-Norman text has … become synonymous in public perception with the work itself, and has thus been allowed to eclipse the other surviving versions and to encourage their relegation to the status of collateral texts’.16 Critics tend therefore to concentrate upon variation from MS O in form and language rather than analyse the narrative. However, our three manuscripts differ in content both from each other and from O, which means that they nuance readers’ impressions of characters. In the Franco-Italian Chanson de Roland versions, in fact, Carlo Magno’s holiness and his connection to the merveilleux chrétien [ʻChristian marvellous’ or ʻfantastic’] is heightened. Yet, as in the best-known O version, he can also be a somewhat deceptive character, who plans how he wishes events to occur, and misrepresents facts to his nobles.17 These procedures open important roles to others, as Godʼs chosen or as protagonist for sections of the text: in one version of the Franco-Italian Roland, for Aimeri of Narbonne, and in all for Rolandʼs fiancée Aude. 15 We will use conventional titles here; where there is a choice, we will use the Italian form in line with the rest of the volume. 16 There are a total of six versions of the Chanson de Roland plus fragments. Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Digby 23 is MS ʻO’. For an online reproduction, see [accessed 19 October 2020]. The quote is from Ian Short, ‘Introduction’, in Part I. The Oxford Version, La Chanson de Roland – The Song of Roland: The French Corpus, ed. by Joseph H. Duggan, 3 vols (Turnhout: Brepols, 2005), I, p. I/13. Because space is limited here, we only address specific scenes. Burland offers a close reading of MS C (Châteauroux), concluding that in it dialogue is used extensively to reinterpret the story (Margaret Jewett Burland, Strange Words: Retelling and Reception in the Medieval Roland Textual Tradition (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007), especially pp. 13–14; 16–17; 75–127 and 275–7. She specifically demonstrates that Charlemagne is ‘consistently self-absorbed, manipulative, and dishonest in this text’ (p. 75). 17 Peter Wunderli, ‘Zwischen Ideal und Anti-Ideal: Variationen des Karlsbildes in der altfranzösischen Epik’, in Der Herrscher, Leitbild und Abbild im Mittelalter und Renaissance, ed. by Hans Hecker, Studia Humaniora, 13 (Düsseldorf: Droste, 1990), pp. 59–79 (pp. 64–5), demonstrates how Charlemagne manipulates council decisions.

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Two of the three Franco-Italian Chansons de Roland are today at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice.18 The first, MS Marc. Fr. Z.4 (= 225), referred to as MS V4, is a fourteenth-century MS of 6,011 lines that follows the tradition of the Oxford text for the first 3,846 assonanced lines.19 It subsequently includes a unique 572-line rhymed episode that recounts the taking of Narbonne in Languedoc, together with arranging for its rule by Aimeri. This exceptional siege of Narbonne in MS V4 merits particular attention. Robertson-Mellor suggested that it is the relic of a lost chanson de geste.20 Laisses 285–318 tell of a stop on the return route between Saragossa and Blaye, in what is now France. Carlo Magno knows that this threat situated between his newly conquered Iberian lands and France should be eliminated. He prays for assistance to God, who grants his wish with a storm – wind and rain that ruin the city walls.21 But none of Carlo Magno’s men want to hold the city: they all want to go home. Finally, Arnald suggests his twenty-year old son, Aimeri, and takes the city in his name (‘par lui la prendo’, [for him I take it], v. 3955). Arnald then returns to Paris to give his son the good news. Aimeri meanwhile has had a vision that he should capture Narbonne, currently ruled by the pagan Alfaris, and that is therefore the fief he wants (vv. 4189–93). Arnald and Aimeri then ride together to meet Carlo. Aimeri’s mother had described Carlo Magno so that Aimeri can recognise his ruler at Narbonne: […] fer hom est Carles de França l’enperer. Un plus beus veilz ni poit hom esguarder. Soa guardaüra nul hom poit endurer. A tel mesura conosero l’enperer. (4315–18)22 18 All references are to Joseph H. Duggan (ed.), La Chanson de Roland – The Song of Roland: The French Corpus, Ian Short, for the Oxford version; Robert F. Cook, for the Venice 4 version; Joseph J. Duggan, for the Châteauroux-Venice 7 version; Annalee C. Rejhon, for the Paris version; Wolfgang van Emden, for the Cambridge version; William W. Kibler, for the Lyon version and the fragments, and cf. note 16 above. We also follow their dating: for MS V4, 1, p. II/7; for MS C and V7, 2, p. III/7. For the quotations of MS C, we use his ‘Text of the Châteauroux Manuscript’ (vol. 2, pp. III/531–807). 19 Both are known from the 1407 Gonzaga inventory (Braghirolli). For a history of the MSS, the introduction to any of the editions of non-Oxford texts provide much information; for convenience, see Duggan. The V4 MS includes Aspremont; the combination of the two poses the interesting question of the reason for that combination. 20 Cited in Holtus and Wunderli, Épopée franco-italienne, p. 199. 21 This version is quite unlike that of the Old French Aymeri de Narbonne, laisses 32–7 (Aymeri de Narbonne, chanson de geste publiée d’après les manuscrits de Londres et de Paris, ed. by Louis Demaison, 2 vols (Paris, Firmin Didot, 1887), II, 43–54). 22 Translations of quotations from the Chanson de Roland section by Leslie Zarker Morgan unless otherwise attributed.

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[‘[…] a fierce man is Charles of France the Emperor. | A more handsome old man one cannot see. | No one can endure his gaze. | By such measure I will recognise the Emperor’.]

Upon their arrival at Carlo Magno’s camp, Aimeri kneels and asks for the privilege of avenging Roland and his cousin Olivier (v. 4351). Carlo Magno does his duty correctly, arming Aimeri with famous weapons and dubbing the youth along with the 100 men Aimeri had brought with him. He also gives the newly-minted knight provisions, and promises more for seven years (v. 4404). The other two Franco-Italian MSS, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana MS FR Z.7 (= 251), referred to as MS V7, and Châteauroux, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 1, referred to as MS C, recount two episodes not present in O: the first, two miracles for Charlemagne after Baligantʼs death, and the second, an elaborated death of Rolandʼs fiancée Aude that differs substantially from that of MS O.23 After Carlo defeats the Saracens under Baligant, he prays to be able to distinguish the bodies of the Saracens from those of the Christians. St. Martin comes down from heaven to make a hawthorn bush grow on each Saracen (MS V7, laisse 325; MS C, laisse 333). God then also makes hazel trees grow among the buried Christians, from 23 MS V7 is now usually dated to the end of the thirteenth century; it numbers 8,397 rhymed lines; C is dated to the second half of the thirteenth century, though Segre suggests c. 1300; it numbers 8201 rhymed lines. Compare this with MS O at 4,002 assonanced lines including 4 lines from V4 (see William W. Kibler, ‘Preface to the Volume’, in Approaches to Teaching the Song of Roland, ed. by William W. Kibler and Leslie Zarker Morgan (NY: MLA, 2006), pp. 1–13 (p. 11). Three other MSS also contain these episodes. The dating of the different versions of the Chanson de Roland is a scholarly battlefield, as are the origins of C and V7. Marjorie Moffat (ed.), in The Châteauroux Version of the “Chanson de Roland”, Beihefte zur ZRP, 384 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014), pp. 3–71, argues that V7 must be copied from C and not vice versa, suggesting that it was copied at the Naples court of Charles I of Anjou for the ambassador Guido Gonzaga of Mantua. André de Mandach also argues that C was earlier (Naissance et développement de la chanson de geste en Europe, 6 vols (Genève: Paris: Droz-Minard, 1961), I, 317–24 (at p. 318)), but offers 1328–60 for Luigi I Gonzaga as a date. Giovanni Palumbo (ʻPer la storia della Chanson de Roland in Italia nel Medioevo’, in ʻTre volte suona l’olifante…ʼ: La tradizione rolandiana in Italia fra Medioevo e Rinascimento, A tre voci: Seminari del Dipartimento di Italianistica Università degli Studi di Parma, 8 (Milan: Unicopli, 2007), pp. 11–57 (pp. 28–9)), as well as in Id., La ‘Chanson de Roland’ in Italia nel Medioevo, where he discusses the theory as well (p. 168), saying that ‘l’ipotesi si basa su elementi fragili e discutibili’ [the hypothesis is based on frail and disputable points] (p. 92 note). Serena Modena, ‘Chanson de Roland C e V7: Testo’, RIALFrI, [accessed 16 December 2020], also offers the hypothesis that C was copied at the court of Naples; but currently there are no specific proofs.

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which the living make biers to carry Roland and Olivier back to France (MS V7, laisse 327; MS C, laisse 335). Duggan suggests that the trees may be seen as a way to advertise the road to Compostella.24 These miraculous growths in fact complete a triad of miracles for Carlo Magno: they follow the first miracle of the sun standing still to allow Carlo Magno to avenge his losses, shared by all versions (MS V7, laisse 241; MS C, laisse 179; MS V4, laisses 198–9, MS O, laisse 179). The growing trees furthermore recall the Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle, a Christian history-cum-pilgrimage guide, where flowering ash trees predict the martyrdom of Carlo Magnoʼs men.25 The twelfth-century Chronicle, part of the Liber Sancti Jacobi (Codex Calixtinus) of Compostella, recounts Carlo Magnoʼs vision of St. James leading him to free Santiago from the Muslims in the Iberian peninsula26 and is part of hagiographical traditions surrounding Carlo Magno and St. James.27 Together with lengthened prayers in the Franco-Italian Chansons de Roland, the miracles further highlight Carlo Magnoʼs role as Godʼs representative on Earth. Yet, in the second additional episode, common to MS V4 and MSS C-V7, Carlo Magno appears in a less positive light. Upon his return from Spain, he conceals Rolandʼs and Olivier’s deaths from Aude, Olivier’s sister and Roland’s fiancée. Carlo even orders the inhabitants of Blaye to participate in this deception. Aude herself, meanwhile, has two elaborate dreams that reveal Rolandʼs death in allegorical form; in fact, Hartung suggests that Franco-Italian versions interpret texts in strict line with salvation history in a manner lost to French epics, since they grant dream visions to Aimeri and Aude.28 When Aude arrives at court, accompanied by 24 Joseph J. Duggan, ʻBeyond the Oxford Text: The Songs of Roland’, in Approaches to Teaching the Song of Roland, pp. 66–72 (p. 69). 25 Historia Karoli Magni et Rotholandi, ou Chronique du pseudo-Turpin. Textes revus et publiés d’après 49 manuscrits, ed. by Cyril Meredith-Jones (Paris: Droz, 1936; repr. Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1972); for an English translation, see Chronicle of Pseudo-Turpin, ed. and trans. by Kevin R. Poole (NY: Italica Press, 2014). The original MS is Compostela, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, MS CF-13; for a facsimile, Jacobus: Codex Calixtinus de la Catedral de Santiago de Compostela (Madrid: Kaydeda Ediciones, 1993). 26 See other volumes in the series: The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, ed. by William Purkis and Matthew Gabriele (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2017); Charlemagne and his Legend in Early Spanish Literature and Historiography, ed. by Matthew Bailey and Ryan D. Giles (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2016); The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature, ed. by Marianne J. Ailes and Philip E. Bennett (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming). 27 Carlo Magno’s link to nature and growth is also part of archetypical religion in Old French tradition; see Alain Labbé, L’architecture des palais et des jardins dans les chansons de geste: Essai sur le thème du roi en majesté (Paris: Champion, 1987). 28 Stefan Hartung, ‘Karl der Große in der italienischen und frankovenetischen Literatur des Mittelalters’, in Karl der Grosse in den europäischen Literaturen des Mittelalters: Konstruktion eines Mythos, ed. by Berndt Bastert (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2004), pp. 55–78 (p. 62).

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Carlo Magnoʼs sister Berthe, Carlo Magno lies to them that Roland and Olivier have stayed in Spain, where Roland is marrying the Saracen king Florentʼs daughter, and offers to marry Aude instead to the duke of Normandy. But Aude is not fooled and demands to know the truth. She faints upon hearing of Rolandʼs death, and demands next to view the bodies of her fiancé Roland and her brother Olivier. She speaks of her death as her wedding (MS C, laisse 369; MS V7, laisse 377) in order to join them; her prayer to do so is granted. She is buried between them.29 Carlo Magno, in his anguish before the ladies’ arrival, admits that he had erred in marrying his sister to a traitor, Ganelon, as a second husband (MS V7, laisses 330–1; MS C, laisses 338–9). He refers specifically to her first husband, Duke Milon, a powerful man, recalling the Carolingian familyʼs history through the Franco-Italian tradition (see Geste Francor, below). Carlo Magno also laments the death of Aude as he did his warriors: weeping, pulling his beard and approaching death (MS V7, laisses 382–3; MS C 388–9). At the conclusion of the poem, Ganelonʼs trial in the Franco-Italian Chansons de Roland differs substantially from the MS O version, particularly in Ganelonʼs characterisation and his motivation for his actions. These also affect Carlo Magnoʼs standing. As Bender points out, in MS V7, the accusation is specifically that Ganelon betrayed Roland for money;30 Hartung thus points out the parallel between Ganelon and Judas, crystal clear in V7 v. 8255 (our emphasis):31 Il traï mes barons, onques ne sot por quoi. Or et argent en prist, si fist mout grant besloi. Altresi fist Judas, ce sai je bien et croi: son compeignon vendi as Judeus de la loi; il reconut son tort, si se pendi par soi. (V7, laisse 435, vv. 8253–5) [He betrayed my barons and (I never knew why).| He took gold and silver and worked great injustice.| Judas did likewise, this I know and believe; | he sold his companion to the Jewish authorities; | he recognized his wrong and hanged himself.]32 29 For further discussion of the episode, see Joseph J. Duggan, ʻL’épisode d’Aude dans la tradition en rime de la Chanson de Roland’, in Charlemagne in the North: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference of the Société Rencesvals, Edinburgh 4th to 11th August 1991, ed. by Philip E. Bennett, Anne Elizabeth Cobby and Graham A. Runnalls (Edinburgh: Société Rencesvals British Branch, 1993), pp. 273–9; and Maria Grazia Meneghetti, ‘Amori e morte tra Blaye e Saint-Denis. Ancora sull’epilogo della vicenda di Alda nella tradizione rolandiana’, in La tradizione epica e cavalleresca in Italia (XII–XVI sec.), ed. by C. Gigante and G. Palumbo (Brussels: Peter Lang, 2010), pp. 107–19. 30 Karl H. Bender, ‘Les métamorphoses de la royauté de Charlemagne dans les premières épopées franco-italiennes’, Cultura neolatina, 21 (1961), 164–74 (p. 167). MS O does not mention Judas by name. 31 Hartung, ‘Karl der Große’, p. 61. 32 The Song of Roland. Translations of the Versions in Assonance and Rhyme of the Chanson de Roland, trans. by Joseph J. Duggan and Annalee C. Rejhon

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So what is a juridical conflict in the Old French becomes rather a dispute about morals, which certainly makes Carlo Magnoʼs position more defensible, and strengthens it. In no time after Carlo lodges his complaint in council, Ogier, Richer and Girart immediately agree (e.g., MS V7, vv. 7900–2).33 Thierry, however, only avenges Rolandʼs death; he does not punish treason. The question of avenging personal quarrels during a rulerʼs battle campaign is not posed, and the willingness of multiple barons to defend the royal cause, Bender argues, demonstrates that the vassal-king relationship is not the important issue in Franco-Italian epics. Though Carlo Magno in the Franco-Italian Chansons de Roland largely agrees with the better-known MS O, additional miracles, vassalic collaboration, and appropriate awarding of conquered territories make him appear stronger than in MS O. However, the irruption of ʻromance’ – personal familial elements – into the plot disturbs the otherwise impeccable character of the king, since he cannot handle Aude and he admits to erring in matching his sister Berta with Ganelon. That error also leads to his sharing the role as Godʼs chosen with others. The Chanson de Roland, in various forms, was already circulating in Italy in the first half of the thirteenth century, according to onomastic and Latin sources, as well as references in other works.34 That means that the poems were permeable to local references and variation already at an early date; and the characters and stories were further developed, as also occurs in the Aspremont, the first chanson de geste where the action takes place largely in the Italian peninsula.35

A

Aspremont

spremont develops the matter of Charlemagne in Italy. The purpose of these developments derives from the period when the original Chanson d’Aspremont was composed, the place, and the reason for the composition: the original narrative was probably recited as encouragement to the troops of Philip II Augustus of France and Richard the Lionheart who were embarking on the Third Crusade, c. 1190, in southern Italy.36 Dominated by the heights of Aspromonte, Messina was the point of departure (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012), p. 445, with a slight edit on l. 8253 that follows V4; see Moffat (ed.), The Châteauroux Version, ‘Il traï mes barons, onqes ne soi por coi’, v. 8059, and note. 33 Bender, ‘Métamorphoses’, pp. 167–8. 34 Palumbo, Chanson de Roland in Italia. 35 Aspramonte is the Italian poem (in cantari and Andrea da Barberino); Aspremont is the French poem in its various versions, including Franco-Italian; Aspromonte is a geographical feature. 36 Wolfgang van Emden, ‘La Chanson d’Aspremont and the Third Crusade’, Reading Medieval Studies, 18 (1992), 57–80; see also Aspremont: Chanson de geste du XIIe siècle […] d’après le manuscrit 25529 de la BNF, ed. by François Suard, Champion Classiques Moyen Âge, 23 (Paris: Champion, 2008), p. 11.

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for Christians leaving for Palestine.37 The objective of the poem was to create an appropriate crusade song that would tell the victory of Carlo Magno against the pagan Agoulant, so as to incite twelfth-century European barons to leave behind their personal rivalries and unite against their common enemy, the infidels. Moreover, it foregrounds the conflicts of the feudal world through the revolt of Girart de Vienne (or Girart de Fraite) against Carlo Magno, and also provides a prologue to the story of Roland, portraying the first deeds of arms of the hero.38 It is an atypical chanson de geste, as Suard notes, because it tells the story of the war waged by Carlo against Agoulant the African who attacked Europe in order to annex it to his empire. Yet, it also features the character of Girart, a baron who revolts against the Christian emperor.39 The narrative of Charlemagne’s campaigns in southern Italy, the Chanson d’Aspremont, survives in some twenty manuscripts, in addition to fragments. Of these, three manuscripts, two in Venice and one in Chantilly, preserve the extant texts developed in Franco-Italian.40 A project based at the University of Namur (Belgium) is developing a critical edition of the manuscripts containing the FrancoItalian text. Since these texts have not yet been published, it is more difficult to 37 See Anna Constantinidis and Paolo Di Luca, ‘Appunti sulla fisionomia testuale della redazione ɣ della Chanson d’Aspremont’, in Codici, testi, interpretazioni: studi sull’epica romanza medievale, ed. by Paolo Di Luca and Doriana Piacentino (Naples: Orientale University Press, 2015), pp. 45–74. On the parallelism between Girart and Richard, see A. Costantinidis and Di Luca, ‘Appunti’, p. 47, note 7, and Suard, Aspremont, p. 14. 38 On Girart, see René Louis, Girart, comte de Vienne, dans les chansons de geste: Girart de Vienne, Girart de Fraite, Girart de Roussillon, De l’histoire à la légende (Auxerre: Imprimerie Moderne, 1947), and Constantinidis and Di Luca, ‘Appunti’, p. 56 note. 39 See Suard, Aspremont, pp. 11–36. For the family relationships of the participants, in particular, see p. 13. 40 Anna Constantinidis is currently completing the edition of the Franco-Italian text based on MSS V6, V4 and Cha, within a wider international project directed by Giovanni Palumbo [accessed 3 September 2020]. For the manuscripts of the French tradition see Aspremont: Chanson de geste du XII siècle, ed. and trans. by François Suard, ‘Introduction’, pp. 38–9. For an analysis of the tradition of the Aspremont see Marco Boni, ‘Reminiscenze della Continuazione franco-italiana della Chanson d’Aspremont nell’Aquilon de Bavière’, Miscellanea di studi romanzi offerta a Giuliano Gasca-Queirazza per il suo 65 compleanno, ed. by Anna Cornagliotti et al., 2 vols (Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 1988), I, 49–78; Id., ‘Il Prologo inedito dell’Aspremont del manoscritto di Chantilly’, Convivium, 30 (1962), 588–602; Id., ‘Un manoscritto poco noto della Chanson d’Aspremont: il codice 470 (703) del Musée Condé di Chantilly’, Romania, Scritti offerti a Francesco Piccolo (Naples: 1962), pp. 123–47. For a complete overview see the RIALFrI archive: [accessed 17 August 2020].

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analyse than the Chanson de Roland. MSS V4 and V6 of the Marciana Library in Venice contain a prologue that explains the circumstances of the Saracen invasion of Italy. The Aspremont plot was later developed in the Cantari di Aspramonte in ottava rima in the second quarter of the fourteenth century in prose versions, and in the compilation by Andrea da Barberino.41 Other chansons de geste contain references to it; for example, the Franco-Italian Huon d’Auvergne dated to 1341 mentions the Aspremont battle, placing the Saracens in hell.42 The main themes of Aspremont are the revolt of a great prince (Girart) against the emperor because of the limitations that are imposed on his freedom of movement; Rolandʼs first deeds of arms, since it is through this story that it is established how the young hero got his own sword, horse and horn, having achieved his own first victory ever on the battlefield; and the necessity of a united Christian front that reflects the common mission of freeing Jerusalem from the pagans under a single ruler, Carlo Magno. The conversion of Balant, Agoulantʼs ambassador, is a typical Bernardian theme,43 which consisted in either convert or kill, also typical of the ideology of monastic-chivalric orders, a narrative topos that appears as well in the Entrée d’Espagne in the episode of the theological dispute.44 The plot of Aspremont is very intricate, with many characters on both sides. Carlo Magno emerges as very generous in comparison to the very brutal Agoulant, while in fact historically the atrocities of the Christians in the Holy Land were well documented.45 The non-historical sequence in Aspremont reflects the chronicles, 41 See Chapter 2, ‘The Italian cantari on Charlemagne’, and Chapter 3, ‘The image of Charlemagne in the prose compilations of Andrea da Barberino’. 42 See Leslie Zarker Morgan, Shira Schwam Baird, and Stephen P. McCormick, , Berlin laisse 386, vv. 10080–116, [accessed 16 August 2020]. 43 Bernard of Clairvaux, Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae, intro. and trans. by C. D. Fonseca, in Opere, ed. by Ferruccio Gastaldelli, 6 vols (Milan: Fondazione di studi cistercensi, 1984), I, 425–83. 44 A discussion of this episode can be found in Claudia Boscolo, ‘La disputa teolo­ gica dell’Entrée d’Espagne’, in Les Chansons de Geste, ed. by C. Alvar and J. Paredes (Granada: Editorial Universidad de Granada, 2005), pp. 123–34, and also in Ead., L’Entrée d’Espagne. Context and Authorship at the Origins of the Italian Chivalric Epic, Medium Aevum Monographs, n.s., 34 (Oxford: The Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature, 2017), pp. 203–6. 45 For example, the chronicle of Raimond of Aguilers describes the bloody 1099 siege of Jerusalem. Robert the Monk re-interprets the First Crusade and justifies the massacre of Jerusalem as an act of the glory of God. For the bloodbath in Jerusalem and other Crusader atrocities see Luigi Russo, ‘Il Liber di Raimondo d’Aguilers e il ritrovamento della Sacra Lancia d’Antiochia’, in Studi medievali, 3rd ser., 47 (2006), pp. 785–837; Ibn Al-Athir, Al-Kāmil fi’l-ta⁠ʾrīkh, in Arab Historians

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where Muslims appear as invaders and enemies. Thus, the background to Aspremont offers a portrait of Carlo Magno as a wise leader, similar to that of the Chanson de Roland, but different from portions of the Geste Francor and entirely from the Entrée d’Espagne, where the king’s character undergoes major modifications and does not appear in a positive light. What is interesting in the Aspremont tradition, beyond the differences between the various versions, is that Carlo Magno appears as a Christian champion. The representation of Islam is thus of primary importance, since it is possibly from the characterisation of Agoulant that one can derive, by way of comparison, a portrait of the king. Girart also challenges Carlo and plays a parallel role, saving him from defeat at a crucial moment. The conflict amongst Christians is caused by different opinions on how to deal with both war and power, and this weakens the status of the emperor, in that the dispute originates within his own court, while the interaction with the Saracen is rather stereotyped. However, Carlo Magno ultimately wins, so here he ends with a positive representation. Aspremont is in every way a crusade song and reflects the great political themes of its time.46 The action is set in Montalto, the highest point of the Calabrian Aspromonte, a mountainous massif. While the location is real, in the Franco-Italian version Montalto is elaborated and turned into a setting where wonderous things happen.47 From the top of Montalto, the Christians see Agoulantʼs troops exiting from the city of Reggio (Risa in the poem). Carlo Magno must halt Agoulantʼs troops that had disembarked in Reggio before they proceed to take Rome. At that point in the story, Roland is a youth: in fact, Aspremont contains a section dedicated specifically to Rolandʼs enfances, where he defeats Heaumont, son of Agoulant (Almonte, in later Italian texts) and gains his horn Olifant, his sword Durendart, and his horse. In Aspremont, cultural expectations are somehow overturned: the Crusades in historical fact mark a moment in which Europeans irrupt into the Orient; conversely, in this poem the Muslims are depicted while invading Italy with the goal of colonising Europe, when the European troops were leaving Europe to invade the Holy Land for the third time.48 The poem that imagines Carlo Magno defeating the Arabs in Calabria may also evoke memories of a time when the Arabs actually invaded Sicily, between the mid-ninth and the beginning of the tenth of the Crusades, trans. by E. J. Costello (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969), Book 10, Chapters 185–95 (trans. from Francesco Gabrieli’s Italian translation). 46 See below, Geste Francor: ‘Another proposal’ for a brief comment on this. 47 For example, when Carlo’s ambassador, Richier, attempts to climb the mountain, a griffin appears: see Constantinidis and De Luca, ‘Appunti’, p. 56. 48 This was also the case in Fierabras: see The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England: The Matter of France in Middle English and Anglo-Norman Literature, ed. by Phillipa Hardman and Marianne Ailes (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2017): ‘They [Fierabras and Otinel] reflect an entirely different anxiety, that of invasion’ (p. 73).

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century, when the Arabs landed in Reggio Calabria and reached Cosenza, the first city to resist the invasion. Girart de Fraite is the model of all barons révoltés; although family quarrels are normally seen as distinct from the rebellion of a vassal, Roland in the Entrée seems to adopt much of the model provided by Girard. However, in Aspremont, conflict comes from outside the royal family, albeit within the larger Frankish court. The presence of a baron who revolts against the emperor has been interpreted as a reflection of the bitter rivalry among feudatories in the Holy Land, where, historically, European lords competed to rule newly-conquered territories.49 It certainly criticises the Plantagenets, but it seems to aim rather at motivating Christian troops to unite behind the enterprise, rather than highlighting conflict between European ruling families.50 The Archbishop Turpin appears in Aspremont as motivating the Christian army and represents the ideology behind the crusade. In the characterisation of the emperor in the Franco-Italian Aspremont what emerges is a portrait that does not translate a recalling of historical facts into a negative characterisation of the Frankish monarch. Here, the emperor is characterised as wise and valorous, conveying thus a Franco-centric vision of the ruler. In fact, in Franco-Italian versions of Aspremont, Carlo’s representation remains close to the original French version, composed in all probability in loco by a French poet.51

T

Geste Francor

he Geste Francor, which contains new versions of extant tales, as does Aspremont, as well as new tales with familiar characters, belongs primarily to the second category of Franco-Italian works, rewrites of French originals.52 It develops the traditional Old French heroic biography passing from enfances (childhood and youth) through the chevalerie (knighthood) of a hero. The Franco-Italian Geste Francor links nine plot segments.53 It is unique in com49 The original pro-Plantagenet ideology emerging from the text has been explained as related to the fact that some of the ɣ manuscripts are Anglo-Norman: see Constantinidis and De Luca, ‘Appunti’, p. 46. 50 Suard, Aspremont, p. 14. 51 This is in contrast with the portrait in Entrée, for which see the section below. The similarity between the figure of Carlo Magno in the Franco-Italian texts and in the French tradition is open to investigation which will be possible only when the critical edition of the Franco-Italian Aspremont is published. 52 See for example Maria Grazia Capusso, ʻAspetti dell’intertestualità franco-italiana (Geste Francor e Aquilon de Bavière)ʼ, Francigena, 3 (2017), 5–43 (p. 6). 53 There are two complete published editions of the Geste Francor: La Geste Francor di Venezia. Edizione integrale del Codice XIII del Fondo francese della Marciana, ed. by Aldo Rosellini (Brescia: La Scuola, 1986) and La Geste Francor: Chansons de geste of Ms. Marc. Fr. XIII (= 256): Edition with glossary, introduction and notes, ed.

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bining a series of chansons de geste in chronological order to tell a purported history of the French royal house. These segments are linked by references to each other and by comments from the Author figure switching the subject, returning to continue an earlier plot line or moving to a new one.54 While seven of the nine episodes also exist in Old French tradition, their plot lines differ, in some cases substantially, from the Old French versions. The depiction of Carlo Magno is a major difference. After a brief introduction to the MS, this chapter will examine the texts one by one, then examine the complete narrative to discern the overall image of the Carlo Magno figure in this particular MS, with references to some of many important studies in which the Geste has been examined in recent years. It concludes with a brief examination of the historical context, with a proposal for further study. The only extant manuscript of the Geste Francor is Fr. Z. 13 (= 256) at the San Marco Library in Venice, usually referred to as MS V13. The acephalous MS extends to 95 folios, with 473 rubricated laisses totalling 17,067 lines, followed by a conven-

by Leslie Zarker Morgan, 2 vols, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 348 (Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2009), as well as separate editions of the individual chansons, for which see the bibliography of either edition. All quotations come from Morganʼs edition, following its line numbers. Line numbering is continuous throughout the entire poem, so for this section, line numbers reflect the Geste Francor. Berta e Milone and Orlandino have been translated into English: Berta and Milone and Rolandin, trans. by Leslie Zarker Morgan, ORB (On-Line Reference Book for Medieval Studies), . For the form of the MS and MS information, see Morgan, Geste Francor, pp. 2–16. Cesare Mascitelli, La ʻGeste Francor’ nel cod. Marc. V13: Stile, tradizione, lingua (Strasbourg: Editions de linguistique et de philologie, 2020), is able to extend the analysis considerably, pp. 13–43. 54 Initially, the fact that the Geste Francor is only one poem was somewhat concealed by critics concentrating on specific tales related to Old French poems and publishing transcriptions only of those portions, omitting the links between poems. See for example, Viscardi, Letteratura, p. 24; Carla Cremonesi, ʻA proposito del Codice Marciano XIIIʼ, in Mélanges offerts à Mme Rita Lejeune, Prof. à l’Université de Liège, 2 vols (Gembloux: J. Duculot, 1969), II, 747–55 (p. 755). Modern critics, however, acknowledge the linked structure of the poem: Antonella Negri, ʻL’architettura testuale della Geste Francor fra recupero epico e scarto novellistico’, in Macrotesti fra Oriente e Occidente: IV colloquio internazionale, Vico Equense, 26–29 ottobre 2000, Atti, ed. by Giovanna Carbonaro, Eliana Creazzo, Natalia L. Tornesello (Soveria Mannelli: Rubinetto, 2003), pp. 279–94, examines the whole, as does Maria Grazia Capusso, ʻAspetti’. On the links between texts and author, see Cesare Mascitelli, ʻStrategie enunciative e codice formulare nella Geste Francor, tra chansons de geste e cantari in ottava rima’, Medioevo letterario d’Italia, 15 (2018), 181–206, as well as his volume, La ʻGeste Francor’, especially section 2.4 (pp. 79–92).

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tional explicit.55 Carla Cremonesi has suggested post-Dantean as the date, since she finds three citations of Dante in the text.56 These are not conclusive, of course, though certainly suggestive, and would therefore indicate c. 1321, the year of Dante’s death if the Paradiso references are considered.57 Mascitelli, examining particularly the Marmora episode (see below) and the Carlo Magno episode in Rome, suggests 1334 as a terminus post quem. Using conventional titles, the MS includes Bovo d’Antona (enfances and chevalerie, Old French Beuve de Hantone), of which the first is here incomplete, since initial folios are missing; Berta da li pe grant (Old French Berte aus grands pieds), which appears between the two parts of Bovo; Uggieri il Danese (Old French Ogier le Danois; also includes enfances and chevalerie); Karleto (also known as Mainetto, Old French Mainet, or Enfances Charlemagne), between the two parts of Uggieri; Berta e Milone (the romance of Orlandoʼs (Roland’s) parents and his conception); and after the second portion of Uggieri, Orlandino (or Rolandin, Rolandʼs enfances); and, finally, Macario (Old French Macaire, a version of the Reine Sibile, of which only fragments survive in Old French).58 55 Fourteen multi-coloured illuminations accompany the text. For descriptions, see either of the editions cited. 56 V. 9115, ʻSe avemo eu çoie, or ne reven in plantʼ [If we have had pleasure, now it returns to us in pain (literally, weeping)], citing Inf. 25.136; v. 9192, ʻMolto è guari, qe in Deo se fie’ [He who trusts in God is saved], for Purg. 3.122; and vv. 9496–507 that conclude, ʻDa Deo n’oit se gran benecion, | Qe il fo santo, si porte li confalon | De tot li martires qe in celo se trovonʼ [From God he had only great blessing, | For he was a saint, and carried the banner | Of all the martyrs who are in Heaven], noting that Par. 18.43–45 places Roland in Paradise (Cremonesi, ‘A proposito’ (p. 749); and Berta e Milon, Rolandin: Codice Marciano XIII, ed. by Carla Cremonesi (Milan: La Goliardica, 1973), pp. 28–31). One could add to these Berta, v. 2204, ʻor li convent li altru pain mançer’ [Now he must eat the bread of others], thinking of Cacciaguida, Danteʼs ancestor in Par. 17.58–60, who foretells that Dante will find how salty ʻlo pane altruiʼ [other peopleʼs bread] tastes. 57 Rosellini, La Geste Francor, p. 23, followed by Mascitelli, La ‘Geste Francor’, p. 95, note 9, and Luca Morlino, ‘Tabù del nome e trasfigurazione in nemico epico. Ezzelino da Romano in due testi francoveneti’, in Categorie europee: rappresentazioni storiche e letterarie del ʻpolitico’, ed. by Sorin Sipos, Federico Donatiello, Dan Octavian Cepraga e Aurel Chiriac (Cluj-Napoca, 2014) (= Transylvanian Review, 23.1 (2014)), pp. 13–31 (at pp. 24–5, note 13), argue that these are interpolations. Even if they are, that fact speaks to the date of the extant V13. For further suggestions, again, see Mascitelli, La ‘Geste Francor’, pp. 18–21; p. 100 for the 1334 date. 58 What began the MS is a topic of controversy. Luca Morlino has returned recently to the argument that it would have had to be Huon d’Auvergne. But there would then be a chronological problem in the Italian tradition, since Huon d’Auvergne as it now exists ( [accessed 14 May 2022]) takes place after Carlo Magno and Leoys, in the time of Guillaume Çapet

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These poems can be divided into three groups: the Carlo Magno story; the Roland story; and the barons’ stories. The seven chansons de geste that existed in Old French are dated as follows: the Old French Enfances Charlemagne (Mainet) is usually dated to the late twelfth or early thirteenth century; Berte aus grands pieds, late thirteenth; Macaire fragments, mid-thirteenth. Beuve de Hantone is dated to the first half of the thirteenth century and Ogier to early thirteenth.59 In spite of the French origins of these seven segments in the Geste Francor narrating Carlo Magnoʼs history, these versions move him into Italian roles, and certain episodes take place in the peninsula. The Geste Francor therefore reflects not only tradition but also a local understanding of Charlemagne and a vision of how he was seen by the redactor and his public. The MS begins literally in medias res, since the initial folios are missing.

Bovo d’Antona and Berta da li pe grant The first three segments of the Geste Francor, Bovo d’Antonaʼs enfances and chevalerie, segments one and three, together with the second segment, Berta da li pe grant, take place under the regime of Pipino (Pepin), Carlo Magnoʼs father.60 Pipino is not presented favourably: he does not protect his vassal Bovo against Do of Maganza, a usurper who claims Bovoʼs lands. The second Geste Francor episode, Berta da li pe grant, also represents King Pipino of France in a poor light. It is the story of Carlo Magno’s conception and birth. Pipino marries the daughter of the king of Hungary by proxy: she is very beautiful though she has big feet (vv. 1299–300). Berta stays with noble families on her route to Paris. At Belençerʼs Mainz establishment, she meets a twin so much like her that no one can tell them apart (vv. 1923–6). The unnamed noblewoman accompanies the group to Paris, and Berta asks the twin to replace her for the first night with Pipino. Bertaʼs double has three children with Pipino while Berta stays hidden with a woodsman and his family. Pipino ultimately goes hunting, and, meeting Berta at the woodsmanʼs home, is taken with her and arranges to sleep with her. Carlo Magno is thus conceived outside of legitimate marriage on a cart (William Capet) of the Capetian dynasty, which began at the end of the tenth century, in the post-Carolingian era, after Louis V (Hugh Capet was crowned 987). For more details, see Chapter 3, and again, Mascitelli, La ‘Geste Francor’, p. 11, pp. 250–6, where he proposes a different version of Huon d’Auvergne to have initiated the volume. 59 The dates for chansons de geste are taken from Jones, Introduction, pp. 149–52, since she conveniently lists most of them according to ʻthe most recent and credible dates proposed by the textsʼ editors and commentators’ (p. 149). The date for Bovo, not included in her list, comes from Stimmingʼs editions of the various versions (Morgan, Geste Francor, p. 281). 60 The Italian names refer to the Geste Francor, so Carlo Magno and Pipino, but English forms refer to historical figures (e.g. Charlemagne, Pepin).

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in the woods.61 Berta’s mother, Queen Belisant of Hungary, finally rescues her daughter and the child, Carlo. The Berta da li pe grant plot thus demonstrates questionable origins for the future king and emperor: he was conceived in the woods by a possibly bigamist king and a woman who has not been under control. This concern will return in later versions of the Berta story and in other segments of the Geste Francor, reflecting upon fears of legitimacy for rulers. Berta is followed by the second half of Bovo d’Antona: Bovo defends Antona against his stepfather who is assisted by King Pipino and the French army. The family of Bovo’s stepfather, the Maganzese usurper, bribed King Pipino to help them retrieve the city.62 Pipino and the Maganzesi, with all their men, are captured, and Drusiana, Bovoʼs wife, saves the king (vv. 3970–86). Carlo Magno’s father King Pipino therefore is not only subject to bribe by a noble family, but also easily manipulated by women: first by the false Berta, then by Bertaʼs mother, and finally by Bovoʼs wife Drusiana, all of whom make the royal family appear less intelligent than the nobility. As Krauss notes, the text regularly speaks of Pipino negatively: ʻseno avì d’infant’ (v. 3017 [he had the sense of a child]); he had ʻli sen cançée’ (v. 3382 [changed senses (i.e. he was not in his right mind)]); ʻconseil avisi d’infant’ (v. 4238; [he had the wisdom of a child]); he exhibits ʻleçerie’ (v. 3674 [lechery]); ʻfolie’ (v. 4242 [folly]); ʻgran briconie’ (v. 3684 [great foolishness]); ʻnon fe cun saç hon’ (v. 3860 [he didn’t behave like a wise man]).63 Pipino is only ever called rois: he is not an emperor at any point in the text.64 The protagonists of these first three episodes set patterns for the rest of the poem: powerful noblemen – among them the king – contend among themselves for women. An exiled youth fights his way back without help from a feudal lord to regain his territory.65 The king, here Pipino, is not perfect, but rather susceptible to 61 This is part of etymological play found in other versions; see Morgan, Geste Francor, I, pp. 110 (Reali di Francia); 127 (Wolter); 128 (Hohenmut). 62 The Maganzesi (from Mainz, in Germany) are the family of Ganelon, Roland’s enemy in the Chanson de Roland. They are the enemy throughout the Geste, though Carlo Magno frequently forgets that fact. In the Geste Francor, Carlo’s half-brothers and half-sister Berta are children of a Maganzese mother, the imposter. 63 Henning Krauss, ‘Aspects de l’histoire poétique de Charlemagne en Italie’, Charlemagne et l’épopée romane, ed. by Madeleine Tyssens and Claude Thierry, Actes du VIIe Congrès international de la Société Rencesvals (Liège 28 août–4 septembre 1976), Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l’Université de Liège 225, Les Congrès et Colloques de l’Univ. de Liège 76 (Paris: Les Belles lettres, 1978), pp. 103–23 (p. 110). Translations into English in Geste Francor section by Leslie Zarker Morgan unless otherwise specified. 64 Of 100 appearances of his name, in various forms, 53 are ʻrois Pepin’. Enperer and its variants do not appear. See The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature for differences with the French tradition. 65 Cf. Infurna, ʻLa letteratura franco-italiana’, p. 416: ʻeroi temporaneamente declassati’ [heroes temporarily out of (their social) class].

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bribes and is fearful of losing face. Pipino’s son Carlo demonstrates similar flaws in following segments of the Geste Francor.

Karleto (Young Carlo) Young Carlo’s adventures offer his most positive image in the MS, in an archetypal view of the promise of a youth.66 It tells of Carloʼs problematic early years at the Paris court where he must contend with his half-brothers. The other boys, with the encouragement of Maganzese relatives, think they should inherit the kingdom. They make Carloʼs life miserable, including making him turn a spit in the kitchen.67 The boys finally poison their father Pipino and step-mother Berta in order to take power, and Carlo flees to Spain with his tutor. There Carlo and his tutor meet king Galafrio of Zaragoza (Saragossa). When they appear before Galafrio pretending to be merchants, the king realizes that Carlo is not a merchantʼs son, and orders both Carlo and his companion to lower their hoods: Qi doncha veist de Karleto la belté: Plus est il blanco qe neve glaçelé, Li ocli var como falcon mué, Li çavi oit blondi recerçené, E plu lusenti de l’or smiré; Plus fer oit li guardo qe lion encaené. (vv. 5980–5) [There he then saw how handsome Charles was: | He is whiter than frozen snow, | Eyes like a moulted falcon. | His hair was curly and blond, | And more shining than refined gold; | He looked more fierce than a chained lion.]

The smouldering energy, a barely restrained violence, is valued positively in a youth, an unenfeoffed heir. Carlo marries Galafrio’s daughter Belisant and saves the kingdom from pagan invaders. As Krauss points out, Carlo alone – especially given that the troops he leads are pagan – thus becomes the incarnation of Christianity

66 There is a lengthy bibliography on the enfances genre. The classic study is Friedrich Wolfzettel, ʻZur Stellung und Bedeutung der Enfances I, II’, Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur 83 (1972), 317–48; 84 (1974), 1–32; for a recent study, see Andrea Ghidoni, L’Eroe imberbe: Le ‘enfances’ nelle ‘chansons de geste’: poetica e semiologia di un genere epico medievale (Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 2018), with a lengthy bibliography pp. 407–31. For the historical meaning of ‘enfant’ and ‘jeunes’ see Georges Duby, ‘Les “jeunes” dans la société féodale’, originally in Annales: Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations, 19.5 (1964), pp. 835–46, and reprinted many times since, as well as translated into English; see Georges Duby, ‘Youth in aristocratic society’, in The Chivalrous Society, trans. by Cynthia Postan (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1977), pp. 112–33. 67 Young Carlo in the kitchen working a spit with which he goes after his halfbrother (vv. 5787–806), recalls Rainouart in the kitchen, a Guillaume cycle reminder. Compare La Chanson de Guillaume or Aliscans, for example.

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in Spain.68 Krauss furthermore suggests that the rise of this young hero (like others in the Geste Francor) is a metaphor for the social rise of a class;69 yet when young Carlo first meets Galafrio and later Braibant (the Saracen leading the battle against Galafrio), it is clear that he is neither a vilan nor son of a merchant. The poem therefore fits with a certain standard chanson de geste disdain for lower classes.70 Subsequently, Carlo must then flee his jealous brothers-in-law to Rome. There, a Maganzese pope seeks to capture him but Carloʼs Hungarian motherʼs family saves him. He appoints a new, favourable pope from among the Hungarians, and returns to France. There he executes his half-brothers and places his half-sister under the guidance of his wife at the pope’s behest. This poem, then, narrates the beginning of Carloʼs rise to power through conflict in Spain against Saracens and in Rome against the Maganzese clan, reinforcing his role as leader of Christianity and defender of the Church. Now linked to essential locations of rule, Carlo Magno has the frightening, bold aspect of a king, yet is merciful because he does not wish to kill his half-siblings. Karleto also establishes the French kingʼs relationship to, and power over, the papacy. The machinations involved in appointing his own pope demonstrate the weakness of that position, under constant pressure from various states and families. Carlo Magno appoints the pope: ʻSe Deo ne dona, por soa santité, | Qe da lui siamo delivré, | Vu ne serì Apostolio clamé’ (vv. 8053–5) [If God in his holiness allows us | To be delivered from [Brunor] | You will be acclaimed our Pope], and the pope then arranges to have Carlo acclaimed king upon his return to Paris: ‘Karleto’, fait il, ‘de una ren ne vos ment; En Roma son venu baron jusqua d’Orient, Por clamer enper qe sia pro e valent. Non è milor de vos en le segle vivent; Vu serì enperé fato novelament’. (vv. 8168–72) [ʻKarleto’, he said, ʻI won’t lie to you about one thing; | Barons all the way from the Orient have come to Rome | To proclaim an emperor who is strong and valiant. | There is no one better than you alive in the world; | You’ll be made emperor soon’.]

Holtus and Wunderli suggest certain typical roles for the ʻking’ in the Geste Francor, comparing Carlo Magno with Pipino in the first three segments. Following Krauss, they note that in Karleto, Carlo is a positive figure as compared to his father, and suggest that this view is in part a form of partisanship for an underdog, whereby 68 ‘In questa situazione precaria – dato che le truppe che lo appoggiano sono pagane – difende la fede cristiana’ [In this precarious situation – given that the troops that support him are pagan – he defends the Christian faith’] (Henning Krauss, Epica feudale e pubblico borghese. Per la storia poetica di Carlomagno in Italia, trans. by F. Brugnolo et al. (Padua: Liviana, 1980), p. 108). 69 Krauss, Epica feudale, pp. 109–12. 70 See Infurna, ʻAristocratici’, pp. 137–8.

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those who aspire to rise socially can see themselves in Carlo. Young Carloʼs success in Rome would seem to be a sign from God that he is the chosen one. Furthermore, the pope comes to Paris to proclaim Carlo the rightful king. Holtus and Wunderli suggest that Karleto is elected emperor by the people under the guidance of the pope.71 However, there is no election in the modern sense: the pope announces, ʻTuti vos clam or segnor droiturer’ [Everyone proclaims you now rightful lord] (v. 8857) and has the gates to Paris opened so that the barons can crown him. Then, the pope will not permit the crowning until Carlo has his half-brothers put to death for patricide (vv. 8903–6). The need for justice, for leading the country under the aegis of the Church, offers a vision of Carlo that is positive up to this point, with Christianity and youth on his side, but then weak in administering justice decisively, and in a cosy relationship with the pope where each appoints the other. Young Carloʼs fierceness, the youthful energy that appears again in Rolandin and Ogierʼs size and strength, later becomes a problem against his own family.

Berta e Milone and Orlandino The rise of the less fortunate to their own place and the role of self-sufficiency continue in Berta e Milone and its follow-up Orlandino (below), poems that seem to be creations of the Italian peninsula.72 Carlo Magno, now emperor, had been considering a marriage of state for his half-sister, so that when she finds her own mate, Milone, son of Bernardo of Clermont, and flees with him, Carlo has them sought out and places a bounty on their heads (vv. 9236–43). Yet in the Geste Francor young Berta complicates the narrative with the problem of blood-line. One of the reasons Carlo Magno was able to take back the kingship was that his blood-line was untainted by illegitimacy in contrast to that of his half-brothers and Berta; as he says to one of them, ʻMa filz non fustes de sa muler sposé; | Da una meltrix vos fustes ençendré, | Unde est bastardo e peço apeléʼ (vv. 8589–91) [You were never a son from [Pipinoʼs] legitimate wife; | You were engendered by a prostitute, | For which reason one is called bastard and worse]. If young Berta is illegitimate, it poses difficulties with the subsequent role of Roland, not only for his genetic background but also morally, because of his ʻdouble bastardyʼ: first for the adultery of his grandmother, the false Berta, and then for young Berta and Miloneʼs pre-wedding union.73 The questions are troubled, and there is not space to cover

71 Holtus and Wunderli, Épopées, p. 97. 72 For a useful map of the spots where Berta and Milone stop – as well as the better-known sites in other episodes, of the Geste Francor, see Morlino, ʻLa letteratura francese’, pp. 37 and 39. 73 See Capusso, ʻAspettiʼ, p. 28 note, recalling Colliot. On the theme of the problematic origin of the hero, see, among numerous other studies, Elizabeth Archibald, Incest and the Medieval Imagination (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), esp. pp. 199–202, where she discusses Charlemagne’s sin.

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all aspects here.74 Carlo Magnoʼs anger and pursuit of the couple follow both on the theme of easily raised, extreme anger and justice: here his anger is no longer positive and justice is excessive, turned against his own half-sister. Justice continues to be a rulerʼs difficulty, and reflects a didactic note in the Geste overall.

Uggieri il Danese (1) As Carlo Magnoʼs life unfolds, he does not learn from errors or mature. In Old French, Ogier maintains a long war against Charles. Here, in the Geste Francor, the redactor has divided the action of Ogier le Danois and significantly altered its structure. Carlo and his army respond to yet another call for help from Rome. But Carlo is unable to restrain his son Çarloto; in a bid for attention, Çarloto insists on participating in a duel outside Rome against Saracen champions together with Uggieri. Uggieri is taken prisoner, and is finally freed only thanks to an admiring Saracen. In a double battle of champions against the Saracens, Uggieri and Çarloto together face two pagans, and Uggieri ends up saving Çarloto. As a result, the Christians are victorious, but Çarloto resents Uggieri. Çarloto is the third generation of the French royal family, and does not here present an attractive picture.

Orlandino/Rolandin (Young Roland) Upon the return of Uggieri and the French army from Rome, they pass along the Via Francigena by Sutri. The court invites local citizens to feast there (vv. 10915–20); Orlandino hears of the feast and appears at the head of thirty boys. When he sees that Carlo Magno has the biggest plate of food (v. 10934), he takes it, knocking down a servant who tries to stop him (vv. 10939–41). Carlo Magno is amused, and keeps anyone from stopping him. Orlandino eats it all and two more that are brought for him; when done, he takes scraps home for his parents in a napkin (vv. 10983–5). Carlo Magno twice has him followed, but no one can keep up with him. Finally, Naimes follows Orlandino on horseback, and finds Berta, Carlo’s half-sister. Naimes makes arrangements for the family to return to court; he goes to Carlo, from whom he demands a don contraignant, an unconditional boon. Carlo Magno agrees, so Naimes presents Berta and Milone (v. 11230). Carlo Magno is furious, about to throw a knife, when Orlandino grabs Carlo Magnoʼs hand so hard his nails bleed. Carlo is delighted and forgives Berta and Milone, marrying them and legitimising Orlandino (vv. 11282–8). Thus Italy gains a new hero. Carlo Magno must face the child Orlandino. Orlandinoʼs three encounters with Carlo in Orlandino validate nature over nurture (royal blood will tell) and the ʻangry youth’ type. The incidents also raise the question of whom God favours: 74 It involves in part the so-called ʻsin of Charlemagne’: in France and in Germany, stories circled of Charlemagneʼs illicit relationship with his sister, or possibly some other gross failing. For more information, see Morgan, Geste Francor, 1, pp. 204–16 and accompanying bibliography.

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Carlo Magno had gone to rescue the Church, yet Uggieri was the one destined to save it. Carlo Magno is emperor, but Orlandino must stop him from killing his own half-sister and her husband, his [Orlandinoʼs] mother and father. And it is only for Carlo Magnoʼs own benefit, as Naimes points out, that Carlo marries the couple and legitimizes Orlandino: he wants to have young Orlando at his service. Carlo Magno, like Orlandino, is here excessive and oversized with a hair-trigger temper. What was youthful energy does not serve the crowned emperor Carlo well.

Uggieri il Danese (2) and his mission: Ezzelino da Romano? The second portion of Uggieri reflects further discord among barons. It begins with an impossible mission: from Paris, Carlo Magno sends Uggieri to demand tribute from a recalcitrant vassal, the Maximo Çudé in Marmora. This tyrant refuses to pay tribute, is violent and intractable towards his feudal lord, demands heavy taxes from his own lands, and does not respect the conventions of war. Uggieri passes by Bisgore on his way to Marmora.75 There he finds lodging with a local townsperson. Uggieriʼs host helps him by telling him what to say to the guards of the city, and raising a popular movement against the cruel ruler.76 The host organizes the entire scene and coaches Uggieri: they take the city, and the host becomes ruler. 75 The identity of the city Bisgore has been resolved by another Franco-Italian text, the prose Aquilon de Bavière by Raffaele da Verona: in that text ʻBisgore’ is specifically identified as Mantua: ʻde Bisgore, ce est Mantue’ [from Bisgora, that is Mantua]. See Aquilon de Bavière: roman franco-italien en prose (1379–1407) by Raffaele da Verona, ed. by Peter Wunderli, 3 vols (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1982; 2007), II, 456, line 14. Other texts also suggest the same: see Morlino, ʻTabù’, p. 15. Since it is founded by Vergil, this is not surprising. On the other hand, Eva Simon, ʻProbabile nucleo catalano della storia franco-veneta di Ogier le Danois’, in In Limine Romaniae: Chanson de geste et épopée européenne, Actes du XVIIIe Congrès international de la Société Rencesvals pour l’étude des épopées romanes (20–4 juillet 2009), ed. by Carlos Alvar and Constance Carta (Bern: Lang, 2012), pp. 503–18, examines each of the place names, starting from Uggieriʼs statement of his origins (ʻDe ver d’Espagne si fo nasu mun per’, v. 11706 [My father was born near Spain]), and concludes that Uggieri went to Spain. However, since he was in Lombardy, this seems improbable; and the evidence from Aquilon de Bavière about Bisgore would seem to be conclusive. For the history of the definition of Bisgore, see Morgan, Geste Francor, II, 1082 note, and Morlino, ʻTabù’, pp. 21–2. In early editions of the Geste Francor, Bisgore was given as Brescia, although some acknowledged that the geography would not then make sense. For a recent summary of the arguments, see Mascitelli, Geste Francor, p. 210 note. 76 This is not unlike what happens in Bovo dʼAntona, at the beginning of the MS, where Sinibaldo helps Bovo raise an army of sympathizers to retake Antona. See Mascitelli, Geste Francor, on the phenomenon of repeated types of episodes, especially pp. 108–32.

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While Uggieri is away, Carlo Magnoʼs unhappy son Çarloto goes hunting with Uggieriʼs son Baldovino and kills him. Carlo Magno wishes to punish his son, but Naimes calms Carlo, and assures him that he will take care of everything (vv. 11956–80). Uggieri, upon his return from his mission in Marmora, at first does not react, but Çarloto mocks him at a chess game, at which point Uggieri kills him with the chessboard.77 Orlando protects Uggieri from Carlo Magnoʼs wrath, so that later when the Saracens attack and Uggieri is the only one who can win, he is still alive. Carlo Magno cuts a pitiful figure in this segment; he himself cannot forgive his son (vv. 11975–7), but he does not insist on doing so, remaining passive before his advisor and subsequently suffering for that omission: Uggieri demands the right to strike Carlo before fighting on his behalf (vv. 12995–13005). Uggieriʼs mission to recoup tribute from Marmora has attracted extensive attention for possible historical references. Krauss recalls Danteʼs Inf. 12.109–10, which features Ezzelino III da Romano (1194–1259) among the bloody tyrants.78 Ezzelino ruled in the March of Treviso, including Verona, Vicenza and Padua. Sonin-law of Frederick II, he used imperial backing to extend his personal realm all the way to Trento. Comparing fiction with history, Krauss finds five points of similarity between the Geste Francor’s Uggieri tale and chronicle: Ezzelinoʼs breaking faith with his lord, Frederick II; his extreme cruelty against everyone; his avarice; his carefully-organised alert system for arriving foreigners; the death of the tyrant. He argues that changes in detail, like making Ezzelino a Saracen, fit with chanson de geste conventions, since the rebel baron phenomenon did not exist in the peninsula.79 77 See Henning Krauss, ʻRefoulement et hierarchie féodale: Essai de psychanalyser le comportement d’Ogier le Danois dans la version franco-italienne’, in VIII Congreso de la Société Rencesvals (Huarte-Pamplona: Institutión Príncipe de Viana, Diputación Foral de Navarra, 1981), pp. 263–6 for a psychological study. 78 Henning Krauss, ‘Ezzelino da Romano – Maximo Çudé: Historische Realität und epischer Strukturzwang in der franko-italienischen Chevalerie Ogier’, Cultura neolatina, 30 (1970), 233–49 (pp. 236–7). See also Morlino, ʻTabù’, p. 14. Ezzelino’s reputation for cruelty and torture was fuelled by Guelph writings, including the Villanis’ Nuova Cronica (7.72) and Rolandino of Paduaʼs Chronica in factis et circa facta Marchiae Trivixane; see also V. Stanley Benfell, ‘Ezzelino III da Romano’, in Dante Encyclopedia, ed. by Richard Lansing (New York: Garland, 2000), pp. 365–6. 79 Krauss, ʻEzzelino da Romano’, p. 239 for the five similarities of history with poem; p. 244 for the Saracen. Bender paints the event here as a transparent illustration for contemporary audiences: Ezzelino is the negative figure identified with the German emperor. See also Bender, ‘Métamorphoses’, p. 246. Mascitelli argues that the object of criticism here would more likely have been Cangrande della Scala, with reference to Ezzelino in the previous century (Geste Francor, pp. 100–8), which would support his proposal of dating the work to the mid-fourteenth century. Cangrande lived 1291–1329, and ruled Verona 1311–29. He took over Vicenza, Padua and Treviso before his death, and was the de facto Ghibelline leader (Mascitelli, La ʻGeste Francor’, pp. 107–8); see also below, Entrée d’Espagne.

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Carlo Magno, as Godʼs chosen and ally of the pope, must oppose the heretic Çudé in Uggieri as emperor Frederick II should have opposed Ezzelino. Yet that positive aspect contrasts with the negative of Carlo Magnoʼs behaviour towards Uggieri: Carlo can be emperor and chosen of God without modelling the ideal ruler.80 In sum, Uggieriʼs mission to ʻMarmora’ and its ruler bears similarities to seigneurial activity during the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries, though it is not possible to identify with clarity a detailed actual model. The use of chanson de geste formulae to cover specific details might offer political safety to a redactor seeking to avoid personal repercussions. The story is, however, also a more general didactic warning to would-be rebel vassals as well as to their overlords.

Macario At this point, the Geste Francor plot makes a chronological jump: it takes place ʻPoisqe fo mort Oliver e Rolan’ [After Olivier and Roland had died] (v. 13456). As Giovanni Palumbo notes, Roncevaux is missing in the great Franco-Italian chivalric compilations; it is absent too from the Entrée d’Espagne and its continuations.81 This final poem of the Geste Francor portrays an old Carlo, who is tired and foolish. Macario of Lausanne, a member of the Maganzese clan, seeks to shame him by seducing his wife Blançiflor, the queen.82 She turns Macario down roundly (vv. 13538–53). He decides to get even, and bribes a dwarf to help him (vv. 13565–89). She throws the persistent dwarf down the stairs, wounding him (vv. 13631–63). Macario then bribes the dwarf to sneak into bed with the queen (vv. 13691–5).83 80 Morlino strengthens Ezzelinoʼs identification with the Maximo Çudé by adducing a further text that mentions him without giving his name, the Prophécies de Merlin (ʻTabù’, pp. 18–20). Not only would this reinforce the proposed time frame of the Geste Francor, it also provides a possible further link with Dante. Morlino investigates further references to Ezzelino in his ʻEzzelino da Romano, Boccaccio e le chiose dantesche’, in Intorno a Boccaccio: Boccaccio e dintorni 2015: Atti del Seminario internazionale di studi (Certaldo Alta, Casa di Giovanni Boccaccio, 9 settembre 2015), ed. by Stefano Zamponi (Florence: Firenze University Press, 2016), pp. 27–38. 81 Giovanni Battista Palumbo, ʻPer la storia della Chanson de Roland in Italia nel Medioevo’, in ʻTre volte suona l’olifante…ʼ: La tradizione rolandiana in Italia fra Medioevo e Rinascimento, A tre voci: Seminari del Dipartimento di Italianistica Università degli Studi di Parma, 8 (Milan: Unicopli, 2007), pp. 11–57 (p. 29). 82 Note the change in name and lineage for the Charlesʼs queen here; in Karleto it was Belisant, and she was the daughter of the Spanish king Galafrio. Here, instead, she is Blançiflor, daughter of the king of Constantinople. 83 Macarioʼs mistreatment of the vulnerable is also not a positive trait; see more on the Maganzesi both above and below. On dwarfs in the Geste Francor, see Anne Martineau, ‘Un exemple d’influence du roman arthurien sur l’épopée: les nains dans la Geste Francor de Venise’, in Le Souffle épique: L’Esprit de la chanson de geste, Études en l’honneur de Bernard Guidot, ed. by Sylvie Bazin-Tachella, Damien

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Macario ensures that Carlo discovers the irregular situation and, of course, is himself present. Though Carlo ʻplus la amoit de ren qe fust vivant’ [loved her more than anything alive] (v. 13973), she will be burned at the stake. However, the abbot of St. Denis finds at confession that she is pregnant and tells the king, so she is exiled instead. The queen departs, accompanied by a young knight, Albaris, with his faithful dog. Macario follows and kills the knight. The queen flees and meets a poor woodsman, Varocher, who then accompanies her in her wanderings, eventually as far as Hungary where she gives birth to her son, heir to the French throne, in a hut. King Leoys (Louis) of Hungary sees her and her entourage and finally returns her to her father in Constantinople. Meanwhile, Albaris’s dog had returned to court, and fights Macario in a judicial combat with predictable results. Macario confesses, and is executed. Carlo Magno sends messengers to Constantinople, to his wifeʼs father, for information about Blançiflor. The emperor is furious that his daughter was falsely exiled, and demands his daughter back, or her weight in gold as a reimbursement (vv. 15588–92).84 Carlo Magno refuses, so the emperor of Constantinople marches on Paris. There Varocher steals Carlo Magno’s horses, for which the emperor of Constantinople knights him (vv. 15795–15800). The siege concludes with a battle between champions, Uggieri versus Varocher. Varocher wins by agreement with Uggieri and receives his reward. Finally, Carlo Magno repents, so the two rulers make peace. Wunderli argues that this is Carlo’s ultimate debasement: the emperor of Constantinople judges correctly, not Carlo, and furthermore knights Varocher.85 The poem ends with Varocher, the wild woodsman, returning home rich to his family in the woods. Carlo Magno foolishly does not believe his wife, trusting instead the Maganzese. Carlo is not the true protagonist; Varocher, the wild man in the forest, is the hero. However, while humble men are essential to the plot, they remain in their place: Blançiflor’s host, a woodsman, cannot give his name at baptism to the heir to French throne; and Macario, having used the dwarf as his catʼs paw, tosses the poor man into the fire when they find him in bed with the queen. This is a lesson against avarice, certainly, for the dwarf, but also a negative lesson to Blançiflor, who had defended her virtue vigorously, for the king believes a known member of the traitor family over her and would have had her executed though he ultimately only sentences her to exile. And, in Krauss’s interpretation, Varocher, though rewarded financially at the end, presents a comic picture: while they travel, he serves as a threat to help the queen defend herself. At Blançiflor and Varocherʼs lodging in Hungary, the innkeepde Carné and Muriel Ott (Dijon: Editions Universitaires de Dijon, 2011), pp. 493–503. 84 See Krauss, ʻAspects’, p. 107, on ʻequality of thing and thing’. 85 See Peter Wunderli, Die franko-italienische Literatur: Literarische memoria und sozio-kultureller Kontext, Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste – Vorträge: Geisteswissenschaften, Vorträge, G 399; Sitzung am 26. Januar 2005 in Düsseldorf (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2005), p. 18.

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erʼs wife asks if the queen is all right, noting the man’s wild appearance (vv. 14773–6; 14815–17); Blançiflor warns her hostess not to anger her companion, for ʻnon est ben tenpré’ [he is not well moderated, he has a temper] (v. 14820), and everyone stays out of his way. Varocher is also able to commit crimes – he steals Carlo Magnoʼs horses so that the Eastern army can win the siege of Paris (vv. 15790–815). So while lower-class figures appear, their successes are not unqualified. Of note throughout is the positive view of Hungary and Constantinople. Compared to Carlo Magnoʼs court with its fractious nobles, Hungary appears a consistent source of Christian support to the French. In Berta da li pe grant, Karleto, and Macario, King Alfaris (Berta), the Cardinal-then-Pope Milon (Karleto), and King Leoys (Macario), are faithful allies to the French. Constantinople appears only in Macario as the home of the queen.

C

The Geste Francor and its historical position

ritics of chansons de geste have followed the trends of literary critical history in order to explain changes in characters and plots from French originals. The current predominant analysis, a socio-economic one, dates from the mid-twentieth century and derives from historiography of that era; however, the remapping of near-contemporary events onto traditional chansons de geste also plays a role that has not been sufficiently considered. The current consensus Karl-Heinz Bender initiated a ‘sociomarxist’ critical trend,86 and Henning Krauss, in his Habilitationsschrift, an edited version of which was published in Italian in 1980, extended Benderʼs study.87 In his study, Krauss examines the segments of the Geste Francor one by one, demonstrating how they are logically ordered so that by the end of Macario Carlo Magno has lost all of the attributes of an ideal ruler as typified in the Chanson de Roland. He suggests that this change derives from a bourgeois adaptation of the Old French feudal structure: non-feudalised northern Italy could not understand the king allying with the bourgeois to keep the nobles in check. In northern Italy, cities were gaining power in the absence of a strong central force, and therefore the bourgeois were strong. In Lombardy, local rulers were expanding their power in the physical absence of current powers; families of nobles remaining from imperial rule and well-off bourgeois combined for their advantage to win further legal powers and wealth. That group enjoyed the chansons de geste. Holtus 86 See John F. Levy, review of Henning Krauss, Epica feudale e pubblico borghese: Per la storia poetica di Carlomagno in Italia, trans. by Andrea Fassò (1980), Romance Philology, 44 (1991), 516–20 (p. 517), for the term ‘sociomarxist’. Wunderli follows the concept most recently in Die franko-italienische. See also Hiestand, ‘Aspetti’, p. 32, and Hartung, ‘Karl der Große’, pp. 55–78. 87 Bender, ʻMétamorphoses’; Henning Krauss, Epica feudale.

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and Wunderli expand the concept further, combining the socio-economic with linguistic and thematic concepts for a multidimensional description of Franco-Italian literature; as time went on, the sovereign Carlo Magno therefore appears neither ideal nor a good warrior nor the sole representative of God, no longer hereditary king nor ruler of the entire West.88 The protagonists of the Geste, as a result, are men of lesser status improving their position with hard work, diligence, and suffering, offering an attractive story for young bourgeois. According to this interpretation, the northern Italian public would have seen in Carlo Magno the current German emperor, technically their overlord in the fourteenth century, rather than the king typical of contemporary feudalism in France, since that German ruler was a hindrance to their financial and political betterment, so a negative figure.89 That theory currently holds the field, though some critics question the use of socioeconomic markers alone for poetic analysis.90 In fact, there are other considerations, for the audience of the Geste consisted of multiple publics that would re-interpret in varying ways, depending upon the time and place of their encounter with the text. Thus, there are other possible models for Carlo Magno in the Geste. In the first half of the fourteenth century, the date of the MS, French rulers and their families were important throughout Europe.91 In particular, Charles I of Anjou (brother of King Louis IX), and his heirs, played an important role in the peninsula as well as in the Mediterranean world in general. Another proposal: Charles I of Anjou and his importance From 1268 until his death in 1285, Charles I was the right arm of the papacy, and his name, his crusading, his administrative acumen, together with his connections in Europe and campaigns through the peninsula, dominated the politics of it; his descendants would continue in Naples through 1422.92 The pope had sought to 88 Holtus and Wunderli, Épopées, p. 95. 89 Bender, ‘Métamorphoses’, pp. 166, 174; Krauss, ‘Aspects’, p. 106; Id., ʻMetamorfosi di Orlando nell’Aquilon de Bavière’, Atti e memorie dell’Accademia patavina di scienze, lettere ed arti, 95 (1982–3), 425–40 (p. 429); Holtus and Wunderli, Épopées, p. 94. 90 See, for example, Gianni Mombello, Review of Henning Krauss, Epica feudale e pubblico borghese: Per la storia poetica di Carlomagno in Italia, trans. by Andrea Fassò (1980), Studi francesi, 26 (1982), 120, who says that he finds it a reductive view of reality. 91 Keith Busby, Codex and Context: Reading Old French Verse Narrative in Manuscript, 2 vols (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002), p. 619, mentions Charles I of Anjou; several other critics do as well, but only in passing. 92 The house of Anjou came into the peninsula after the death of Frederick II (1250), when the contentions for succession among his would-be heirs left large northern sections of the peninsula, though technically a fief of the emperor, effectively independent; see Hiestand. In 1262, Pope Urban IV invited Charles of Anjou to assist in defeating the Hohenstaufens – the imperial family – in Italy.

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replace the Hohenstaufen, inviting Charles I to become a semi-imperial figure in replacing them. Charles I, therefore, not only ruled Sicily (until 1282) but also Naples, and was Count of Anjou and Maine, as well as ruling Provence, Achaea, Durazzo, and buying the title ‘King of Jerusalem’. His attempts to secure the route between Provence and Naples, as well as to retake imperial lands in northern Italy, meant that ambassadors, courtiers, armies and statesmen travelled regularly between Naples and France. Furthermore, he was the first of the Capetians to be called Charles; he himself made much of that fact.93 Charles arrived in Rome in 1266, having been elected senator of Rome for life. Under Pope Clement IV, Charles was crowned King in Rome in February 1266, and headed for Sicily. While he was occupied there, Clement called on him again to help, this time in Tuscany, in 1267, where Charles campaigned through 1268, a period which ended in his appointment as imperial vicar of Tuscany in 1268 by Pope Clement. See also Chapter 3, on Andrea da Barberino and the Reali di Francia. 93 See Amedeo De Vincentiis, ‘Origini, memoria, identità a Firenze nel XIV secolo. La rifondazione di Carlomagno’, Mélanges de l’École française de Rome, 15 (2003), 385–443, which notes that Louis VIIIʼs choice to name his youngest son Charles was the first time a Capetian was named for Charlemagne, as the French were using genealogy and other symbolic means to demonstrate their closeness to the Carolingian past – to Charlemagne and his Empire (p. 414). See also Jean Dunbabin on capitalising on the use of his name (Charles I of Anjou: Power, Kingship and State-Making in Thirteenth-Century Europe (New York: Longman, 1998), p. 10). Angevin connections have been primarily studied through Provençal and northern French literature because of the chaotic history of the Regno Archives that Charles I and the Angevin dynasty of Naples kept so painstakingly. Multiple moves, arbitrary rebindings, and finally, a fire in 1943 ordered by a German commander, destroyed almost all of this archival patrimony. John L. Kirby, in ‘The Archives of Angevin Naples – A Reconstruction’, Journal of the Society of Archivists, 3.4 (1966), 192–4 (p. 192), mentions ‘85,978 archive units, over a thousand of them being large registers, of which the earliest (1239–40) was the only surviving register of the Emperor Frederick II as king of Naples’. Serena Morelli, in her ‘Il “risveglio” della storiografia politico-istituzionale sul regno angioino di Napoli’, Reti Medievali Rivista, I/1 (maggio-dicembre 2000), pp. 1–8 ( [accessed 30 March 2022]) documents the return of Angevin archival studies starting from the end of the 1980s, thanks to a collegial collaboration to collect notes, microfilms, attestations from scholars and other evidence to fill the void of missing texts. The first volume of these assembled documents was published in 1950 (I registri della Cancelleria angioina, 1265–1269, ricostruiti da Riccardo Filangieri con la collaborazione degli archivisti napoletani (Naples, L’Accademia Pontaniana, 1950)); in 2010, volume 50, containing the years 1267–95 (Naples, Arte tipografica editrice, 2010), was published. This will clearly be a long-term project. Thus this discussion is not to blame scholars for

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Beyond political similarities of empire, the ‘Carlo’ in the Geste might refer to him for several other reasons. These include the cultural and linguistic. He, like his family, was a noted sponsor of writers. His friends included Guy of Dampierre, Count of Flanders,94 who, after the end of the Eighth Crusade with the Treaty of Tunis, returned through the peninsula to Paris, in 1272. Guy’s retinue included Adenet le Roi, a northern French poet,95 who wrote an Ogier le Danois at Guyʼs request and dedicated it to Marie of Brabant, Queen of France, wife of Philip III, and who was also one of Charles Iʼs lasting friends.96 He also wrote Berthe aux grands pieds at about the same time in France, 1273–4. While the plot lines of his Berta and Ogier differ in details from those of the Geste, Adenetʼs work documents places in the peninsula very precisely and suggests a time frame for the stories’ existence in northern Italy.97 Guy de Dampierre’s French party passed through and stayed in Bologna, among the centres of Franco-Italian.98 The Anjou were also linked with Robert of Clermont (1256–1317), the founder of the Valois line, through the Dampierre family. Tying the Clermont house to Roland by an ancestor, Bernard, omitting information, but rather to suggest a research direction that this project has revealed, together with resources to be included. 94 Jean Dunbabin, ʻCultural Networks in the Early Angevin Kingdom of Sicily, 1266–1309’, Italian Studies, 72.2 (2017), 128–34 (pp. 128–9). 95 165 Les Œuvres d’Adenet le Roi, ed. by Albert Henry, 5 vols (Bruges: De Tempel, 1951–71), I, Biographie d’Adenet; La tradition manuscrite, pp. 20–35 lists the documentation of his pay. Links between Adenet and the Geste are controversial. Carla Cremonesi, ʻA proposito del Codice Marciano fr. XIII’, p. 749, also calls attention to Adenet’s trip, though she mentions Venice, which is not listed in Henryʼs introduction, where Henry proposes that Adenet may have visited Venice: the party stayed at Florence for six days, and the count bought a horse for Adenet at that time, not to mention that Adenet’s Cleomadés mentions the route (p. 28 note). Carla Cremonesi proposes that Adenet also wrote another chanson de geste, which is anonymous, the Enfances Renier, based on its knowledge of Italian geography, Enfances Renier: Canzone di gesta inedita del sec. XIII, ed. by Carla Cremonesi (Milan: Istituto Editoriale Cisalpino, 1957), p. 71. Cf. Jean Dunbabin, The French in the Kingdom of Sicily, 1266–1305 (Cambridge: University Press, 2011), p. 271. More recently Enfances Renier, chanson de geste du XIIIe siècle, ed. by Delphine Dalens-Marekovic, CFMA, 160 (Paris: Champion, 2009), pp. 9–16, also discusses possible Naples court of Anjou connections of the text; she refers specifically to ll. 17915–20 (p. 10) with their allusion to strife between Guelfs and Ghibellines. 96 Dunbabin, ʻCultural Networks’, p. 129. 97 There were clearly multiple routes between French and Italian: not just religious, as for so long argued for chansons de geste, but also secular: mercantile, governmental, and familial. 98 Holtus and Wunderli, Épopées, p. 39; cf. the Bologna ordinance against street singers blocking roads of 1288 (pp. 40–1). Verona, Mantua, Bologna and Ferrara are the centres of Franco-Italian. Cf. the Mort Charlemagne section below for Bologna.

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flatters the origin of the French Valois house, and Berta e Milone and Orlandino are the first to tell of Milone as Roland’s father. Later epic in the peninsula is certainly encomiastic; this could be an early usage.99 Then as now, rulers used literature as advertising and positive publicity. Charles I and the Angevins were no exception.100 Some critics, like Simon, propose that the 99 Note the dating and positive image of Carlo Magno in Aspremont, mentioned above. That text may also demonstrate Charles I’s importance to Franco-Italian, though there is insufficient space to argue it here. Since Charles I was trying to move the Eighth Crusade in the 1270s, near the date of the MSS, Aspremont’s positive view of Charles would be propaganda in his favour. Similarly MS V7 of the Chanson de Roland, should the time-frame and location for its copying be verified, argues for the centrality of Charles I and the Angevins to the importance of Charlemagne in Franco-Italian literature. See note 23 above. 100 Recent research has called attention to Charles Iʼs importance for literature. He paid, for example, for a jongleur from Paris in 1272, who returned home the next year (Dunbabin, Charles I of Anjou, p. 208); Francesco Sabatini, Napoli angioina: Cultura e società (Naples: Edizioni scientifiche italiane, 1975), p. 37, quotes the register: ʻRaynaldo joculatori’. For lyric poetry, Stefano Asperti, Carlo I d’Angiò e i trovatori: componenti provenzali e angioine nella tradizione manoscritta della lirica trobadorica (Ravenna: Longo, 1995); pp. 9–10, he lists some of the payments Charles made to musicians. He also discusses specific chansonniers related to Charles I. On the rarity of actual MSS relating to the Anjou court, and its importance in the spread of French culture and language, see Charmaine Lee, ‘Letteratura franco-italiana nella Napoli angioina?’, Francigena, 1 (2015), 83–108. Mascitelli suggests that lyric poetry was a kind of propaganda, and proposes, in fact, a nascent European identity in anti-Angevin poetry (Cesare Mascitelli, ‘Carlo d’Angiò e poesia antiangioina: prove di nascita di un’identit’à europea’, linguae &, 17.1 (2018), 45–61 (pp. 47–8). The few works in Charles I’s favour are in langue d’oïl; see also Alessandro Barbero, ʻLetteratura e politica fra Provenza e Napoliʼ, in L’État angevin: Pouvoir, culture et société entre XIIIe e XIVe siècle, Nuovi studi storici, 45 (Rome: École française de Rome, 1998), pp. 159–72 (p. 163). Adam de la Halle wrote the Jeu de Robin et Marion in 1288, and possibly began the Chanson du roi de Sicile, which he never completed, at Naples (but see Cesare Mascitelli, ‘Il roi de Sicile di Adam de la Halle: Una nuova proposta di datazione e localizzazione’, Carte Romanze, 2.1 (2014), 103–31 for a contrary view). There are no inventories of Charles I’s library, so it is not known if he had copies of chansons de geste and romances. His daughter-in-law Marie of Hungary, wife of Charles II, however, possessed at least one romance at her death in 1326 (Michele Fuiano, ‘La “Biblioteca” di Carlo I d’Angiò’, in Carlo I d’Angiò in Italia: studi e ricerche (Naples: Liguori, 1974), pp. 287–313 (p. 289 and p. 311)). See Alessandra Perriccioli Saggese, in ‘Carlo I d’Angio, re bibliofilo’, in Immagine e Ideologia: Studi in onore di Arturo Carlo Quintavalle, ed. by Arturo Calzona, Roberto Campari and Massimo Mussini (Milan: Electa, 2007), pp. 331–5; she examines a few possible contemporary romances, in ‘Romanzi cavallereschi miniati a Napoli al tempo del Boccaccio’, in Boccaccio angioino: Materiali per la storia culturale di Napoli nel Trecento, ed. by Giancarlo Alfano, Teresa d’Urso and Alessandra Perriccioli

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Geste Francor may have been written for the house of Anjou as promoters of French culture in Italy.101 Yet the view of Carlo Magno in the Geste, as just demonstrated, is not generally positive. The descent of Charles I into Italy had an important impact on polarisation of the Guelph and Ghibelline factions and through the wars to which it led.102 Carlo Magno in the Geste Francor is criticised for injustice and general incompetence, not avarice and taxation, which were problems for Charles I of Anjou. The accusation of injustice would be an accommodation of the subject to the chanson de geste genre; injustice in allocating expenses favours one group over another. Furthermore, as Cingolani, Infurna, Mascitelli, and Morgan suggest, the Geste is humorous. The humour ranges from slapstick (fighting with inappropriate weapons) to heavily didactic (with Carlo Magno not recognising the angel coming to his tent). Mixed language plays a role in that humour.103 The language of Charles I’s court was French, and the north-eastern cities of the peninsula were certainly familiar with Charlesʼs men and allies, for they travelled through the region; the Bologna-Padua axis was the essential route to Venice for trade and pilgrimage.104 A redactor may Saggese, Destini Incrociati, 7 (Brussels: Lang, 2012), pp. 347–56, including one for Charles II, his successor. The authors thank Dr Perriccioli Saggese for copies of the relevant articles. 101 Eva Simon, ʻOnomastica dei re ungheresi nella Geste Francor del codice XIII della Biblioteca Marciana’, Nuova Corvina, 5 (1999), 213–19 (p. 219). See also Capusso, ‘Aspetti’, p. 1, who proposes that it was written in favour of the Angevins. Martin Aurell, ʻChanson et propagande politique: Les troubadours gibelins (1255–1285)ʼ, in Le Forme della propaganda politica nel Due e nel Trecento. Relazioni al convegno di Trieste (2–5 marzo 1993), Publications de l’École française de Rome, 201 (Rome: École Française de Rome, 1994), pp. 183–202, [accessed 28 June 2020], also notes the propagandistic value. 102 Anne Lemonde and Ilaria Taddei, ‘Introduction’, in Circulation des idées et des pratiques politiques – XIIIe–XVIe siècles, ed. by Anne Lemonde and Ilaria Taddei (Rome: BEFAR, 2004), pp. 1–12 (p. 3). 103 For humour, see Stefano Maria Cingolani, ‘Innovazione e parodia nel Marciano XIII (Geste Francor)’, Romanistisches Jahrbuch, 30 (1987), 61–77; Leslie Zarker Morgan, ‘What’s so Funny About Roland? (O)Roland(o)’s Life and Works in the Northern Italian Tradition’, in Actes du XVe Congrès international Rencesvals, Poitiers, 21–7 août 2000, ed. by Gabriel Bianciotto and Claudio Galderisi, 2 vols (Poitiers: Centre d’Études supérieures de civilisation médiévale, 2002), I, 377–92, and Ead., ‘Can an epic woman be funny? Humor and the female protagonist in the late Medieval and early Renaissance epic’, Humor, 19 (2006), 157–78, as well as Infurna, ‘Aristocratici’; see references below. Mascitelli argues convincingly that humour is a structuring concept of the poem (La Geste Francor, pp. 108–33). 104 Luca Morlino, ‘La letteratura francese’, p. 35; see also Fabio Zinelli, ‘The French of Outremer Beyond the Holy Land’, in The French of Outremer. Communities and Communications in the Crusading Mediterranean, ed. by Laura K. Morreale and Nicholas L. Paul (Fordham, 2018), pp. 221–46.

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have adapted the stories and language to mock Charles I and his doings. The adapted French then can be seen to be like the adapted stories, at a conscious and unconscious level: redactors ʻvollero e seppero’ [wanted to and knew how to] both recount the stories and write French to varying degrees. This discontinuous political commentary in the form of moral lessons, parody, and motifs from earlier chansons de geste is then not only a reflection upon ongoing problems such as inheritance, lineage, just rule, and the overbearing northern German neighbours (the Maganzesi), but also on the problems of kingship and Church-State relations. While Franco-Italian epic is a product of Lombardy and the Trevisan March, that does not necessarily exclude Angevin influence.105 In fact, the choice of language is an essential reflection upon whom the tales criticize, making use of the French language and a French literary genre to criticise the speakers of the language and lovers of the genre.106 The Geste Francor can finally be read as propaganda against the Anjou as well as about the decline in quality of rulers in general, as well as possibly against the emperor by a Guelph author. Finally, the Geste Francor can be read for fun: to escape from daily life,107 or because of ironic disillusionment with the contemporary world.108 The public would in any case recognise traditional characters, motifs, and language; the objects of any lesson could not take personal offence. For what Hiestand says of the emperor was also true of the Anjou: you could oppose [them], but you could not live without [them].109

L’

L’Entrée d’Espagne

Entrée d’Espagne is also an early fourteenth century Franco-Italian poem. It consists of 15,805 lines, divided into 681 laisses of differing lengths.110 Its formal model is the Oxford Chanson de Roland (290 laisses; 4002 lines).111 The first and 105 The language of the court in Naples was French; French vernacular there, according to Zinelli, included a variety of types and was of an international variety (Fabio Zinelli, ‘“je qui li livre escrive de letre en vulgal”: scrivere il francese a Napoli in età angioina’, in Boccaccio angioino: Materiali per la storia culturale di Napoli nel Trecento, ed. by Giancarlo Alfano, Teresa d’Urso and Alessandra Perriccioli Saggese, Destini Incrociati, 7 (Brussels: Lang, 2012), pp. 149–73 (p. 170)). 106 See also Elizabeth Archibald, ‘Macaronic Poetry’, in A Companion to Medieval Poetry, ed. by Corinne Saunders (Maldon, MA and Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell), pp. 277–88. For ‘vollero e seppero’ see also note 10 above. 107 Infurna, ʻAristocratici’, p. 146. 108 Infurna, ‘Letteratura’, p. 418. 109 Hiestand, ‘Aspetti’, p. 44. 110 The only complete edition is L’Entrée d’Espagne. Chanson de geste franco-italienne, publiée d’après le manuscrit unique de Venise, ed. by A. Thomas, 2 vols (Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1913). All citations are from that edition. 111 All references are to Chanson de Roland – Canzone di Orlando, ed. by A. M. Finoli, trans. into Italian by F. Pozzoli (Milan: Mursia, 1984). Henceforth, Roland.

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only edition of the Entrée was published by Antoine Thomas in 1923, in two volumes with an introduction, and is based on the only extant manuscript in Venice.112 This lengthy Franco-Italian poem is divided into two sections, one of which has a different setting from the ones discussed in this chapter, since it is based in the Orient. The fact that only one part of the poem is set in Carlo Magno’s camp and in Spain provides fewer passages where the characterisation of the king can be commented upon and compared with other poems such as the Geste Francor. However, what emerges from an analysis of these passages is that the way the figure of Carlo Magno is portrayed in his maturity in the Entrée does not differ substantially from the portrait offered in the ʻadultʼ sections of the Geste Francor. Moreover, the poem offers a different approach from that of the Geste Francor to developing the chanson de geste: it is based on a sequential narrative of Charlemagne’s campaigns in the Iberian peninsula – there is no interlace of different plots – and it has no Old French precedents. The emperor is confronted with different clashes at various levels, both with enemies and with domestic opposition. The Entrée is generally associated with the Paduan environment through its anonymous author, who is a self-declared native of Padua. He might also be linked with Milan, since he was possibly serving as a diplomat or a man of letters in the entourage of the lord of Milan, Matteo Visconti. While literary influences in the Entrée reflect the pre-humanistic environment of the Gonzagan (Mantua) or perhaps the Carraresi (Padua) courts, it has always been viewed as possible that the author may have been living far from the Veneto.113 However, there are many reasons to move beyond the attribution of the Entrée to the Paduan milieu that is based exclusively on the mention of the city and the cultural background of the author. The poem has been placed within the vibrant framework of fourteenth-century northern Italy, and while probably written between Padua and Milan around the 1320s, much uncertainty surrounds its composition.114 112 Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, fr. Z. 21 (= 257). See Susy Marcon, ‘Estudio codicològico del manuscrito y estudio artìstico de las miniaturas’, in La Entrada en España: Poema épico del siglo XIV en franco-italiano (Valencia: Ediciones Grial, 2003), pp. 291–318. There are two fragments, Reggio Emilia, Biblioteca Panizzi, Vari E 181 that has 405 lines, and the so-called Châtillon fragments currently held at L’archivio dell’Académie Saint-Anselme d’Aoste [fraz. La Bagne, 15 – 11020 Gressan (Valle d’Aosta)] no shelf-mark (the collection is currently undergoing inventory and reorganization; 24 July 2020, personal communication), that has segments totalling about 123 lines. See Paul Aebischer, ‘Ce qui reste d’un manuscrit perdu de l’Entrée d’Espagne’, Archivum romanicum, 12 (1928), 233–64, and René Specht, ‘Cavalleria francese alla corte di Persia: l’episodio dell’Entrée d’Espagne ritrovato nel frammento reggiano’, Atti dell’Istituto veneto di scienze, lettere ed arti, 135 (1976–7), 489–506. 113 Alberto Limentani, L’Entrée d’Espagne e i signori d’Italia (Padua: Antenore, 1992), p. 313. 114 Dionisotti, ‘Entrée’, pp. 213–14. Corrado Bologna, ‘La letteratura dell’Italia setten-

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Certainly, the historical circumstances and the political situation in the dominions of the Visconti of Milan in the first half of the fourteenth century provide sufficient data to locate the Entrée under the influence of that powerful Lombard family. Though technically a fief of the Empire, in practice Lombardy was subject solely to local rulers. The emperor was not present in person and therefore was viewed through a different lens. Thus, major modifications to the characterisation of Charlemagne can be read in the light of the social and political context of Lombardy, which was not as feudalised as France.115 The narrative might hide a reference to the ruling family of Cremona, the Cavalcabò, who – differing from other ancient Lombard Guelph families that managed to negotiate with the ambivalent Visconti – always tried to oppose them despite sporadic collaboration.116 The relationship between Bernabò Visconti and the Cavalcabò family was always turbulent.117 In 1312 Guglielmo Cavalcabò, lord of Cremona since 1306, defeated and expelled Galeazzo Visconti and the Ghibellines from his city of Cremona, but a document by Bernabò Visconti dating to 1316 grants the regions surrounding the Po River to the family Cavalcabò, marquises of Viadana, until January 1322 when the Cavalcabò were defeated.118 Based on the political views and the stances shown in the Entrée, nothing prevents the reader from thinking that the author might have opened up, at a later stage of his life, to new and diverse influences, accepting the Visconti patronage. In the Entrée, Roland takes up the role of the baron révolté towards the end of the first section, which is the reason why he leaves the camp and travels towards the trionale nel Trecento’, in Letteratura italiana. Storia e geografia, ed. by A. Asor Rosa, 3 vols (Turin: Einaudi, 1987), I, 511–600. 115 On this point see Giovanni Tabacco, Egemonie sociali e strutture del potere nel medioevo italiano (Turin: Einaudi, 1974), especially pp. 156–70. 116 This point is more fully treated in Boscolo, L’Entrée d’Espagne, especially pp. 238 ff., and in Ead., ‘Politica lombarda trecentesca nell’Entrée d’Espagne’, in ‘Par deviers Rome m’en revenrai errant’. XXème Congrès International de la Société Rencesvals pour l’étude des épopées romanes, ed. by Maria Careri, Caterina Menichetti and Maria Teresa Rachetta (Rome: Viella, 2017), pp. 19–25. 117 C. Manaresi, ‘Le origini della famiglia Cavalcabò’, in Miscellanea di studi lombardi in onore di Ettore Verga (Milan: Castello Sforzesco, 1931), pp. 198–9. 118 For the expulsion of the Ghibellines, G. Andenna, ‘Cavalcabó’, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Rome: Treccani, 1979), 22, pp. 593–9 (pp. 598–9). The role of the court astrologer has been studied by Monica Azzolini, The Duke and the Stars. Astrology and Politics in Renaissance Milan (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013), who writes: ‘Astrology’s relationship with political power, especially in a courtly context, however, has yet to receive organic treatment, and the role of the court astrologer still awaits a major study’, p. x. For Visconti’s grant of land, P. Ugolini, ‘Sistema territoriale e urbano della valle padana’, in Storia d’Italia – Annali, ed. by C. de Seta, 11 vols (Turin: Einaudi, 1985), VIII, 159–240 (p. 231); for the defeat, F. Cognasso, ‘L’Unificazione della Lombardia sotto Milano’, in Storia di Milano, 16 vols (Milan: Treccani, 1955), V, 3–567 (p. 157).

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Orient in search of adventures, disguised as a merchant. In this second part of the poem the character of the emperor is absent, because the plot unfolds in a different part of the world where Roland travels on his own. On the other hand, in the first half of the poem the anonymous author of the Entrée d’Espagne demonstrates that it is no longer necessary to represent the emperor as remote, and he chooses to endow him with a strong, fully-rounded personality: the leader comes across as given to fury and incapable of profiting from Rolandʼs achievements; he accuses him of acting on his own initiative, which is unacceptable to the emperor. Carlo Magno is depicted as a despot, which allows the poet to reassess Roland and turn him into a strong and independent character. While all knowledge about the author is based on conjectures, one thing is certain: the poet addresses Carlo Magno as both an emperor and a king. Frequently the two words occur close to each other, and in one interesting case the French monarch is said to be a noble king as well as the lord of France and Germany, and the emperor and king of Rome: A vos gentis rois Carlemagne, Sire de France et d’Alemagne, Enperor de Rome e roi […] (vv. 459–61)119 [To you, noble King Charlemagne, | Ruler of France and of Germany, | Emperor of Rome and king]

There is a great difference between the idea of empire in feudal society as represented in the Chanson de Roland (of which the earliest MS witness dates to early to mid-twelfth century) and that at the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth century in Italy, as it appears in the Entrée. Within the framework of fourteenth-century Europe, for example, Philip IV of France was considered an emperor in his own kingdom and sometimes referred to as a new Charlemagne, without implying his absolute power over an extended territory, although he persevered in his efforts to extend his rule. In the political and cultural environment of Italy these efforts were received in various ways. Almost contemporary to the Entrée, Petrarch, in his Rime Sparse (XXVII, XXVIII), describes Philip IV as the new Charlemagne, referring to French national identity that had started to take shape under his rule. The Italian debate about the necessity of self-government on the one hand, and the opportunities coming from opening to imperial influence on the other hand, might have affected the portrait of the Frankish ruler in the Entrée, where it appears increasingly evident that Carlo Magno is annoyed by Rolandʼs autonomy. In the Chanson de Roland, conversely, all members of the baronial court were allowed to express themselves and put forward their own suggestions to solve all questions that arose, although when the king disagreed with them he did not

119 On the representation of Carlo Magno in the Entrée see also Boscolo, L’Entrée d’Espagne, pp. 124–40.

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always accept their advice.120 In the Entrée Roland often disagrees with his uncle and is undiplomatic in displaying his aversion to decisions made by the council of peers. Carloʼs hostility to Rolandʼs initiatives increases, and from subtle irritation develops into open rage. At one point, during the siege of Pamplona, Charlemagne declares that he will have him hanged: Irez fu l’enperere e dist: ‘Par saint Silvestre, De ploisors grant outraje et ovres desoneste Me su je ja vangez: si fera ge de ceste. Cest feluns traïtor a feit une moveste Por voloir qe je moire: ce sa je manifeste. Mout m’a renduz bon cange qe sui en sa conqeste E par lui honorer su je an peril d’estre Perdanz, moi e mes homes, ou de membre ou de teste. Par cil Dieux q’en la cros sofri paine et moleste, N’ala si Galaaz por le Graal en queste Con je ferai par lui en plains et en foreste; En lui vaudra mie de suen brant la poueste, Que bien pis me tenroie d’une scorchie beste Si pandre ne le faiz; si an soit q’en puet estre’. (ll. 9221–34) [The king was angry and said, ‘By St. Sylvester, | For multiple great insults and false deeds | I have already avenged myself; so will I do for these. | This false traitor has made a plot | Wishing that I die: that I know clearly. | He has given me [such] good return so that I am in his debt, | And in honoring him I am in danger of losing | Me, and my men, either limbs or head. | By that God who on the cross suffered pain and difficulty, | Galahad didn’t go seeking the Grail [with such energy] | As I will do him, in plains and in forests; | And the strength of his sword will not avail him | For I will hold myself worse than a skinned beast | If I don’t have him hanged; now let it be as it will be’.]

At first, in the episode of the siege of Najera where Carlo Magno is accused of invading Spain without having been challenged, the Frankish king is portrayed as proud but diplomatic. He seems reluctant to become a champion of Christendom and expresses his desire to return to France; he also proposes that Roland follow him, but as the plot unfolds, he becomes more aggressive since he senses that his authority is being put to the test. Nevertheless, when Carlo Magno thinks that Roland has been killed by Ferragu, he displays genuine desperation by pulling his beard and crying, and he recalls the Chanson de Rolandʼs Charlemagne: Le roi revient e se garde anviron, Sa barbe sache e tire son grignon, Pués bat ses paumes e escrie a fiers ton:

120 See Wunderli, ‘Zwischen Ideal und Anti-Ideal’, pp. 64–5.

64

Claudia Boscolo and Leslie Zarker Morgan ‘Rollant amis, Rollant mon compaignon, Biaus niés, biaus frere, n’ai parent si vos non; En tiel mainere, fil, vos perdrai je don?’ (vv. 1757–62) [The king returned and looked around him, | He tugged his beard and pulled his moustache, | Then clapped his hands and yelled in a loud voice: | ‘Roland, friend, Roland, my companion, | Good nephew, good brother, I have no relative but you; | In what way, son, will I then lose you?’]

During a break from the duel with Feragu, Carlo Magno speaks to Roland very warmly and repeats his invitation to leave Spain together: […] ‘Biaus ami, […] Alons en France, por amor vos en pri. […] Ne tornerois plus ci, jel vos afi’. (vv. 1926–39) [‘Good friend… | Let’s go to France, I beg you, for love, | I won’t ever return here, I swear to you’.]

Roland responds that he went to Spain to pursue a cause, and he has no intention of retreating until he has freed all the French prisoners in Marsile’s hands, because he does not want his peers to think that he betrayed them. However, Carlo is later caught looking at his young nephew from a window of his palace, showing no trust that Roland will ever bring the war against Marsile to a conclusion:121 As fenestre ert a un avesprement E voit Rollant chevaucher bellement, Li doçes per avec lui solement, Gardand les dames qe as baucons estoient. A l’emperere en est pris mal talent; Croule le cief e dist: ‘Trop malement Feisons scenblant d’ostoier longement. Se devrons guere mener sifaitement,122 Ja roys Marsille, a cui Espaigne apend, Non perdra mais de sa tere un arpent; Mais, por san Jaches, il ira autrement’. (vv. 4483–93) [He was at the window at dusk one evening | And he saw Roland riding easily, | With only the twelve peers, | Looking at the ladies who were on the balconies. | The emperor was irritated; | He shook his head and said, ‘We seem very wrongly | To be dilly-dallying for too long. | If we are going to wage war in this way, | Never will king 121 Cf. La Chanson des Saisnes and Gui de Bourgogne where Charles is accused of indolence and failing to prosecute his wars diligently; see too ‘Charlemagne the Warrior’ and ‘Charlemagne the Ruler’ chapters in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature. 122 In a verification against the MS, ‘sifaitement’ is written as one word, and in modern editing that is the standard, so this differs here from Thomas’s reading.

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Marsile, to whom Spain belongs, | Lose a yard of his land; | But, by St. Jacques, it will go otherwise’.]

Following this loss of faith in his own peers, Carlo Magno gives questionable orders, and his despotic attitude starts to emerge as he accuses Roland of being arrogant. He puts Roland in his place several times. As seen in the Berta e Milone section of the Geste Francor, Carloʼs anger is not positive and his desire for justice is excessive; in both poems this aspect of his personality is questionable. The Frankish defeat at Noble, for example, infuriates him: he is said to sweat from rancour (‘de maltalant trasue’, v. 6690) while the barons stand in silence (‘sa baronie en sunt taisant e mue’, v. 6691). While the reader might expect some degree of desmesure from Roland,123 based on the Chanson de Roland, this does not happen; instead, the young hero seems much wiser than his uncle. Carlo Magno becomes progressively more deceptive, manipulative, and temperamental as the plot unfolds, and he is unable to solve a diplomatic situation (‘mout fu de soi vanger nostre roi desirans’ [our king was very eager to avenge himself], v. 6900). He appears like a Northern Italian Ghibelline lord dealing with the stubborn Guelph families of the Milan area who refused to be subjected to imperial authority.124 Often his words sound very much out of tune with the original character in the Chanson de Roland: perhaps the author’s attempt to remain faithful to the traditional literary image of Carlo Magno faltered in the face of the historical context in which he was writing. The composition of a poem of such length must have stretched over many years, for which next to nothing is known, since there is no information about the author. However, one can assume that in that period both his personal situation and the viewpoint of intellectuals serving local lords changed according to political circumstances. Northern Italy in the fourteenth century was undergoing a transition from communes to lordships, imitating, on a minor scale, the model offered by the kingdom of France, which may also have affected the poetʼs approach to French epic tradition.

I

The Continuation of the Entrée by Niccolò da Verona (Prise de Pampelune)

n this 3166-line poem, Niccolò da Verona recounts how Roland after his long journey in the East has returned to fight for his uncle and king at Pamplona. The poem was composed about twenty years after the Entrée d’Espagne. The only extant MS of the Continuation is held in Venice, and like the other texts examined 123 On Roland’s pride see Marianne J. Ailes, The Song of Roland. On Absolutes and Relative Values, Studies in Mediaeval Literature, 20 (New York: Edwin Mellen, 2002), pp. 23–49 and for an earlier discussion, Pierre Le Gentil, ‘A propos de la démesure de Roland’, Cahiers de civilisation médiévale, 11 (1968), 203–9. 124 On this point see Claudia Boscolo, ‘Politica lombarda trecentesca nell’Entrée d’Espagne’, in ‘Par deviers Rome m’en revenrai errant’, pp. 19–25, passim.

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here, dates to the fourteenth century.125 In addition, the Venetian MS of the Entrée contains a further 131 lines (five laisses) at the end, possibly composed by Niccolò da Verona and added by a later hand. These lines link the ending as recounted by the Entrée’s poet to Niccolò’s Continuation. The five laisses do not recount anything exceptionally interesting, only that the king wanted to crown Roland king of Spain, but Roland refused the crown (vv. 1–18); the French hero recounts his adventure outre mer (vv. 36–59) and Sansonet is made a peer of France to replace Sanson from Guascogne who died at Pamplona (vv. 62–8). At the end, six lines announce that Niccolò now intends to continue the story and explain why it has remained very little known: Ci tourne Nicolais a rimer la complue De l’Entrée de Spagne, qe tant est stee escondue Par ce ch’elle n’estoit par rime componue Da cist point en avant, ond il l’a proveüe Pour rime, cum celu q’en latin l’a leüe. Our contons de l’istoire qe doit etre entendue Da cascun q’en bonté ha sa vie disponue. (vv. 125–31) [Here, from this point forward, Nicholas turns to rhyme the ending | Of the Entrée d’Espagne that has been hidden [= unknown|unfamiliar] for such a long time | Because it wasn’t composed in rhyme. | For this reason he has arranged it | In rhyme, like the one that he read in Latin. | Now we’ll tell the tale that should be heard | By everyone who tries [lit. has decided] to live his life decently.]

Either the scribe or Niccolò himself says that the Entrée has remained hidden (‘est stee escondue’, v. 126), because from that point on it was unfinished (‘Da cist pont en avant n’estoit par rime componue’, vv. 127–6). Niccolò has therefore provided it with an ending (‘ond il l’a proveüe por rime’, vv. 128–9). These lines reveal that the Entrée seems not to have been very popular. The Entrée is unlikely to have been left unfinished accidentally, but rather terminated at a point where Rolandʼs and Charlemagneʼs characters were fully developed.126 It is evident that Niccolò da Verona was very familiar with the Entrée.127 In the Continuazione, Pamplona is now occupied by Desiderio of Pavia and the Franks are 125 Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Cod. Marc. Franc. V (= 250). There are two editions: La Prise de Pampelune, in Altfranzösische Gedichte aus venezianischen Handschriften, ed. by Adolf Mussafia, 2 vols (Vienna: Gerold, 1864); Niccolò da Verona, Opere. Pharsale, Continuazione dell’Entrée d’Espagne, Passion, ed. by Franca Di Ninni (Venice: Marsilio, 1992). 126 See discussion in Boscolo, L’Entrée d’Espagne, pp. 249–57. 127 Niccolò da Verona employs the Entrée as a model not only for the Continuazione but also for the Pharsale, a rewriting of Lucanʼs Pharsalia that tells the story of the rivalry between Caesar and Pompey. See Di Ninni, Introduzione, in Niccolò da Verona, Opere, p. 21.

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besieging the city with little hope of conquering it. The poem in MS V5 completes the chanson de geste. While this text intriguingly introduces the audience to new characters such as Desiderio, displays a taste for historical invention, and contains original material, it does not add much to the portrayal of Charlemagne nor to the development of the plot. Niccolò da Verona generally has a taste for epic in a classical sense, and his interest in history is evident from the beginning of the poem where it commences by introducing the Lombards and their king Desiderio. Niccolò’s aim is to tell stories to which Guelph families could relate.128 When Desiderio writes to Charlemagne to offer his help in Spain, the emperor treats him with disdain, but Desiderio’s army has the opportunity to prove itself superior to the Franks. There is quite obviously a development of the anti-Ghibelline atmosphere so present in the Entrée d’Espagne. The Frankish king emerges as arrogant and dismissive as in Niccolò’s model.

C

Mort Charlemagne

arlo Magno does not go through the typical final knightly process of moniage (becoming a monk) at the end of his life. Rather, as he becomes older, he reaches his dotage, illustrated in his behaviour towards his bride Blançiflor in Macario. While parallel to his father Pipinoʼs behaviour towards Berta in Berta da li pe grandi, in this case it does not result in the strong knightly son that Charlemagne was, but rather produces Louis – a snivelling coward at worst, as here at his fatherʼs death – and an underhanded self-centred autocrat at best.129 Carlo Magno, even in his final days, remains the anointed of God, receives benefits from God and is proclaimed a saint who can save those who pray to him.130 128 See Luca Morlino, ‘Echi e riflessi storico-politici nella letteratura franco-veneta: il caso della Pharsale di Niccolò da Verona’, in Medioevo veneto, Medioevo europeo. Identità e alterità, ed. by Zuleika Murat and Sabina Zonno (Padua: Padova University Press, 2014), pp. 27–38, where he suggests that Northern-Italian anti-German polemic derived from anti-Imperial movements became, in the Geste Francor and the Prise de Pampelune, high praise for the Lombards, which of course is much later than the Carolingian era. 129 For example, in Aliscans, one of the best-known of the Guillaume cycle, Guillaume goes to King Louis to request assistance, and when refused, insults his sister Blanchefleur for not assisting him. For a partial translation into English, see Joan M. Ferrante, Guillaume d’Orange: Four Twelfth Century Epics (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974, repr. 1991), pp. 197–279; See also the more recent translation in An Old French Trilogy: Texts from the William of Orange Cycle, trans. by Catherine M. Jones, William W. Kibler, and Logan E. Whalen (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2020), with a useful introduction including charts and maps of the territory covered. 130 For the sanctity of Charlemagne, see also in this series Albrecht Classen, Charlemagne in Medieval German and Dutch; the classic volume is Robert Folz, Le souvenir et la légende de Charlemagne dans l’Empire germanique médiéval (Paris:

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A single MS, Oxford Bodl. Can. 54, ff. 32r–53r, with 27 laisses of 884 lines, recounts Carlo Magnoʼs last days.131 Meneghetti suggests that the poem may come from a student milieu,132 perhaps Bologna, to judge by notes of possession in the MS. Other documents in the codex help date it: the transcription of an act dated 1337 appears on the back of the first sheet and the copy of a letter dated 1351 immediately precedes the poem, so it must have been written or transcribed in the first or second decade of the fourteenth century.133 The text works extensively with the Old French Couronnement de Louis material and as well as other Guillaume d’Orange (William of Orange, also known as the Garin de Monglane) cycle poems. In this Franco-Italian poem, Carlo Magno receives messengers from God informing him that he must confess and do penance for his sins, especially one unconfessed one, at Saint Gilles in Provence: Tu ày in tie um pieci molto grant Si ’ll’à’ portà anni pluy de santa Mays no l’ày dito a nul homo vivant. (vv. 21–3) [You have in you a very great sin | And you have carried it more than a hundred years | But you’ve never told it to any living being.]

He will die in two months and seven days, on a Saturday at tierce: ‘Lo çorno de lo sabato, che Deo brama tant | In l’ora de la terça tu serà’ tra(n)pasante’ [On Saturday, that God eagerly awaits, | In the hour of terce (the third hour after sunrise) you will be dying] (vv. 32–3), and great signs and miracles will occur at his passing: Per ty ser(r)à miracoli molto granti: Per tuto lo mondo oe lo sol se leva e desant, Per le pays et per le terre grant Le canpane tute andaran sonant: Da si medixe mille ser(r)à tocant. Belles Lettres, 1950; repr. Geneva: Slatkine, 1973). 131 Editions include: Gianfranco Contini, ʻLa canzone della Mort Charlemagne’, in Mélanges de linguistique romane et de philologie médiévale offerts à M. Maurice Delbouille, II, 105–26; and Maria Luisa Meneghetti, ʻAncora sulla Morte (o Testamento) di Carlo Magno’, in Testi, cotesti e contesti del franco-italiano: Atti del 1° simposio franco-italiano (Bad Homburg, 13–16 aprile 1987), ed. by Günter Holtus, Henning Krauss and Peter Wunderli (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1989), pp. 245–84. All citations are from the Meneghetti edition; La Spagna: Poema cavalleresco del secolo XIV, ed. by Michele Catalano, Collezione di opere inedite o rare, 3 vols (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1939–40), I, 16, also includes four lines in note 1. The poem is partially assonanced (typical of early chansons de geste), partially rhymed, and approximately in alexandrines. All translations in this section by Leslie Zarker Morgan. 132 Meneghetti, ʻAncora’, p. 248. 133 Meneghetti, ʻAncora’, p. 257.

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Le nove conpagne de Kerubim le angele Estaremo per ty .v. ço[r]ni pasante, Che portaremo toa anima in glexia; Quando virà del to finamant, Li muti averam a parlier e li sordi seram oldant: Quili se trovarano i[n] veraxia penitant Si pregarà, Deo ser(r)à oldant. (vv. 34–45) [For you there will be very great miracles: | Throughout the whole world, where(ver) the sun rises and sets, | Through the countryside and wide lands, | All the bells will ring; | By themselves a thousand will be playing. | The nine companies of Cherubim, the angels, | Will be coming for you after five days, | For they will carry your soul into [the eternal] church; | When they see your end, | The mute will speak and the deaf will hear: | Those who are truly penitent | If they pray, God will hear them.]

Carlo Magno returns to France, and calls his court. He has his will prepared: he divides up his lands, arranges for masses to be said and for his burial at Aix-laChapelle.134 Charles requests a regent to protect young Leoys (Louis). Macario volunteers, but Carlo Magno turns him down – reminding him that he is a relative of Ganelon – and then asks a series of knights, each of whom refuses. Guielmo (William) appears shortly thereafter in Aix: he too had had a vision, one that ordered him to attend Carlo Magno (vv. 615–24). Carlo Magno asks Guielmo to protect Leoys when he is dead, and Guielmo accepts: ‘Volentera, dolçe roys, farò votre talant E iuro a Dio et allo Sperti Sant: Chi non l’obidirà et non farà son tala[n]t, Medexemo Aymerys et tot ses infant, S’eli falerà a Leoys, io li faray dolant’. (vv. 651–4)135 134 Meneghetti, ʻAncora’, p. 256; Luca Morlino, ‘“Titulus clavis”: Per Il Testamento di Carlomagno’, in Francofonie medievali: Lingue e letterature gallo-romanze fuori di Francia (sec. XII–XV), ed. by Anna Maria Babbi and Chiara Concina (Verona: Fiorini, 2016), pp. 81–97 suggests that the ceremony involved here is a student parody of will-production, and that the title should be Testament(o) [Will] rather than Mort [Death] as Rajna had originally named it: see Pio Rajna, ‘Una rivoluzione negli studi intorno alle chansons de geste’, Studi medievali, 3 (1910), 331–91 (p. 339). 135 Compare the Old French Couronnement de Louis, where Louis does not step up to be crowned, and William comes rushing in from hunting, seizes the crown and places it on Louis’s head, in effect volunteering for the job, seizing the opportunity from Anseïs d’Orliens; see Le Couronnement de Louis. Chanson de geste du XII siècle, ed. by Ernest Langlois, CFMA, 22 (Paris: Champion, 1984), vv. 87–146. For an English translation, see An Old French Trilogy, trans. by Jones et al., pp. 22–98 (pp. 25–6). See Ailes and Bennett, The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature, ‘Charles the Ruler’, for further discussion of the Old French version.

70

Claudia Boscolo and Leslie Zarker Morgan [ʻWillingly, good king, I will do your wish | And I swear to God and to the Holy Spirit:| He who does not obey [Leoys] and doesn’t do his will, | Even [if itʼs] Aymeri and all his sons, | If they fail Leoys, I’ll make them sorry’.]

Angels arrive, and Carlo Magno invests Guielmo with the kingdom, placing the crown on his head (vv. 750–1), and ordering him to rule for seven years, then have Leoys marry his [sister]136 and be crowned. Carlo Magno assures Guielmo that when he is ready to marry, he can cross the Rhone to Provence, and there find Orange and Tiborga, Tibaldo the Africanʼs wife. Then Carlo Magno goes to his tomb (vv. 806–7), which he dislikes because it is too small: ‘… L’archa deverava essere sì bella et sì grant Che per çascadun caton podese esse sedant Çento çivalier a tables mançant, A bagordier indré et in avant E veder mia persona, che ça fu re(e) de França… L’a[r]cha è molto bella, ma non è al mio talant’. (v. 819–23, 826) [‘The tomb should have been so beautiful and big | So that on each side could sit | One hundred knights eating at table | Jockeying for position (literally, jousting) backwards and forwards | And see my person, who was king of France… | The tomb is very pretty, but it is not to my liking’.]

The angel reminds him that God did not have enough space to stretch all the way out; Carlo Magno will have as much space as anyone else, but while others die lying down, he will die sitting (ʻE li oltri more in çaxant et tu moriras in sedant’ [And the others die lying down and you will die sitting], v. 837). Carlo Magno takes communion, and Guielmo dresses him for death, with his sword, golden spurs, and a crown. Carlo Magno sits in his tomb on a white ivory chair, in a carefully described pose: right leg over his left, left hand under his chin: Soa charegia fuy d’un avolio blanc: Desor se siste l’inperer de France, Segnase lo vis con soa man ch’è blanche, La ganba destra su la senestra stant, La man senestra soto so menton se stant: L’anima se parte e non demora plus avant. (vv. 868–73)

136 MS error that reads ʻdaughter’, though shortly thereafter Carlo Magno says he will not have children, and the reader knows from Aliscans that Leoys marries Blanchefleur, Guillaumeʼs sister. In the Couronnement, Anseïs offers to serve as regent for three years (v. 106), where here a member of the Maganza family makes the offer; William in the Couronnement strikes Anseïs dead (vv. 130–3). Again, see Ailes and Bennett, The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature.

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[His throne was of white marble: | Upon it the emperor of France sat. | He signed his face [with the cross] with his hand that is white, | He sitting his right leg on his left, | His left hand resting under his chin:| His soul departed, and didn’t remain any longer.]

Angels carry him off to heaven with singing and prayer. The foretold miracles occur, and the public is urged to pray in order to be forgiven for love of the king of France. The Mort contains references to at least three of the most famous Guillaume cycle poems, the Couronnement de Louis, Prise d’Orange and Aymeri de Narbonne, as well as to the Chanson de Roland when Carlo Magno speaks to Macario, but it is more than just repetition of inherited material. As Subrenat notes, Charlemagne’s death is lacking in the Old French tradition;137 Holtus and Wunderli propose that the subject of Carlo Magnoʼs death was forbidden in France since Carlo Magno was the keystone of the political system. Much of northern Italy, on the other hand, was a fief of the German emperor, where the emperor did not play a part in everyday life, so his passing would not bring down the whole system.138 The mentions of Provence and conquering pagan lands repeat themes of other FrancoItalian texts: in particular, the extension of royal power to what is now southern France and the need to conquer territory across the Rhone in Orange, and to populate that territory. The combination of Provence and crusade, here directed towards Spain, with a concern for guarding Carlo Magnoʼs heir, makes sense in the seigneuries of the fourteenth century, where protection from neighbours and ensuring inheritance were necessary. In this final stage of his life, the literary Carlo Magno in the Franco-Italian Mort appears as a petulant child, fussing that Guielmo will not have children, that his own tomb isn’t big enough, and that Macario should know better than to volunteer for the task of regent after his family’s history at Rencesvals and later. Furthermore, Carlo Magno thinks first of his future fame before the division of his goods, leaving money for his soul and providing for the abbot of St. Sever to hold his will and pay those who will sing of him: E vuy, apostolio, si me comandarì che tuty li abés de Sen(s) Siver beneỳ Mio testamento dibia aver reculli, In la soa maxom portar e tegnir: E ’lli çublier che vorano da my cantare et dir Che guerdedon i(n) deverà da quily abés aver. (vv.167–72)139

137 Jean Subrenat, ʻSur la mort de l’empereur Charlesʼ, in Charlemagne et l’épopée romane: Actes du VIIe Congrès International de la Société Rencesvals, Liège, 28 août–4 septembre 1976, 2 vols (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1978), I, 205–13. 138 Holtus and Wunderli, Épopées, pp. 195–6. 139 As Meneghetti comments, ʻAncora’, pp. 245–6.

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[And you, Pope, you will command for me | that all the abbots of Saint Siver | must, having collected my will, | keep and hold [it] in their house: | and the jongleurs who will want to sing and speak about me, | that they should have a reward from that abbey.]

He then specifies what they should receive. Yet Godʼs angels come to him and to those designated to help him. The Mort Charlemagne is yet another single copy of an incomplete anonymous text that continues to hold mysteries. It does, however, follow in the line of other Franco-Italian texts in presenting Carlo Magno in a less-than favourable though not felonious, even at times humorous, way. His errors lie in details of behaviour and personality, so that his faithful men must assist him in completing his life in an odour of sanctity. The redactor envelops Carlo Magno in chanson de geste traditions of theme, location, characters, and related plots, while rendering impossible any identification with specific contemporary situations.

A

Conclusions

s demonstrated here, the figure of Charlemagne is represented according to the environment and the age when the different poems are written. There is not one single view of Carlo Magno and the portrait of the emperor is not necessarily chronologically developed. The emperor is portrayed with similar attributes in portions of the Geste Francor and the Entrée d’Espagne. Carlo Magno in these poems represents multiple figures, depending upon the period when the original poem was composed (Old French, Franco-Italian), so could be understood to be Charlemagne, the German Emperor, Charles I of Anjou, or a local signore, depending upon the era and the redactor or the reader. Carlo Magno in the Franco-Italian Chanson de Roland already has difficulties with family relationships, especially with women, but he is clearly divinely chosen; in Aspremont, he has difficulties with unruly baron Girart de Fraite; in the Geste Francor, he varies from a valorous youth to a lubricious middle-aged king then an incompetent old man; in the Entrée his temper and desire to dominate create a rift with his top military leader, Roland. At his death, he remains a demanding ruler and somewhat petty in his personality, though still God’s chosen and endowed with faithful followers who will ensure the continuation of rule. Carlo Magno is not alone in appearing in a varying light, for various forms of humour about other characters also appear throughout the poems, including especially the Geste Francor; parody and irony are frequent. Berta’s big feet (or not) are repeatedly observed, and the wife of King Alfaris, Bertaʼs father, browbeats her husband and Carlo Magno; the Roman innkeeperʼs wife tricks Carlo Magno’s first wife Galeana into revealing her identity; Uggieri il Danese hits Carlo, covered with two helms, three times before he fights Braier, putting on a show of rage but not harming him (vv. 12995–13005); Milone throws down his pile of wood so hard that the earth shakes, and then runs from Naimes when he sees him with young Berta and Orlandino (vv. 11195–200); Macario fights a judicial duel with a dog. As critics

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have noticed, Franco-Italian texts treat the familiar aspects of life – wives, children, pets. But they also include the territorial imperative and ridiculous non-combatants (the woodsman or temporarily déclassé nobles like Milone). Cingolani outlines some of the manoeuvres here: among these is repetition ad infinitum of traditional characteristics, like Naimes who advises when he should and when he should not. Even Roland in the Entrée is not without humorous moments. In this way, the Franco-Italian Carlo Magno poems unite traditions and develop them. They thus contain discontinuous didacticism and humour: that is, they are neither uniquely one nor the other. The Geste Francor, part of the second phase of the penetration of French literature into the peninsula, expands French material and creates new tales, and therefore it is difficult to identify with a unique point of view towards Carlo Magno: in Karleto it is very positive, and in Macario very negative, with multiple points in between in the other poems. The Entrée d’Espagne, on the other hand, part of the third stage of French production in the peninsula, new works based upon tradition, represents local production: Carlo Magno for a portion of the poem is a background figure, with characteristics of his problematic personality seen in earlier poems, even in the French versions, such as Aspremont. Yet the poem itself describes the arc of Roland’s development, typical of the epic future south of the Alps: one of the court knights, a descendant of a noted family, grows into a religious and physical paragon, not himself without fault, overtaking the king in importance. Similarly, the language of the poems incorporates varying amounts of local speech into the Old French structure from which it began, as the samples of each poem offered here suggest.

2 The Italian cantari on Charlemagne1 Franca Strologo

T

The Italian cantari and their portrayals of Charlemagne

he cantari were poetic compositions on various topics that would be recited in public places in Italy throughout the medieval and renaissance periods by the so called canterini.2 The cantari were composed in ottava rima,3 a metre which was first used successfully in the history of Italian literature both by Giovanni Boccaccio, in works such as Filostrato (1335–9?), Teseida (1339–41?), and Ninfale fiesolano (1344–6?), and by the Florentine poet Antonio Pucci. We know the exact date of Antonio Pucci’s death (1388) and this allows us to place within relatively precise chronological limits his production of cantari in ottava rima: Brito di Brettagna, Gismirante, Madonna Lionessa, Apollonio di Tiro, Reina d’Oriente, and the Cantari della Guerra di Pisa. But the case of Antonio Pucci and his work is an exception rather than the rule: for the rest, we still know very little about the cantari, about their major authors, about the places and times of their oral and written circulation.4 The cantari have come down to us without the music that must have accom1 I thank George Ferzoco for his help with the translation of this chapter; Leslie Zarker Morgan and Jane E. Everson for the translations of quotations from the cantari; and Marianne J. Ailes, Philip E. Bennett and Jane E. Everson for their editorial suggestions. 2 I use the term cantare (plural cantari) to indicate the poetic compositions in their entirety. I also use the same term to indicate the single unit of a canto, in the way it was adopted by Luigi Pulci in his Morgante. In order to indicate ‘long’ cantari such as Spagna in rima and Orlando, but also the Cantari d’Aspramonte, the Cantari di Rinaldo and the Cantari del Danese, with their broad and ambitious structure, I sometimes use in a synonymous sense the term ‘poem’. 3 Scholars have long pondered the origins of the ottava rima. For a synthesis on this question, with its critical bibliography, see the chapter ‘Ottava Rima: The Key to Success’, in Jane E. Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 113–26 (pp. 113–14). 4 For an overall approach to the Italian cantari, see the fundamental studies: I cantari. Struttura e tradizione, Atti del convegno internazionale di Montreal (19–20 marzo 1981), ed. by M. Picone and M. Bendinelli Predelli, 2 vols (Florence:

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panied the performances and are preserved by very rare manuscript witnesses; for the most part these are late and corrupt, almost always dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, very rarely from the fourteenth. Mainly, we know neither when the original versions were written, nor who wrote them. It is thus not surprising that the cantari have given rise to many critical problems and heated debates. In this chapter I will briefly review them, and also illustrate the results of the most recent critical investigations. I shall deal in particular with some of the cantari related to the narrative tradition on Charlemagne, the ones which have been the focus of critical debate and might turn out to have been circulating – as we will see – since the late Trecento, building a bridge between the time of Giovanni Boccaccio and Antonio Pucci, and the time of Luigi Pulci. These cantari are Spagna in rima, Orlando, the Cantari d’Aspramonte, the Cantari di Rinaldo, the Cantari del Danese, and finally a fragment that until now has been overlooked by scholars, Carlo Mainetto (or Carletto). Charlemagne, although in one case only evoked, is represented in all of these works, in various ways and to varying extents. According to Gaston Paris, Spagna in rima can be considered the prototype of the epic genre in Italy.5 It tells the story of the campaign of Charlemagne and the twelve peers of France against the Saracen king Marsilio of Spain: the beginning of the invasion, with the formidable duel between Orlando and Ferraù for the capture of Lazera; the deeds carried out to conquer the major cities one after the other; the quarrel between Charlemagne and Orlando after the capture of Nobile; the departure of Orlando and his adventures in the East, including the conquest of Jerusalem, up to his return to the West; the betrayal by Gano and the battle of Roncevaux, with the death of Orlando and his entire company; the victorious conclusion of the war, through which the defeat of Roncevaux is avenged and Christian supremacy re-established, and the execution of the traitor, with the triumph of justice. In Spagna in rima, Charlemagne is the central hero: he emerges from the start as the ‘valoroso re magno e perfetto’ [valorous king, great and perfect] (I 3 6).6 He initiates the action, the war Olschki, 1982); and Il cantare italiano fra folklore e letteratura. Atti del Convegno internazionale di Zurigo (23–25 giugno 2005), ed. by M. Picone and L. Rubini (Florence: Olschki, 2007). 5 G. Paris, Histoire poétique de Charlemagne, reproduction de l’édition de 1865, augmentée de notes nouvelles par l’auteur et par m. Paul Mayer et d’une table alphabétique des matières (Paris: E. Bouillon, 1905; repr. Genève: Slatkine, 1974), p. 193. 6 All citations from the so-called ‘major’ Spagna are taken from La Spagna: Poema cavalleresco del secolo XIV, ed. by M. Catalano, 3 vols (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1939–40). See also La ‘Spagna in rima’ del manoscritto comense, ed. by G. B. Rosiello (Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 2001), for the text of a previously neglected witness; and finally Spagna ferrarese, ed. by V. Gritti and C. Montagnani (Novara: Interlinea, 2009), the first complete edition and detailed commentary of the manuscript which once belonged to Borso d’Este. Citations from the so-called ‘minor’ Spagna are taken from this edition. On the discussions provoked by this edition, see G. Palumbo, ‘Spagna ferrarese e Spagna in rima. A

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against the Saracens of Spain which is at the heart of the narrative: Avendo questo gran re sogiogato dell’universo parte a suo potere, e d’ogni suo nimicho vendicato e ricredente fatto rimanere, stando un giorno, si fu deliberato d’aver tutta la Spagna al suo volere, e com’egli ebbe fatto il pensamento, di botto fece fare un parlamento. Per tutta quanta la Cristianitade, per valli, piani, per coste e per monti, per ville, per cittadi e per contrade, a principi, marchesi, duchi e conti, a tutti suoi baron di nobiltade comandamento fe’ che fosser pronti a lui venire alla città reale il giorno della Pasqua di Natale. (Spagna I 5–6) [Once this great king had subjugated part of the world to his power, and had avenged himself on every enemy and made [each] acknowledge his errors, as it happened one day, he decided to make all of Spain obey his will, and, once he had so decided, he immediately summoned a parliament. Throughout all Christendom, through valleys and plains, through coasts and mountains, through towns and cities, and through the countryside, he sent to princes, marquises, dukes, and counts, ordering that all of his noble barons should be ready to come at his command to the royal city on the feast day of Christmas.]

While Roland and the other paladins are the heroic protagonists in this war, Charlemagne is by no means a lesser figure. In several episodes his qualities of capable and valorous leadership are clear: from the unmasking and the punishing of an act of betrayal perpetrated by the Germans during the siege of Pamplona (Spagna IX 28–X 34)7 to the night-flight in which he is carried through the air from Pamplona to far-off Paris by the demon Macabel with the aim of overturning a plot proposito di un’edizione recente’, Medioevo Romanzo, 35.1 (2011), 150–78. References to Spagna in rima, unless otherwise indicated, come from the ‘major’ redaction, which I consider to be the original. 7 During the siege of Pamplona, Charlemagne gives the Germans the simple task of collecting the timber needed to build war machines; feeling humiliated, the Germans decide to desert. Judging by the surviving texts, this episode seems to constitute an innovation of Spagna in rima and as such it indicates, like other similar cases, how an independent tradition soon developed in Italy. For a summary of the entire episode, in the context of the study of the sources of Spagna in rima, see Catalano, La Spagna, I, 21–5 (p. 23).

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against him by the Maganzesi (Spagna XXII 3–XXIII 30).8 But Charlemagne possesses, in addition to these qualities, a fiery temper that will not tolerate any lack of respect; this can be seen in the crucial scene when Charlemagne slaps Roland’s face after the capture of Nobile for what he considered an act of disobedience (Spagna XIV 6–15). At the close, Charlemagne is the one who guarantees, after the disaster of Roncevaux where he lost the best part of his army, the successful outcome of the long war. Through prayer, he engages in a privileged relationship with God, asking for and obtaining miracles: the three miracles of Roncevaux (Spagna XXXVI 47–XXXVII 18) and similarly, later in the narrative, on the return journey to France, the spectacular capture of Narbonne, whose walls collapse through the divine will (Spagna XXIX 38–49). In the final battle Charlemagne takes the field personally against the Saracen army from Zaragoza and, aided by a saintly voice that guides him, kills the otherwise invincible king Balugante. Then, having captured Gano, he ensures that justice triumphs. Indeed, ‘justice’ is the final word in Spagna in rima (‘Così fu per Parigi gran letizia / quando di Gano fu fatta giustizia’ [And so there was great joy throughout Paris when Gano was delivered up to justice], XL 39 7–8). Charlemagne is also the figure of the ideal monarch in the Cantari d’Aspramonte. This text recounts the war led by Charlemagne against the Saracen king Agolante, in the South of Italy, when Roland was still a youth. In one interesting passage, Charlemagne is described as sitting in his richly ornate pavilion,9 surrounded by images of the story of Troy: 8 Stories in which a devil is forced to transfer a mortal by magic from one place to another are popular in Italian literature of the Middle Ages. An episode similar to that of Spagna in rima is in the Cantari del Danese, where Borgone, son of the devil Bravieri and a she-bear, puts Orlando and the Paladins in a shuttle, and quickly transports them through the air to Paris. See Catalano, La Spagna, I, 42–50 (pp. 44, 48–9) and B. Sanvisenti, ‘Sul poema di Uggieri il Danese’, Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino. Classe di Scienze Morali, Storiche e Filosofiche, ser. 2, 1 (1901), 151–226 (190–5, 216–18). Perhaps the most remarkable rewriting of this episode is in Luigi Pulci’s Morgante, where Astarotte and Farferello transport Rinaldo and Ricciardetto from distant Egypt to the field of Roncevaux (XXV 115–XXVI 88). 9 The description of a pavilion, with the wonderful stories depicted there, is a topos of the Italian cantari and there are numerous examples that could be listed among all the texts of chivalric literature. Here I would just like to mention the Cantare del padiglione di Carlo Magno, also known as Cantare del padiglione di Mambrino or with other titles or simply as Cantare del padiglione: see ‘Il padiglione di Mambrino’: un cantare cavalleresco, ed. by O. Targioni Tozzetti (Livorno: Vigo, 1874); see also G. Allaire, ‘Un manoscritto del Cantare del Padiglione (Cod. Riccardiano 1771)’, Studi mediolatini e volgari, 37 (1991), 9–30, and Ead., ‘An unknown fragment of the Cantare del Padiglione found in codex C. 256 of Biblioteca Marucelliana in Firenze’, Medioevo romanzo, 18.2 (1993), 277–92. Among the most important studies on this topic, see P. Orvieto, Pulci medievale (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 1978), pp. 133–42,

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Franca Strologo Carlo era nel suo padiglione magiore, qual era tutto ad ago fatto come se dipinto a penello fusse: eravi [d]entro lo Dio d’Amore ritratto, lavorato con tutte [suo] vertù e posse. Molto era ben lavorato e [ben] ritratto: [molto] buon maestro fu chi tal lavorio mosse. Eravi quattro fate molto belle che parea che quistionasson fra elle. Molto fûro in loro atti valorose: a Parìs diêro l’amore d’Elèna, che fu più bella che viuole o rose; po’ guiderdonata fu co tal mena che tutta quanta se ne spuose, [ond]e molta gente fu morta a tal pena: arsa fu Troia e ’l prode Ettor fu morto; la dama riscossa per quel [tal] aporto. Carlo in quel bel padiglion si sedea. Ruberto de Rocator davanti stava, che lla spada di Carlo in man tenea […] (Aspramonte XX 6, 8–9, 3)10 [Charles was in his principal pavilion, that was all decorated with embroidery as if it were painted with a brush: on it was pictured the God of Love, depicted with all his virtues and power. The work was very skilful and the drawing very accurate: he who made the work was an excellent artist. There were four beautiful goddesses shown there who seemed to be discussing among themselves. They were extremely accomplished in their actions: to Paris they gave the love of Helen, who was more beautiful than violet or rose; then she was rewarded with such a fate that she gave herself wholly to him in marriage and hence many people died in great agony: Troy was burned and valorous Hector killed; and the lady won back through that outcome. Carlo was seated in that beautiful pavilion. Robert of Rocator stood before him, holding Carlo’s sword in his hand […]]

Are these images of love and war intended as inspiration for Charlemagne or as warnings? Are they hinting at the legend of the glorious descent from the Trojans of the Franks as well as the Romans? It is hard to say, but it is certain that this portrayal 154–70 and D. De Robertis, ‘Un “topos” della tradizione dei cantari e una lacuna dell’Orlando laurenziano’, Atti della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, 89 (1954–5), 187–203, also under the title ‘Una toppa per l’Orlando laurenziano’, in his Editi e rari, pp. 115–26. The most famous description is that of the pavilion that the Saracen princess Luciana gives to Rinaldo in the Morgante (XIV 42–92). 10 I cite from ‘Cantari d’Aspramonte’ inediti (Magl. VII 682), ed. by A. Fassò (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1981).

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of Charlemagne during the military campaign in the faraway region of Aspramonte reflects here, as when he is portrayed in Paris or elsewhere, the power and the charisma of the Christian Emperor. In the Cantari del Danese, Charlemagne is defined from the beginning as the ‘corona santa’ [holy crown] (I 3 2).11 The story is centred on the war between Charlemagne and the Saracen king ruling the Italian city of Verona, Massimione; Uggieri the Dane plays the main role in this war as well as in the various adventures that follow.12 Gano plots behind Charlemagne’s back, giving rise to tension in the court, but, despite a few moments of difficulty, Charlemagne preserves his dignity. He fights courageously, for example, on a par with the most valiant of his champions, against the demon Bravieri, even though he knows he must succumb to the hellish creature (it is the Dane who is destined to emerge victorious). Here, Charlemagne, taking leave of his men, does not fail to remind Namo to keep watch over his court, not to surrender, and, if appropriate, to ask strategically for aid from Rome: Disse il re Carlo al dus Namo possente: ‘Pregare ti voglio d’uno servigio caro: se mmi vedi pigliare da questa gente, delle terre guardare piglia riparo. Se ’mpiccare mi vedessi di presente, con quei che presi sono con tanto amaro, non t’arrendere giammai, sostieni la soma; manda al grande apostolico di Roma!’ Dicea il dus Namo: ‘Caro signore mio, fatto sarà vostro comandamento!’ Ciascuno guerriere l’accomandava a Dio […] (Danese VII 53, 54 1–3) [Said King Charles to the powerful Duke Naimes: ‘I’d like to beg you for an important favour: if you see me taken by these people, take measures to guard my lands. If

11 I cite from I ‘Cantari del Danese’. Edizione critica con introduzione, note al testo e glossario, ed. by S. Furlati (Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 2003). The expression ‘holy crown’ for Charlemagne is frequently used in Italian cantari. 12 Concerning the character of the Dane and the cantari dedicated to him, see: P. Rajna, ‘Uggieri il Danese nella letteratura romanzesca degli italiani’, Romania, 2 (1873), 153–69; 3 (1874), 31–77, and 4 (1875), 398–446, reprinted in his Scritti di filologia e linguistica italiana e romanza, 3 vols, ed. by G. Lucchini (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 1998), I, 370–511; R. Renier, ‘Ricerche sulla leggenda di Uggieri il Danese in Francia’, Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino. Classe di Scienze Morali, Storiche e Filosofiche, ser. 2, 41 (1891), 389–459; and B. Sanvisenti, ‘Sul poema di Uggieri il Danese’ (cited above). See also M. Boni, ‘A proposito di un personaggio del Morgante (“Dodone, il figliuol del Danese”)’, Atti dell’Accademia delle Scienze dell’Istituto di Bologna. Classe di Scienze Morali. Rendiconti, 73 (1984–5) [1986], 97–113 (pp. 105–6).

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Franca Strologo you witness me being hanged without delay with those who have been so harshly taken, never ever surrender, sustain the burden of the struggle; send to the great pope in Rome!’ Said Duke Naimes: ‘My dear lord, your commands will be followed!’ Each knight commended himself to God […]]

Charlemagne is a mighty warrior, a powerful ruler and the supreme defender of the Christian faith in the Cantari del Danese; the same can be said, as we have seen, for the Cantari d’Aspramonte, although in these two texts the role of Charlemagne does not emerge as prominently as in Spagna in rima and is perhaps overshadowed by the importance given throughout the narrative to other characters. But it is a very different Charlemagne who appears in the Cantari di Rinaldo. The Cantari di Rinaldo narrate the life and adventures of the most popular of the paladins in Italy, the ‘pro’ Rinaldo’ [brave Rinaldo] (I 1 8),13 from his turbulent adolescent years to his heroic adulthood to his death. When confronting Rinaldo, who fights along with the rebellious vassals against unjust persecution and ends his life in the odour of sanctity, the power of Charlemagne wavers. Among other episodes, the one in which Rinaldo, galloping off on his steed Baiardo, publicly takes the emperor’s crown with words of derision and rides away unpunished, is very emblematic:14 Alla corona fu giunto di fatto; giugnendo, presto colla man la prese, poi parlò sì che Carlo ben lo ’ntese dicendo: ‘Carlo, poiché tua persona non si diletta di magnificenza, cioè di tener così ricca corona, Rinaldo fi’ d’Amon, che è in tua presenza, porterannela via’. Poscia sprona. Carlo gridava: ‘Ad arme!’ con doglienza, udendo dir che colui è Rinaldo […] (Rinaldo XXX 9, 6–10, 7) [He reached where the crown lay, indeed; and having reached it, quickly seized it in his hand, and then spoke so that Carlo heard him clearly, saying: ‘Carlo, since it is not your nature to delight in pomp and splendour, that is, to wear such a rich crown, Rinaldo, son of Amon, who is here before you, will carry it away’. Then he spurred his horse. Carlo cried out with grief: ‘To arms!’, hearing that this was Rinaldo.] 13 I cite from I ‘Cantari di Rinaldo da Monte Albano’. Edizione critica con introduzione e glossario, ed. by Elio Melli (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1973). 14 This episode is already present in the Old French Renaud to Montauban. See Philip Bennett, ‘Charlemagne the Ruler’, in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature, ed. by Marianne J. Ailes and Philip E. Bennett (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming).

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In this difficult situation, Charlemagne, while trying to follow Rinaldo, suffers one of the usual tricks of the magician Malagigi, who steals his horse; and finds himself, in front of all his barons, on foot, alone and humiliated: Udendo i suoi baron quel che el diceva di Malagigi, suoi ingegni e malizia, molti ve n’ha che forte ne rideva. Carlo mostrava tanta ira e trestizia che di rider ciascun si riteneva. Carlo giurava che giammai letizia el non prenderà mai, veruna festa, che egli averà la sua corona in testa […] (Rinaldo XXX 34) [There were many of his barons, who hearing what Charles was saying about Malagigi, his tricks and malice, laughed loudly at it. Charles showed such gloomy wrath that each of them restrained himself from laughing. Charles swore that he would never again know happiness, or hold any celebration, until he had his crown on his head again […]]

The element of derision drastically diminishes the figure of the emperor, who becomes an object of ridicule, if not, rather of pity. Similar scenes, unthinkable in texts such as Spagna in rima, can be found also in Orlando. Orlando recounts countless adventures of Orlando, Rinaldo and the paladins who travel repeatedly from Paris to the faraway lands of ‘Pagania’ and back again. Both Orlando and Rinaldo come into conflict with Charlemagne on several occasions. The character of Charlemagne in Orlando loses not only his greatness, but even the capacity to discern and to judge. Charlemagne repeatedly turns out to be the unwilling victim of Gano’s machinations. Rinaldo finds it necessary to conquer Paris and when Charlemagne must run away, he seizes power, acclaimed by the barons: Essendo a Parigi entrato dentro alla porta A gridar cominciò la francha schorta: Uiua il prinça Rinaldo paladino Di Chiaramonte, sir di Monte Albano, E muoia Carlo, figliuol di Pipino, E muoia il falso traditor di Gano! Correuano per la terra al lor dimino E Ricciardetto, quel baron sourano, Ch’auea riceuuta tanta noia, A gridar cominciò: muoia Mongioia! (Orlando XXIII 21 7–8, 22)15 15 I cite from ‘Orlando’, die Vorlage zu Pulci’s ‘Morgante’, ed. by J. Hübscher (Marburg: Universitäts-Buchdruckerei, 1886).

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Franca Strologo [Having entered the gate of Paris the valiant company began to shout: ‘Long live Prince Rinaldo, the paladin of Chiaramonte, lord of Montalbano, and death to Charles, the son of Pepin, death to the false traitor Ganelon!’ They rushed through the city at will and Ricciardetto, that excellent baron, who had suffered so much agony, began to shout: Death to Monjoie!]

With Rinaldo seated on the throne in Charlemagne’s place, a joyous atmosphere finally reigns in Paris. It is interesting to notice that not much is said, on a political level, about the ways in which Rinaldo exercises his power in order to ensure, unlike Charlemagne, the well-being of his subjects. It does not seem to matter to the author of Orlando; what matters is that, after a while, when Rinaldo hears that Orlando has been taken prisoner in ‘Pagania’, he yields power, generously, and leaves, in search of his cousin and of other adventures. Carletto, judging from its opening verses, seems intended to tell the infancy and youth of the future emperor. Charlemagne is once more depicted as the perfect, ideal sovereign he was also in Spagna in rima: d’u’ mangnio inperadore i’ uo’ chontare: già mai non fue niun tanto posente, ualoroso e gentile in ciaschuno atto: il popol saracino per lu’ fu sfatto. Charlepto si chiamò, al mio parere, quand’era picholino, in fede mia (Carletto, I 3 5–8 and 4 1–2) [I want to tell you about a great emperor: never was there one so powerful, valorous and noble in every deed: the Saracen people was defeated by him. Carletto he was named, to my knowledge, when he was little, on my true word.]

But the narrative begins far back, with the war between king Pipino and the Saracen Giustamonte who, sent by his brother the king of Spain Galafro, has invaded Christian lands. Pipino, accompanied by the barons of France, moves against Giustamonte, who is camped near Cologne, and challenges him to a duel. Despite his very tiny stature, Pipino manages to kill the fearsome Saracen and to push back the invaders. En route back to Paris, he meets a mysterious lion. Although the lion shows respect and reverence, Pipino, full of pride following his recent victory, decides to attack it. At this point (Carletto, II 21 1) the text breaks off. We are dealing here with a fragment, which luckily survived in a miscellaneous manuscript. I will return to Carletto later, within the framework of the circulation of Carolingian stories in Italy, as it seems to me to be of particular relevance for the history of the genre of the Italian cantari in ottava rima. The figure of Charlemagne in the Italian cantari on the whole is multifaceted. We can agree that, as is the case with the earlier chansons de geste in France, there were also in Italy principally two contradictory images of the emperor: in Pio Rajna’s words, Charlemagne appears to us at times wise, magnanimous and

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talented, and at times stupid, vile, weak.16 In fact, in the Italian cantari the influence of French or Franco-Italian models, in verse as well as in prose, is still quite strong and Charlemagne remains mainly what he had been in the original texts and in their long, complex traditions. Perhaps the most eloquent example is given by the Charlemagne of the Cantari di Rinaldo. As Rajna observed, the twelfth-century French texts dedicated to Renaud, with tales of vassals battling royal authority, could have had their historical basis in the reigns of Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald. In Italy their composition and diffusion is certainly considerably later than the French versions. But despite Italy’s very different historical and political contexts in which the cantari were composed and circulated, in the Cantari di Rinaldo Charlemagne remains none the less the ambivalent character, both tyrannical and weak, he had been in the French sources: if only because, according to Rajna, a large majority of the Italians, as lovers of freedom, liked him depicted in this way.17 It would be a mistake to underestimate the importance and the potential for political discourse in portraying Charlemagne in the Italian cantari; on the other hand, we cannot generally assume that all the authors of Carolingian cantari as a whole wanted to disseminate a message of political propaganda in the first place, and the different texts should be thoroughly investigated individually. In such an investigation it would be necessary – if possible – to look closely at the relations between the Italian Charlemagne and the French one, in order to examine whether there are differences between the French sources and the Italian rewritings in the representation of Charlemagne, in each text, and, if so, what they are. This is a wide-ranging and complex piece of research, which is still largely to be done, not least because of the absence of many documents and manuscript witnesses. Here, I will be able to give just a few examples. Despite the loss of a very high percentage of manuscripts throughout the medieval and renaissance periods, we know at least that the Cantari di Rinaldo have a close relationship with the Beuves d’Aigremont, the Maugis d’Aigremont and especially with the Renaut de Montauban in verse. It is therefore possible to note in this case the transformation, in the passage from the French Renaud de Montauban to the Italian Cantari di Rinaldo, of the war against the Saxons into a war against the Saracens invading Provence, while the king Escorfaut becomes the giant Scrofaldo (Rinaldo XXVII 29–XXVIII 20).18 In the Cantari di Rinaldo, the main interest, rather than focusing on political discourse, that is, on reflections of a political nature, on the art of government or on the art of 16 See Rajna, ‘Rinaldo da Montalbano’, p. 105. 17 See ibid., p. 173. 18 For an examination of the relations between the French and Italian Rinaldo traditions, see E. Melli, ‘I cantari di Rinaldo e l’epica francese’, Atti dell’Accademia delle Scienze di Bologna. Classe di Scienze Morali. Rendiconti, 58 (1969–70), 102–56, then in the chapter ‘I “Cantari di Rinaldo” e l’epica francese’ of his I ‘Cantari di Rinaldo da Monte Albano’, pp. VII–XXIII.

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rebellion against an oppressive central power, seems to move swiftly to the war of religion, a popular theme in the Carolingian cantari, while the Saxon king is transformed into a giant, in order to best entertain, perhaps, the vivid imagination of the broadly-based public of the Italian piazzas and also of the courts. In such an investigation, moreover, it would be necessary to weigh up for each text the impact of later rewritings that may have modified, for varied reasons, the character of certain episodes and their protagonists. This might be the case, for instance, with the portrayal of Charlemagne in the cantari of the Rotta di Roncisvalle in the so-called ‘minor’ redaction of Spagna in rima, which was written by a different author from that of the ‘major’ redaction. This Charlemagne constitutes in my opinion one of the most interesting representations that can be found in the Italian cantari. After the disaster of Roncevaux, he does not fight the last battle through which Orlando and the fallen Christians are vindicated, as in the Chanson de Roland and in the Italian tradition of the texts in verse and in prose derived from the French masterpiece, including the ‘major’ redaction of Spagna in rima. The ‘minor’ Spagna ends in fact with Alda’s death, in a scene in which Charlemagne is in tears. His desperate sorrow has no release nor any possible consolation: Chi avesse veduto el crudo pianto di Carlo e de’ baroni e de le donne, l’un più che l’altro vi parëa franto […] Carlo s’avia tutto ’l viso squarçato […] O che gran pianto fa la gente sue e Carlo et ogni suo baron perfetto! Vedendo quella dam’a tal fenire, greve lor fu cotal duol soferire. (Spagna ferrarese XXXIV 33 1–3, 34 3, 43 5–8) [Anyone who had seen the desperate weeping of Charles and the barons and the women, [would have thought that] each one seemed more broken up than the next […] Charles’ face was scratched and torn all over […] Oh, what a great lamentation his people made as well as Charles and every single one of his excellent barons! It was a grievous burden for them to bear such pain, on seeing that lady suffer such an end.]

Whatever the reasons for such a choice in portraying Charlemagne – whether due to the will of the second author to avoid the glorification of a war of religion, or the simple wish to bring the tale to a quick ending, or the interference of a source unknown to us today – the absence of definite information about the paternity of the text, the place and in particular the date of its composition, also in relation to the date of composition of the ‘major’ Spagna, calls for further research. In fact, we still know very little about the relative chronology of the Carolingian cantari: which cantari were the ones composed first and which later, which in the manner of a prequel or a sequel of a story well known to both authors and public? We do not know, for example, if the composition of Spagna in rima precedes, follows, or is contemporary with the writing of the Cantari di Rinaldo. The manner in which

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the figure of Charlemagne is presented in the various texts does not give any definite clues: it would be a mistake to hold, let us say, that the composition of the Cantari di Rinaldo, in which Charlemagne, compared to his paladins, is portrayed as a rather diminished and inferior figure, is later than the composition of the original redaction of Spagna in rima, in which Charlemagne is presented with the majesty to be found in the oldest sources, above all, the Chanson de Roland. Any author or any rifacitore – such as that of the ‘minor’ Spagna – could have accessed, in the fourteenth or in the fifteenth century, sources written in the distant past or more recently and could have mixed them with characters and episodes of his own imagination. This makes it difficult to isolate elements which might have been taken from earlier texts known to the authors and their readers, but which are no longer known to us.19 Furthermore, we still know very little about the general chronology of Carolingian cantari. The opinions of the most authoritative scholars vary in this regard, partly because of different methodological approaches that are used in studying these texts that have both oral and written dimensions. From the 1950s onwards Italian philological criticism proposed that texts such as Spagna in rima, Orlando, the Cantari d’Aspramonte, the Cantari di Rinaldo and the Cantari del Danese did not come into being before the mid to late fifteenth century, and this is still the established view today. But were all these texts really composed almost at the same time as Luigi Pulci’s Morgante, if not even later? I am convinced we have to reconsider this dating. As the time when the Italian cantari first began to circulate in Italy forms an important aspect of the tradition of Charlemagne narratives in the peninsula, I propose to trace in this chapter the history of discussions on dating of each of the texts under consideration, showing both the problems and the probable answers.

I

Dating Spagna in rima

n a 1959 study of Spagna in rima and other Carolingian cantari, Carlo Dionisotti criticised the ease with which some earlier scholars had argued for dates of composition within the fourteenth century of texts that are to be found solely in 19 It is well known that many episodes resemble each other in several Carolingian cantari and it is not easy to establish their relationships. It seems none the less that Spagna in rima, according to Catalano, precedes Orlando. In Orlando the episode of the giant Marcovaldo’s baptism at the moment of death and the ascent of his soul to heaven seems effectively inspired by the conclusion of the episode of the duel of Orlando and Ferraù in Spagna in rima (see Catalano, La Spagna, I, p. 107). Rajna already noted many analogies between Orlando and the Cantari del Danese, where Burrato, the Saracen giant, converts and becomes the faithful companion of the paladins, equal to Morgante. See Rajna, Uggieri il Danese, pp. 496–7; he maintained that in all probability the Danese predates Orlando, see p. 505. Sanvisenti believed that the Cantari del Danese precede Spagna in rima: see ‘Sul poema di Uggieri il Danese’, p. 193.

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fifteenth-century manuscripts. He posited that the existence at the time of Antonio Pucci (as already mentioned, he was a contemporary of Boccaccio) of ‘long’ Carolingian cantari in ottava rima, such as Spagna in rima, Orlando, the Cantari d’Aspramonte, the Cantari di Rinaldo, the Cantari del Danese, was not documented and must be, if not proven otherwise, considered exceptional, while the circulation of such texts must be considered ‘normale, nel medio e tardo Quattrocento’ [normal in the mid and late fifteenth century].20 In 1961 Domenico De Robertis also urged caution in the practice of retrodating texts which survive only in later copies. Stressing the unstable nature of the ‘short’ cantari (such as the Dama del Verzù, the Piramo e Tisbe, the Florio e Biancifiore), he reflected that it is difficult to arrive at an original redaction, and dating it, because every text could have been significantly rewritten on several occasions, by several different hands, and so each version could be significantly different from all the others. He concluded that ‘un cantare ha l’età del più antico codice che lo riporta, quanto dire della più antica redazione attestata’ [a cantare has the dating of the oldest codex that transmits it, that is to say of the oldest surviving witness].21 The critical approach to the dating of cantari established by Dionisotti and De Robertis prevailed in Italian studies on these texts through the second half of the twentieth century, but it has later been revisited in the light of recent research, including my own. An example in this regard is constituted by the altered approach of scholars to Spagna in rima. The surviving witnesses of Spagna in rima – seven manuscripts and four incunabula,22 followed by over thirty printed editions up to 1783 – can be grouped into 20 C. Dionisotti, ‘Entrée d’Espagne, Spagna, Rotta di Roncisvalle’, in Studi in onore di Angelo Monteverdi, 2 vols (Modena: Società Tipografica Editrice Modenese, 1959), I, 207–41, then in his Scritti di storia della letteratura italiana, ed. by T. Basile, V. Fera, S. Villari, 5 vols (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2008–16), I (2008), 277–313 (p. 292). See also C. Dionisotti, ‘Appunti su antichi testi’, Italia medioevale e umanistica, 7 (1964), 77–131, reprinted in his Scritti di storia della letteratura italiana, II (2009), 95–140. 21 D. De Robertis, ‘Problemi di metodo nell’edizione dei cantari’, in Id., Editi e rari. Studi sulla tradizione letteraria tra Tre e Cinquecento (Milan: Feltrinelli, 1978), pp. 91–109 (p. 94). 22 Seven manuscript copies of Spagna in rima are known to us: C = Rome, Biblioteca Corsiniana, MS 44. D. 16, datable c. 1440–50; F = Ferrara, Biblioteca Comunale Ariostea, MS Cl. II, 132, from 1453; G = Como, Biblioteca della Società Storica Comense, MS without call number or shelf mark, c. 1480–90; L = Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Plut. XC inf., 39, from 1470; P = Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Italien 567, c. 1450–60; P’ = Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Italien 395, also c. 1450–60; R = Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 2829, c. 1440–60. The four incunabula are: B = London, British Library, G 10838, and Philadelphia, Rosenbach Museum and Library, inc. 487s, printed in Bologna by Ugo Ruggieri in 1487; M = Philadelphia,

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two main redactions: a ‘major’ one of about forty canti or cantari, and a ‘minor’ one of thirty-four cantari; there are also some ‘mixed’ redactions. The differences between the redactions are predominantly to be found in two well-known episodes, the Combattimento di Orlando e Ferraù and the Rotta di Roncisvalle.23 According to Pio Rajna and Michele Catalano, Spagna in rima first appeared in the form of the ‘major’ redaction, in Tuscany, in the second half of the fourteenth century.24 In Catalano’s view it was written by the Florentine poet Sostegno di Zanobi to whom the poem has been attributed in the final stanza.25 But according to Dionisotti, Spagna in rima originates instead in the ‘minor’ redaction, penned by an anonymous author, in central or northern Italy, around the middle of the fifteenth century, the period to which the surviving manuscripts can be dated; Sostegno di Zanobi would then be simply ‘un oscuro cantastorie o correttore’ [an obscure performer or corrector], who late in the fifteenth century, after making some changes to another author’s composition, gave himself the credit for having written the entire work.26 With few exceptions, scholars have accepted Dionisotti’s thesis, while each in their own way has dealt with particular aspects of the redactional history of Spagna in rima. Enrico Carrara did not disagree with Rajna and Catalano regarding the prior dating of the ‘major’ Spagna, but unlike Catalano he did not believe that the episodes of the Combattimento and the Rotta had circulated autonomously as short poems. He asserted that the ‘minor’ Spagna simply constituted a later and

Rosenbach Museum and Library, inc. 488z, printed in Venice by Bartolomeo Zani in 1488, once belonging to Count Gaetano Melzi; N = Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale, inc. S.Q.XI D.31, possibly printed in Rome by Stefano Plannck in 1480 or in Brescia by Bonino Bonini in 1489; and S = Sevilla, Institución Colombina, inc. 4-4-33/2, printed in Florence by Lorenzo di Mattio Morgiani and Giovanni di Piero Tedesco da Maganza in 1490. 23 In the ‘major’ Spagna, in forty cantari, the Combattimento di Orlando e Ferraù extends over four cantari, the Rotta di Roncisvalle twelve (MS P, MS L; inc. M, inc. N). In the ‘minor’ Spagna (MS F, MS G), in thirty-four cantari, the Combattimento extends over two cantari, the Rotta eight. Some ‘mixed’ redactions (MSS. C, P’, R) follow the ‘shorter’ Rotta, but toward the end they take up the narrative according to the ‘longer’ Rotta; others (inc. B, inc. S) present the ‘shorter’ Combattimento and the ‘longer’ Rotta. 24 See P. Rajna, La Rotta di Roncisvalle nella letteratura cavalleresca italiana (Bologna: Tipi Fava e Garagnani, 1871), reprinted in his Scritti di filologia e linguistica, I, 190–369 (pp. 238–40 and 324). Catalano develops this regarding the history of the poem’s redaction, author and dating; see his La Spagna, I, respectively on pp. 137–8, pp. 94 and 96, and p. 89. 25 Referred to as ‘Sostregnio di Zanobi da Firenza’ (inc. M XL 43 2) and as ‘Sostegno di Zanobi da Firenze’ (inc. S XXXVII 43 2). 26 Dionisotti, Entrée d’Espagne, Spagna, Rotta di Roncisvalle, p. 300.

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abbreviated redaction of the ‘major’ one.27 Giuseppe Guido Ferrero believed that Dionisotti was mainly in the right in holding that the ‘major’ Spagna was later than the ‘minor’ one, but that he was wrong in rejecting the attribution of the ‘major’ Spagna to Sostegno di Zanobi. Moreover, Ferrero believed that for its tone, style, and language locating the original composition of Spagna in rima in the last years of the fourteenth century is at least probable.28 According to Elio Melli, the ‘minor’ Spagna demonstrates, with its internal inconsistencies, all the signs of a shortened rewriting.29 Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti, instead, stated that Dionisotti was correct in hypothesising the chronological precedence of the ‘minor’ Spagna, notwithstanding the incongruities present in this redaction, that had been noted by Rajna and Catalano. For Tissoni Benvenuti, such incongruities are not signs of a rewriting, but they are due rather to the combining of several pre-existing short poems, from which the ‘minor’ redaction originated: originally they would try to unite in one manuscript the Spanish wars with the defeat at Roncevaux, without interfering; only later did various rifacitori deal with harmonising the events, in the form of what eventually became the ‘major’ redaction.30 Cristina Montagnani argued that the text of Spagna ferrarese, which is the most authoritative representative of the ‘minor’ redaction, constitutes, as Dionisotti held, the oldest variant of the poem, ‘una sorta di ur-Spagna’ [a sort of ur-Spagna] from which all other versions were derived.31 Most recently Giovanni Palumbo sought to reconcile the theses of Rajna and Catalano on the one hand and Dionisotti on the other, and urged that, rather than attempt to establish which was the original redaction of Spagna in rima, it would be opportune to recall that in the fifteenth century the two main redactions of the poem circulated simultaneously, reflecting the fruitful cultural exchanges operating between Tuscany and the regions of Emilia and the Veneto to the north east: according to Palumbo, the verification of such a ‘collaboration’ counts as much as, and perhaps more than, the verification of which area gave birth to the composition of the story.32 27 E. Carrara, review of Catalano, La Spagna, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 64 (1947), 70–7 (p. 72). 28 Poemi cavallereschi, ed. by G. G. Ferrero (Turin: UTET, 1963; repr. 1983), p. 69. 29 E. Melli, ‘Per una ridefinizione della Spagna “ferrarese”. L’attenuazione della casualità’, in Omaggio a Gianfranco Folena, 3 vols (Padua: Editoriale Programma, 1993), I, 759–72 (p. 771). 30 A. Tissoni Benvenuti, ‘Intertestualità cavalleresca’, in ‘Tre volte suona l’olifante…’: La tradizione rolandiana in Italia fra Medioevo e Rinascimento, ed. by G. Palumbo, A. Tissoni Benvenuti, M. Villoresi (Milan: Unicopli, 2007), pp. 57–78 (p. 77). 31 C. Montagnani, ‘Introduzione’, Spagna ferrarese, p. 11. 32 G. Palumbo, La ‘Chanson de Roland’ in Italia nel Medioevo (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 2013), p. 290. Other discussions of Spagna in rima include D. Delcorno Branca, ‘Sulla tradizione della Spagna in rima. Una recente edizione e alcune note sul combattimento di Orlando e Ferraù’, Lettere italiane, 63 (2011), 345–77, which

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My own studies on Spagna in rima have included an analytical examination and a rigorous classification of all the surviving witnesses, the study of their stylistic and formal characteristics and the organisation of narrative materials, the comparison with other Carolingian stories in verse and in prose that circulated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the rediscovery of archival documents on Sostegno di Zanobi. At the end of this research I concluded that the original form of Spagna in rima was that of the ‘major’ redaction in forty cantari, of Tuscan origin, as held by Rajna and Catalano; and that the ‘minor’ redaction of thirty-four cantari, stemming from Spagna ferrarese, is instead, contrary to Dionisotti’s opinion, a later redaction, produced in Emilia, in the circle of the d’Este court. I summarise here the main conclusions of my research on the dating of Spagna in rima.33 Although all surviving Spagna manuscripts are datable to the fifteenth century, the composition of the earliest version of the poem can be placed with a good margin of certainty in the second half of the fourteenth century. The oldest dated manuscript of Spagna in rima is Spagna ‘ferrarese’ (MS F), from 1453, that transmits the ‘minor’ redaction. This is, however, a later redaction, the original redaction being the ‘major’ one. But the oldest dated manuscript of the ‘major’ redaction which survives is Spagna ‘laurenziana’ (MS L), from 1470. The situation is complicated by the fact that other undated manuscripts may prove to be older than both F and L. This may be the case of Spagna ‘corsiniana’ (MS C), that seems to date to the 1440s and that nonetheless transmits a ‘mixed’ redaction, undoubtedly composed later than both the ‘major’ and the ‘minor’ ones. Taken in its entirety, the manuscript tradition of Spagna is dated, or roughly dateable, to the second and third quarters of the fifteenth century. However, the history of the composition and progressive spread of the poem, in different redactions, in different regions – e.g., the linguistic patina of one Spagna ‘parigina’ (MS P’) is southern, while the linguistic patina of Spagna ‘comense’ (MS G) is northern – cannot be squeezed into such a confined timeframe. The middle of the 1400s clearly cannot be the moment when Spagna in rima originated. Rather it is the period in which the poem already enjoyed an ample oral and written circulation, throughout the peninsula. A further argument in support of the earlier dating of Spagna in rima is provided by other versions, in prose and in verses, of the narrative Spagna tradition. We know examines the edition of Spagna ‘ferrarese’; and M. Villoresi, ‘Voci e scritture per le storie di Spagna’, in Carlo Magno in Italia e la fortuna dei libri di cavalleria. Atti del Convegno internazionale di Zurigo (6–8 maggio 2014), ed. by J. Bartuschat and F. Strologo (Ravenna: Longo Editore, 2016), pp. 125–42, which underlines the importance of the oral dimension in the study of cantari. 33 For a full discussion of the arguments see my volume ‘La Spagna’ nella letteratura cavalleresca italiana (Rome-Padua: Antenore, 2014), in which, for critical problems relating to the two Combattimenti and the two Rotte, see pages 55–95 and 163–233. See also, for further considerations, my ‘Intorno alla Spagna in rima: questioni di metodo’, Critica del testo, 19.2 (2016), 167–98, on orality and writing.

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that Spagna in prosa is dateable to about the second quarter of the fifteenth century34 and that Spagna magliabechiana was written, as the narrator asserts, between 1453 and 1456.35 One can easily observe that these texts were already in contact with Spagna in rima, at times quoting its verses, in both its ‘major’ and ‘minor’ redactions, and pushing back, yet again, the terminus ante quem, although it remains difficult to establish a precise dating.36 One possible solution to the question of dating the earliest version of Spagna in rima may be in recently discovered archival documents concerning Sostegno di Zanobi, discussed above: a man called Sostegno di Zanobi was alive in the second half of the fourteenth century and died in 1383 or 1384.37 He 34 Spagna in prosa survives in one undated manuscript, written in the latter years of the fifteenth century, but the text’s composition has usually been associated with the cultural sphere of Andrea da Barberino, between the first and second quarters of that century. For more information see La ‘Spagna in prosa’ (Firenze, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Mediceo Palatino 1013), ed. by F. Moretti (Pisa: ETS, 2013), pp. 9–14 and 37–9. 35 Spagna magliabechiana was recopied in 1472 in the only surviving manuscript. The signature of the author or copyist – it is difficult to say which – was later erased. Among the most recent publications on this text see A. Hanus, ‘Pour une première approche de la Spagna Magliabechiana’, Medioevo romanzo, 35.1 (2011), 179–94. See also Id., ‘La Spagna Magliabechiana e la materia cavalleresca italiana. Edizione critica e studio del MS BNCF II, I, 57’ (unpublished doctoral dissertation, Université de Namur-Università di Napoli, 2012). 36 Interesting observations are to be found in G. Palumbo, ‘Echi della tradizione rolandiana nelle Chiose Selmi alla Divina Commedia’, Filologia e critica, 39.1 (2004), 112–44, according to which a variant of the Chiose Selmi – namely, the Chiose Marciane, dated 1378 – closely mirrors the account of the cantari of the Rotta di Roncisvalle in the ‘major’ Spagna. See also, by the same scholar, La ‘Chanson de Roland’ in Italia nel Medioevo, particularly the chapters ‘Alla ricerca di “pietre per costruire”: un “salto nel buio” nell’aureo Trecento’ (pp. 127–9) and ‘Le Chiose Selmi a Inf., XXXI 16–18’ (pp. 182–92). 37 The name Sostegno di Zanobi is rare. Catalano, in the course of his archival research, had observed that in the fifteenth century Sostegno had become a surname; in the fourteenth century, however, Sostegno was still a given name – as in the verses of Spagna in rima – in use both in Florence and in nearby areas. Catalano had finally identified the two names Sostegno and Zanobi, joined together to denote a single person, in two entries of the Libro del Monte del Comune fiorentino in Wellesley College Library (MA) (for further information, see La Spagna, I, 94–5). I have found witnesses to a certain Sostegno di Zanobi – the same person or a homonym? – in Istoria Fiorentina di Marchionne di Coppo Stefani, edited by Ildefonso di San Luigi in 1783, in Delizie degli eruditi toscani, pubblicate e di osservazioni storiche e critiche accresciute da fr. Ildefonso di San Luigi, 26 vols (Florence: per Gaetano Cambiagi stampator granducale, 1770– 89), XVI, pp. 223, 489, 490, 493. I have also found further evidence of a Sostegno di Zanobi in other manuscript documents and early printed material. Some of

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seems to have been the author of a sonnet, entitled ‘Posto m’ho in cuor di dir di ciò che avvene’, which circulated in 1375 and was attributed to him in some manuscripts and publications.38 This discovery is very significant because it constitutes the first documented proof we have that Sostegno di Zanobi, traditionally associated with the composition of the ‘major’ Spagna, was indeed a poet who lived in the second

these witnesses must have originally been contained in a fourteenth-century book of memoirs, written by Ser Lorenzo di Ser Tano da Lutiano, now lost. These memoirs were partially copied in the seventeenth century by Stefano Rosselli in a manuscript entitled Spoglio di scritture antiche, which can now be consulted in Florence, at the private Archive Rosselli Del Turco (n. 174). They were later published with the title Cronica di Ser Lorenzo da Lutiano in G. M. Brocchi, Descrizione della provincia del Mugello (Florence: Anton Maria Albizzini, 1748; repr. Bologna: Forni, 1967), pp. 1–99. For the entries about Sostegno di Zanobi, see pp. 43, 44, 50. 38 For the sonnet see Cronica di Ser Lorenzo da Lutiano (preceding note), later published in Istoria Fiorentina di Marchionne di Coppo Stefani, XVI, p. 490, where it was accompanied by these pieces of information given by Ildefonso di San Luigi: ‘Havvi bensì notizia fra le Memorie di Ser Lorenzo di Ser Tano da Lutiano a 169 che Sostegno nell’anno 1375. Aveva banca di Cambio in Mercato Vecchio, e di lui è riportato, ivi a 170, il seguente sonetto. Posto m’ho in cuor di dir di ciò che avvene’ [The Memorie di Ser Lorenzo di Ser Tano da Lutiano record at p. 169 that Sostegno had a Currency Exchange bank in Mercato Vecchio in the year 1375, and the following sonnet by him is recorded there at p. 170, Posto m’ho in cuor di dir di ciò che avvene]. During my archival research I rediscovered the lost Zibaldoni by Ildefonso di San Luigi, now in the State Archives in Florence (Acquisti e Doni 388–96). In these Zibaldoni, Ildefonso used to collect documents and notes as the basis for his publications. The sonnet by Sostegno di Zanobi is at Zibaldone E, c. 142v. It is reasonable to suppose that Ildefonso, at that time, could have directly consulted the Memorie di Ser Lorenzo di Ser Tano da Lutiano, but we do not know exactly from which documents and publications he derived all his notes. On the other hand, the sonnet Posto m’ho in cuor di dir di ciò ch’avvene is also to be found in other manuscripts and early printed materials, with different attributions. It is found, with some variants, in Sonetti del Burchiello, di Bellincioni, e d’altri poeti fiorentini alla burchiellesca, ed. by A. M. Biscioni [pseudonym Lubrisco Burchio] (London: 1757, but probably in fact printed in Lucca or Pisa) (see M. Parenti, Dizionario dei luoghi di stampa falsi, inventati o supposti in opere di autori e traduttori italiani (Florence: Sansoni, 1951), p. 118). In Part Three, dedicated to compositions of uncertain attribution, the sonnet is attributed to Burchiello, and published here for the first time (p. 175). For the attribution of manuscripts of the same sonnet to the Florentine poet Niccolò di Neri Soldanieri (second half of the fourteenth century), see ‘Mirabile. Archivio digitale della cultura medievale’, . See also N. Soldanieri, Rime, in Rimatori del Trecento, ed. by G. Corsi (Turin: UTET, 1969), pp. 638–42 (n. 45).

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half of Trecento.39 It is not possible to demonstrate that this poet is the same as the one who wrote Spagna in rima, but the traditional attribution of Spagna in rima now rests on more solid foundations, and the fourteenth century – or more accurately, its second half – seems to provide a useful hypothesis as to the period of the work’s initial circulation.

T

Dating Orlando

he debate over the relationship between Orlando (also referred to as Orlando laurenziano) and Luigi Pulci’s Morgante is comparable in several respects to that over Spagna in rima. The Orlando manuscript (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Mediceo Palatino 78) was discovered by Pio Rajna in 1869.40 It is incomplete; it is lacking the opening section of the narrative and some material at the end, and it can be dated roughly to the last quarter of the fifteenth century. Analysing the text, Rajna concluded that Pulci took inspiration from Orlando for the composition of the first twenty-three cantari of the Morgante, famously declaring: ‘Pulci deve acconciarsi a lasciare il vanto di rinnovatore della nostra epopea cavalleresca per quello, senza paragone più umile, di rifacitore d’un poema composto da altri’ [Pulci must set aside the image of the great renewer of our chivalric literature for that, certainly more humble, of the reteller of a poem written by someone else].41 Rajna’s thesis, further corroborated about fifteen years later by the edition and study of the text by Swiss philologist Johannes Hübscher,42 stood unchallenged for over a century,43 but recently it has been questioned by Mario Martelli and Paolo Orvieto. Orlando is a long poem of more than sixty cantari, yet Martelli and Orvieto apply to it De Robertis’ methodological observations established for the ‘short’ cantari. Moreover, like Dionisotti, they exclude the possibility of considering, in the absence of direct witnesses and documents, the circulation of the text before the time of the surviving manuscript. Orvieto suggests that if the manuscript of Orlando laurenziano is from the late fifteenth century, we cannot consider it a faithful copy of a late fourteenth- or early fifteenth-century poem, a period in 39 For further information on the archival documents concerning Sostegno di Zanobi, see Strologo, La Spagna, pp. 321–45 (pp. 336–45). 40 P. Rajna, ‘La materia del Morgante in un ignoto poema cavalleresco del secolo XV’, Il Propugnatore, 2 (1869), 1–35, 220–52, 353–84, and in his Scritti di filologia e linguistica, I, 3–100. 41 Ibid., pp. 3–4. 42 Hübscher, ‘Orlando’, die Vorlage zu Pulci’s ‘Morgante’, pp. XLIV–XLV. 43 Among the better-known studies on Orlando and Morgante, see De Robertis, ‘Una toppa per l’Orlando laurenziano’, and R. Ceserani, ‘L’allegra fantasia di Luigi Pulci e il rifacimento dell’Orlando’, Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana, 135 (1958), 171–214, and also his ‘Un episodio cavalleresco dell’Orlando rifatto da Luigi Pulci’, Italica, 36.4 (1959), 251–61.

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which, according to Orvieto, ‘non sono attestati poemi in [ottava] rima e quasi neppure cantari, se si eccettuano quelli boccacciani’ [there are no attestations of poems in ottava rima and almost no cantari either, if one excepts those written by Boccaccio].44 Martelli similarly believes that ‘OL, trascritto nel penultimo se non nell’ultimo decennio del secolo, non poté essere la fonte del Morgante’ [Orlando laurenziano, copied in the last twenty years if not the last ten years of the century, could not be the source of Morgante].45 The composition of the Laurenziano manuscript occurred according to Rajna, whose dating is correct, in the seventh or eighth decade of the fifteenth century. This is very close in time to the appearance of the first printed edition, sadly no longer extant, of the Morgante (that is, ante 1478). But Rajna implicitly held the manuscript of Orlando to be a late copy of a lost original; he had found the date of the presumed composition of the earliest text in some verses that are difficult to understand: […] Quando el maestro alla storia a distendere; Poi offerendo a coluj che la rimaua Mille trecento quatro con otanta – Ritorno a dire la storia che si canta. (Orlando XX 2 6–8) [When the master [has] to expound on the story, then offering to him who put it into verse a thousand three hundred four with eight – I return to recount the tale that is sung.]

According to Rajna, the verses above should be paraphrased as: ‘A master composed in prose Orlando and gave it to a rhymer, who in 1384 transposed this into verses’.46 In particular, the presence of this date, 1384, has been interpreted by scholars in different ways. Martelli holds it to be a firm date,47 but one that refers to the composition of a now-lost text, predating both Morgante and Orlando laurenziano, an ur-Orlando that could be identified with that Cantar d’Orlando (Morgante XIX 153 2) which Pulci himself notes in verses well known to scholars, stating that it is the 44 P. Orvieto, ‘Luigi Pulci’, in Storia della letteratura italiana, ed. by E. Malato, 3: Il Quattrocento, Part 1: Rinascimento e Umanesimo (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 1996), t. 5, pp. 405–55 (p. 441). The same scholar, between 1978 and 1989, had already reached similar conclusions: see Orvieto, Pulci medievale, p. 11; and his ‘Sul rapporto Morgante-Orlando laurenziano’, in Ritterepik der Renaissance. Akten des deutsch-italienisch Kolloquiums. Berlin 30.3–2.4.1987, ed. by K. W. Hempfer (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1989), pp. 142–52. See also his recent Pulci: Luigi e una famiglia di poeti (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 2017), especially the chapter ‘Il problema delle fonti. Il rapporto Morgante – Orlando laurenziano’, pp. 186–94. 45 M. Martelli, ‘Tre studi sul Morgante’, Interpres, 13 (1993), 56–109 (p. 71). 46 Rajna, ‘La materia del Morgante’, p. 71; see also Hübscher, ‘Orlando’, p. XLV. 47 Martelli, ‘Tre studi sul Morgante’, p. 71.

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point of reference of his own poem.48 Orvieto on the other hand has observed that nothing permits such an identification: the Cantar d’Orlando could also be, according to him, an early version of the Morgante itself.49 Ultimately, opinions vary, but Orvieto and Martelli substantially have held that the relationship between Orlando and Morgante, involving lost witnesses and maybe lost texts, is more complicated than Rajna believed; and that Orlando laurenziano derives, in any case, from Morgante.50 Numerous Italian scholars have intervened in this debate, including Stefano Carrai,51 Marco Villoresi,52 Emanuela Puce,53 Maria Cristina Cabani,54 and 48 ‘Tanto è ch’io voglio andar pel solco ritto, / ché in sul Cantar d’Orlando non si truova / di questo fatto di Margutte scritto, / ed ècci aggiunto come cosa nuova […]’ (Morgante XIX 153 1–4). I cite from L. Pulci, Morgante, ed. by F. Ageno (Milan and Naples: Ricciardi, 1955). This edition is based on the incunable in twenty-eight cantari printed in Florence by Francesco di Dino in 1483 (inc. L). 49 Orvieto, ‘Sul rapporto Morgante-Orlando laurenziano’, p. 150; see also Id., Luigi Pulci, p. 443. 50 Through an ur-Morgante, according to Orvieto; through an ur-Orlando, according to Martelli. For Orvieto’s conclusions, see ‘Sul rapporto Morgante-Orlando laurenziano’, p. 153; see also Luigi Pulci, p. 445, and Pulci, p. 189. For Martelli’s conclusions, see ‘Tre studi sul Morgante’, p. 72. 51 Carrai posits that Orlando derives not directly from the printed edition of Pulci’s poem, but rather from an early and now-lost manuscript redaction of Morgante, and stresses Pulci’s leading role in determining the subsequent fortunes of the chivalric poem in ottava rima. See S. Carrai, ‘Morgante e il mito di Ercole’, in his Le muse dei Pulci (Naples: Guida, 1985), pp. 95–112. See also Id., ‘Morgante’, in Letteratura italiana. Le opere, ed. by A. Asor Rosa, 4 vols (Turin: Einaudi, 1992–6), I (1992), 769–89; ‘Linee e problemi di una lettura critica del Morgante’, in ‘Le donne, i cavalier, l’arme, gli amori’. Poema e romanzo: la narrativa lunga in Italia, ed. by F. Bruni (Venice: Marsilio, 2001), pp. 85–95; and ‘Luigi Pulci nella storia del poema cavalleresco’, in Paladini di carta. Il modello cavalleresco fiorentino, ed. by M. Villoresi (Rome: Bulzoni, 2006), pp. 79–88. 52 Villoresi disputes the idea that Morgante was badly rewritten by an awkward canterino, who, with Orlando, then presented the public with a revised text, stripped of everything that was good and appealing in Morgante. See ‘Le fonti del Morgante’ in M. Villoresi, La letteratura cavalleresca. Dai cicli medievali all’Ariosto (Rome: Carocci, 2000), pp. 126–30. 53 On the basis of a comparative examination of the two texts, Puce accepts the hypothesis of an earlier lost redaction of Morgante as the model of Orlando. See E. Puce, ‘Orlando laurenziano e Morgante: implicazioni filologico-letterarie’, Italianistica, 34.2 (2005), 61–9. 54 Cabani observes that the verses of Pulci’s poem in many cases are marked by the influence of Dante and Petrarch, in contrast with the corresponding verses in Orlando. This confirms in her view the hypothesis of a rewriting of Orlando by Pulci, one oriented towards the refinement of the language and style of the anonymous text. It makes no sense, conversely, to imagine that the anonymous author

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Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti.55 Outside Italy, the English scholar Mark Davie has considered Orlando as the ‘point of departure’ for Pulci’s Morgante, supporting the traditional hypothesis with a broad analysis that touches on various aspects of the content and especially the form of the two texts.56 At this stage, a systematic study would be required to take up the entire question of the relationships between Orlando and Morgante. But it is already safe to assume that the strong proximity between certain passages of Orlando and Morgante indicates beyond all doubt a direct contact, if not between the surviving witnesses, at least between the two texts, and this gives us a relatively solid basis for a thorough analysis. There would be many passages to consider, and many observations to develop. Here, I shall limit myself briefly to the first results of some recently of Orlando systematically singled out and eliminated the Dantean and Petrarchan citations with the aim of adapting the original to a lower, more popular, level, if only because we would need to recognise in this author a culture and a technical ability unthinkable for a canterino. See M. C. Cabani, L’occhio di Polifemo (Pisa: ETS, 2005), pp. 17–57. 55 Tissoni Benvenuti, reflecting on the distinct chivalric ethic underlying the two poems, finds that although the characters of Orlando act in ways rigidly codified by tradition, in the corresponding passages of Morgante there prevails, for the most part, an irreverent and light-hearted behaviour that occasionally results in incongruous actions or speech relative to the narrative context or to the traditional Carolingian register. She judges it to be improbable, if not simply impossible, that Orlando is a rewriting of Morgante, underlining that the antiquity of the narrated stories is clear and readable notwithstanding the changes and corruptions visible in the only witness known to us. See A. Tissoni Benvenuti, ‘Morgante III 19, 8’, in C. Caruso and W. Spiaggiari, Filologia e Storia letteraria. Studi per Roberto Tissoni (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2008), pp. 87–95. 56 See M. Davie, Half-Serious Rhymes. The Narrative Poetry of Luigi Pulci (Dublin: Irish Academy Press, 1998), especially Chapter 1, ‘Point of departure: Orlando rifatto’, pp. 33–63, Chapter 2, ‘The limits of rewriting: the Margutte episode’, pp. 65–92, and Chapter 4, ‘False starts: the new Morgante and the Ciriffo Calvaneo’, pp. 115–27. I quote a characteristic passage: ‘Pulci’s stanza by stanza fidelity to Orlando, far from inhibiting his inventiveness, gives him both a constant succession of verbal stimuli and a firm structure within which each new variation may be launched and contained. And while it is easy to see how Pulci’s stanzas are the result of the interaction with Orlando, it is much harder to imagine, as Orvieto’s hypothesis would require, that the Orlando poet would go through the Morgante stanzas […] systematically removing all the liveliest and most colourful expressions […]. Nor it is much more convincing to suggest, as Orvieto does, that the two texts might both derive from a common source; the source would have to have, for example, all the rhymes which are common to both texts. Pulci’s starting point for these stanzas would have to have so much in common with the Orlando that it might as well be the Orlando’ (pp. 40–1).

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undertaken research, focusing on the language and in particular on the military vocabulary used in Orlando and in Morgante, which gives us important clues for dating Orlando.57 Comparing the battle scenes and especially the single combats, one should note that the anonymous author of Orlando, unlike Pulci, enjoys detailing the weapons and armour used or worn by the various combatants. For example, one can point to scenes such as these: Meridiana dares to challenge Orlando to avenge the death of her brother Leonetto (Orlando V 10–19); Antea moves towards the Christian camp with her enchanted armour (Orlando XXX 35–XXXI 12); Alcalida and the female warriors of the city of Sogliscaglia are about to fight against Alardo, Guiccardo, and Riccardetto (Orlando LVI 10–17); Alpalista prepares to take on Rinaldo and completely arms himself (Orlando LVII 18–23). There is useful evidence found here and in other passages of Orlando dealing with details of arms and armour, because contrary to what one finds in the Morgante, here we are constantly in the presence of terminology current in the fourteenth century: Meridiana’s ‘scarpe d’aciaio’, ‘ganbiere’, ‘ginochiali’, ‘faldonj’, ‘bracciali’, ‘guanti di ferro’, ‘barbuta’ and ‘cimiere’ [sabatons, greaves, knee pieces, faulds, vambraces, gauntlets, chin-guard, crest] (Orlando V 11); the ‘targia’ [buckler] decorated with precious stones, the ‘elmo incantato’ [enchanted helm] and the ‘lancia pulita’ [gleaming lance] of Antea (Orlando XXXI 11); the ‘choraçça’ [breastplate] and ‘sbergho’ [hauberk] as well as the ‘elmi’, ‘lancie’, ‘spade’ and ‘schudi’, the ‘archo’ and ‘turcasso’ [helms, lances, swords, shields, bows and quivers] of Alcalida and her companions (Orlando LVI 11); Alpalista’s ‘scarp[e]tte’, ‘speroni’, and ‘brache differro’ [sabatons, spurs and cuisses and greaves], the ‘baccinetto’ [basinet] that protects his head (Orlando LVII 19–20), and much more. The entirety of Orlando’s language must of course be studied carefully, but particularly that relative to the weapons and armour of the warriors. The Orlando’s military vocabulary reflects the phase of transition, which took place during the fourteenth century, between the system based essentially on the helmet and the hauberk in use in antiquity and the new system of plate armour. 57 For the analysis of some of the main narrative sequences in Orlando and Morgante, see F. Strologo, ‘Alcune osservazioni intorno alla questione dei rapporti fra l’Orlando e il Morgante’, in Luigi Pulci, la Firenze laurenziana e il ‘Morgante’: Atti del Convegno di Modena (18–19 gennaio 2018), ed. by L. Beggi Miani and M. C. Cabani (Modena: Accademia Nazionale di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, 2019), pp. 189–208; Ead., ‘I monaci, i giganti e il demonio: ancora sulla questione dei rapporti fra l’Orlando e il Morgante’, Letteratura Cavalleresca Italiana, 1 (2019), 29–57; Ead., ‘La messa a morte di Astolfo e Ricciardetto, e la cacciata di Carlo Magno: nuove osservazioni sui rapporti fra Orlando laurenziano e Morgante’, in Studi sulla Letteratura Cavalleresca in Francia e in Italia (secoli XIII–XVI), 3 vols, ed. by M. Lecco (Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 2017–), II (2019), 139–75. I am currently working on a monograph entitled Il caso dell’‘Orlando’ laurenziano (Ravenna: Longo, forthcoming).

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The author of Orlando uses terms current in the fourteenth century but, as far as I am able to gather from a preliminary analysis, he does not employ terms that entered into use in the following century, such as ‘elmetto’, which begins to be found in the second half of the fourteenth century. At first the term referred to the thick exterior part of the helmet, and only later, over the course of the fifteenth century and thereafter, did it refer to the helmet itself. In the Morgante the term ‘elmetto’ is used forty-one times, but in the corresponding passages of Orlando it is never found; indeed, it does not appear at all in the entire work (and the same can be said for the other Carolingian cantari such as Spagna, Aspromonte, Rinaldo, Danese, and Carletto). In fact, the term ‘elmo’ was normally employed in the fourteenth century, while ‘elmetto’, a term not yet synonymous with ‘elmo’, entered into use as such only later.58 Again, further research is needed, if only because, broadly speaking, an absence can have a relative value. But in the case of Orlando and Morgante, especially in those passages where the two texts are very close to each other, we find terms present in one and absent in the other, leading us to consider the issue with regard to the particular aspect of insertion or deletion. It would seem difficult to sustain the hypothesis that the author of Orlando, in rewriting the Morgante, wished to eliminate the forty-one uses of ‘elmetto’ from Pulci’s work, in order to pretend that the warriors bore arms used in the fourteenth century (e.g., the fourteenth-century innovation represented by the ‘bacinetto’)59 rather than those in use in the fifteenth century. In any case, the first surveys of military vocabulary encourage us to look at the year 1384 with much less scepticism than in the past. To sum up, the question of the relationship between Orlando and Morgante has involved, as in the case of Spagna in rima, important methodological questions. Most of all it has involved De Robertis’s rule for dating a cantare according to the 58 See for example the entries for ‘elmo’ and ‘elmetto’ in G. Grassi, Dizionario militare italiano, 2 vols (Turin: Dai Torchi della vedova Pomba e figli, 1817), I, 125 and especially the Edizione seconda ampliata dall’autore, 4 vols (Turin: Società Tipografico-Libraria, 1833), I, 84–5. For a general view, see the Enciclopedia ragionata delle armi, ed. by C. Blair et al. (Milan: Mondadori, 1979), in which the use of the ‘elmetto’, as a ‘particular form of “elmo”, closed and entirely protecting the head’, adopted in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is described on pp. 151–4. For further information see G. F. Laking, A Record of European Armour and Arms through Seven Centuries, 5 vols (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1920–2), esp. Chapters 9 and 13, entitled respectively ‘The Helm from the Early Years of the XIIIth Century to the End of the XIVth Century’, I (1920), 266–86, and ‘The Helm of the XVth Century’, II (1920), 99–166. 59 For information relative to the ‘bacinetto’, which from the start of the fourteenth century spread in models featuring even visors and bevors, as well as for other constituent parts of the defensive armour of knights, see S. Asperti, ‘Bacinetti e berroviere: Problemi di lessico e di datazione nel Blandin de Cornoahla’, in Studia in honorem prof. M. de Riquer, ed. by Carlos Alvar et al., 4 vols (Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1986–91), I, 11–36.

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age of the oldest attested redaction, because the principal objection to Rajna’s thesis by Orvieto and Martelli stems from this. But De Robertis, when stressing the unstable character of the cantari tradition, was mainly concerned with ecdotic matters related to editing ‘short’ texts and he was not aiming to extend these principles mechanically to all texts in ottava rima without any distinction, especially to ‘long’ texts such as Spagna and Orlando that tread a fine line between the genre of the cantare and the genre of the chivalric poem: that is, texts characterised by a broad and complex narrative structure upon which the interventions of later reworkings such as interpolations, additions and abridgements could have only a relative bearing. Besides, De Robertis’s Storia del Morgante, tracing the relationship between Orlando and Pulci’s masterpiece, was based, from beginning to end, on the assumption that Orlando chronologically preceded the Morgante, an assumption that De Robertis never recanted.60 But if Orlando preceded Morgante, as Rajna had already understood and as today scholars are once more coming to accept, then it will be necessary to reconsider the chronology of other Carolingian cantari as well.

I

Dating the Cantari d’Aspramonte, the Cantari di Rinaldo, the Cantari del Danese

n addition to the renewed critical attention devoted to Spagna in rima and Orlando, examined above, other ‘long’ cantari of the Carolingian narrative tradition – the Cantari d’Aspramonte, the Cantari di Rinaldo and the Cantari del Danese – have been the object of fresh analyses in recent years. The results of these studies can similarly provide valuable insights into the whole narrative tradition and the questions of dating the Italian cantari. The Cantari d’Aspramonte was edited by Andrea Fassò in 1981.61 The manuscript (Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Magliabechiano Cl. VII, 682), lacking its first folios and a section at the end, can be dated on the evidence of the watermark to the first half of the fifteenth century.62 But the text, in its formal characteristics as well as its content, was composed or rather copied, in Florence, from an earlier damaged and incomplete manuscript, and before Andrea da Barberino’s prose Aspramonte was written. Andrea, the famous Florentine ‘maestro delle storie’ [master storyteller], was born around 1370 and died between 1431 and 1433.63 The anonymous author of 60 Domenico De Robertis, Storia del Morgante (Florence: Le Monnier, 1958). 61 Fassò, ‘Cantari d’Aspramonte’ inediti (cited above). 62 The watermark is in the form of a five-pointed star within a circle under a cross, corresponding to number 6068 in Briquet’s repertorium. It can be assigned to Colle (1427); similar variants are in Pisa (1432–44) and in Lucca (1439–40). The hand only permits a very broad dating period, from the mid-fourteenth century through the entire fifteenth century. For further information see Briquet, pp. IX–X. 63 For further information on Andrea da Barberino and his works, see in this book the chapter by L. Zarker Morgan, ‘The Image of Charlemagne in the Prose Compilations of Andrea da Barberino’.

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the Cantari d’Aspramonte uses French and particularly Franco-Italian sources for his narrative, and gives no indication of knowing Andrea’s Aspramonte.64 The Aspramonte, edited in 1951 by Marco Boni,65 is considered to be one of Andrea’s earliest compositions, and as such should be ascribed to the first years of the fifteenth century, providing us the latest possible dating for the composition of the Cantari d’Aspramonte. As for the Cantari d’Aspramonte, according to Boni, the text – on the basis of its poetic technique, language, and style – must surely be ascribed to the fourteenth century, more precisely, to the end of that century.66 Later, Fassò confirmed Boni’s opinion: the Cantari d’Aspramonte were originally composed before the start of the fifteenth century, held by him to be a plausible terminus ante quem.67 The complete text of the Cantari di Rinaldo, edited by Elio Melli in 1973,68 is preserved in a single manuscript (Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Palatino 364), that, judging from the watermark, can be dated from around the mid-fifteenth century.69 As far as the relationship with other versions of the Rinaldo tradition is 64 Fassò, ‘Cantari d’Aspramonte’ inediti, p. LVI. 65 See Andrea da Barberino, L’Aspramonte. Romanzo cavalleresco inedito, ed. by M. Boni (Bologna: Antiquaria Palmaverde, 1951). Instead, the Cantari d’Aspramonte greatly resembles, in its final part, another prose Aspramonte, one that is anonymous, and possibly composed in Tuscany in the second half of the forteenth century. See Romanzo cavalleresco inedito (British Library Add. MS 10808), ed. by A. Forni Marmocchi (Bologna: Pàtron, 1989). See also M. Boni, ‘L’Aspramonte trecentesco in prosa del MS Add. 10808 del British Museum’, Studi mediolatini e volgari, 1 (1953), 7–56, esp. p. 23, and Fassò, Cantari d’Aspramonte, pp. XLIX–LVI and 327. For a comprehensive take on the Aspramonte works in verses, see A. Negri, ‘Nel solco della Chanson d’Aspremont: riscritture italiane in versi’, in L’immagine riflessa. Testi, società, culture, Medievalia Shakespeariana, n.s., 26.1–2 (2017), 209–22. 66 M. Boni, ‘Note sul cantare magliabechiano d’Aspramonte e sull’Aspramonte di Andrea da Barberino’, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 128 (1950), 276–304 (pp. 276, 282). 67 Fassò, ‘Cantari d’Aspramonte’ inediti, p. LVI. 68 E. Melli, I ‘Cantari di Rinaldo da Monte Albano’ (cited above). 69 The watermark is in the form of pincers (tenaille), similar to number 14089 in Briquet’s repertorium. It can be found (with only one exception, from Fabriano, 1443–5) in several datable documents from between 1454 and 1474. The hand is typical of texts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and does not allow for a more precise dating. For further information see Briquet, pp. LX–LXI. A fragment of the Cantari di Rinaldo in seven cantari is also transmitted in a manuscript miscellany (Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, 683, formerly M, IV, 33), variously datable to the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries. The text is interrupted at stanza VII 33. This fragment (cc. 73–142), whose precise dating remains unknown, is interesting, because it may attest to the circulation of the Cantari di Rinaldo at a relatively early date. See the entry in P. O. Kristeller, Iter italicum. A Finding List of Uncatalogued or Incompletely Catalogued Humanistic Manuscripts of the Renaissance in Italian and other Libraries (London: The Warburg Institute-Leiden: E. J.

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concerned, we know that the prose Storie di Rinaldo70 were circulating in Florence as early as the first half of the century, but also that the Cantari di Rinaldo did not rely on any of these, and drew instead on other older sources, presumably French or Franco-Italian. This allows us to hypothesise that the Cantari di Rinaldo probably predate the Storie di Rinaldo. In addition, Melli studied the language of the Cantari di Rinaldo and noted that this is a composite language in which characteristic features of fourteenth-century Florentine are mixed with typical aspects of the language of western and southern Tuscany. He concluded that the text circulated in Pisa, Lucca, and Siena, but was originally composed in the Florence of the end of the fourteenth century.71 The Cantari del Danese were edited by Sara Furlati in 2005.72 The original com-

Brill, 1963–92), I, Italy. Agrigento to Novara (1963), p. 197: ‘cart. Misc. xv. Several hands. 211 fols’. 70 The Storie di Rinaldo are conserved in the following manuscripts: Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MSS Mediceo-Palatino 1011 e 1014; Pluteo XLII, 37; Pluteo LXXXIX inf., 64; and Pluteo LXI, 40, and Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 1904. On a possible attribution to Andrea da Barberino, see the chapter ‘The Case for Le Storie di Rinaldo da Monte Albano in Prose’, in G. Allaire, Andrea da Barberino and the Language of Chivalry (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997), pp. 65–92. The stories in MS Pluteo XLII, 37 have just been published with an attribution to Andrea da Barberino: see Andrea da Barberino, Le storie di Rinaldo da Montalbano, ed. by P. Orvieto (Rome: Aracne, 2020). For an examination of the sources of the Cantari di Rinaldo and their relationships with the Storie di Rinaldo as well as with French and Franco-Italian texts, see Rajna, Rinaldo da Montalbano, and two studies by E. Melli, ‘I cantari di Rinaldo e l’epica francese’, and ‘Nella selva dei “Rinaldi”: poemetti su Rinaldo da Mont’Albano in antiche edizioni a stampa’, Studi e problemi di critica testuale, 16 (1978), 193–215; and A. Morosi, ‘Breve storia della Storia di Rinaldo’, Interpres, 1 (1978), 285–93. See also the very recent studies by P. Orvieto, Le ‘Storie’ di Andrea da Barberino (Rome: Aracne, 2020) and ‘Le Storie di Rinaldo da Montalbano di Andrea da Barberino’, Interpres, 38 (2020), 7–62. 71 Melli, Cantari di Rinaldo da Montalbano, p. CX. The composition of the Cantari di Rinaldo had already been assigned to the end of the fourteenth century by P. Rajna in his Rinaldo da Montalbano, pp. 141–2. Among more recent studies on this text is that of M. Mazzoni, ‘Maugis e Malagigi: la figura del mago ladro dalla chanson de geste ai cantari cavallereschi’, in Forme letterarie del Medioevo romanzo: testo interpretazione e storia. Atti del XI Congresso della Società Italiana di Filologia Romanza (Catania, 22–26 settembre 2015), ed. by A. Pioletti and S. Rapisarda (Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino, 2016), pp. 349–63, which accepts the traditional proposal of a fourteenth-century dating. 72 Furlati, I ‘Cantari del Danese’ (cited above). The text of the manuscript (Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, MS II, II, 31) edited here stops at the end of cantare XVII, totalling 1087 stanzas.

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position of this text, according to Furlati, is to be placed in the area of Florence; its language seems yet again to be of the fourteenth century. In particular, recent studies of the oldest manuscript (Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, MS Mediceo-Palatino 95), a miscellany that transmits a fragment of this text, confirms that the section of the Cantari del Danese, judging from the watermark, dates to the second half of the fourteenth century,73 and that the text fragment was probably the work of a scribe writing at the end, if not possibly in the middle, of the fourteenth century. According to Furlati, this fragment might constitute one of the rare attestations of cantari before 1375.74 It is true that when dealing with these texts it is still necessary, due to the very low survival rate of the oldest manuscript witnesses, to remain in the realm of conjecture or, at best, of probability. But it is also true that from those same years of the later fourteenth century there has survived the fragment of a text which was intended as a ‘long’ cantare on Carlo Mainetto or Carletto, as I shall refer to it on the basis of the name that appears in one of the verses (‘Charlepto’, I, 4 1). This is a text often overlooked by scholars; it was published by Luigi Gentile in 1891, in a print run of just 100 copies.75

73 Furlati’s edition also prints this fragment: see again I ‘Cantari del Danese’, pp. 427–50. The text includes the first cantare, in 54 stanzas, and a portion of the second cantare, up to stanza II 9, in total sixty-three stanzas. The watermark is a five-petalled flower like the periwinkle, with a small circle in the middle, similar to numbers 6383, 6384, and 6391 in Briquet’s repertorium. For further information about the watermark and the manuscript hand see ibid., p. 15. 74 For the discussion of possible dating see Furlati, I ‘Cantari del Danese’, p. 15. The entire text in 20 cantari of irregular length, totalling 3364 stanzas, is preserved in one manuscript (Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, MS MA 563) which was copied by a certain Francesco Santolino between May and July 1477. This still-unedited manuscript was extensively studied by Sanvisenti, ‘Sul poema di Uggieri il Danese’ (cited above). The editio princeps was published in Venice by Luca di Domenico in 1480. On this witness, see B. Maracchi Biagiarelli, ‘La prima edizione dell’Ugieri il Danese’, La Bibliofilia, 52 (1950), 221–6. See also the recent study by P. Orvieto, Le ‘storie’ di Uggieri il Danese italiano (Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 2021). 75 See ‘Carlo Mainetto’. Frammento di un cantare toscano del secolo XIV (Nozze Oddi-Bartoli, 15 Ottobre 1801), ed. by L. Gentile (Florence: Tipografia dei Fratelli Bencini, 1891); citations are from this text. The edition was followed by a review by Vittorio Rossi that appeared under the initials ‘V. R.’ in the Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 18 (1891), 478–9, and a brief review by P. Meyer in Romania, 21 (1892), 626–7. One of the rare mentions of this edition is in the ‘Nota bibliografica’ of V. Branca, Il cantare trecentesco e il Boccaccio del ‘Filostrato’ e del ‘Teseida’ (Florence: Sansoni, 1936), pp. 95–100 (p. 96), also in his Studi sui cantari, with introduction by D. Delcorno Branca (Florence: Olschki, 2014), pp. 87–91 (p. 88).

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Rediscovering the forgotten Carletto, a fragment from Trecento

he fragment transmitting the Carletto is found in a miscellaneous manuscript (Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, MS Magliabechiano Cl. VII, 951); its folios, in places bound in an incorrect order, were written by several hands. The first hand is that of a Florentine cloth merchant, Bonaccorso Pellegrini, who wrote some scattered notes between 17 April 1374 (f. 34r) and 9 June 1383 (f. 45r); a second hand transcribed the fragment of the Carletto (f. 1r–4r) and a series of 48 verses of canto VI of Dante’s Purgatorio (f. 41v); a third hand noted secrets, medical and folk remedies, pronouncements, saints’ legends, prayers and recipes. The latest dated entry by this third hand is 15 May 1400 (f. 39r). As Gentile already noted, the Carletto fragment – immediately followed, on the same side of the folio where the text ends, by writings by the third hand – was therefore copied some time between 1383 and 1400.76 These years are close to the dates that can be assigned to the composition of Orlando and Spagna in rima, as well as the Cantari d’Aspramonte, the Cantari di Rinaldo, and the Cantari del Danese. The Carletto survives as sixty stanzas and the first line of the sixty-first. After a prayer directed to heaven before beginning the narrative, the poet puts forward the subject of the composition, which is – as we have seen – the infancy or youth of Charlemagne; but he starts the story with the deeds of his father Pipino. The copyist interrupted his writing at the scene of the confrontation with the lion. We do not know how the story would have continued. If following the tradition of Carolingian legends on the young Charlemagne known in medieval Italy, in France, and in Europe,77 the Carletto probably would have told of the marriage of Pipino and 76 Bonaccorso Pellegrini’s notes run from April 1374 to June 1383, and there is a note by the third hand dated 15 May 1400. The fragment of Carletto thus dates from the last seventeen years of the fourteenth century. For further information see Gentile, ‘Carlo Mainetto’, p. 6. 77 The starting points for studies of Charlemagne’s youth are K. Bartsch, Über Karlmeinet. Ein Beitrag zur Karlssage (Nuremberg: Bauer und Raspe, 1861); G. Paris, Histoire poétique de Charlemagne, esp. the chapter ‘La jeunesse de Charlemagne’ (pp. 227–46); J. Bédier, ‘La légende des “enfances” de Charlemagne et l’historie de Charles Martel’, in Studies in Honor of A. Marshall Elliott, 2 vols (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press; Paris: H. Champion; Leipzig: O. Harrassowitz, 1911), I, 81–107; and J. Horrent, Les versions françaises et étrangères des ‘Enfances de Charlemagne’ (Brussels: Académie Royale de Belgique, 1979). See also the relatively overlooked note by P. Rajna, ‘La leggenda della giovinezza di Carlo Magno nel XIII codice francese di Venezia’, Rivista filologico-letteraria, 2.2–3 (1871), 61–75. Concerning the many stories dedicated to Charlemagne’s infancy and youth, see also the chapter ‘Karleto’ in ‘La Geste Francor’. Edition of the Chansons de geste of Ms. Marc. Fr. XIII (= 256), ed. by L. Zarker Morgan, 2 vols (Tempe: Arizona Studies for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2009), I, 139–66, with its notes and critical bibliography.

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Berta, of the false Berta, of the birth of the future Charlemagne, then of Carletto’s flight into Spain, following the death of Pipino at the hand of his two stepsons, and again of his adventures at the court of king Galafro (the name of ‘Ghalafro’, king of Spain, appears moreover in our fragment, for which see Carletto, I, 8 4). The possibility should not be excluded that the Carletto is the text recalled in some verses of the Cantari di Rinaldo, or one of the texts at the fountainhead of a tradition of stories in ottava rima on the youth of Charlemagne known to canterini, recited in piazzas, and now lost to us: Non so, signor, se voi avete udito sì come Carlo, quand’era fantino, fuggì in Spagna sì come uom sentito e servì Galafro saracino. Suo fi’[glia] Sovilia, viso colorito, isposò; donde ne nacque Alorino […] (Cantari di Rinaldo IV 26 1–6) [I do not know, my lord, if you have heard how Carlo, when he was a child, took refuge in Spain, as one has heard tell and served king Galafro the Saracen, whose rosy-cheeked daughter Sibilla he married, and from whom was born Alorino […]]

In these verses, the bride of Charlemagne is called Sovilia or Sibilla although elsewhere she is more frequently named Galerana, Galiana, Galina, or Galienne; this is not a minor detail, since the Cantari di Rinaldo is the only Italian text in which the future queen of France is given this name.78 It seems that the author of the Cantari di Rinaldo did not yet know Andrea da Barberino’s Reali di Francia,79 where Charlemagne’s wife is instead called Galerana, and preferred borrowing from French or Franco-Italian sources. The author of the Carletto also did not know the Reali, and his sources were mainly, when he was not drawing on his own imagination, French or Franco-Italian.80 The Carletto in fact was composed 78 Among the indirect witnesses relative to the circulation of stories of the emperor’s youth, one finds the episode of the Entrée d’Espagne, when in the presence of Orlando some sailors praise the accomplishments of the young Charlemagne in Spain, making reference to his love for Marsilio’s daughter, here named ‘Galiaine’ (Entrée d’Espagne, DX 11783–813, esp. v. 11806). I cite from L’‘Entrée d’Espagne’, chanson de geste franco-italienne, publiée d’après le manuscrit unique de Venise, ed. by A. Thomas, 2 vols (Paris: Librairie Firmin-Didot, 1913), reprinted edition with preface by M. Infurna (Florence: Olschki, 2007). 79 For further information, see Rajna, Rinaldo da Montalbano, p. 171. 80 For basic information on the French texts narrating the deeds of Pipino, including the battle with the lion and the duel with Justamont, see G. Paris, ‘La légende de Pépin “le bref ”’, in Mélanges Julien Havet: recueuil de travaux d’érudition, dédié à la mémoire de Julien Havet (1853–1893) (Paris: E. Leroux, 1895; repr. Geneva: Slatkine, 1972), pp. 603–32, also in his Mélanges de littérature française au Moyen Age, ed. by M. Roques (Paris: Champion, 1910–12), pp. 183–215.

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before Andrea’s works, in the second half of the fourteenth century, and it was, most likely, a ‘long’ cantare.81

Conclusion: the popularity of Carolingian cantari and its continuity throughout the centuries

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ere we to postulate that Carolingian cantari did not exist until the mid or late fifteenth century, it would truly be difficult to explain, as Dionisotti wrote, why in Florence, in the period following that of Antonio Pucci’s works, the popularity of the genre of the cantare in ottava rima did not develop, nor did it endure.82 It would similarly be difficult, given the pre-eminence of the prose works of Andrea da Barberino between the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, to account for the apparent rebirth of the genre, in the mid-fifteenth century – the time in which the majority of the surviving manuscripts were written – and especially of Carolingian cantari, after nearly a century of interruption. Dionisotti’s response to these queries was based on the activity of exiled poets who had presumably exported Tuscan verse narrative to northern Italian courts, before it underwent a new wave of interest in Florence itself: ‘probabile sembra che i predecessori immediati del Pulci e il Pulci stesso risuscitassero una moda’ [it seems likely that the immediate predecessors of Pulci, and Pulci himself, brought back a fashion].83 But if Spagna in rima was composed, as I believe, in the second half of the fourteenth century, rather than the mid-fifteenth century, and if its success favoured and accompanied the production of Carolingian cantari, such as Orlando and others, then we need not strain to explain the reasons for what seems to be a strange gap in the development of the tradition of Carolingian cantari in ottava rima. This has already been noted by Jane E. Everson: Though one cannot quarrel with manuscript evidence, it seems culturally very unlikely that there were no cantari on stories of Roland and Charlemagne within the fourteenth century. All the information available relating to context and audience preferences would certainly point in this direction, indeed indicates a strong demand for such ottava rima narratives.84

The problem is, of course, a delicate one. On the one hand, the history of literature must be based, of necessity, on documents;85 on the other, even an excess 81 I have analysed the relationship between the Carletto and the tradition of Carolingian stories circulating in Italy in ‘Il Carletto: appunti sugli sviluppi della narrazione in ottava rima dopo il Boccaccio del Filostrato e del Teseida’, Studi sul Boccaccio, 46 (2018), 347–74. With Frej Moretti, I am preparing a new edition of the Carletto. 82 Dionisotti, ‘Appunti su antichi testi’, p. 139. 83 Ibid., p. 140. 84 Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism, p. 117. 85 On this matter see A. Decaria, ‘Il grano e la zizzania. L’autore, il copista, l’editore’,

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of caution can, despite everything, end up being counterproductive: if only and exclusively surviving documents count to the goal of dating a work, there is the risk of going too far in establishing the real date of the composition and circulation of texts, especially in the realm of studies of texts of popular literature like cantari, of which there survive very few written witnesses, both before and even after the advent of printing; and a fortiori very few records of the oral performances. In Italy, as noted here, studies by Boni and by Fassò on the Cantari d’Aspramonte, by Melli on the Cantari di Rinaldo, and more recently by Furlati on the Cantari del Danese have indicated a probable date in the fourteenth century for the composition of these texts. The re-examination of the manuscript tradition and of the transcription history of Spagna in rima, together with the recent rediscovery of archival documents on the poet normally held to be the author, also point to the fourteenth century. New research on Orlando has drawn attention to the traditional thesis according to which the original redaction of the cantare preceded the composition of the Morgante and, ultimately, could go as far back as that date of 1384 mentioned by the poet. Lastly, the fragment of the Carletto demonstrates that in the second half of the fourteenth century there effectively existed ‘long’ cantari of Carolingian material. These and other texts – like the Cantari di Fierabraccia e Ulivieri, and Ancroia, Altobello, Persiano, Rinaldino di Montalbano, Buovo d’Antona, Drusiano del Leone, Storia di Milone e Berta, Gisberto di Moscona, Bradiamonte, Dama Rovenza, Trabisonda86 – must have had considerable success in the piazzas in La tradizione dei testi. Atti del convegno (Cortona, 21–23 settembre 2017), ed. by C. Ciociola and C. Vela (Florence: Società dei Filologi della Letteratura Italiana, 2018), pp. 23–49 (p. 49). 86 For an overall view of Carolingian cantari in ottava rima, comprehending texts that were not analysed here, see the chapters ‘Le storie dei paladini di Francia nel xv secolo’ and ‘La letteratura cavalleresca in tipografia’ in the book by Villoresi, La letteratura cavalleresca, pp. 81–96 and 137–45. See also the articles recently published by R. Galbiati, ‘The Vernacular Carolingian Epic in Tuscany in the Fourteenth Century’, Medium Aevum, 88.2 (2019), 376–95; Id., ‘Nuove considerazioni sulle relazioni tra Cantare d’Orlando, Orlando laurenziano e Morgante’, Studi di filologia italiana, 77 (2019), 91–114; and Id., ‘Le continuazioni dell’Entrée d’Espagne’, in Cultura Neolatina, 80.3–4 (2020), 19–220 (209–10 and 219), which back up through new insights some of the hypotheses formulated in my previous studies and in this chapter. When this chapter was already in the press, I rediscovered a forgotten fragment of Cantari di Fierabraccia e Ulivieri dating back to the fourteenth century. It is kept in the Archivio di Stato di Reggio Emilia (Archivio del Comune, Appendice, Miscellanea Storica e Letteraria, MS b1). Each of its thirty-four stanzas has a precise correspondence in the Stengel edition: see El cantare di Fierabraccia e Uliuieri. Italienische Bearbeitung der Chanson de Geste ‘Fierabras’, ed. by Edmund Stengel and Carl Buhlmann, Ausgaben und Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der romanischen Philologie, 2 (1881), I, 23–34, II, 13–40. The Fierabraccia fragment was published, similarly to the Carletto fragment, in

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and courts of the Italian Renaissance and of the following centuries, in the age of the printed book, satisfying the desires of a vast public that would continue to be thrilled by the chivalresque stories of Charlemagne and the paladins of France.

a limited print run on the occasion of a wedding: see Frammenti di una redazione del ‘Cantare di Fierabraccia’. Per le nozze Livaditi-Arnaboldi, ed. by A. Balletti (Reggio Emilia: Tip. Calderini, 1891). It was also described by Melli in his edition of the Fierabraccia ‘comense’: see Il ‘Fierabraccia’ comense fra preziosità umanistiche e antico dialetto lombardo, ed. by Elio Melli (Bologna: Pàtron, 1996), pp. 37–9. This fragment deserves more attention than it has received so far, because it might turn out to be one of the clearest proofs of the circulation of Carolingian cantari in the Italian area as early as the second half of Trecento.

3 Carlo Magno, Ideal Progenitor of Country and Lineage: the Image of Charlemagne in the Prose Compilations of Andrea da Barberino1 Leslie Zarker Morgan

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ndrea da Barberino’s works, extremely popular in his own day, have never ceased to attract readers. At the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth centuries, he created a unique late medieval vernacular series of prose epics as an account of Florentine history by linking French and Italian peoples through their ancestors, biblical then Roman, into a chronicle-like multi-volume prose narration. He joins material from Old French epics disseminated across northern Italy with classical, popular, and historical sources on a genealogical framework that not only explains the past but also seeks to inform the future. His Carlo Magno serves at least in part as a stand-in for French political leaders of his own time and place: the Anjou family.2 Andrea’s Carlo Magno therefore appears in a largely positive light, unlike the Charlemagne image in his immediate predecessors from northern Italy discussed in Chapter 2. As Gene Brucker wrote, ‘The history of Florence, even at its most democratic, remains in large measure the history of its principal families’.3 Andrea makes Carlo 1 This research was completed with the support of the Center for the Humanities at Loyola University Maryland and a Loyola University Maryland Summer Research Grant for Summer 2018. I thank Dr Kelly DeVries who read and commented on a draft of this paper. Any errors that remain are, of course, my own. A portion of this research appears in Leslie Zarker Morgan, ‘Charlemagne et sa famille italienne: Andrea da Barberino et l’acculturation des carolingiens’, in ‘Oltre la mer salee’: Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of the Société Rencesvals pour l’étude des épopées romanes, Toronto, 13–17 August 2018, ed. by Dorothea Kullmann and Anthony Fredette (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2022), pp. 142–56. The genealogical tables presented here are also adapted from this essay. I thank the editors for permission to include these tables reworked and revised for the present discussion. 2 ‘Carlo Magno’ will refer to Andrea’s character, ‘Charlemagne’ to the historical figure and the concept in general. 3 Gene Brucker, Florence: The Golden Age, 1138–1737 (Berkeley: University of

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Magno one of Florence’s own: he narrates Carlo Magno’s biography like that of a notable Florentine personality, through his family history. Therefore, building upon previous chapters about the Franco-Italian Charlemagne and the volume of Charlemagne in Latin literature, this chapter presents Andrea and his works together with the political culture of his time, then examines how Andrea’s Carlo Magno appears, with reflections upon Andrea’s historical moment and its influence upon that vision.

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Andrea da Barberino and the cantambanco tradition

ittle is known of Andrea da Barberino, also known as Andrea di Jacopo de’ Magnabotti da Barberino di Val d’Elsa.4 Manuscripts call him author or ‘translator’, and legal documents offer proof of his living in Florence c. 1372 to c. 1433.5 There is no attestation of a specific birthdate or place; two archival documents offer evidence. In the first, a 1427 portata al catasto, similar to a tax declaration – he says that he is more than 55 years old. In the second, from 1431, Andrea says he is over 60 years old. He had a home in Piazza San Felice, in the Ferza district (now in front of Palazzo Pitti).6 He also owned a house in Via della Pergola, held land outside the city in Pieve di Settimo and practised the profession of ‘chantatore’.7 He is called ‘Mastro’ or ‘Maestro’. He is cited as having made a will in 1431 (though the will is now lost) and he died before 1433 since a relative (‘nipote’) declared an inheritance from Andrea that year.8 California Press, 1998), p. 27. The original citation is from P. J. Jones, ‘Florentine Families and Florentine Diaries in the Fourteenth Century’, Papers of the British School at Rome, 24 (1956), 183–205 (p. 183). Gloria Allaire, ‘Genealogy and Kinship as Unifying Device in Andrea da Barberino’s La Storia di Aiolfo dal Barbicone’, Olifant, 21.1–2 (1997), 47–69 (p. 54), also comments on the importance of kinship in Florence. 4 ‘Andrea di Jacopo di Tieri cantore’, Andrea da Barberino, Storia di Ajolfo del Barbicone e di altri valorosi cavallieri, ed. by Leone del Prete, 2 vols (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1863), I, xvi; ‘Andrea di t[i]eri de magna botti da barberino di valdelsa maestro di chanto’, Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, MS Magl. Cl. XXIV, fols 146bis, 150r; ‘andrea de magiabotti da barberino di valdelsa’ (C [= Guerrino BNCF Conventi Soppressi, C. 1, 720] 153r), Gloria Allaire, Andrea da Barberino and the Language of Chivalry (Gainsville: University Press of Florida, 1997), p. 133 note. 5 Allaire, Andrea, pp. 5–6; Andrea da Barberino, I Reali di Francia, ed. by Giuseppe Vandelli, 2 vols (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1892), I, pp. CII–CVI. 6 The Ferza district is Oltrarno, part of what is today the Santo Spirito area. Many unskilled wage labourers in the textile industry lived there, John M. Najemy, A History of Florence 1200–1575 (West Sussex: Blackwell, 2006), p. 160. 7 I Reali, ed. by Vandelli, I, p. CIII; Allaire, Andrea, p. 5. 8 This was a son of cousins or other relatives, Michele Catalano, ‘La data di morte di Andrea da Barberino’, Archivum Romanicum, 23 (1939), 84–7 (p. 85).

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The profession of cantatore indicates someone who sang or otherwise presented works. In Florence, the Piazzetta San Martino del Vescovo, behind Orsanmichele and near the Badia Fiorentina, was a well-known spot for this,9 though whether Andrea himself performed there is not known. It would seem that he owned books as well as writing and reciting.10 Andrea’s works derive from the French tradition of the chanson de geste, poetry initially in assonanced strophes telling tales of purportedly historical figures; the earliest of those poems dates to the twelfth century. Passing through the northern Italian peninsula and its languages, the stories changed with their place of origin and local vernacular.11 Thus, Andrea’s Carlo Magno appears through multiple lenses: that of the original chansons de geste, like the Chanson de Roland and similar Old French chansons that were still circulating;12 that of northern-Italian-created texts of different eras (as discussed in Chapter 1); and that of Andrea’s Florentine culture with its expectations for knights and courts.

Andrea’s works

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ndrea da Barberino’s generally accepted works are six: Reali di Francia, Aspramonte, Storie Nerbonesi, Aiolfo, Guerrino il meschino, and Ugone d’Alver13 nia. Gloria Allaire has most recently addressed Andrea’s works and their nature 9 Giacomo Osella, ‘Su Andrea da Barberino’, Convivium, 12 (1949), 363–80 (p. 364); Gloria Allaire, ‘Andrea da Barberino: Prospettive vecchie, nuove e … lontane’, in Paladini di carta: Il modello cavalleresco fiorentino, ed. by Marco Villoresi (Roma: Bulzoni, 2006), pp. 31–9 (p. 32); Marco Villoresi, La Letteratura cavalleresca (Roma: Carrocci, 2000), p. 66. 10 For more on Andrea’s culture, see Allaire, Andrea, pp. 8–9, and Villoresi, Letteratura cavalleresca, pp. 70–1. For the books, I Reali, ed. by Vandelli, I, p. CI. 11 Italy as a country did not exist until the end of the nineteenth century. However, for convenience’s sake, in this chapter, ‘Italy’ will refer to the Italian peninsula though it was not a political unity. ‘Languages’ since there were multiple standards and Latin available at the time. For the chansons de geste, see Chapter 1 here and the volume The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Francophonia and Occitan (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming). 12 The first manuscript of the Chanson de Roland dates to the twelfth century. See Chapter 1 for the standard division of such works in Italy: first copies, then variations on them, and finally new compositions. Here the discussion continues one step further, moving to prose and local language. For the continued circulation of the chansons de geste, see The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Francophonia and Occitan. 13 The three of Andrea da Barberino’s texts here cited follow the editions of Vandelli (Reali); Andrea da Barberino, L’Aspramonte, ed. by Marco Boni (Bologna: Palmaverde, 1951); Andrea da Barberino, Le Storie Nerbonesi, ed. by Ippolito Gaetano Isola, 2 vols (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1887). These are indicated by book and chapter. So Reali 1.1 means ‘Book 1, Chapter 1 of the Reali’. This is for the convenience of those using other editions. A translation into English of large portions of Andrea’s

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Fig. 3.1­  Narrative chronology of Andrea da Barberino’s prose romances.

as a whole. Through stylistic analysis, she suggests other works, both lost (Prima Spagna) and extant but unattributed (Ansoigi or the Seconda Spagna; Storie di Rinaldo da Montalbano) as being Andrea’s.14 Titles used for Andrea’s works vary according to manuscripts, early print traditions and modern editors. This chapter follows Allaire’s titling conventions as taken directly from manuscripts. Carlo Magno’s name appears in all of Andrea’s works. However, the works are organised chronologically, so he plays an active role only in those taking place during his life (Figure 3.1). Through the six positively identified works of Andrea, the French royal family appears in order of succession: Pepin, Carlo Magno (with variations: e.g., Carlotto, Mainetto), Aluigi, Guglielmo Zappetta, and Carlo Martello. Chronologically, Andrea’s Reali and Aspramonte are first, followed by the Nerbonesi which announces Ugone d’Alvernia and Aiolfo. Guerrino’s father lived at the time of Carlo Magno, but its action takes place thirty-two years later,15 so the volume is not relevant to our argument. Aiolfo follows after several more generations: Luigi il Buono is king, to be followed by Carlo Martello, his son. Aiolfo is a descendant of one of Charlemagne’s daughters. The Seconda Spagna/Ansoigi precedes the Nerbonesi; in both, Carlo Magno is old. Rinaldo concentrates largely on Uggieri il Danese and Rinaldo, so is of marginal interest here. works appears online: Andrea da Barberino, The Royal House of France (I Reali di Francia) and Related Medieval Romances (Selections), trans. by Max Wickert, , [accessed 3 September 2018], 2009. 14 I thank Gloria Allaire for copies of these transcriptions to consult for this chapter. 15 Andrea da Barberino, Il Guerrin meschino, ed. by Mauro Cursietti (Roma-Padova: Antinore, 2005), 6.45 (pp. 463–5). For Ugone d’Alvernia, see Andrea da Barberino, La Storia d’Ugone d’Alvernia volgarizzata nel sec. XIV, ed. by F. Zambrini and A. Bacchi della Lega, 2 vols (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1882; repr. Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1968).

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The Reali, Aspramonte, and Nerbonesi follow the standard sequence of life cycles in chansons de geste: enfances, chevalerie, and moniage, the life stages of a knight.16 As such, they follow conventions of those genres. Yet they also partake of other genres, both of Arthurian literature and those of history. In particular, Andrea streamlines and unites tales of Charlemagne already in existence deriving from different sources and eras under the rubric of ‘storie’ – which means both ‘histories’ and ‘stories’. Preface, postface, and authorial comments thus all shape Andrea’s discourse and tales within the political thought of his own time and place, as do his choices of plot placement and chronology.

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Florence and Andrea’s time in Florence, c. 1370–c. 1433

ajemy calls the years 1370–1430 ‘the watershed of Florence’s republican history’.17 After the 1378 Ciompi workers’ revolt, the city faced Milan’s attempt to expand, particularly during the 1390s. Florence responded by conquering Tuscan cities in self-defence and self-interest: first Pisa in 1406 (for sea access) then nearby Grosseto and Legnano.18 The city’s traditional allies – the papacy and France – were otherwise occupied, the first with the Great Schism (1378–1417) and three concurrent popes, the second in the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). The threat of the autocratic Ghibelline Visconti energised political commentary in the Florentine community, incorporating a broad range of classical, biblical and traditional Florentine writings. In particular, during the fourteenth century, Florence’s desire to justify political aims appears in new forms of history. Giovanni Villani, a Florentine statesman, began his revolutionary Nuova Cronica in the vernacular in the early fourteenth century; his brother (Matteo) and nephew, Matteo’s son (Filippo), continued the work after Giovanni’s death, finishing it with the year 1365.19 The first version of the Cronica was completed in 1333 and portions of the second were already circulating 16 See Chapter 1 for further chanson de geste clarification. 17 Najemy, History, p. 188. 18 Najemy, History, pp. 189–90. 19 The actual date of composition is not sure. Giovanni states that the idea came to him while at the Jubilee in Rome in 1300, Nuova Cronica, ed. by Giuseppe Porta (Parma: Fondazione Pietro Bembo; Ugo Guanda, 1991); e-text, [accessed 10 June 2018], Book 9, Chapter 36, pp. 224–5. All references are to this edition. For more information, see Paula Clarke, ‘The Villani Chronicles’, in Chronicling History: Chroniclers and Historians in Medieval and Renaissance Italy, ed. by Sharon Dale, Alison Williams Lewin, and Duane J. Osheim (University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2007), pp. 113–43. The first version of Villani’s Cronica did not include the myth of the refoundation of Florence by Charlemagne. Maissen argues that it must have been added after 1326 when Ludwig’s arrival was imminent, and Villani wished to show Charles of Calabria the appropriate model for governing, Thomas Maissen, ‘Attila, Totila e Carlo Magno fra Dante, Villani, Boccaccio e Malispini. Per la genesi di due leggende erudite’, Archivio storico italiano, 152 (1994), 561–639 (pp. 622–5).

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in Florence in the 1330s.20 Villani worked for two of the major merchant banking companies, Peruzzi and Buonaccorsi, and served the state of Florence as prior in 1316, 1321 and 1328, as well as in various other capacities.21 During that time, Charles of Calabria, son of Robert the Wise of Naples, was elected as signore of Florence for a ten-year term, of which he served one and a half years (1326–7). Upon Charles’ departure, one of Villani’s duties was to justify Charles’ expenses to the commune.22 Krauss comments upon Villani’s disapproval of Charles’ love for expenditure and elaborate dress; Villani also, however, comments on Charles’ desire to take on more power and for longer, and of course, his imposition of more taxes (11.2, 11.10).23 Villani organised his Cronica into a universal salvation history. From the sons of Noah, continuing through the classical translatio imperii, he recounts the history of ruling families of Europe and Asia, tying France and Italy together as descendants of the Trojans. His two major additions to world history, beyond earlier works and his own observations in Florence, were the confusion of Attila and Totila into one figure (though they were from the fourth and fifth centuries, respectively) and the refoundation of the city by Charlemagne after ‘Attila’s’ depredations, thus mixing three centuries.24 After rebuilding Florence, according to Villani, Charlemagne alla sua partita di Firenze brivileggiò la città, e fece franco e libero il Comune e’ cittadini di Firenze, e tre miglia d’intorno, sanza pagare niuna taglia o spesa, salvo danari XXVI per focolare ciascuno anno. E per simile modo fece franchi tutti i cittadini d’intorno che dentro volessero tornare ad abitare, e’ forestieri […] (p. 53) [… at his departure from Florence, he gave privileges to the city, and made the Commune and the citizens of Florence and [from] three miles around enfranchised and free, [that is] without payment of any tax or levy, except twenty-six danari per hearth each year. And he similarly enfranchised all the nearby citizens and the foreigners who wished to return to live inside […]] (my translation).

Charlemagne and his court appear in Florentine historical accounts of its refoundation from Villani on. Non-historical writers too were influenced by the Charlemagne connection. Boccaccio, writing in Naples 1336–8 at the Anjou court, refers to Charlemagne and his descendant, Charles of Anjou, in his Filocolo, where Juno speaks to her minister to call the French leader to her service: 20 Amedeo De Vincentiis, ‘Origini, memoria, identità a Firenze nel XIV secolo. La rifondazione di Carlomagno’, Mélanges de l’École française de Rome, 15 (2003), 385–443 (p. 392). Villani himself died before completing the second version. 21 Maissen, ‘Attila’, p. 623. 22 Maissen, ‘Attila’, pp. 624–5. Furthermore, Maissen suggests that Villani was writing at this time and invented the Florentine privileges for that reason (p. 623). 23 Henning Krauss, Epica feudale e pubblico borghese. Per la storia poetica di Carlomagno in Italia, trans. by Andrea Fassò (Padua: Liviana, 1980), p. 219. 24 The historical Charlemagne only visited Florence once during one of his five trips to the peninsula; see Introduction in this volume.

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Intra ’l ponente e i regni di Borrea sono fruttifere selve, nelle quali io sento nato un valoroso giovane, disceso dell’antico sangue di colui che già i tuoi antecessori liberò dalla canina rabbia de’ longobardi, loro rendendo vinti con più altri nimici alla nostra potenza. Chiama costui però che noi gli abbiamo quasi l’ultima parte delle nostre vittorie serbata, e sopra noi gli prometti valorose forze.25 [Between the east and the northern realms there are fruitful forests, in which I hear a valorous youth is born, descended from the ancient blood of him who in the past liberated your ancestors from the animalistic [lit. canine] rage of the Longobards, defeating them together with many other enemies of our power. Call this one, because we have saved for him the last part of our victories, and promise him, on our behalf, valiant forces.]

The ‘valoroso giovane’ would be Charles of Anjou. Boccaccio also specifically mentions ‘Ruberto’ – Robert of Anjou, Charles of Calabria’s father – as one of the many descendants (I, 1). After Boccaccio’s return to Florence in the 1340s, his Comedia delle ninfe fiorentine mentions the Gallic prince who restored Florence (38.107), indicating that he was familiar with the legend as well as recognising the family connection.26 Historians suggest that, intentionally or not, in Charlemagne Villani offered a model for ruling Florence: re-founding and supporting, leading military expeditions against opponents, and granting privileges to Florentines. As chivalric literature informed history – where authors admire courage and military skill27 – similarly, Andrea’s chivalric ‘storie’ partake of historical tradition and flavour. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, numerous Florentines wrote histories, and not all followed Villani exactly, but his influence is clear in the inclusion of Charlemagne in them. Villani’s popularity was immense and enduring: more than 110 copies of the Cronica survive today.28 Brucker speaks of the ‘surge of patriotic fervour that was stimulated by the wars (1389–1402) with the signore of Milan’.29 The later and most frequently cited historical works include those of Leonardo Bruni, Donato Acciaiuoli and Ugolino Verino, all of whom wrote in Latin.30 25 Giovanni Boccaccio, Il Filocolo, ed. by Amadeo Enzo Quaglio (Milano: Mondadori, 1998), I, 1, p. 3. Maissen (‘Attila’) calls our attention to this on pp. 597–8, where he also discusses Ameto. 26 Giovanni Boccaccio, Comedia delle ninfe fiorentine (Ameto), ed. by Amadeo Enzo Quaglio (Firenze: Sansoni, 1963), p. 171. 27 Clarke, ‘The Villani Chronicles’, p. 123. See also Gloria Allaire, ‘Andrea da Barberino, Historiographer’, in ‘Par deviers Rome m’en revenrai errant’: XXème Congrès International de la Société Rencesvals pour l’étude des épopées romanes, ed. by Maria Careri, Caterina Menichetti e Maria Teresa Rachetta (Rome: Viella, 2017), pp. 295–302, especially pp. 296–7, for Andrea as historiographer. 28 De Vincentiis, ‘Origini’, p. 437 note. 29 Brucker, Florence, p. 136. 30 For a discussion of Charlemagne in these works, see Oren Margolis, ‘The Quattrocento Charlemagne: Franco-Florentine Relations and the Politics of an Icon’,

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At the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth century, Florentine foreign policy and internal politics both offer possible connections with Andrea’s prose literary history. In foreign policy, during Andrea’s life, the War of the Eight Saints versus Pope Gregory IX (1375–8); the defence against the Milanese Visconti in their attempt to spread south (1390–1402); and the invasions of Neapolitans into central Italy and Tuscany with the help of the Hungarians (1409–14; again in the 1440s), many of which involved the house of Anjou, led to more than 75 years of constant warfare. Furthermore, internal strife arose between the lower classes and the nobility (combined with the upper merchant classes) that continued from the early thirteenth century. Florence received or called for assistance from members of the house of Anjou numerous times: in 1267–79, Florentines entrusted themselves to Charles I when he first came to the peninsula; in 1301, when Charles of Valois was sent at the behest of Pope Boniface VIII; in 1313–22 when Robert of Anjou served as lord of Florence; in 1326, when Charles of Calabria was appointed podestà for ten years; and again in 1342 with Walter of Brienne, King Robert of Anjou’s nephew by marriage (who had acted briefly as vicar for Charles of Calabria during his time in Florence).31 The house of Anjou, and in particular, the various Charles of Anjou, as allies of the Church and Guelfs, were usually therefore Florentine allies (for the popularity of the name, see Chapter 1). The Florentine upper classes in spite of all continued to view the temporary rule of a foreign noble as a possible cure for the city’s political and economic woes; the financial links between the Regno and bankers were essential.32 The cities and regions mentioned in Andrea’s works in The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, ed. by William J. Purkis and Matthew Gabriele (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2016), pp. 203–30. See too De Vincentiis for not all historians agreeing with the Carlo Magno myth (‘Origini’, pp. 439–41). Andrea Matucci, ‘Un mito fra nostalgia e modernità: L’ideale cavalleresco nella storiografia fiorentina del Cinquecento’, in Paladini di carta: Il modello cavalleresco fiorentino, ed. by Marco Villoresi (Roma: Bulzoni, 2006), pp. 225–34, also discusses the Charlemagne foundation legend and its use, particularly by Benedetto Varchi, calling the story ‘quasi “leggenda ufficiale di stato”’ [almost ‘an official state legend’] (p. 233), quoting from the Italian translation of R[obert] Davidsohn, Storia di Firenze, 2 vols (Florence: Sansoni, 1956), I, 117. 31 Cf. Gene A. Brucker, Renaissance Florence (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1969), p. 132: ‘On three separate occasions in the fourteenth century the citizens voluntarily surrendered their liberty to a foreign prince’, citing 1313, King Robert of Naples as signore, 1320s, Charles of Calabria against the Lucchese Castracani, and 1342, Walter of Brienne. See also Laura K. Morreale, ʻFrench Literature, Florentine Politics, and Vernacular Historical Writing, 1270–1348’, Speculum, 85 (2010), 868–93. 32 See Chapter 1 on members of the house of Anjou in general. For the popularity of history at the time, see also Morreale, French Literature, and Michele Fuiano, ‘La “Biblioteca” di Carlo I d’Angiò’, in Carlo I d’Angiò in Italia: studi e ricerche (Naples: Liguori, 1974), pp. 287–313, who documents volumes in Charles I of

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reflect specifically the Angevin geographical realm, not just the Mediterranean or romance world, thus linking Florentine and peninsular history with the fate of the Capetians, appealing to them and their clan. Linking Florence literarily with the Anjou family created a dynastic paean ante litteram, a genre better known to readers of Renaissance poets such as Pulci and Ariosto.

Carlo Magno in Andrea da Barberino’s works Reali di Francia

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arlo Magno’s conception, birth, and childhood appear in the Reali di Francia. Because this volume is the initial work in Andrea’s œuvre and sets the structure and background for the entire series, it merits in-depth discussion. The Reali are based on a work like the Geste Francor, a lengthy Franco-Italian manuscript linking nine chansons de geste.33 It includes Bovo d’Antona (enfances and chevalerie of Bovo d’Antona); Uggieri il Danese (also enfances and chevalerie); Berta da li pe grant; Karleto (also known as Mainet, the enfances of Charlemagne); Berta e Milone (the romance of Orlando’s parents and his conception); Orlandino (Roland’s enfances); and Macario.34 These can be divided into three groups: the Charlemagne story; the Roland story; and the barons’ stories. Andrea includes all of these in some form, but not all in the Reali. Andrea divides his Reali into six books, and includes Berta da li pe grant, Karleto, Berta e Milone and Orlandino in the sixth book. Only this last book is dedicated to the time of Carlo Magno, while the volume as a whole creates the framework for these fictional royal chronicles. Anjou’s treasure room. For a historiographical examination of various proposed reasons for the repeated invitations, see Amedeo De Vincentiis, ‘Le signorie angioine a Firenze. Storiografia e prospettive’, Reti Medievali Rivista, 2 ( July– December 2001), 1–10, [accessed 19 January 2021]. For the economic and banking considerations, necessary to conduct the on-going military campaigns, see Jean Dunbabin, The French in the Kingdom of Sicily, 1266–1305 (Cambridge: University Press, 2011), especially Part I, Chapter 3, ‘The movement of money’, pp. 48–56. 33 That MS dates to the first half of the fourteenth century (for more details, see Chapter 1 of this volume). 34 The entire MS has been edited twice, by Aldo Rosellini, La ‘Geste Francor’ di Venezia. Edizione integrale del codice XIII del Fondo francese della Marciana (Brescia: La Scuola, 1986), and by Leslie Zarker Morgan, Chansons de geste of Ms. Marc. Fr. XIII (= 256): Edition with glossary, introduction and notes, 2 vols (Tempe, AZ: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 2009). Berta e Milone and Orlandino have been translated into English: Berta and Milone and Rolandin, trans. by Leslie Zarker Morgan, ORB (On-Line Reference Book for Medieval Studies), .

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The historical context of the original chansons de geste that he chooses is also important: the poems from which he works date to different eras. Berta e Milone and Orlandino in the Geste Francor are the first versions of those texts and originated in the Italian peninsula, dating to the first half of the fourteenth century: there are no Old French versions. The other stories existed in Old French versions.35 Old French epics are usually divided not only by subject matter (these are all part of the ‘Carolingian’ cycle) but also by era, with earlier poems known for more positive views of Charlemagne.36 A brief initial paragraph begins Andrea’s Reali, ‘Qui si comincia la istoria de’ Reali di Francia…’ [Here begins the [hi]story of the Royals of France…] with a summary of the contents of each of the six books. This actually appears in only one of the two MSS and in printed versions of the text (which date to 1491 and later).37 Thus Andrea identifies the book as ‘La istoria de’ Reali di Francia’ though modern editors call it I Reali di Francia. Andrea’s Reali begins like a universal salvation history from the time of Gostantino (Constantine), and it follows his family from the time of Pope Salvestro (Sylvester). It tells of Constantine’s leprosy and his cure at the hands of Sylvester in Aspromonte, located in southern Italy, thanks to the advice of a vision from Saints Peter and Paul: La notte vegnente vidde Gostantino in visione due vestiti di bianco, e domandaronlo se egli voleva guarire. Rispuose di sì; ed eglino gli dissono: ‘Fa per senno di quello Salvestro che predica la fede di Cristo, ché egli sa fare una acqua ché ti farà guarire’. Gostantino non credette la prima né la seconda volta; ma la terza volta gli domandò chi eglino erano. Rispuosono: ‘Siamo Piero e Paulo, discepoli di Jesù Cristo’. Per questo credette Gostantino, e la mattina sentì una boce che disse: ‘Fa quello che tu hai udito, e abbia fede, e sarai guarito’.38 (Reali, 1.2) [The next night Constantine saw two men dressed in white, and they asked him if he wanted to get well. He answered yes, and they said to him: ‘Do according to the wisdom of that Silvester [possible play on words: Saviour] who preaches the faith of Christ, for he knows how to make a water that will heal you’. Constantine didn’t believe [it] the first or the second time, but the third time he asked who they were. They replied, ‘We are Peter and Paul, disciples of Jesus Christ’. For this 35 For dating and further information, see Chapter 1 and also Charlemagne in Medieval Francophonia and Occitan Literature. 36 Joseph J. Duggan, ‘Die zwei “Epochen” der Chansons de geste’, in Epochenschwellen und Epochenstrukturen im Diskurs der Literatur- und Sprachhistorie, ed. by Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht and Ursula Link-Heer et al. (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1985), pp. 389–408, gives an excellent summary of the various theories (including his own) for dividing the eras of the chanson de geste. 37 Vandelli, Reali, I, 3–4. 38 Accents and quote symbols have been modernized. ‘Aspromonte’ refers to the place, the massif in Calabria; Aspramonte is Andrea’s work, and Aspremont the French chanson de geste.

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reason Constantine believed [them] and in the morning he heard a voice saying, ‘Do as you’ve heard, and have faith, and you will be healed’.]

Constantine is thus connected to Christianity with the help of divine visions. Fiovo, one of Constantine’s sons, begins the family line that leads to Bovo and the Carolingian rulers, as well as to the houses of Chiaramonte and of Mongrana.39 Within that framework, Carlo Magno is the seventh generation after Constantine, and therefore part of a family with a special relationship to God and his saints from the beginning, but also to empire – lay and religious – through Constantine and the pope. Together, the introductory paragraph and the final chapter of the Reali form the genealogical scaffolding that Andrea uses for his entire œuvre. The final chapter of genealogies comes at the end of Book 5 in one MS (Florence), while in the other MS (Oxford) and in the printed editions, it is at the end of Book 6; Vandelli argues that this is the appropriate position for it.40 Book 6 ‘tratta del nascimento di Carlo Magno e della scura morte di Pipino da due suoi figliuoli bastardi’ [treats the birth of Charlemagne and the grim killing of Pepin by two of his bastard sons] as announced in the initial paragraph.41 Book 6 of the Reali sets a model to be followed by French kings in Andrea’s narratives. Pepin is old and needs an heir; his relatives and men seek a wife for him. The plot then follows that of Berta da li pe grant, where a marriage by proxy goes wrong. Pepin is tricked by Berta’s look-alike friend Falisetta into believing she is queen, a position in which she then remains. Berta must flee when confronted by Falisetta’s family henchmen. It is not until Berta’s parents in Hungary both have the same nightmare about their daughter that they seek their daughter in Paris. The Hungary connection is logical for the Anjou family – Charles II married Mary of Hungary, and Joanna I was affianced to her cousin Andrew of Hungary – Hungary was the fictional Berta’s origin in earlier texts as well (see Chapter 1), so textual traditions may reflect continuing interest in and knowledge of Angevin concerns.42 In the Reali, Berta’s family, together with a royal hunting party, finally discovers her 39 On the phenomenon of translation as related to Bovo, see Luke Sunderland, ‘Bueve d’Hantone/Bovo d’Antona: Exile, Translation and the History of the Chanson de geste’, in Rethinking Medieval Translation: Ethics, Politics, Theory, ed. by Emma Campbell and Robert Mills (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2012), pp. 226–84. 40 Vandelli, Reali, I, pp. LXIII–LXV. 41 Vandelli, Reali, I, 3–4. 42 There were tensions between the Hungarian Anjou line and the Naples-Sicily members of the house of Anjou: Andrew (1327–45) was killed, and his brother Louis I of Hungary came to Naples to avenge him, so fighting between them would not be surprising. This was a complicated history; ultimately, Charles II of Naples, a kinsman, conquered Naples with Hungarian support and put Joanna to death. For details, see David Abulafia, The New Cambridge Medieval History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), especially the chapters about Sicily, pp. 519–20, and Eastern Europe, pp. 760–1.

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in the forest at a woodcutter’s home, where she confesses all to Pepin. Carlo is conceived (6.6), and the royal party returns to Paris.43 Carlo is born with a red cross on his shoulder, a Guelf sign.44 Andrea continues his Reali with Karleto, the story of Carlo’s childhood.45 Young Carlo (Carlotto) must flee for his own safety from his Maganzesi step-brothers. He is very intelligent: he knows to leave Paris, seek a change of clothing (6.18) and go to an abbey where the abbot was a friend of his father’s (6.18–20). He gives his name as ‘Mainetto’. However, Carlo is so clever that everyone gets upset with him, and he must stay with the abbot, not with other monks. This is a sort of backhanded compliment to young Carlo that continues throughout the work, recurring when he must leave Spain, for example (Reali, 6.37–39). This variation on the epic motif of the epic hero being too strong and hot-tempered to be an appropriate member of a monastic community reflects young Carlo’s intelligence and reflects his future as emperor rather than merely a fighter. The abbot has visions indicating that the fugitive is Carlo, son of Pepin. Morando di Riviera, one of the royal family’s supporters, eventually finds the fugitive Carlo at the abbey, and accompanies him to King Galafro’s court in Spain (6.21–39). There, Galeana, the king’s daughter, falls in love with Mainetto. The young man behaves appropriately and humbly, posing as the son of a borghese and not worthy of her love. He demonstrates otherwise, however, by saving her from marriage to contestants at a tournament arranged for that purpose; he subsequently rescues her and the whole city from a disappointed Saracen suitor. Yet he remains discreet: ‘è senno il saper tacere e tenere celato il segreto’ [knowing how to stay quiet and keeping secrets hidden is wisdom] (6.25). As a result of this second victory, King Galafro makes Mainetto his ‘capitano generale’ [Captain General] (6.33). Mainetto continues his feats of arms, conquering Uggieri’s [Ogier’s] father Gualfedriano, and converting Uggieri together with Galeana to Christianity. Galeana’s brothers plot against him, so Morando, Mainetto [young Carlo 43 Berta is armed and kills one of the Maganzese party with a lance upon their return (6.16). 44 Peter Wunderli, ‘De Berte as grans piés à Berta da li pe grandi: Textes et contextes’, in Réécritures: Regards nouveaux sur la reprise et le remaniement de textes, dans la littérature française et au-delà, du Moyen Âge à la Renaissance, ed. by Dorothea Kullmann and Shaun Lalonde (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediæval Studies, 2015), pp. 229–53 (pp. 234–6), compares Adenet’s Berte with the Geste version and comments upon the poor showing of Pepin in the Geste version. For the red cross, Donald Weinstein, ‘The Myth of Florence’, in Florentine Studies. Politics and Society in Renaissance Florence, ed. by Nicolai Rubinstein (London: Faber and Faber, 1968), pp. 15–44 (p. 19). The red cross was also the symbol of the capitano del popolo in Florence, visible today on the Palazzo della Signoria under the crenellations (Brucker, Florence, p. 138). 45 There are no specific titles at the start of the individual sections. However, rubrics that summarise the content appear at the beginning of each chapter in addition to the general summary of the entire volume by books noted above.

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Magno], Uggieri and Galeana, dressed as a boy, flee to Rome via Avignon and Tuscany. In Rome (6.40), a cardinal of the Chiaramonte house gives them money and sends them to Bavaria (6.42) whence they retake Paris with the help of the discontented Parisian people.46 Carlo cuts off his own brother’s head so that no one else can boast of having spilled royal blood, and then has all the dead buried (6.47). Carlo is crowned, with the pope present, becoming ‘Carlo Magno’, and he marries Galeana (6.51). Berta e Milone and Orlandino conclude the Reali with the story of Orlando’s [Roland’s] conception and birth. Berta, the legitimate daughter of Pepin and Berta ai piedi grandi, falls in love with Milone, Bernardo of Chiaramonte’s son. Carlo has nothing against Milone, but does not wish him to marry his sister and tries to keep Berta away from him (6.52). The two manage to meet nonetheless, and when she finds herself pregnant, Carlo is furious and ashamed, so imprisons them. Namo [Naimes] counsels marriage, but convinces neither Berta’s father nor Milone’s. Namo then contrives to help Milone and Berta escape, knowing that if Carlo executed the couple, it would harm him: ‘fa il buono amico, che, conoscendo il pericolo del suo signore, lo campò da quello medesimo ch’egli non si voleva campare’ (6.53) [he acts as a good friend who, knowing the danger of his lord, saves him from [the danger] from which he was unable to save himself]. Berta and Milone flee; their son Orlando is born in Sutri, near Rome on pilgrimage routes, thus linking the family further to Church connections.47 When Orlandino is five years old, Milone leaves for Balante’s court in Africa, which Andrea will link to the next volume, Aspramonte. Carlo goes to Rome to be crowned ‘impe­ radore di Roma’ (6.57) [emperor of Rome]: a buffone [entertainer] leaves the court and will be the source of action in the following volume, creating a second link to it. Upon Carlo’s return from Rome, he stops at Sutri. Orlandino goes to court and takes food and drink. When he steals a silver plate full of food from Carlo, that king laughs – he thinks it the sign of gentle birth (6.63). Carlo dreams of a lion cub saving him from a dragon, and at Orlandino’s next visit, Carlo has him followed. Namo and his companions find Berta and arrange for her return. When she comes before Carlo, though he has promised to forgive her, he kicks her; she asks for forgiveness. When the court returns to France, Orlandino receives his father’s lands. Book 6, and the volume, concludes with a summary of the family tree and ‘Seguita apresso a questo l’Aspromonte. Deo gratias. Amen’ (6.71) [the Aspr[a]monte follows immediately after this. Thanks be to God. Amen].48 46 Members of the house of Anjou were also married into the Bavarian line – Stephen of Anjou, son of Charles I of Hungary, 1332–54, married Margaret of Bavaria. To have allies there might therefore reflect a historical element. 47 For a map of sites in the peninsula related to the Reali, as the Geste Francor, see Luca Morlino, ‘La letteratura francese e provenzale nell’Italia medievale’, in Atlante della letteratura italiana (Turin: Einaudi, 2010), pp. 27–40 (pp. 37 and 39). 48 Pio Rajna includes a drawing of the family tree as an unnumbered fold-out endpaper in his Ricerche intorno ai Reali di Francia (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1872).

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The view of Carlo Magno is not consistent throughout Andrea’s works. Holtus and Wunderli, speaking of Franco-Italian Charlemagne literature, contend that: En Italie septentrionale il n’y a […] pas de place pour un souverain idéal […]. Il n’est plus le grand guerrier, il n’est plus l’élu de Dieu, il n’est plus un roi héréditaire, il n’est plus le principal défenseur de la foi, il n’est plus le suzerain de l’Occident entier.49 In northern Italy there is […] no place for an ideal sovereign […]. He is no longer the greatest warrior, he is no longer God’s chosen, he is no longer a hereditary king, he is no longer the primary defender of the Faith, he is no longer the suzerain of the entire West.]

However, the situation in Andrea’s work is more nuanced, not only because of its historical context and being in central Italy, but also because of the varied sources of the works that Andrea links together and the expectations in the genres of the original poems carried into his prose. In enfances stories, a certain degree of humour is expected. In Ménard’s classic volume on humour, he includes ‘Les enfances plaisantes’ [Amusing tales of youthful deeds],50 noting young men’s behaviour before knighthood, like using inappropriate weapons. Here, in the four plot segments Andrea intertwines in Book 6, Berta da li pe grant and Karleto, are of French origin while Berta e Milone with Orlandino are of Italian origin. They exhibit differing degrees of seriousness – but not as far as Charlemagne is concerned. In the first pair, Carlo Magno is a law-abiding, highly moral personality even as a child: he follows procedure and he and those around him know tradition. Galeana insists on making Carlo a knight, since every girl before being wed has the right to knight one man (6.30). Furthermore, Carlo refuses to sleep with her before their crowning: ‘aveva giurato non la toccare mai, se prima non la incoronava del reame di Franza’ (6. 40) [he had sworn never to touch her until he had crowned her [queen] of the French realm]. In the second pair of stories lies the humour of the volume: Milone dresses as a woman to see Berta (6.52); Orlandino is named for rolling in their cave dwelling (6.53); and Orlandino attempts to out-stare Carlo Magno and then pulls his beard (6.66). Indeed, Orlandino, the child and youth, is a major source of the comic in the text.51 But Carlo Magno himself is not a figure of fun. 49 Günter Holtus and Peter Wunderli, Franco-italien et épopée franco-italienne, GRLMA, III, Les Épopées romanes, ed. by Rita Lejeune et al. (Heidelberg: Winter, 2005), p. 95. 50 Philippe Ménard, Le Rire et le sourire dans le roman courtois en France au Moyen Âge (1150–1250) (Geneva: Droz, 1969), pp. 148–56. 51 See Jane Everson, ‘Prolongements romanesques de la matière épique’, in Epic Studies: Acts of the Seventeenth International Congress of the Société Rencesvals for the Study of Romance Epic, ed. by Anne Berthelot et al. (= Olifant, 25 (2006)), pp. 41–68 (p. 53), for further discussion. Orlandino, ‘young Roland’ is born in this account. Therefore he appears as an infant, a child and a youth. Though ‘enfances’

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Never in either of the two pairs of plots is Carlo denigrated; on the contrary, he punishes his sister Berta for straying from appropriate royal forms with a kick (6.69) and recognizes Orlandino’s value with the help of premonitory dreams (6.62–70). Throughout, legitimacy of the royal line is essential; even Falisetta, the false Berta, seeks legitimacy for her union with Pepin and their offspring, insisting on a ‘repetition’ of the marriage vows before sleeping with him (6.5). As Allaire puts it, the purity of family line was a concern shared with Tuscan families of Andrea’s Florence.52 Andrea throughout portrays Carlo and his family as blessed, receiving dreams from God and answers to prayers, as do those around them (like the abbot protecting young Carlo). Magic is absent, or discounted; for example, Andrea mentions Bramante’s helmet, saying that it is enchanted, or rather well-tempered, and that some believe there is a nail from Christ’s cross in it (6.32). Carlo Magno in the Reali thus remains the chosen of God as his visions and those of his people demonstrate, and defender of the faith as he converts pagans, among whom his future wife Galeana. As sovereign judge, he has his own half-brothers condemned to death, beheading the one who survives his return to power. He maintains all appropriate procedures, be it for punishment or any administrative function.53 He does not forget to ‘essere buono, comprensivo e generoso’ [to be good, understanding, and generous],54 but rather acts impartially, not favouring his own family. He furthermore remains hereditary king: he seizes power in France, he is not elected.55 So, differently from in the Geste, Carlo Magno is neither ‘systématiquement dénigré’ [systematically denigrated] nor ‘svilito, il suo mito distrutto’ [debased, his myth destroyed] in the Reali.56 Ciarambino, in fact, suggests that Carlo Magno is at his best during his youth in the Reali.57 in Old French tradition means the time before knighthood (see Chapter 1), here it covers the time from babyhood to adult deeds. When he rolls in the cave, he is named ‘Rotolando’ (Reali, Chapter 53). Chapter 59 of the Reali in fact is labelled ‘Di molte fanciullezze d’Orlandino…’ [About the many childhood doings of Orlandino…]; the term is defined as the period between ages six and thirteen, approximately, see Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, 2nd ed. (Bologna: Zanichelli, 1999), s. v. fanciullezza, dated end of the 13th century). 52 Cf. Gloria Allaire, ‘Memory, Commemoration, and Lineage in Le Storie Nerbonesi’, Italian Culture, 18.2 (2000), 1–14 (p. 5). 53 Gerardo C. A. Ciarambino, Carlomagno, Gano e Orlando in alcuni romanzi italiani del XIV e XV secolo (Pisa: Giardini, 1976), pp. 99–100. 54 Ciarambino, Carlomagno, Gano e Orlando, p. 100. 55 Holtus and Wunderli recall about the Geste Francor, ‘[…] n’oublions pas que Karleto est élu empereur par le peuple sous la tutelle du pape…’ (Franco-italien et épopée franco-italienne, p. 97) [let us not forget that Karleto is elected emperor by the people under the guidance of the pope]. 56 Quotes respectively from Holtus and Wunderli, Franco-italien et épopée franco-italienne, p. 100; Villoresi, Letteratura, p. 50. 57 Ciarambino, Carlomagno, Gano e Orlando, p. 98.

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Hartung, in speaking of the Reali, contends that ‘Die Anwendung des Kriteriums historischer Verbürgtheit auf die fiktiven karlsepischen Stoffvarianten der italieni­ schen Epik ist keineswegs parodistisch gemeint. Vielmehr ist ein grundsätzlich anderes Wahrheitsverständnis zu Grunde zu legen’ [The application of the criterion of historical authenticity to the fictional Carolingian epic material in Italian epic is by no means meant to be parodic. Rather, a fundamentally different understanding of truth lies at its base],58 and, as the two narrative strands here demonstrate, different purposes enliven Andrea’s creation from the original compilation. The third strand bears further witness to Andrea’s unitary plan: court barons’ intrigues are systematically eliminated, in contrast with the Geste Francor, where three intertwined plots detail feuds not only between noble clans but also with the king.59 Bovo d’Antona (where a king assists a usurping knight against Bovo, who is in the right) appears in Book 4 of the Reali, with the revenge of the wronged knight’s offspring in Book 5. Ogier le Danois, a rebel baron in the French tradition, is entirely missing:60 here, Uggieri is a converted Saracen and great admirer of Charlemagne (6.34); and Macario, the story of a baron who seeks revenge when he is rejected by the queen, is displaced to the beginning of the Nerbonesi. The Reali goes beyond recounting ‘what happened’ as a chronicle would: it tells the public the (hi)story it wants to hear using motifs familiar to them, as Latowsky demonstrates in the case of the Pilgrimage of Charlemagne.61 Just as in that work Charlemagne’s journey to Constantinople and Jerusalem serves as a symbolic victory of the west, Andrea’s Reali serves as a symbolic linking of Florence to France’s might and right.62 The image of Carlo Magno as the latest and greatest 58 Stefan Hartung, ‘Karl der Große in der italienischen und frankovenetischen Literatur des Mittelalters’, in Karl der Grosse in den europäischen Literaturen des Mittelalters: Konstruktion eines Mythos, ed. by Berndt Bastert (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2004), pp. 55–78 (p. 72), trans. by Leslie Zarker Morgan. 59 In the Geste Francor and some other texts in the tradition, the Maganzese (the people from Mainz) systematically oppose Charlemagne and his family. These are absent here, though their work appears in Andrea’s subsequent volumes, discussed below. 60 The French tradition includes a number of barons who feel wronged by Charlemagne, and who thus are at odds with him. These are grouped together in the ‘rebel barons cycle’. In the French Ogier le Danois, for example, Charlemagne’s son kills Ogier’s son, and Ogier in return kills one of Charlemagne’s relatives. So Ogier must flee the court; and he wages war on Charlemagne with the assistance of Desiderius of Pavia (Chevalerie Ogier). For more details, see François Suard, Guide de la chanson de geste et de sa postérité littéraire XIe–XVe siècle (Paris: Champion, 2011), pp. 243–6. 61 Anne A. Latowsky, Emperor of the World and the Construction of Imperial Authority, 800–1229 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013), p. 5, pp. 225–7 for dating the Pilgrimage; passim. 62 Latowsky speaks of the Pèlerinage (Voyage) de Charlemagne à Jérusalem [The Pilgrimage or Voyage of Charlemagne to Jerusalem] (a single facsimile of a

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emperor of the Franks must therefore be positive, impartial, and correct in his behaviour, the model against which his successors are gauged. The Reali is one of the most successful of Andrea’s romanzi. There are two manuscripts of it extant, neither autograph, and some twenty-one printed editions surviving from the fifteenth century.63 These demonstrate the popularity of Andrea’s idea, one not shared to the same extent or perhaps not in the same form as all of Andrea’s other works.64 Its popularity certainly could be due to its accurate depiction of social and political ideals of its time and its reflection of actual events: the class structure (with its negative judgement of lower classes in Orlandino’s experience, where the youthful son of aristocrats must fight the local bully and contend with gangs), as well as the wars throughout the peninsula, and the territorial domains of the house of Anjou. This last consideration appears also in the second work in Andrea’s Carlo Magno sequence.

Aspramonte Aspramonte is Andrea’s version of a popular chanson de geste that includes Orlando’s coming of age – his receiving his weapons and horse.65 It covers a period in possibly fourteenth-century MS copy of a text dated to between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries) that has been variously interpreted. Charlemagne goes to the East to meet the King of Constantinople when his wife says that the King is more handsome than he. Charlemagne there encounters various mechanical marvels and his men behave badly. Yet with divine help the French nonetheless succeed in overcoming the king of Constantinople without a battle. For some of the issues, see Latowsky, Emperor of the World and her bibliography; see also Anne Elizabeth Cobby, Ambivalent Conventions: Formula and Parody in Old French (Amsterdam, Rodopi, 1995), pp. 82–123. 63 For the MSS: Alessandro Mortara, Catalogo dei manoscritti italiani che sotto la denominazione di codici canonici italici si conservano nella Biblioteca Bodleiana a Oxford (Oxford: Clarendon, 1864), 129, columns 143–4, and G. Mazzatinti, Inventari dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d’Italia, 18 vols (Forlì: Bordandini, 1890– 1911), VIII (1898), 15. For the printed texts: Marina Beer, Romanzi di cavalleria: Il ‘Furioso’ e il romanzo italiano del primo Cinquecento (Roma: Bulzoni, 1987), pp. 334–62; Vandelli, Reali, I, pp. XXXV–XLIII; Online Computer Library Center – OCLC (consulted August 2018). According to Vandelli, all printed editions derive from the 1491 Modena edition, which he is able to trace due to linguistic form (pp. XLIII–LIII). It was continually printed and reprinted through the nineteenth century, and not only in Florence: for example, Modena, Venice, Lucca, and Brescia all produced editions in the sixteenth century. 64 Vandelli, Reali, I, pp. XII–XIII for a more complete description; see also Marco Villoresi, Fabbrica dei cavalieri (Roma: Salerno 2005), p. 23. Furthermore, in over sixty manuscripts, only three contain more than one of Andrea’s works, and one of those contains the Reali and Aspramonte, its continuation. 65 L’Aspremont was extremely popular in Italy; for the manuscripts of the chanson de

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Carlo Magno’s career when he is already king, and fills all three books constituting the volume. Andrea begins with a short summary of the Reali, where it becomes clear that the buffone, whom readers met in the Reali (6.57), caused the war between the Saracens and France by telling Agolant and his court that Carlo Magno was more generous than they. Agolant therefore seeks to conquer Carlo Magno in order to prove his superiority. Milone, Orlandino’s father (also in Reali, 6.54), returns to Italy from Africa to warn Europe about the coming Saracen invasion. Agolant’s forces take Reggio Calabria in the first book of Aspramonte. The advance of the Ottoman Empire into the Balkans at the end of the fourteenth century and its competition with the maritime republics in the Mediterranean caused concern that would be well-founded, culminating in the later taking of Otranto (1480). In the second book, the Saracens send a messenger, Balante, to Paris asking for Carlo Magno’s submission to Agolante, king of Africa and Asia; the messenger returns and the Christians send an advance warning via Namo to Reggio. A series of battles completes the rest of that second book, which the younger generation – Orlando and his companions – dominate. In the third and final book, Carlo Magno continues the battle in southern Italy and then must also combat Gherardo da Fratta [Fr. Girard de Fraite or Girart de Roussillon], a rebellious baron.66 Andrea’s hero here is Orlando, not Gherardo da Fratta, as the two play opposing roles in rebellion: Orlando rebels against being held back by Carlo Magno from fighting the common enemy where Gherardo refuses Carlo Magno’s call to participate in fighting the common enemy. Carlo Magno is a mature man, at the height of his form, as he is also in the French and Franco-Italian Chanson [de geste] d’Aspremont. Carlo Magno appears to be a moderate ruler, mostly self-restrained, though occasionally angry, in Andrea’s version of the story. Even Agolant, the enemy chief, admires him, calling him ‘Carlo savio e maestro di battaglia’ [Charles, wise and geste, see [accessed 10 May 2022]; at the time of going to press only some of this is publicly available. For more information, see Holtus and Wunderli, Franco-italien et épopée franco-italienne, pp. 167–8, and Peter Wunderli, ‘Das Karlsbild in der altfranzösischen Epik’, in Karl der Grosse in den europäischen Literaturen des Mittelalters: Konstruktion eines Mythos, ed. by Berndt Bastert (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2004), pp. 17–37 (pp. 25–7). For more about Aspramonte texts (in various forms) in Italy, see also Boni (ed.), Aspramonte, and his numerous articles; Antonella Negri, ‘Nuove ricerche sull’Aspramonte quattrocentesco in ottave’, Critica del testo, 19 (2016), 9–26; Anna Maria Borsari, ‘La leggenda d’Aspramonte in Italia e l’Aspramonte in prosa del ms. Add. 10808 del British Museum’, in Critica testuale ed esegesi del testo: Studi in onore di Marco Boni (Bologna: Patron, 1984), pp. 143–94; the bibliography on the website above; and at [accessed 10 May 2022]. 66 This last forms an important discussion of rebellion and its consequences – for the ruler, the rebel, and other nobles. Again, the date of the original forms an important point of reference: the Old French Aspremont dates to the end of the twelfth century, so falls into the earlier stages of the chanson de geste.

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master of war] (3.34).67 Orlando is young and Carlo Magno worries about him and the other youths, whereas Orlando thinks he is old enough to fight. Gherardo, on the other hand, does not want to fight for Carlo Magno. Critics note the positive image of Carlo in the French version, with three qualifications. These do not apply to Andrea’s Aspramonte, since it is centred on Orlando and his development.68 First, Holtus and Wunderli, Hartung, and Ciarambino note that both young Orlando and old Gherardo must save Carlo Magno in battle. In Andrea’s Aspramonte, Orlando is the son of Carlo Magno’s sister, so divine assistance remains with the family, undiluted by the blood of the opposing Maganzese clan (unlike in the Franco-Italian Geste Francor). That adolescent hero-to-be of Roncevaux holds a place of honour at the Battle of Aspromonte, and three saints – Georgio, Dimitrio, Mercuriale – visible to everyone, aid him and guide him in battle (3.70–71), demonstrating the divine protection that upholds Carlo and his entire family in Andrea’s compositions.69 Here, therefore, Orlando’s success does not detract from Carlo Magno’s. Gherardo can only take the citadel near Aspromonte by using a feigned retreat (2.58) because Carlo Magno and the main force are engaging Agolant’s army on the other side of the battlefield, so this too does not detract from Carlo Magno’s image. Second, both Wunderli and Hartung see Carlo Magno’s lack of strong response to Gherardo as a fault in French versions of the tale.70 However, throughout 67 On Carlo Magno’s anger, see Ciarambino, who compares Carlo Magno and his anger in different texts (Carlomagno, Gano e Orlando, especially pp. 98–106). See also Claudia Boscolo, L’Entrée d’Espagne. Context and Authorship at the Origins of the Italian Chivalric Epic, Medium Aevum Monographs, n.s., 34 (Oxford: The Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature, 2017), for Charlemagne’s anger in the Entrée d’Espagne. 68 Holtus and Wunderli, Franco-italien et épopée franco-italienne, p. 25; Hartung, ‘Karl der Große’, p. 73; Ciarambino, Carlomagno, Gano e Orlando, pp. 107–8. 69 It also offers other interventions for him; e.g., in 3.157, when he fights Ulivieri, grandson of Gherardo and Alda’s brother: ‘[…] uno sprendore e una mano che prese quella spada in aria e parlò: “Non fare, Orlando, ché a Dio non piace, ma rafrena la tua ira; e tu Ulivieri, per comandamento di Dio, gli dà la tua sorella per moglie, e fate pace insieme, sì che acquistate il camino di Sa’ Iacopo”’ [a splendor and a hand that seized his sword in the air and spoke, “Don’t do it, Roland, because it doesn’t please God; instead, restrain your anger. And you, Oliver, by the order of God, give him your sister as his wife; and make peace with each other, so that you conquer the route of St. James”’]; and Alda, ‘s’inginocchiò e disse: “Quello che piace a Dio debbe piacere a me. Voi siete per virtù d’Iddio mio singnore, e io così v’accetto”’ (3.156) [kneeled and said, “That which pleases God must also please me. By the will of God you are my lord, and I therefore accept you”], in a paraphrase of Mary’s response to the annunciation angel in the Bible. 70 Hartung, ‘Karl der Große’, p. 73; Holtus and Wunderli, Franco-italien et épopée

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Andrea’s Aspramonte, Gherardo da Fratta creates an ongoing contrast to Carlo Magno, because Gherardo is a counter-example of how to rule: he acts as a foil for Carlo Magno. For the French version, Wunderli suggests that Gherardo is ‘immer ein bißchen grösser’ [always a little bigger] than Carlo Magno.71 Andrea’s Gherardo insists on his independence and refuses to act on Carlo Magno’s requests. In both versions, the chanson de geste and that of Andrea, Carlo Magno says that Gherardo should be a king,72 but Andrea has Gherardo reply in much shorter terms than in the French poem, saying, ‘Ed io [sono] peccatore nell’adirarmi; e a re conviene essere troppo temperato, e amare e’ buoni uomini, e mantenere gran contenenza’ (3.54) [‘And I sin in getting angry; and a king must be very restrained and love good men, and maintain great self-control’], instead of speaking for an entire laisse as in the French version, where he gives the impression that it would be too much work for him to be king.73 Andrea’s Carlo Magno offers Gherardo several opportunities to redeem himself; upon leaving Aspromonte, he asks Gherardo only to come once a year to Paris, or to send a member of his family, and to kill a bird in his honour when he goes hunting (3.123). Gherardo will not do even that. When Carlo finally must go after Gherardo, into Gherardo’s lands, he does so without destroying cities and countryside: ‘Carlo […] fa […] ongni suo sforzo di punire lui e non altri per lui’ (3.136) [Charles makes every effort to punish him, and not others for him], and Gherardo admires him for this, saying, ‘Carlo è grande animo’ (3.136) [‘Carlo has a great soul’]. In his rage against Carlo Magno, however, Gherardo abjures God and brainwashes his grandson against Carlo – which does not end well for Gherardo, for he dies in a dungeon while his family is reconciled with Carlo. Critics’ final reproach of Carlo Magno’s character in the French chanson de geste is that he associates with the lower classes when he calls them to arms.74 In the French chanson de geste, this appears when Gherardo lectures Florent as the latter becomes king: but that whole discourse is missing from Andrea’s Aspramonte. franco-italienne, p. 25. 71 Wunderli, ‘Karlsbild’, p. 26. 72 Cf. Wunderli, ‘Karlsbild’, p. 26. 73 François Suard (ed. and trans.), Aspremont: Chanson de geste du XIIe siècle (Paris: Champion, 2008), end of laisse 340 and most of laisse 341 (pp. 348–9); La Chanson d’Aspremont, Chanson de geste du XIIe siècle, Texte du manuscrit de Wollaton Hall, ed. by Louis Brandin, 2 vols, 2e éd. revue, CFMA, 19, 25 (Paris: Champion, 1923–4), vv. 7156–82, Laisse 357. For a discussion of the speech in the Old French versions, see Charlemagne in Francophonia and Occitan. 74 Wunderli, ‘Karlsbild’, pp. 26–7; Boni (ed.), Aspramonte, 3.55–56. This criticism may derive from French tradition; Patrick Gilli, ‘Politiques italiennes, le regard français (c. 1375–1430)’, Médiévales, 19 (1990), 109–23 (p. 113) relates French criticisms (like those of Christine de Pizan) of Italian political behaviour at that time. He demonstrates through Christine, among others, that the French believe that the Florentines give too much power to the people, and the Milanese Visconti take too much power. Venice, however, is their ideal (pp. 120–3).

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In the entire text of Aspramonte, family and its ties link episodes and other volumes by the same author. As in traditional epics, characters are presented by their family line. Thus, Gherardo presents Ulivieri [Olivier], ‘Egli è figliuolo di Rinieri mio figliuolo’ (3.125) [He is son of Renier, my son].75 Families conduct vendettas for dead members, be these Christians or pagans; for example, Troiano, the Saracen king, says, ‘[…] non partirò, ché io farò la vendetta di mio padre e d’Almonte mio fratello’ (3.112) [‘I will not leave because I will avenge my father and my brother Almonte’]. If Andrea offers a lesson in Aspramonte, it is that vassals should be careful to avoid being too independent, and rulers should not err in being too indulgent: Gherardo da Fratta finally dies in a dungeon; Carlo Magno, example of temperate behaviour, must conduct another battle within his own realm since he allowed Gherardo to leave Aspramonte without resolving the question of vassalic obedience. Andrea ends his volume with the creation of the twelve peers, which looks forward to the events of the Chanson de Roland, a narrative absent from Andrea’s repertoire.76 While Andrea’s Aspramonte thus does not specifically argue for a strong country (as Sunderland argues that the French version does),77 it does argue for a strong royal family, united in its resistance to outside interference. In addition, the pope is a member of the king’s family group, not from the enemy Maganzese clan, and assists in royal endeavours, for all are descended from the same ancestors. Furthermore, God supports the family both personally by answering prayers and by sending assistance from heaven. So Carlo Magno remains a strong figure, God’s chosen, sovereign judge, hereditary king, defender of the Church. Renouard suggests that Guelf foreign policy in Florence at the end of the fourteenth century was to unite military and economic with moral and spiritual power, while internally holding onto their exclusive powers in the city.78 Andrea’s Carlo Magno does just that. The many manuscripts and printed editions across Europe in the Aspramonte tradition demonstrate its popularity.79 Boni documents twelve MSS of Andrea’s volume and two lost ones;80 Allaire adds one more MS to that list.81 Later cantari 75 Cf. Allaire, ‘Genealogy’, p. 57, ‘Andrea frequently identifies characters by their lineage rather than by epithets referring to their individual prowess or characteristics’; similarly her ‘Memory’, p. 3. 76 Cf. Giovanni Palumbo, La Chanson de Roland in Italia nel Medioevo (Roma: Salerno, 2013), who calls the lack of Roncevaux ‘un buco profondo’ [a major gap] in Andrea’s work (pp. 347–8). 77 Luke Sunderland, Rebel Barons: Resisting Royal Power in Medieval Culture (Oxford: University Press, 2017), p. 107. 78 Yves Renouard, Storia di Firenze, trans. by Felice Del Beccaro (Florence: Remo Sandron, 1970), p. 67. 79 Some twenty-four manuscripts of the Old French, including Anglo-Norman and Italian exist (Sunderland, Rebel Barons, p. 102). 80 Boni (ed.), Aspramonte, pp. ix–xxvi. 81 Allaire, Andrea, p. 125.

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(ottava rima) and prose renderings in Italy are also numerous; Beer lists ten ‘romanzi’ or prose versions printed from 1491 to 1600. Its popularity in the peninsula is not surprising; Busby suggests: There may […] be some notion of a meridional identity operating in this network of texts, in which the distant past of both Spain and Italy is viewed as the arena where the struggles, both of rebel vassals with their sovereigns and between Christians and Saracens were played out.82

The struggles between rebel vassals with their rulers and between Christians and Saracens carry over into Andrea’s sequel, I Nerbonesi. For L’Aspramonte, as deriving from the earlier chanson de geste tradition elaborated/composed under the influence of crusade, the positive image of Charlemagne is not surprising, and nor is its choice for Andrea’s repertoire: the house of Anjou ruled Sicily and southern Italy in large part from 1265–1442.83 They also held Provence on the borders of the papal enclave at Avignon, the Comtat Venaissin, where the popes resided from 1309–77. In fact, Pope Clement VI bought rights to this district from Joanna in 1348,84 further linking the family to the papacy.

Storie Nerbonesi Carlo Magno’s old age and death appear in I Nerbonesi, ending Andrea’s version of Carlo Magno’s fictional biography. It is perhaps the most negative of the depictions of Carlo Magno in Andrea’s work. The volume consists of eight books, but only the first two involve Carlo Magno. Three pre-existing plots interlace in those two first books – Macario, Le Departement des enfants d’Aymeri [The Departure of Aymeri’s sons]85 and La Morte Carlo Magno [The Death of Charlemagne] – but Andrea’s structuring of these tales into the volume is as significant as his structuring in other volumes. Carlo Magno’s refrain in the initial two books of the volume is ‘io sono vecchio e non posso fare quello, ch’io vorrei’ [I am old and cannot do what I would like], each time he is asked to do anything (2.8).86 The end of 82 Keith Busby, Codex and Context. Reading Old French Verse Narrative in Manuscript, 2 vols (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002), II, 629. For more on the Aspremont tradition, see Chapter 1. 83 Of course, Charles I lost Sicily in 1282, with the Sicilian Vespers, so their hold there was shorter. 84 Elizabeth Casteen, From She-Wolf to Martyr: The Reign and Disputed Reputation of Johanna I of Naples (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015), p. 193. 85 For the original naming and description of the Departement, Léon Gautier, Les Épopées françaises: Étude sur les origines et l’histoire de la littérature nationale, 4 vols, 2e éd. (Paris: Société générale librarie catholique, 1878–92), I, 497–501, and recently, Suard, Guide, pp. 136–7. This is not an independent chanson de geste, but rather an episode in the Narbonnais. For the Old French version, see ‘Charlemagne the Ruler’, in Charlemagne in Francophonia and Occitan. 86 Cf. ‘E io sono vecchio, come tu vedi, e per me non si fa omai più la guerra […]’

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I Nerbonesi is also carefully linked to the following volume: at the end of the volume, in Book 8, Carlo Magno’s son Aluigi dies in battle against the Saracens, and Aluigi’s son, Carlo Martello, is crowned king: ‘E da ora innanzi tutta la storia segue questo libro del Conte Ugo, figliuolo di Buoso d’Antona’ (8.63) [And from here forward the entire story of Count Hugh, son of Buoso of Antona, follows this book]. Andrea thus carefully sets the royal family as the continuing structure of his prose history. Andrea structures this volume too on the basis of family history, in this case that of the Nerbonesi (Narbonnais) family and its ancestor Constantine. The entire narrative occurs against a background of continual combat against Saracens in Spain, of which Amerigo (Aymeri) is king after Roland’s death.87 Carlo Magno returns to Nerbona (Narbonne) after the second war in Spain, where Guglielmo (Guillaume d’Orange) helps him descend from his cart (see below, Ansoigi). The calumniated wife theme of Macario then begins the action of the Nerbonesi.88 Old king Carlo Magno (like his father Pepin, Reali, 6.1) is persuaded to marry a young bride (1.2) that his nobles find for him – Belistante, the daughter of the emperor of Constantinople. The Maganzesi trick him, hoping to prevent his having an heir, by discrediting her, making it seem that she is committing adultery with a dwarf. But she escapes, finding refuge in a forest of Hungary where she gives birth to Aluigi, the heir (1.10). The Maganzesi take over the French court, alerting the Saracens to move against Charles’ allies in Spain. The king of Hungary, who finds Queen Belistante, brings her to his court, and organizes a crusade against the Maganzesi: ‘fu bandita la croce addosso a que’ di Maganza’ (1.13) [a crusade was called against those of Maganza]. Carlo is thus embattled on two fronts, in Spain and on his eastern border. When the Maganzesi hear of the Hungarian campaign, they place Carlo Magno back on the throne (1.15), and Amerigo goes to Paris to bring peace without Christians fighting, but Arnaldo the Maganzese slaps him (1.16). Amerigo returns home. Book 1 ends with the Departement: Amerigo sends his sons to conquer new lands. They go via Paris and reconquer Orlando’s palace for Carlo (1.26). The queen and the (2.25) [And I am old, as you see, and war will no longer be made by me]; cf. 2.27. 87 The classic volume about the Guillaume d’Orange cycle in French tradition is Madeleine Tyssens, La Geste de Guillaume dans les manuscrits cycliques, Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l’Université de Liège, 178 (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1967). For an English language introduction, with translations of the central chansons in the tradition, see Guillaume d’Orange: Four Twelfth-Century Epics, ed. and trans. by Joan M. Ferrante (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974, 1991). See also Chapter 1, note 129. 88 For the theme and its variations, see Margaret Schlauch, Chaucer’s Constance and Accused Queens (New York: NYU P, 1927; repr. New York: AMS, 1973), and Elizabeth Archibald, Incest and the Medieval Imagination (Oxford: University Press, 2001).

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heir, Aluigi, return to Paris (1.28). Carlo Magno gives Amerigo’s sons men to help them reconquer the Iberian peninsula. The second book continues the combat in Spain. However, at his seat in Cologne, Carlo dreams of his death. This section is related to a short French version of Charlemagne’s death in the Couronnement de Louis and to the Franco-Italian Mort Charlemagne, both of which are currently enjoying much attention.89 When Carlo calls his barons together in Arles after his dream of death, he opens his parliament saying, ‘“la ischiatta, e ’l sangue mio, da Gostantino imperadore in qua, sono istati signori di questo regno di Francia”’ (2.35) [‘my lineage and my blood, from the Emperor Constantine on down, have been rulers of this land of France’]. Neither the Couronnement nor the Mort contain anything similar. He asks for regents to assist the young heir; those proposed, as Giannini and Palumbo say, reduce their refusals to the need to protect ‘la propria discendenza’ [‘their own lineages’]. These refusals may be made ‘in modo generico’ [in a general way], but they are in keeping with the theme of Andrea’s volume: each nominee refuses the regency by invoking specifically the names of the sons he must protect.90 The successes of Amerigo’s sons and their families (after having been ejected from the family home, each conquers his own realm from the Saracens) – and their commitment and aid to each other – thus contrast ironically to Carlo Magno’s difficulties with his son Aluigi. Guglielmo finally accepts the regency, and Carlo has his vassals swear fealty to Aluigi in his presence before dying. Andrea pointedly links Carlo Magno to France after his death: Guglielmo has Carlo’s body taken to Paris from Arles for burial with the rest of the royal family: ‘io udi’ al segreto dire a mia signori che ’l corpo di Carlo ne lo portavano a Parigi, dove sonogli altri reali, ma non fu palese a tutti il luogo. Comandò Guglielmo a

89 Gabriele Giannini and Giovanni Palumbo, ‘“E li oltri more in çaxant et tu moriras in sedant”: La morte di Carlo Magno nell’epica romanza’, in Il Secolo di Carlo Magno. Istituzioni, letteratura e cultura del tempo carolingio, ed. by I. Pagani and F. Santi, Edizioni del Galluzzo (Florence: SISMEL, 2016), pp. 53–80; Maria Luisa Meneghetti, ‘Ancora sulla Morte (o Testamento) di Carlo Magno’, in Testi, cotesti e contesti del franco-italiano: Atti del 1° simposio franco-italiano (Bad Homburg, 13–16 aprile 1987), ed. by Günter Holtus, Henning Krauss and Peter Wunderli (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1989), pp. 245–84; Luca Morlino, ‘“Titulus clavis”. Per Il Testamento di Carlomagno’, in Francofonie medievali: Lingue e letterature gallo-romanze fuori di Francia (sec. XII–XV), ed. by Anna Maria Babbi and Chiara Concina (Verona: Fiorini, 2016), pp. 81–97; Paolo Rinoldi, ‘Textes et traditions épiques chez Dante (Par. XVIII)’, in La Tradizione epica e cavalleresca in Italia (XII–XVI sec.), ed. by Claudio Gigante and Giovanni Palumbo (Brussels: Peter Lang, 2010), pp. 73–106. See too Chapter 1 above and the volume Charlemagne in Medieval Francophonia and Occitan Literature in this series. 90 Giannini and Palumbo, ‘“E li oltri more in çaxant…”’, p. 65.

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tutti i baroni ch’andassero a Parigi; e questo mi fece credere ch’egli ne fe’ portare il corpo di Carlo imbalsamato’. (2.42) [I heard said to my lords in secret that they took the body of Charles away to Paris, where the other royals are, but the place wasn’t revealed to everyone. William ordered all the barons to go to Paris; and this leads me to believe that he had the embalmed body of Charles taken there.]

Earlier texts locate Carlo’s last days and burial at Aix, and the Morte notes his burial sitting up. There is no such ritual here, but instead a strong link with the centre of France.91 The concern for appropriate regents and maintaining the royal bloodline is common to the era and to the Angevins; certainly in Andrea’s time, the disputes around Joanna I of Naples would still be fresh in mind: her father’s difficulties with appointing a successor and hers with claiming her rights through marriage – not to mention her own family’s conniving for power, in spite of her being invested with her territories before her father’s death (in 1333 and 1334). Her regency created family strife and resulted in the death of her spouse Andrew, seemingly by assassination, and ultimately brought about the invasions by the Hungarians to avenge him (1347–8; 1380). These resulted in attacks on Naples, and finally, in Joanna’s death, officially of natural causes. So Andrea highlights the need for effective regents as a contrast to the historical Joanna’s rule, which had allowed Pope Clement VI to step in, contrary to King Robert’s intentions. As Aspramonte centres on Orlando and his becoming an adult, similarly, the Nerbonesi concentrate upon Guglielmo and his family, who are tied to the royal house through their bloodlines (Nerbonesi, Book 1, Proemio Primo). The fact that Carlo Magno is old, with neither the desire nor the ability to fight, is remedied by his effective assistants. Carlo does not choose a Maganzese or a weak son to take his place; on the contrary, he selects a regent who will become a saint, Guglielmo, as Andrea announces from the beginning of the volume (Proemio).92 He also pays close attention to the public record, requiring oaths of submission to the new power, his son, in front of everyone. Carlo’s weakness lies in bad influences: the Maganzesi who first trick him, then hold him hostage. But they too are his relatives, and hold important lands. Their origin from Mainz (in Germanic territory) could be related to Florentine perceptions of Empire in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centu91 For the significance of this burial, and its ‘rediscovery’, see Stephen G. Nichols, Romanesque Signs: Early Medieval Narrative and Iconography (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1983), Chapter 3, especially pp. 66–94. Earlier Florentine texts also include this burial at Paris (Maissen, ‘Attila’, p. 581). 92 Allaire argues that ‘[…] the real struggle [of I Nerbonesi is] that of the rightful heirs [to] succeed to the throne of France and to her various fiefdoms’ (‘Memory’, p. 4). See also Krauss, Epica, and his discussion of the role of Macario here, pp. 200–1. He argues, however, that it represents Italy of the signorie: whereas in fact, it represents Florence (the French) versus the Empire (the Maganzesi) with support from Hungary.

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ries: Florence was resolutely anti-Ghibelline through the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. That may also explain Andrea’s integration of the Nerbonesi, which in general was not a popular text in the Italian peninsula.93 Moniages, like enfances, continue a tradition of humour. Ménard includes ‘Les ridicules de la vieillesse’ [the foibles of old age] just after his comments on ‘enfances’.94 Guillaume, for example, is famous for provoking a group of fifteen robbers (larrons) to fight for his braies (lines 1184–638) and eating an abbey out of house and home during his old age (e.g., lines 232–392).95 However, Andrea resists making malmarié jokes about Carlo in spite of his having a much younger wife: there are no comments about his being ‘disutile … e sozzo’ [useless … and filthy] as there are about Pepin (Reali, 6.4). Even in his last minutes, Carlo Magno is the chosen of God (with visions from angels), feudal sovereign (with promises to his son), hereditary king (with the choice of regent and successor), defender of the Christian faith (in the battles that continue in Spain).96 Other works Aiolfo takes place during the time of Luigi il Buono, king of France and father of Carlo Martello. Elia, Duke of Orleans, son of Guido, count of Champagne, from the line of the Roman Scipio family, had saved Charlemagne from imprisonment during the battles in Spain, and as recompense received one of Charles’ daughters, Elizia, in marriage. Macario of Lausanne falsely accuses Elia of an attempt at poisoning, and so Elia, with his child Aiolfo and wife, are exiled. Charlemagne’s Spanish expedition is therefore merely a background element. 93 For the Nerbonesi’s lack of popularity, see Everson, ‘Prolongements’, pp. 59–60. For the family tree of Carlo Magno according to Andrea da Barberino, see the (unpaginated) foldouts at the back of Rajna, Ricerche, 1 or his edition of I Reali di Francia (Bologna: Gaetano Romagnoli, 1872). Gherardo da Fratta and Carlo Magno are fourth cousins twice removed. Rajna includes only the men in his family trees, unfortunately. For the background of the Reali, see also Chapter 1 and the story of Berta e Milone: there, Berta, Carlo’s half-sister and mother of Orlando, is daughter of the false Berta and Pepin, which would make Orlando half-Maganzese. On possible considerations of the transmission between the Geste Francor and the Reali, see both Rajna’s Ricerche (with a chart on p. 217 for Bovo) and Cesare Mascitelli, La ʻGeste Francor’ nel cod. Marc. V13: Stile, tradizione, lingua (Strasbourg: Editions de linguistique et de philologie, 2020), Chapter 4, ‘Le fonti della Geste Francor: modelli e varianti nella tradizione’, pp. 135–256. 94 Ménard, Le Rire et le sourire, pp. 156–7. 95 Le Moniage Guillaume: Chanson de geste du XIIe siècle, édition de la rédaction longue, ed. by Nelly Andrieux-Reix, CFMA, 145 (Paris: Champion, 2003). 96 Cf. Karl-Heinz Bender, ‘Les métamorphoses de la royauté de Charlemagne dans les premières épopées franco-italiennes’, Cultura neolatina, 21 (1961), 164–74 (p. 165).

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Guerrino il Meschino, arguably the most famous of Andrea’s romanzi, tells of the eponymous royal family descendant. Andrea briefly recounts the Saracen invasion from Africa, with Gherardo’s assistance in the war against the Saracens. One of Gherardo’s sons, Millon, receives Taranto in fief; his son is Meschino.97 This Meschino wishes to increase his lands for the honour of his family and Christianity, and the rest of the volume shows how he does so. Thus, Carlo Magno is a point of reference, in a sense the start of the action, but not a character. His doings form the warp of the narrative fabric, with narrative motifs and families already established in other volumes. Andrea’s final work in narrative chronology is Ugone d’Alvernia, which takes place at the time of Carlo Martello, here son of Luigi, and therefore grandson of Carlo Magno. In this work, Andrea paints a very poor picture indeed of Carlo Magno’s descendant, Carlo Martello: he is a would-be adulterer whose daughter is a husband-killer. A small clique at court, including a jongleur, assists Carlo Martello in a plot to take his vassal’s wife. Carlo Magno’s reputation, however, remains unblemished, with the holy French vassal, Ugone, assisting the French people in choosing a new king, Gugliemo Çapet, upon Martello’s being carried off to hell. Thus Andrea sews together a royal family and its related supporters throughout Europe into one unit in a vast expanse of prose histories. Other possible works Ansoigi takes place after Ganelon’s execution and the taking of Spain. At a council, Carlo Magno asks for someone to rule Spain – as Roland was to do – and, when no one responds after two requests, Ansoigi finally falls weeping to Carlo Magno’s feet. It is in this initial scene and then in the final scenes where he must save Ansoigi that Carlo Magno appears. The text is closely linked with the Nerbonesi; the same MS, BNCF II.I.15, presents Ansoigi before the Nerbonesi, and ends with a narrative link to I Nerbonesi: Carlo Magno leaves Pamplona on a ‘charo’, the same from which Guglielmo lifts him at the beginning of I Nerbonesi. At the beginning of Ansoigi, Carlo bestows Spain upon the eponymous hero (ff. 1r–1v) and at the end, he saves Ansoigi and the French in Spain when they are in danger of being killed in a siege (ff. 19v–26v). Carlo Magno is old and sick, but he remains chosen of God, hereditary king, defender of the faith, and suzerain of the West; however, his abilities as warrior are questionable due to his advanced age. An angel comes to him telling him 97 He is also mentioned at the end of Aspramonte as ‘Meschino di Durazzo’ (3.159). Durazzo (Durrës/Dyrrhachium), now in Albania, was a duchy of the house of Anjou, conquered by Charles of Anjou in 1272. Taranto is also part of the Anjou territories; Joanna’s second husband was Louis of Taranto (1347). For how these related clans rivaled each other, see David Abulafia, ‘The South: is the South Different?’, in Italy in the Age of the Renaissance, ed. by John M. Najemy (Oxford: University Press, 2004), pp. 208–25 (pp. 215–17).

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to help Ansoigi, to whom he had awarded Spain; miracles such as the river parting so that he and his men can cross, and the temporary return of Carlo Magno’s ability to fight, occur when he prays. He establishes churches and monasteries throughout Spain as he leaves, and judges severely those who do not convert as promised. The extent of the miracles (about which Andrea expresses in general a healthy scepticism) and the unabashed sex without marriage on the part of young heroes with Saracen damsels (when normally family origins are of great importance) might lead one to question the authorship of this work, though links with both the Roland and the Nerbonesi are clear.98 Furthermore, in the Nerbonesi, it was Amerigo who had received Spain; so there is a conflict in chronology with Andrea’s other works. Further lexical and narrative studies are needed to better establish the relationship between this text and others, and whether it is in fact Andrea’s work. The Rinaldo attributed to Andrea consists of two parts: first, the story of Uggieri il Danese [Ogier le Danois] similar to that told in the Geste Francor and secondly, the Rinaldo proper. The first (Laur. Plut. 42, 37, labelled Book 3, ff. 51–63) is problematic, since it recounts a different version of the Danese story from that in the Reali.99 It is that portion of the Geste Francor for which Holtus and Wunderli say that Carlo becomes ‘le contraire d’un souverain féodal idéal’ [the opposite of an ideal feudal lord] with a ‘comportement injuste, opportuniste et irrationnel’ [unfair, opportunistic, and irrational behaviour].100 Other books in the Rinaldo volume (Allaire documents a total of eight) recount the doings of Astolfo, Girardo, Orlando, Ulivieri and the Dane. But since they are not clearly linked to the sequence of Andrea’s six known works, and recount different versions of the Dane plot, they are omitted from consideration here. A modern edition will no doubt assist further analysis of its relation to Andrea’s work.

A

Conclusions

ndrea da Barberino writes a fictional prose history by uniting popular tales present in chansons de geste derived from French and Franco-Italian tradition with biblical and classical material into a multi-volume whole. The way in which he links stories – and the heterogeneous material that he joins – creates a harmonious if varied canvas. His technique for sewing together the pieces includes individual elements across volumes, like using Milone’s return in order to report the arrival of King Balante to link the Reali and Aspramonte, but his primary technique lies in 98 On amorous activities and Andrea’s expressions for them, see Allaire, Andrea, p. 53. 99 Allaire, Andrea, pp. 66. MS available online: [accessed 10 May 2022]. 100 Holtus and Wunderli, Franco-italien et épopée franco-italienne, p. 99; Stefano Maria Cingolani, ‘Innovazione e parodia nel Marciano XIII (Geste Francor)’, Romanistisches Jahrbuch, 30 (1987), 61–77, says of the Geste Francor’s Danois text that it shows ‘un Carlo ridicolo e pavido di cui non ci si può fidare’ (p. 76) [a ridiculous and weak Charles whom one could not trust].

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what Genette calls the paratext: his titles, prefaces and postfaces form the skeleton of the narrative project and directly inform the reader not only of a given volume’s content but also of its place in the entire tale.101 The fact that Andrea’s works are ‘Storie’102 and built around the genealogy of the royal house of France, deriving it from biblical and classical families, explaining the link between Carolingian and Capetian families103 makes Carlo Magno the capstone figure holding together Andrea’s entire œuvre. Because the origins of Andrea’s works lie in the chanson de geste tradition, Carlo Magno’s role has been traditionally examined in light of how he appears in the earliest Old French chanson de geste. Bender defines Charlemagne’s position in the Chanson de Roland, saying that he holds the position ‘de souverain féodal, d’Élu de Dieu, de roi héréditaire, de défenseur de la foi et de suzerain de l’Occident entier’ [of feudal lord, of chosen one of God, of hereditary king, of defender of the faith, and of suzerain of the entire West],104 and these are the points addressed by critics examining his character in various works related to the tradition, and also addressed here. Bender’s original article compared Charlemagne’s role in Franco-Italian texts with that of the Old French, many of which formed the Geste Francor, the precedent of Andrea’s Reali.105 Andrea, however, in Florence, has other interests from those of the French and of northern Italy, where the Geste Francor and similar works originated. Sunderland suggests that ‘the margins [of Francophonia] are a place of political critique’;106 in fact, that critique can be one of re-forming the discourse into an image of the times and place in which it is written at the same time as it provides exempla for readers.107 It is not merely a ‘compilation and confusion of historical and fictional material’108 but rather a deliberate construction in an organised 101 Gérard Genette, Seuils (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1987); English translation, Paratexts: Thresholds of interpretation, trans. by Jane E. Lewin, foreword by Richard Macksey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997). 102 Cf. Allaire, Andrea, pp. 7–8. 103 Cf. Ciarambino, Carlomagno, Gano e Orlando, p. 39; De Vincentiis, ‘Origini’, pp. 407–8. 104 Bender, ‘Les métamorphoses’, p. 164. 105 For more information about the Geste Francor, see Chapter 1. 106 Sunderland, Rebel Barons, p. 164. 107 See also Klaus W. Hempfer, ‘Realtà sociale e gioco letterario. L’ambivalenza della cavalleria intorno al 1500’, L’immagine riflessa, 12 (1989), 405–32, where the author argues that the mutual inter-relationship of literature reflects society and helps form the expectations of that same society. 108 Sunderland, Rebel Barons, p. 168. As De Vincentiis notes, Louis VIII’s choice to name his youngest son Charles was the first time a Capetian was named for Charlemagne, as the French were also using genealogy and other symbolic means to demonstrate their closeness to the Carolingian past – to Charlemagne and his Empire (‘Origini’, p. 414). Through the second marriage of Philippe II, Louis VIII was the first Capetian descended from Charlemagne in both lines,

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framework using (pseudo)historical figures to demonstrate appropriate behaviour to monarchs in relation to the Florentine people. Andrea provides perfect and carefully constructed legitimacy to the rulers, avoiding the issue of illegitimacy and adultery found elsewhere.109 But the ‘mimetic register of historical denotation’ reveals multiple levels.110 The Anjou family was essential to Florence and to Andrea in the late fourteenth to early fifteenth centuries: France was still the Church’s ally and support, whose rulers supplied the papacy with its earthly domains, through the donations of Pepin and that of Charlemagne following that of Constantine and his original donation: E [Gostantino] fece battezzare tutta Roma, e dotò la chiesa di Dio per la buona fede e per la sua conversione, non pensando che e’ pastori della chiesa per lo bene propio [sic] dovessino tutto il mondo guastare per appropiarsi e farsi di spirituali tiranni.111 (Reali, 1.3) [And [Constantine] had all of Rome baptized, and endowed God’s church for the good faith and for his conversion, not thinking that the pastors of the Church, for their own gain, would lay waste to the world to take it over for themselves and make themselves tyrants from spiritual [men].]

Carlo Magno is largely seen as a renovatio of Constantine, to whom Andrea ties him by including the incident of Constantine at Aspromonte at the beginning of the Reali. Charlemagne’s ostensible granting of self-rule to Florence, seen also in Villani’s Cronica (4.3), supports its republican image in contrast to Milan’s seigneury. Furthermore, Florence remains embroiled in constant political turmoil through the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, parallel to the internal conflict between noble families pictured in Andrea’s storie. The fear of the poor, especially after the revolt of the Ciompi, contributes to the idealisation of the nobility.112 Similar to the and the link to Charlemagne was cultivated. 109 Cf. Sunderland, Rebel Barons, p. 170. 110 See Nichols, Romanesque Signs, p. 157, where he demonstrates that Roncevaux history is also Christ’s history. 111 Cf. Nichols, ‘the authority of Charlemagne derived from his implicational relationship with Constantine’ already in the late tenth century (Romanesque Signs, p. 73). Nichols also discusses the renovatio idea as mentioned in the following section of this paragraph. It is perhaps worth noting that this version of the Donation of Constantine is not present in Villani; there Costantino goes on to build Constantinople, ‘[…] lasciando di qua nello ’mperio di Roma suoi patrici, ovvero censori, cioè vicarii, che difendeano e combatteano per Roma e per lo ’mperio’ (Cronica, p. 32) [leaving there, in the Roman Empire, his patricians, or rather censors, that is, vicars, who defended and fought for Rome and for the Empire]. 112 See Najemy, History, pp. 176–81, on the manipulation of popular opinion against the working classes and those perceived as poor.

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Florentine situation too is the political fact of external forces supporting different families: the Church versus the Empire. Charles of Anjou and Charles of Calabria were seen as possible saviours and enjoined to protect Florence against Empire, invaders, and bankruptcy.113 Thus, Andrea’s Carlo Magno spends much of his time away from his realm, crusading to gain territory which he then allots to faithful retainers. His Carlo accepts criticism, is helped by God, and supported by the Church – the pope in fact is a member of Carlo Magno’s own clan in a political structure that echoes that of the Florentine oligarchy. Carlo Magno thereby demonstrates both the good and bad of the model male ruler in Andrea’s era. He begins as a promising and brash youth defeating the pagans who attack his ally-hosts. He also overcomes personal challenges (his mother-in-law and brothers-in-law) to conquer and convert a noble wife, a contrast with his nephew Roland who, though of untarnished bloodlines, must fight bullies and beggars in the street (Reali, 6.58–59; 62). As a king, Carlo consults his barons about Aspromonte and holds his tongue at key moments, though he knows when to show an appropriate anger so that a pagan messenger (Balante) does not get out of hand. His cohort supports him, provides back-up for any slips on his part, and holds strong loyalty to him. Carlo does not act comically but does miss important indicators when he offers mercy towards the Maganzesi, his vassals, and Gherardo, his relative. He gives good advice to his son, Aluigi, and to other rulers. Even in his old age he assures that his bloodline will continue to rule. Andrea’s Carlo Magno, reflecting back in time to Constantine, also reflects forward to the Anjou family. Flattering the descendants of Carlo, Andrea’s work also recycles narrative rhetorical techniques. He uses the opportunity to praise good acts – impartial justice to one’s own family – and to criticise poor choices – not allowing young and able warriors to fight. Examples appear before battle, at crowning and dubbing ceremonies, and of course in the plot, as where Carlo attacks Gherardo in his lands without pillaging. Historically, the rich could afford dubbing ceremonies and did so on occasions such as the visit of a prince or the eve of a battle, as documentary texts show.114

113 See De Vincentiis, ‘Origini’, for specific incidents of the Anjou family linking itself with the papacy / ecclesiastical hierarchy both within Florence and without, in particular in duplicating a specific ceremony for the arrivals of those named Carlo from the Anjou family in Florence (pp. 433–4). 114 For historical ceremonies, see Franco Cardini, ‘L’Autunno del medioevo fiorentino. Un “umanesimo cavalleresco”?’, in Mito e storia nella tradizione cavalleresca: Atti del XLII Convegno storico internazionale. Todi, 9–12 ottobre 2005 (Spoleto: Fondazione Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 2006), pp. 513–26 (p. 514).

Fig. 3.2  Genealogical table of the royal house of Anjou in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries.

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Wunderli reminds us that the attitude towards Carlo Magno in a given text derives from the ideological position of its author and readers.115 The FrancoItalian Geste Francor reflects anti-Guelph sentiment, from areas outside the Angevin power base and perhaps in fear of domination, as discussed in Chapter 1. Florence, allied by political ideas and economic ties, views Carlo Magno and his line in a positive light. The Angevins supported chivalry and courtly behaviour so catering to that is also a means of flattering them.116 After the Black Death in 1348, such ceremonies demonstrated political idealisation as well as nostalgia. The negative side of royal personages – inappropriate behaviour and its punishment – is perhaps also the reason for Carlo Martello and his poor reputation in Andrea’s final volume, Ugone d’Alvernia, and an explanation of Andrea’s genealogy: Andrea was not confused about Charlemagne’s ancestor,117 but rather, thought of his descendants, of whom a number were named Charles Martel (Figure 3.2), and one of those descendants, Carlo of Calabria, who cost the Florentine commune a good deal of money from his brief seigneury.118 Charlemagne, at the end of the twelfth and through the fourteenth century into the fifteenth, is associated with the French house of Anjou, evoking edits to Carolingian story lines depending upon the political alliances of the redactor/author: Florence is Guelph so pro-Charlemagne and his descendants. Mattaini, writing about Andrea, says, ‘i nostri romanzieri non sono mai irreverenti verso Carlo, non irridono ad una sua pretesa debolezza o dabbenaggine, come avverrà in seguito, ma stanno di fronte a lui in un atteggiamento reverente, solo qualche volta venato da una leggera indulgenza’ [our writers are never irreverent towards Charles, they don’t laugh at this supposed weakness or gullibility, as will happen in the future, but remain in a reverent manner before him, only sometimes tinged with slight indulgence].119 Andrea in fact has a specific agenda, one he sets out in the Proemio to the Reali and that he carries through his entire œuvre: to link the French (and ultimately, Florentine) rulers to Constantine, classical antiquity and the Bible, through lineage and divine justification, following con-

115 Wunderli speaks of Adler’s interpretation: ‘Welche Konstellation für die verschiedenen Figuren gewählt wird, hängt von der ideologischen Position des Autors und seinem Zielpublikum ab’ (‘Karlsbild’, p. 36) [Which combination (of characteristics) is chosen for the various characters depends on the ideological position of the author and his target audience]. 116 Cardini, ‘L’Autunno del medioevo fiorentino’, p. 513. 117 This was Gaston Paris’s theory: the magnitude of Charlemagne’s reputation would have overcome that of his predecessors, ‘Les prédécesseurs de Charlemagne’, in his Histoire poétique de Charlemagne (Paris: Bouillon, 1905), pp. 437–46 (p. 438). 118 Maissen, ‘Attila’, p. 625. 119 Romanzi dei Reali di Francia, ed. by Adelaide Mattaini (Milan: Rizzoli, 1957), p. 17.

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temporary historical and cultural imperatives. Andrea’s Carlo Magno epitomizes Florence’s ideal of an overlord, one to which he and fellow Florentines hoped future rulers would aspire: visiting rarely, asking for little, and providing political and military support when needed on a temporary basis. Andrea thus presents a uniquely positive view of Charlemagne, integrating him into the Florentine noble familial tradition.

4 Tradition and Innovation in the Fifteenth Century: from Anonymous Poems to Luigi Pulci’s Morgante Annalisa Perrotta The Anonymous Poems in ottava rima at the End of the Fifteenth Century

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arolingian chivalric literature produced in Italy during the fifteenth century is composed of many narrative works, to which correspond a variety of textual forms, methods of composition and reception, a varied public and different ways of expressing the function of the author: these different approaches to textual production seem to coexist in the last three decades of the fifteenth century in particular.1 In the same years Carolingian stories circulated orally, sung in the squares by the canterini or cantimpanca, or were printed anonymously in books of different formats aimed at diverse audiences (in-folio, then more and more often in-quarto, in short pamphlets of a few sheets or in long chivalric poems).2 At the same time, the Carolingian material also provided the subject for the composition of the first two great Renaissance poems in ottava rima of Italian literature: the Morgante by Luigi Pulci and the Inamoramento de Orlando (or Orlando innamorato) by Matteo Maria Boiardo. 1 On interchanges between the learned and the popular, see Domenico De Robertis, ‘L’esperienza poetica del Quattrocento’, in Storia della letteratura italiana, ed. by Emilio Cecchi and Natalino Sapegno, 9 vols (Milan: Garzanti, 1988), III, 369–817 (pp. 450–63); Emilio Pasquini, ‘La letteratura popolareggiante, comica e giocosa, lirica minore e narrativa in volgare del Quattrocento’, in Storia della letteratura italiana, III, Il Quattrocento, ed. by Enrico Malato (Rome: Salerno, 1996), pp. 803–911; Jane E. Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism. The Matter of Italy and the World of Rome (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). For the reconstruction of compositional and promotional strategies in the printing age, see Marco Villoresi, La fabbrica dei cavalieri. Cantari, poemi, romanzi in prosa fra Medioevo e Rinascimento (Rome: Salerno, 2005). 2 For Neil Harris the change in format from robust in-folio volumes to smaller formats is linked to the downgrading of certain titles, because poems written by learned authors entered the market: see Neil Harris, ‘Statistiche e sopravvivenze di antichi romanzi di cavalleria’, in Il cantare italiano fra folklore e letteratura, ed. by M. Picone and L. Rubini (Florence: Olschki, 2007), pp. 383–411 (pp. 389–90).

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When the matter of France entered into elite Italian literature, it provided a well-established plot and popular characters for the pens of great authors, but also a specific relationship with the texts of an earlier tradition, based on how those texts were perceived and the possibilities of re-elaboration, amplification and reinterpretation that they offered. Domenico De Robertis considers the copyist mainly as a rifacitore [re-writer]3 and the practice of reworking texts (ranging from small changes to additions, interpolations and full rewrites) as based on the collaboration between authors who work, in succession, on the same text. The Morgante by Pulci – which was composed mainly as a rewriting of existing material – is an excellent example of the special link between collaborative practice and creativity.4 Strongly motivated, not least by the great popularity of the chivalric genre in their spheres of activity (Medici Florence, Ferrara and its court, respectively), Pulci and Boiardo followed the rules of the game, exercising the freedom to mix and modify the traditional matter. In addition, their work explores and reveals the mechanisms that regulate the narrative: a metanarrative reflection accompanies the narrative in both poems, instituting an irreversible process of change of the genre. Moreover, the new poems written for these courts are largely composed during the first decades of the development and expansion of printing in Italy: the authors were aware of the opportunities of dissemination of their works outside their immediate circles.5 Printed editions of poems in ottava rima of Carolingian matter circulating in the late fifteenth century have the characteristics of popular literature: they are mostly anonymous with a repetitive and formulaic style displaying a structure consolidated by tradition.6 Thanks to these works, the stories of Charlemagne and an Italian perspective on his court and the adventures of his paladins were preserved and transmitted.7 The printed books of Carolingian chivalric romances that have survived to this day – those by anonymous authors or authors who can be identified as canterini 3 Rifacitore is a technical, but commonly used term for the author of a literary work that is substantially a re-writing of an existing text. 4 De Robertis, ‘L’esperienza poetica’, pp. 452–4. 5 Neil Harris, ‘Sopravvivenze e scomparse delle testimonianze del Morgante di Luigi Pulci’, in Paladini di carta. Il modello cavalleresco fiorentino, ed. by Marco Villoresi (Rome: Bulzoni, 2006), pp. 89–159 (p. 92 and note 7); Id., ‘Statistiche e sopravvivenze di antichi romanzi di cavalleria’, in Il cantare italiano, pp. 383–411 (p. 389). 6 For a study of the form of the cantari and chivalric poems of popular tradition, see Maria Cristina Cabani, Le forme del cantare epico-cavalleresco (Lucca: Pacini Fazzi, 1988); Marco Praloran, ‘Alcune osservazioni sullo studio delle strutture formali nei cantari’, in Il cantare italiano, pp. 3–17. 7 Giovanni Palumbo, La Chanson de Roland in Italia nel Medioevo (Rome: Salerno, 2013), reconstructs the process and milestones of the evolution of the Roland material in Italy with a bibliography to which reference can be made.

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and artisans of narrative in ottava rima – are the result of a merciless selection that time and use have made. As Neil Harris has shown, what remains of the first printed production – in terms of copies and editions – is a minimal part of what was actually printed; the number of copies that have survived, therefore, may give us a wrong idea of the total number and quality of the books in circulation.8 Nevertheless, the titles mentioned in secondary sources, such as inventories of print shops and retailers, and catalogues of private libraries are well attested.9 We have manuscript samples and printed books of all the titles cited by Teofilo Folengo in Orlandino (1526) and in Baldus (last edition, 1552). Folengo mentions Altobello, Trabisonda, Ancroia, Spagna and Buovo as exemplary texts within his small anti-canon of chivalric literature.10 Folengo presents them as lowlevel works, but implicitly recognizes that they form the basis of a widespread chivalric encyclopedia.11 Baldus ‘cattivellus’ (‘rascal’, Baldus, III, 78) soon begins to ‘Orlandi nasare volumina’ [‘dip into Orlando’s volumes’, Baldus, III, 94] and, disdaining books of grammar, he starts reading books of chivalry among which figure again Altobello and, in redaction T of Baldus, also Falconetto (‘Falconettique bataias’, II 45).12 8 Neil Harris, ‘Sopravvivenze e scomparse’ and Id., ‘Statistiche e sopravvivenze’. 9 See catalogues such as that of Francesco De Madiis, which records the sales of a Venetian bookshop, analysed by Cristina Dondi and Neil Harris, ‘I romanzi cavallereschi nel Zornale di Francesco de Madiis (1484–1488): profilo merceologico di un genere’, in Carlo Magno in Italia e la fortuna dei libri di cavalleria, ed. by Johannes Bartuschat and Franca Strologo (Ravenna: Longo, 2016), pp. 251–99; or the list of poems drawn up by Marin Sanudo probably between 1528 and 1530: Neil Harris, ‘Marin Sanudo, forerunner of Melzi’, La Bibliofilia, 95.1 (1993), 1–37; 95.2 (1993), 101–45; 96 (1994), 15–42, and Angela Nuovo, Il commercio librario a Ferrara tra XV e XVI secolo. La bottega di Domenico Sivieri (Florence: Olschki, 1998); Ead., ‘I “libri di battaglia”: commercio e circolazione tra Quattro e Cinquecento’, in Boiardo, Ariosto e i libri di battaglia, pp. 341–74. 10 Teofilo Folengo, Orlandino, ed. by Mario Chiesa (Turin: UTET, 1997), I 21, 3–4 and I 29, 1–5. 11 Here I shall limit myself to considering mentions of popular titles in ottava rima by Folengo as a proof of the popularity of some poems, taken as representations of a specific type of literature as opposed to poems written by learned authors (Pulci, Boiardo, Francesco Cieco from Ferrara, Ariosto). Dionisotti discusses the verse romances of Folengo in ‘Fortuna del Boiardo nel Cinquecento’, in Atti del Convegno di Studi su Matteo Maria Boiardo (Scandiano-Reggio Emilia, 25–27 aprile 1969), ed. by G. Anceschi (Florence: Olschki, 1970), pp. 221–41, now in Id., Scritti di storia della letteratura italiana, ed. by T. Basile, V. Fera, S. Villari, 5 vols (Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 2016), II, 381–400 (p. 398); Mario Chiesa, ‘Introduzione’, in Folengo, Orlandino, pp. xii–xiii; Maria Cristina Cabani, ‘L’Orlandino di Folengo e il genere cavalleresco’, Rivista di letteratura italiana, 9 (1991), 591–610. 12 Baldus’ catalogue opens with the Aeneid, which Baldus recites in full to his master

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Alongside the poems and stories of the long Italian tradition (see the preceding chapters), other works composed later were also issued by printers. It is not possible to date them precisely, but they were probably composed not long before their appearance in print. This is the case of Altobello, printed in Venice in 1476, whose protagonist, Altobello, is a Persian warrior who converts to Christianity; the character probably refers to a historical figure known in Italy in the sixties and seventies of the fifteenth century, Uzun Hasan, a sovereign of the Turkmen and ally of Christians against the Turks. A similar case is that of Persiano, which continues Altobello. Falconetto is transmitted by a Milanese edition of 1483, and some recently discovered manuscripts can be dated to about the last quarter of the fifteenth century. The characters of Falconetto also appear in twenty-three panels inserted in a wooden ceiling of the fifteenth-century palace called ‘Ghiringhelli’, in the same area of Milan that had produced the first printed edition of the work; their technique dates from the early seventies of the fifteenth century.13 (Baldus, III, 92–3), and ends with Orlando furioso (III, 110–14). Between the two, ‘Legerat Ancroiam, Tribisondam, facta Danesi, / Antonneque Bovum, Antiforra, Realia Franzae, / Innamoramentum Carlonis et Asperamontem, / Spagnam, Altobellum, Morgantis bella gigantis, Meschinique provas’ [He had read the Ancroia, Trebisonda, the deeds of Uggieri the Dane, the Buovo d’Antona, Spagna, Altobello, the wars of the giant Morgante and the exploits of Guerrin Meschino] (Baldus, III, 100–7). On redaction T (Toscolanense, 1521) and the small chivalric catalogue contained in it, see Giulia Raboni, ‘Tra Rinaldo e Orlando. Sul Baldus di Folengo’, in Per Cesare Bozzetti. Studi di letteratura e filologia italiana, ed. by Simone Albonico et al. (Milan: Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori, 1996), pp. 373–91. 13 In Arabic ‘Hasan’ is a masculine proper name, but it also means ‘beautiful’; in Turkish ‘Uzun’ has the meaning of ‘long’, ‘tall’, and it was the nickname of the sovereign. In Italian ‘Altobello’ means ‘tall’ and ‘beautiful’. On the link Altobello-Uzun Hasan see Annalisa Perrotta, I cristiani e gli Altri. Guerre di religione, politica e propaganda nel poema cavalleresco di fine Quattrocento (Rome: Bagatto Libri, 2017), pp. 43–103. The presumed princeps was printed in Venice, in the Beretin Convento della Ca’ Grande, for Antonio Pasqualino, 1476. The first known edition of Persiano was printed in Venice by Christophorus Pensa on 1 August 1493. Falconetto was printed in Milan in 1483 by Leonardo Pachel and Ulderico di Alemagna. The manuscript folios were reused as the cover of a sixteenth-century collection of legal documents, belonging to the Vercelli notary Giovanni Giacomo di Delfino de Riciis of Salasco (Archivio storico comunale di Vercelli, 224/2°); on its discovery see Giuseppe Mascherpa and Annalisa Perrotta, ‘Rarità d’archivio: su alcuni frammenti manoscritti del Falconetto’, Critica del testo, 19 (2016), 77–88. On the panels of Palazzo Ghiringhelli, see Vera Segre, ‘Illustrazioni cavalleresche fra manoscritti e carte dipinte nella Lombardia del Tre e Quattrocento’, in Narrazioni e strategie dell’illustrazione. Codici e romanzi cavallereschi nell’Italia del Nord (secc. XIV–XV), ed. by Annalisa Izzo and Ilaria Molteni (Rome: Viella, 2014), pp. 35–43 and Andrea Canova, ‘È meglio guardare

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The collaboration between printing houses and professional canterini, the journeymen of the genre, entailed a fundamental change in the structure, aims and compositional strategies of Carolingian works in ottava rima.14 The growth of the reading public contributed to the creation of a specific demand for these types of stories; printers reacted very quickly by developing commercial strategies to exploit their interest: numerous popular prints of anonymous works were created and canterini worked hard to compose new chivalric compilations in ottava rima.15 Printers, as Petrucci claimed, succeeded in fully meeting the needs of a specific public and in carrying out a task which manuscript production could not perform: the written diffusion of works like the cantari that until then had been transmitted almost exclusively in oral performance.16 The works of chivalry printed at the end of the fifteenth century, therefore, both created and satisfied a demand for new stories. At the same time, however, those works offered characters and narrative schemes loved by the public, because of the themes they dealt with and the plots, based on the opposition of Christians and pagans; in addition, the popularity of the genre was increased by the dissemination of Carolingian stories in streets and squares and by the newly available ease of

le figure. Cicli decorativi e cicli narrativi tra XIV e XV secolo’, in Narrazioni e strategie, pp. 123–37. 14 The chivalric texts printed at the end of the fifteenth century are mostly anonymous. Of the few names associated with the printed editions, that of Francesco Cieco da Firenze is the only one of any documentary significance. See Giuseppe Frasso, ‘Un poeta improvvisatore nella “familia” del Cardinale Francesco Gonzaga: Francesco Cieco da Firenze’, Italia medievale e umanistica, 20 (1977), 395–400; Jane E. Everson, ‘The Identity of Francesco Cieco da Ferrara’, Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance, 45 (1983), 487–502. 15 Marco Villoresi has demonstrated this intensive use of the various means offered by the printing press to increase sales; among them, the announcement of another work or a sequel at the end of the book, new titles for books already in circulation, the publication of single episodes from longer poems alongside the complete work. The phenomenon also affected Luigi Pulci’s Morgante: see Marco Villoresi, La fabbrica dei cavalieri. Cantari, poemi, romanzi in prosa fra Medioevo e Rinascimento (Rome: Salerno, 2005), pp. 38–74 and 130–74. 16 Armando Petrucci, ‘Alle origini del libro moderno. Libri da banco, libri da bisaccia, libretti da mano’, in Libri, scrittura e pubblico nel Rinascimento. Guida storica e critica, ed. by Armando Petrucci (Bari: Laterza, 1979), pp. 139–56. This is what De Robertis called ‘il fenomeno della letterarizzazione del genere, il suo passaggio dalla recitazione alla lettura’ [the phenomenon of the ‘literarization’ of the genre, in the passage from public performance to private reading]: it was not a one-way transmission (it allowed the movement from private reading to public performance as well), that produced a great change. In this ‘literarization’ lies the condition of so much diffusion, indeed a large part of the phenomenon itself: see De Robertis, L’esperienza poetica, p. 451.

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reproduction. Chivalric stories at the end of the fifteenth century were an effective means of reflection on two issues. First, those of domestic politics, such as the legitimisation of power in the rising lordships and discussion about the management of power between equals and with respect to the authority of the sovereign. Second, foreign policy issues: the relationship with the Other, the non-Christian, who in these works is the pagan, almost always the Saracen, but who in the real world outside the texts could easily recall the Turks, whose conquests threatened Europe during the first decades of the spread of printing. The fact that the Signorie and monastic orders in some cases managed and controlled the presses facilitated the orientation of editorial choices.17 The clashes of the paladins of France with the Saracens were presented to the public and were read in close relation to current events. In the texts there were mechanisms of adaptation to the new message and the ambivalent treatment of the fictional conflict with the Saracens became crucial in representing the relations between the two groups: the superiority of Christian warriors is insistently stressed, hiding the anxiety and fear that the opposite was in fact the case.18 To give an example, take the mention of the struggle between Christians and Saracens in some paratexts, among which that of Altobello stands out. The explicit of the first edition known to us, of 1476, mentions the struggle conducted by Christians against Muslims to exalt the faith of the ‘Christian republic’: ‘[Carlo Magno e i paladini] li quali fezeno gran guere contra la bestiale secta di Macometo et deli altri infedeli per exaltare la integra et perfeta fede dela republica christiana’ [Charlemagne and the paladins who made great wars against the beastly sect of Mohammed and the other pagans to exalt the integral and perfect faith of the Christian republic].19 17 For the example of a Franciscan press and for a propaganda interpretation of its production see Martin Lowry, ‘“Nel Beretin Convento”: the Franciscans and the Venetian press (1474–78)’, La Bibliofilia, 85 (1983), 27–40. On chivalric poems, printing and propaganda see Perrotta, I cristiani e gli Altri. 18 These mechanisms investigated by Palumbo are the basis of ‘la notevole indipendenza con cui si muove la tradizione italiana rispetto a quella francese’ [the remarkable independence with which the Italian tradition develops in comparison to the French]; even when the content is close to the Roland’s older tradition ‘la narrazione della rotta di Roncisvalle può assumere, nei testi italiani, tutt’altro significato. La materia della canzone è infatti investita da una profonda rilettura, che ne riassetta in modo differente gli equilibri interni’ [the narration of the defeat at Roncesvalles can have a completely different meaning in Italian texts. The material of the chanson is in fact subjected to a profound reinterpretation, which rearranges its internal balances in a different way]. See Palumbo, La Chanson de Roland in Italia nel Medioevo, p. 303. 19 I quote from Ruedi Ankli, ‘Il più antico poema a stampa nel suo contesto culturale: l’Altobello del 1476’, Rassegna europea della letteratura italiana, 10 (1997), 9–28

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The ‘Christian republic’ indicates the totality of Christians, in opposition to the infidels.20 The colophon uses the same crusading rhetoric that re-proposes the struggle between Christianity, represented by Charlemagne and the paladins Orlando and Rinaldo, and Islam. A similar rhetoric is also found in Pope Sixtus IV’s encyclical of 31 December 1471, where the Pope hoped for the union of Christianity against the Turks. The text of the encyclical mentions the ‘truculentissimam Turcorum gentem, impij canis Machometis sectatricem’ [cruel Turkish people, followers of the impious Mohammed], enumerating the series of territorial and religious damages suffered by Christianity at the hands of the Turks.21 The two texts seem similar in the use of specific rhetoric and vocabulary, ‘bestiale secta di Macometo’ and ‘impij canis Machometis sectatricem’: the colophon, however, overturned the content of the encyclical, representing an all-Christian offensive against the ‘secta di Macometo’.

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The Portrait of Charlemagne and his Relationship with the Court and the Saracens

ltobello provided an example of how paratextual elements could guide the reading of Carolingian works, underlining some specific aspects. In the great popular Carolingian poems composed and printed at the end of the fifteenth century, the figure of Charlemagne was articulated in various ways between two different poles: there was a half-hearted and inept Charlemagne, dominated by the fear of losing his power, in constant contention with his paladins, particularly with Rinaldo; this type of sovereign derives from the model set in the Cantari di Rinaldo da Montalbano.22 Then there is a second model of the sovereign, which recalls the portrayal of the character in the Spagna in rima: he is a more authoritative figure, with paternal characteristics, but has limited power. In this case his power depends on the greatness of his paladins. This specific trait of the character determines his ambiguous role within the stories: he is formally the highest Christian authority, together with the pope; at the same time, however, he is a weak figure who needs to be defended.

(p. 17). All translations from texts in Latin or the vernacular are mine. 20 The term originated during the barbarian invasions of the fifth century and was later clarified as an anti-Muslim identity statement especially during the Crusades. See Raoul Manselli, ‘La res publica christiana e l’Islam’, in L’Occidente e l’Islam nell’Alto Medioevo, ed. by Francesco Gabrieli et al. (Spoleto: Centro italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 1965), pp. 115–47. 21 Cesare Baronio, Annales ecclesiastici, XIX (Rome, Typographia Varesii, 1628), notes 72–3. 22 Jane E. Everson, ‘The Epic Tradition of Charlemagne in Italy’, Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes, 12 (2005), 45–81 (p. 68).

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As Bender pointed out,23 already in the Geste francor the figure of Carlo Magno no longer had those characteristics that elevated him above his peers: he had lost direct contact with God and the feudal characteristics of his relationship with his subordinates. His figure and his court belong to a distant and indefinite past, and they can therefore be suitably represented in ways which match the changing needs of the contemporary public. The characteristics of the sovereign and the forms in which his power is exercised determine the structure of the court. The representation of the relationship with the Saracens re-elaborates the anxieties aroused in the public by the fear of a Turkish attack; the anxiety elicited by the contrast with the enemy is a fundamental element of the Carolingian narratives of the end of the century (how strong are the Christians? Will they be able to defeat their enemies? Is their strength a sufficient deterrent to keep them away?). Only in the poems presumably written in the second half of the century is the great power of Carlo Magno explicitly presented as an anti-Saracen function, its primary purpose being to arouse fear and respect in the enemy. The same issues were crucial in the so-called poemi bellici, short narrations in ottava rima, often anonymous, dealing with events in contemporary wars, which circulated in print. The expression of fear of a Turkish attack is well developed at the popular level, as evidenced by the poem in ottava rima, an epigraph, known as the Esortazione ai Cristiani contro il Turco, printed in Jesi in 1474.24 The text mentions the role of preachers in spreading apprehension about an attack on Christian territories: preachers, it is said, shout in every way that the Christian faith will be offended because the ruler of the Turks always aims to overwhelm Christians (Esortazione, 5, 3–6) and they warn: soon you will see the Turks in Rome (Esortazione, 6, 4). Another text of historical matter in ottava rima, the Lamento di Costantinopoli by Maffeo Pisano, recalls the fall of the city to the Turks and in one of the last ottave it makes an explicit connection between the ancient paladins of France and the Italian and European forces that could unite against the Turks: in a heartfelt ubi sunt the main military forces of the time are listed, but also (without differences between history and fiction) Carlo Magno, Orlando and the other paladins:

23 Karl H. Bender, ‘Les métamorphoses de la royauté de Charlemagne dans les premières épopées franco-italiennes’, in Atti del 2° Congresso internazionale della Société Rencesvals, Cultura neolatina, 21 (1961), pp. 164–74; see also in this volume, Chapter 1, ‘The First Franco-Italian Vernacular Textual Witnesses’. 24 Two versions of the poem are known: a longer one (64 octaves), from which I quote (Federico de’ Conti a Jesi, c. 1474, preserved in the National Library of Naples and in the Ernesto Monaci Library of the Società Filologica Romana; the quotation is taken from the latter), and another shorter one, in 38 octaves, printed without typographic notes, kept in Venice, at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, which is also reproduced in Guerre in ottava rima, ed. by Marina Beer, Donatella Diamanti, and Cristina Ivaldi, 4 vols (Modena: Panini, 1988–9), IV, 124–43.

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signori e ville castelle et ciptade tucte le chiamo a·ffar questa bactaglia et priego Idio che ciascun ben vaglia. Hor dove è Carlo imperador divino, ove è il buon Danese e ’l buon Tristano, hor dove se’, Rinaldo paladino, dove è Orlando, quel forte cristiano, ove è Ulivieri, baron peregrino, ove è Astolfo, quel baron sovrano, ove son gli altri franchi paladini, ove son que’ ch’offendon e saracini? (Lamento di Costantinopoli, 78, 6–79)25 [lords and villages, and castles and towns I call on them all to do this battle, and I pray to God that each one of them is a worthy fighter. Now where is Charles, the divine emperor, where are the good Danese and the good Tristan, now where you are, paladin Rinaldo, where is Orlando, that strong Christian, where is Ulivieri, a valuable baron, where is Astolfo, that great Baron, where are the other paladins of France where are the ones who do the Saracens harm?]

Some poemi bellici seemed to share with the fifteenth-century Carolingian epic, and in particular with those printed at the end of the century, a repertoire of images, words that probably raised the same emotions in the public. In particular, the Carolingian texts printed at the end of the century show the special link they have with the historical past and contemporary events.26 One of the main anonymous chivalric poems, printed in Venice in 1476, Altobello, presents Carlo Magno at the beginning, immediately after the religious invocation: 25 Maffeo Pisano, Lamento di Costantinopoli (Bartolomeo de’ Libri, Firenze, c. 1490). The quotation is taken from Guerre in ottava rima, IV, 13–24 (p. 23). 26 The exploitation of different subjects and different models of composition was typical of the producers of popular poetry; with regard to the singers who combined the practice of poetry recited in streets and squares and the composition of chivalric works and other poems in ottava rima, often on historical subjects or related to current affairs, see Luca Degl’Innocenti, ‘Paladins and Captains: Chivalric Clichés and Political Persuasion in Early Modern Italian War Poems’, in Interactions between Orality and Writing in Early Modern Italian Culture, ed. by Luca Degl’Innocenti, Brian Richardson, Chiara Sbordoni (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp. 30–47.

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Annalisa Perrotta Nel tempo che Carlo in mazor stato era in tanta e nobel baronia per tutto el mondo era arecordato quando lo suole per l’aiere grandezia. Non era signor pagano anominato che non tremase quando l’intendia, in tutto el mondo non era sì gran sire non ce spaventase aldando de lui dire. (Altobello, I 5)27 [In the time when Charles was mighty along with such a noble group of barons he was remembered all over the world when the sun shines in the sky.28 There was no famous pagan lord who didn’t shake when he heard about him. In the whole world there was not a king so great that he wouldn’t be scared if he talked about him.]

Carlo Magno’s power is connected to the powerful group of his barons, which makes him famous and comparable to the sun; the great pagan lords tremble just to hear him mentioned. The concept is reiterated in the next two ottave, which enumerate the basis of the sovereign’s power. Per tre casone se dotava sua francheza la qual conterò qui al presente. In primamente per sua zientileza, la seconda de sua persona fo valente, la terza parte, signori, in zerteza, per sua baronia, ch’era tanto posente Non era principo ni armirante, Ni turcho, ni sarazino, ni africante. Intendando ricordare de re Carlone nelo grando stato tanto honorevole, li pagani dizeano tuti: ‘Per Macone, questo re ch’è tanto honorevole, ben l’ha creato Trivigante e Balzabone Apolin e Balatron che pasa el rag‹i›onevole. Non è homo de’ pagani tanto ardito che non trema quando l’ha udito’. (Altobello, I 6–7) 27 I quote from the incunable Historia di Altobello e di re Troiano suo fratello (Venice: Gabriele Grassi, 1481). 28 This passage is difficult to interpret: reading ‘quando’ as ‘quanto’, it can be understood as ‘he’s as great as the Sun in the sky’.

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[There were three causes of his strength which I will relate: First of all, his noble nature, the second was his personal valour, the third, my lords, indeed, because of all his barons, who were so powerful more than any prince or emir Neither Turk, nor Saracen, nor African. wanting to remember King Charles so honorable in his great power everyone said, ‘By Macon, this king, who is so honorable, Trivigante and Beelzebub, Apolin and Balatron certainly created him. There is no pagan man so bold that he does not tremble when he hears of him’.]

The ottave follow a scheme similar to that applied in the previous ottava: the reasons for Carlo Magno’s power are intrinsic to his character (nobility, strength) and extrinsic, that is, linked to the military leaders (the ‘barony’) who support his power, the main consequence is again the fear that the figure of Carlo Magno arouses in enemies, even if only to hear his name. The three ottave reaffirm a concept, repeating it. Repetition consolidates the link between Carlo Magno’s greatness and his function as a deterrent against enemies: as long as one manifests itself, the other is guaranteed. Carlo Magno is at the apex of the court, but the way in which his presentation is organised clearly reveals the metonymic nature of his role: when the text mentions Carlo Magno and his power to deter enemies, what he represents and what supports him is the object of the representation, that is, his body of champions, who are presented as a part of his greatness, but in fact constitute it in an exclusive way. The text that probably served as a model for this and other openings of narratives about Carlo Magno and his court is the Spagna in rima (see Chapter 2 above): the Spagna also opens in fact on the ‘valoroso re magno e perfetto’ [valiant king great and perfect] who ‘rinnalzò molto la Cristianitade’ [greatly revived Christianity]. The description is intended to indicate the greatness of Carlo Magno as an intrinsic not an extrinsic value: in the first ottave of Spagna (I 2–5) Carlo Magno is king of France and emperor of Rome, he subdued part of the world to his power, he won over his enemies and converted them; he decided to conquer Spain because he had no descendants and promised to crown his nephew Orlando, who had sworn to observe chastity until the completion of the conquest of Spain. The war waged against the Saracens of Spain depends on the desire to increase the power and prestige of the court and the possibility of securing this power and prestige to a lineage through Orlando.29 Spagna opens with a statement of the power of the 29 Carlo Magno’s motivations are effectively expressed in his first speech before the

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Christian emperor and the perpetuation of it in his descendants. In Altobello the greatness of the sovereign is reflected in the fear he arouses in his enemies; the greatest difference between these two ways of representing the power of Carlo Magno consists in this shift to the perspective of the enemy (who perceive the greatness of Carlo Magno and fear it); the representation of Carlo Magno’s power in Altobello is in agreement with other works produced in the last decades of the fifteenth century. A similar mechanism can be found in another work, by the hand of an anonymous adaptor of a previous text: Falconetto in ottava rima in the Venetian edition of 1500. The text in ottava rima regularizes in form and content a peculiar poem published in Milan in 1483, in irregular verses. The Falconetto of 1483 contains an eccentric story in the panorama of Carolingian narratives and is written in a poetic form that is difficult to classify: is it an attempt at versification or a prose text adapted to a poetic form? Falconetto, 1500, divided into four cantos, rewrites the previous text in regular ottave and standardizes it in both form and content. The revision is a new reading of the previous text and adapts it, showing not only poetic competence (the ability of the author to compose hendecasyllables and ottave) but also narrative competence, that is manifest in the management of content and modes of representation (choice of words and images, use of traditional themes and motifs specific to the Carolingian literature of the end of the century). The author of the revision carries out a conscious and intelligent operation of adapting an old plot to the expectations of the public and to the novel meaning that the Carolingian narratives had assumed at the end of the fifteenth century. The story of Falconetto must have been quite well known in Lombardy in the second half of the fifteenth century (the love story between Falconetto and Duselina, both pagans, and the killing of Falconetto in a battle against the Christians). In the Falconetto in ottava rima the adaptation of the modes of representation by the reviser primarily concerns the figure of Charlemagne and the manifestation of his power. The change of perspective of the second Falconetto compared to Falconetto, 1483, is subtle but substantial. This is how Falconetto, 1483, presents Carlo Magno: Carlo imperatore tutte le terre da za de là de mare signorezeva; tutta la Franza e la Mania e ogna castello signorezava quello signore bello. Lo re d’Ongaria e quello d’Ingalterra al suo onore tenevano le soe terre. La Galia e la Toscana e la Lombardia tenevano la fede de so signoria. Lo re de Barbaria lo temeva e sexe muli caricati de oro oni anno ge donave. (Falconetto, 1483, 11–20)30 main Christian paladins, cf. Spagna, I 8–9. 30 The text is printed in an incunable surviving in two copies conserved in the

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[Charles the emperor ruled all the lands on this side and on the other side of the sea All of France and Germany and every castle He ruled, that fine lord. The King of Hungary and the King of England They held their lands in his honour. Gaul and Tuscany and Lombardy They were fiefs to his lordship. The king of Barbaria feared him And every year he gave him six mules loaded with gold.]

In the first Falconetto, Carlo Magno’s greatness is founded on facts: the extent of his lands on either side of the sea, and the lordship he exercised over the lands of all his vassals. Even what motivates the king of Barberia to send tribute to Carlo Magno every year seems to be a homage to a recognised authority: the king of Barberia ‘feared him’, because he knew him well, and therefore maintained a balanced and peaceful relationship, acknowledging his imperial authority. The Venetian Falconetto of 1500 modifies the portrait of the sovereign as follows: Dico che essendo Carlo in grande honore assai contento più che fusse mai, vedendo el suo nepote senatore e Salomon, e gli altri baron gai. Fra questi v’era Gano il traditore che pensa sempre a’ cristiani dar guai. Eravi ancora suo figlio Baldovino Astolfo, Berlingieri, Ottone, e Avino. Il re di Barberia che signoreggiava temeva che Carlo non l’assediossi, ogni anno un gran tributo gli mandava. (Falconetto, 1500, I 4–5, 3)31 [I say that since Charles enjoyed great honour, And he was happier than ever Seeing his senator nephew And Solomon, and the other valiant barons. Among them was Gano the Traitor Who always thinks about harming Christians. His son Baudouin was also there, Astolfo, Berlingieri, Ottone, Avino. The King of Barberia British Library and the Vatican Library, entitled Di Carlo imperatore e dei baroni (Milan: Leonardo Pachel e Ulderico di Alemagna, 1483). I quote from Falconetto (1483), ed. by Andrea Canova (Mantua: Arcari, 2001). 31 Falconeto de le bataie lui feze con li paladini in Franza (Venezia: GiovanBattista da Sessa, 1500).

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Was afraid Charles would besiege him, Every year he used to send him a great tribute.]

In the passage above, the power of Carlo Magno is not linked to the possession of large territories, but to the greatness of his baronage. The rifacitore [re-writer] represents a reflected greatness of Carlo Magno, linked to the paladins and their military strength. The two texts display the difference between two models of sovereignty, an absolute one, which bases power on the possession of territories, and one based on the continuous negotiation of authority with the other members of the court. Moreover, the presentation of the court gives the author of the new version the opportunity to mention – as happens in Altobello – those expected and consolidated features that will then constitute the engine of the narrative, for example, the treacherous character of Gano. In his relationship with the pagans, the author specifies: ‘he feared that Charles would besiege him’: the acceptance of Carlo Magno’s superiority by the King of Barberia – an acceptance which is peacefully translated into the donation of the tribute – is transformed, in the second Falconetto, into the fear of attack by Carlo Magno: when Carlo Magno is looked at from the perspective of the enemy the idea of fear becomes crucial again.

T

Charlemagne and his Sons: the Construction of the Court and the Power of Charlemagne

he examples of the presentations of Charlemagne in Altobello and Falconetto of 1500 show the court of Paris described as a complex mechanism and at the same time underline its function as a bulwark against enemies. This view of the court is inherent in the compositional modes of authors working in ottava rima to such an extent that it becomes a criterion for the adaptation of ‘irregular’ narratives, as in the case of the two versions of Falconetto. In these narratives, the figure of Carlo Magno maintains the characteristics described above: he constitutes a principle of authority, but at the same time is weak and depends on the paladins. These two aspects of his character can be represented in very different narrative circumstances: the authority of the sovereign can be represented as paternal, having the function of legitimising the other characters in their roles or actions; or, at the opposite pole, the emperor can be an oppositional figure, who has to compete with his paladins to maintain his power, and in particular with Rinaldo, according to the scheme of the Cantari di Rinaldo: in this second version of his character, Carlo Magno is particularly subject to the deceptions of Gano, a traitor not only in respect of the battle of Roncevaux.32 32 Palumbo shows how, with a view to simplifying the tensions generated by the contrast between Orlando and Gano, in a notable part of the Italian tradition dealing with the history of the rout of Roncevaux, the figure of Gano tends to be the focus and embodiment of absolute evil, comparable to Judas, so that the identification of Orlando with Christ is reinforced, see Palumbo, the Chanson de Roland in Italy in the Middle Ages, pp. 305–8.

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The two cases are well represented in two other poems printed at the end of the fifteenth century, Persiano by Francesco Cieco da Firenze and Trabisonda. In Persiano Carlo Magno is one of the three ‘fathers’ who legitimise the entry of the young Persiano, son of Altobello, into the fellowship of his knights: the young hero is raised by Dudone and dubbed knight by Carlo Magno.33 The presentation to Charlemagne takes place during a truce in the battle, when the captive paladins and the sovereign have been freed from the young Persiano, and it precedes his longawaited investiture as a knight. Carlo Magno turns to Persiano calling him ‘son’ and remembering his own paternal bond once again with Persiano’s father, Altobello: […] – Fiolo bello, adonca se’ fiolo d’Altobello, al qual fiolo volea tanto bene, che me deliberò da cruda morte et ozi, fiolo, dale mortal pene m’hai campato con tutta mia corte; per la qualcosa sempre mai bene io amerò le membre tue accorte. Per amor del padre tuo voluntieri de mia mano farò te cavalieri. (Persiano, II 353–5)34 [My fair son, so you’re the son of Altobello, whom I loved as much as a son of my own and who freed me from a cruel death and today, my son, from the pain of death, you have rescued me together with my court which is why I will always love your brave person. Gladly for your father’s sake I will knight you with my hand.]

Calling them fiolo [son], repeated four times, Carlo Magno links Altobello and Persiano to himself, highlighting his own paternal role. The repetition of the word shows the centrality of the parental relationships and the equation: king = father. Moreover, if at the beginning Charlemagne declares that he loves the young man because he saved his life, at the moment of the effective entry into the service of the sovereign, the motivation for the investiture of Persiano is provided by Carlo’s remembered relationship with Altobello, Persiano’s father and is performed in his name. 33 Altobello, and therefore his son Persiano, are already baptised Christians: Persiano’s education and his entry into the company of Carlo Magno’s knights are a recognition of that reality, associating the young warrior with the correct group. 34 I quote from Francesco Cieco da Firenze, Persiano figliolo di Altobello (Venice: Christophorus Pensa, 1493).

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The author of Persiano, Francesco (d’Antonio) Cieco da Firenze worked for a time in Ferrara during the composition of the poem. The theme of succession to power was particularly relevant in Ferrara because of the contested succession of Ercole to Borso d’Este in 1471. The paternal and legitimising representation of Carlo Magno is consistent with the need to show the mechanisms through which a descendant accesses power even in the absence of a designation by the natural father.35 At the other pole of Charlemagne’s authority is the sovereign represented in Trabisonda, in which Rinaldo occupies a privileged position in relation to other poems of the genre and which is based on the narrative scheme of the Cantari di Rinaldo.36 In Trabisonda Charlemagne will never trust Rinaldo, who loves him from his heart: he will always consider him a threat to his power and will do everything to destroy him. In this poem, the traditional contrast between Charlemagne and Rinaldo offers an opportunity to compare two models of political management, both inside and outside France. On the one hand Charlemagne has a political strategy based on defence: his power is weak: it is based on the support of his champions. For him fear explains his perceptive and cognitive deficiency: he does not see Rinaldo’s love and loyalty towards him; he does not understand how precious it is to have him at court. Insubordination, or the suspicion of incomplete obedience are sufficient reasons to eliminate his adversaries, close the borders, act with violence and deception; Carlo Magno’s policy is deeply divisive and manipulative; his relationship with the Other, the Saracen, is only defensive: France is entrenched in its territorial possessions and fears attack. This model is contrasted with the luminous example of Rinaldo’s management: he remains the rogue, thief and squanderer that tradition, especially Italian tradition, has built;37 but he also reveals himself to be noble and magnanimous, and is able to associate physical strength and ability in battle with the ability to form alliances: these alliances, which do not always involve conversion, cut across the two opposing groups. Through alliances Rinaldo 35 For details of the first printed version of Persiano and its connections with the propaganda needs in support of Ercole I d’Este, see Perrotta, I cristiani e gli Altri, pp. 105–59. 36 The first known edition was printed in Bologna by Ugo Ruggieri in 1483 (IGI 9696; ISTC it00410500); Harris, ‘Marin Sanudo, forerunner of Melzi’, number B-206. The volume is also described by Luca Degl’Innocenti, ‘Ed. Rare 58. Trabisonda. Bologna. Ugo Ruggeri, 30 marzo 1483’, in Paladini di carta, p. 93, note 35. Two other incunabula are known: Venice: Bartolomeo de Zanis, 1488 (ISTC it00410600 = Harris, ‘Marin Sanudo, forerunner of Melzi’, B-207); Venice: Christophorus de Pensis, 1492 (ISTC it00410700 = Harris, ‘Marin Sanudo, forerunner of Melzi’, B-208). The quotations are taken from the Bolognese incunabulum. See Annalisa Perrotta, ‘Rinaldo conquista l’Oriente: figure antiche e storia contemporanea nella Trabisonda (1483)’, Critica del testo, 22.3 (2019), 235–48. 37 For Renaud (Rinaldo) in the French narratives see P. E. Bennett, ‘Charlemagne the Ruler’, in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature.

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manages to conquer Trabisonda, and to maintain power over it, to build a network of allied states, Christian and non-Christian: a buffer zone that can put a damper on the expansive force of the enemy; his internal policy is made up of trust, rich gifts, promises, and charisma; in foreign policy Rinaldo, emperor of Trabisonda, defends himself, but also attacks, always expanding the borders of his empire a little further. Rinaldo represents a principle of union, as opposed to Carlo Magno, who divides and remains weak in coping with the enemy’s attacks. To consider only the beginning of the story in this long and complex poem: Gano, the cause of all evil, offers Carlo Magno his fraudulent advice: Un giorno cum malitia el tempo piglia E dice a Carlo, mostrandogli amore: ‘Signore attendi chi ben ti consiglia Acioché possi ben firmar tuo stato E sotto ti sia ognun pacificato’. (I 11, 4–8)38 [One day with malice he seizes the opportunity And he says to Carlo, showing him love: ‘Lord, listen to those who counsel you well, so that you can consolidate your power and everyone is at peace under your authority’.]

The traitor draws the attention of his sovereign indicating the general contents of his advice, how to obtain solid power and peace among the paladins: he claims it is Rinaldo’s fault if both his authority and the peace of Christianity are in danger. Gano continues: ‘Deliberati, imperatore, al tutto de far morire lo latron Rinaldo: spesso il tuo stato ello ha quasi distrutto cun lo volere di superbia caldo, a grande extremitate ello ha condutto te cum tutti i tuoi come ribaldo morto che lui serà imperier verace cristianità vedrai poi tutta in pace’. (I 12) [‘Make up your mind, my lord emperor, once and for all to kill the thief Rinaldo: he has often almost destroyed your state with his will hot with pride, he has led into great danger, as a rebel, you with all your people.

38 I quote from La Trabisonda (Bologna: Ugo Ruggieri, 1483).

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Annalisa Perrotta Once he’s dead, true emperor then you’ll see all Christendom in peace’.]

For Gano Rinaldo is a ‘thief ’ as in the tradition; he is driven by his pride and therefore he accepts with difficulty the authority of his sovereign; once Rinaldo dies Christendom will be at peace; Rinaldo subverts the order, and for this reason he must be eliminated. Carlo Magno is convinced by Gano’s words and trusts him, he wants to be advised on the way to kill Rinaldo; Gano suggests inviting him to court with a false letter signed by all the paladins; he, Gano, will dictate the letter to his sovereign, and forge the signature and the seal of Orlando. Gano presents himself as a master of forgery (Trabisonda, I 15, 5–6), Carlo Magno can trust him (sic!): before Carlo Magno Gano can easily show his most cunning side, because he declares he will put his qualities and skills at the service of power; the corruption of the counsellor also contaminates the image of the sovereign. In this case, as in the case of Persiano, Carlo Magno and his relations with Rinaldo are a function of the representation of a specific scenario, in dialogue with the political reality of the time. In the text two possibilities are represented in the relationship with the enemy: one, that of Carlo Magno, of those who close themselves off within their borders because they are interested only in the maintenance of their own power and their own territories; the other, that of Rinaldo, which instead aims to create a policy based on alliances and on the expansion of Christian territories. Outside the fiction of the poem, anti-Turkish propaganda based the possibility of eradicating the danger of a Turkish invasion precisely on the exhortation to forge alliances against the common enemy and calls for unity.39 In Trabisonda at the end of a diplomatic mission during which the Saracens witnessed the manifestation of enmity between Rinaldo, Carlo Magno and the house of Maganza, the Saracen Marsilio offers an overall interpretation of the power of Carlo Magno and relationships in his court. When the Gran Cane of Damascus asks for explanations, Marsilio replies: La invidia ch’è tra loro e li dispecti e i tradimenti ch’elli vano usando e i mal voler che han dentro a li pecti, che l’un l’altro voria andar devorando. (Trabisonda, III 52, 1–4) [The envy that exists between them and the tricks and the betrayals they perpetrate and the wickedness that they have in their hearts (is such) that they would like to devour each other.]

They are full of ill will and they would like to devour each other. Such a situation favours the Saracens and their aims of conquest. In this dialogue the pagans look at

39 See Maffeo Pisano’s Lament of Constantinople cited above, note 25.

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the dynamics of the Christian court from the outside and their gaze as foreigners is a further confirmation of what seems to be one of the fundamental theses of the poem: the inconvenient and riotous figure of Rinaldo puts to the test Carlo Magno’s court, which proves to be completely inadequate for the management of internal rivalries and therefore also of the dangers that come from the outside. The analysis can be easily compared to a passage of the already mentioned Exhortation to Christians against the Turks: Tanta zizania è cresciuta nel mondo infra le potentie de’ Cristiani che, tanto quanto volta el sole a tondo, multi re et signori sonno a le mane et per guerra l’un l’altro mecte al fondo, stando insemi come lupi et cani. Deh, voltavi al parlare che el vangel fae o men regno in sé diviso mancharae. Adonqua è forza che manche [e] Cristiani et che la fede nostra vada a terra: veggian lo sforzo che fa’ Turchi cani et stiamo in tante secte et in tanta guerra. Se el Signore non ce mecte le mane i facti nostri son per gire a terra: deh, piaciave de stare in onione et de’ cristiani avere compassione. (Esortazione, 45–6) [So much discord has grown in the world among the Christian realms which, as many times as the sun makes its rounds (sc. every day), many kings and lords clash and in waging war, one harms the other, being together like wolves and dogs. Come now, listen to the word of the Gospel or a kingdom divided within itself will be defeated. Therefore, Christians will necessarily be defeated and our faith will be overthrown: we can see how strong the Turkish dogs are and we are divided into many factions and we wage war on each other. If the Lord does not intervene our interests are about to be defeated: Oh! do seek to be united and have compassion on the Christian people.]

Printed in the era of the wars of consolidation of Mohammed II in the Mediterranean, the Exhortation highlights the difficulty of the Christian West in articulating a unified political proposal for anti-Turkish action. Pope Pius II was able authorita-

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tively to collect and relaunch the sentiments that were in the air, especially insisting on the need for the union of Europe against the Turks.40 The crusade itself, after the fall of Constantinople, was first felt as a political necessity and a duty by Pius II, who solemnly launched it at the Congress of Mantua of 1459, which was followed by the promulgation of three years of Holy War, which however met with silence and a lack of support among other Christian princes. Other attempts in the following years resulted in failure and Pius II died in Ancona in 1464 while waiting for the ships promised by Venice.41 The contents of Trabisonda alone cannot support the hypothesis of a close link between chivalric stories and propaganda: the poem is based on consolidated topoi and its plot follows traditional patterns. It is also true, however, that the chivalric genre based its survival on the repetition and resemanticisation of individual motifs. Trabisonda appears at a time when there are other important examples of propaganda exploiting stories of chivalry: Carlo Magno and his court, his traitors and his champions are the protagonists of compelling stories, which base their effectiveness on the emotions of a community. In the case of Trabisonda, Charlemagne once again represents Christian Europe; this time, however, he is the symbol of its weaknesses, its divisions, its inability to build fruitful international relations; on the other hand, Rinaldo restored the empire of Trebizond (which had fallen into the hands of the Turks in 1462) and did so thanks to broad and varied ties, which include not only converted Saracens, but also characters such as the ‘Gran Cane’ [supreme sultan] of Damascus, who agree to support Rinaldo without abandoning Macometto. As if to say, worth is recognised despite differences of origin or religion. The first part of this chapter has sought to demonstrate the extent to which narratives of Charlemagne and his court referred in their plots and depictions to the greatest emergency facing European states and their foreign policy at the end of the fifteenth century: the danger of a Turkish invasion. Charlemagne and his court, in both their most authoritative and most degraded versions, represent the whole of Europe, its difficulties in coordinating a move or possibly the advantages of a newfound unity. At the end of the fifteenth century the poem of chivalry is a locus for elaborating the anxieties of the public and an imagined victorious future, but also a vehicle for propaganda, thanks also to the great diffusion allowed by printing. These functions will also be partially those of the learned chivalric poems, which were produced in Florence and Ferrara in the same years.

40 G. Ortalli, ‘La Chiesa di Roma, Costantinopoli e l’idea di Europa’, in L’Europa dopo la caduta di Costantinopoli: 29 maggio 1453, Atti del XLIV Convegno storico internazionale, Todi, 7–9 ottobre 2007 (Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 2008), pp. 435–66 (p. 459). 41 See Marco Pellegrini, ‘Pio II’, in Enciclopedia dei Papi, 3 vols (Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000), II, 663–85; Ortalli, La Chiesa di Roma, Costantinopoli e l’idea di Europa, p. 465.

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Luigi Pulci’s Morgante

t the end of the fifteenth century, the chivalric poem, while continuing to be produced by largely anonymous cantastorie, became in addition a genre which attracted major named authors. At almost the same time, first in Florence and then in Ferrara, two famous authors took their inspiration from popular tradition for the composition of two new poems: Morgante by Luigi Pulci and Inamoramento de Orlando (or Orlando innamorato) by Matteo Maria Boiardo. The two works represent different approaches to the same subject; in both of them, there is an explicit intention to renew stories about Charlemagne and to adapt them to the poet’s inspiration and aims as well as to the demands of the patron and the public. Both authors explicitly play with the horizon of expectation based on the solid familiarity of the audience with chivalric narrative traditions. The authors carried out a conscious transformation of the texts of the previous tradition to obtain comic and entertaining effects, or to use well-known stories as interpretative instruments of contemporary facts, as happens with the narrative of the defeat at Roncevaux in the Morgante. For both poems, the universal audience implicit in the texts of the traditional epic is restricted to a selected circle. In the previous texts, the collective identity was based on the epic contrast between Christians and non-Christians. Now, it is restricted to an elected group, capable of understanding the dense plot of cultural, historical but also anecdotal allusions and references: the world of the Florentine oligarchy and the narrow circle of the Medici entourage for Pulci; the court of Ferrara for Boiardo, for whom the nostalgic memory of medieval chivalry is mixed with the needs of humanistic culture.42 Luigi Pulci’s Morgante is a poem in 28 cantari, ‘cantare’ is the traditional word for the internal divisions of the work, although in the poem the word ‘canto’ appears almost as often,43 composed over a period of twenty years, from about 1461, when Lucrezia Tornabuoni commissioned it, until 1482, the year of the death of his patron.44 Before that date, it had appeared in two editions in 23 cantari in 1481–2, 42 For the study of the chivalric poem in the Age of Humanism and a reflection on the ‘paradox’ in which the Italian chivalric poem – a genre of medieval origin – flourished in the age of Humanism, see Jane E. Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism. For the discussion of Boiardo and Ferrara, see the chapter by Pavlova in this volume. 43 The word usually appears at the beginning or at the end of each cantare (see III 81, 7; V 1, 6; IX 1, 8; XII 89, 7; XIII 76, 8; XV 112, 7; XVII 139, 7; XVIII 200, 6; XIX 181, 4; XX 2, 2; XXI 172, 7; XXVI 118, 6; XXVIII 3, 5; 21, 7); canto has a slightly lower occurrence (see V 69, 7; X 1, 7; X 154, 6; XVII 200, 7; XXII 1, 8; XXIII 54, 7; XXIV 179, 7; XXVI 152, 8; XXVII 288, 8; XXVIII 52, 7). 44 Florence: Francesco di Dino, 1483. The commissioning of the poem by Tornabuoni can be seen both from explicit statements at the beginning and at the end of the poem (Mg I 4 and XXVIII 131, 6) and from the title page of the Ripolina edition, kept at the Accademia Nazionale di Scienze, Lettere e Arti di Modena

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in Florence from the printing house of San Jacopo di Ripoli and in 1482, printed by Lucas Dominici in Venice:45 the shorter editions terminated abruptly at XXIII 47 announcing a ‘new fantasy’. The first part of the poem had possibly already been printed in 1478. On 16 August 1478 the poem was sent with a note from Rodolfo Gonzaga encamped at Poggibonsi with his troops during the war following the Pazzi conspiracy, to his brother in Mantua, so that he could transcribe a copy. It is not clear whether the volume sent was manuscript or print.46 In a letter of 11 November 1478 Ercole d’Este asked Antonio Gondi, his agent in Florence, to obtain for him a poem entitled Morgante;47 a copy in sheets also appears in a list, written on 29 September (Firenze: Sanctum Jacobum de Ripoli, [1481–2]), ISTC ip01123500, IGI 8227, GW M36594: ‘QVESTO LIBRO TRACTA DI CARLO MAGNO TRADVCTO DI | latine scripture antiche degne di auctorita & messo inrima da Luigi de Pulci Ciptadino Fio | rentino Adpetitione della nobilissima donna mona Lucretia di Piero di Cosimo de Me | dici Et dallo original proprio di mano di decto auctore ritracto & gittato in forma in firen | ze apresso Sancto Iacopo di Ripoli. Et poi che cosi si contenta iluolgo che sia appella- | to Morgante deriuato da un certo gigante famoso che in molte cose interuiene in ello Per | non opugnare atanti Concedesi che cosi sia il suo titolo. Cioe el Famoso MORGANTE’ (a2r) [This book is based on an ancient Latin text of reliable authenticity and put into rhyme by Luigi de Pulci, a Florentine citizen, at the request of the noble lady Lucretia di Piero di Cosimo de Medici and by the hand of the said author reworked from the original and printed in Florence at Sancto Iacopo di Ripoli. And since the public wants it to be called ‘Morgante’, a name derived from a certain famous giant who takes part in many episodes of the poem, so as not to contradict the opinion of most people, we allow its title to be like this, i.e. the Famous Morgante]; for the chronology of the composition of the Morgante, see Ernest H. Wilkins, ‘On the dates of composition of the Morgante of Luigi Pulci’, Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, 66 (1951), pp. 244–50, reprinted in Id., The Invention of the Sonnet and Other Studies in Italian Literature (Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1959), pp. 244–50; Franca Ageno, ‘Nota sulle redazioni e le prime stampe del Morgante’, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 130 (1953), 508–13. 45 For a list of known editions of Morgante up to 1606 see Neil Harris, ‘Sopravvivenze e scomparse delle testimonianze del Morgante di Luigi Pulci’, in Paladini di carta, pp. 89–159 (pp. 93–4). 46 Neil Harris believes that it was a print, see ‘Sopravvivenze e scomparse’, pp. 129–40; see also Francis W. Kent, ‘An early reference to Luigi Pulci’s Morgante (August 1478)’, Rinascimento, 33 (1993), 209–11. 47 In the letter, Ercole suggests that Gondi turn to Luigi Pulci, who was supposed to have copies: not only is it likely that the copies were in print, but the author himself is indicated only as the distributor of the title, and perhaps he was not known as the author of the text. Probably, the first circulation of the book on a large scale was anonymous, perhaps to allow Pulci freer participation in the printing and publishing enterprise: Harris, ‘Sopravvivenze e scomparse’, p. 94.

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1480, of volumes stored in the rooms of Lorenzo de’ Medici in the villa of Poggio a Caiano.48 The first twenty-three cantari are more or less freely taken from an anonymous work in ottava rima entitled Orlando laurenziano by Pio Rajna, who discovered it. Morgante often follows this source closely and in many cases it is possible to establish an ottava by ottava correspondence.49 However, the relationships between Morgante and its source are not linear, probably because the text now available of the Orlando laurenziano is not the same as the one on which Pulci worked. The last five cantari narrate two episodes: the attack of Queen Antea on Paris, cantare XXIV, and the battle of Roncevaux, cantari XXV–XXVIII; for the Roncevaux episode, Pulci probably used narrative materials drawn from the Spagna in rima and the Spagna in prose. In this final part of the poem, however, Pulci considers the relationship between creativity, invention, and use of sources, mixing invented and real sources. So Pulci performs a very sophisticated operation with Morgante. On the one hand, he follows the topoi of the Carolingian narratives and plays with the expectations of the public. In the first twenty-three cantari, the author exploits the usual dynamics in the representation of the court: Charlemagne’s weakness, Gano’s

48 See Guglielmo Volpi, ‘Una nota di libri posseduti da Lorenzo il Magnifico’, Rivista delle biblioteche e degli archivi, 11 (1900), 89–90; Neil Harris, ‘Sopravvivenze e scomparse’, p. 97. 49 As did Hübscher, the first publisher of the Orlando (‘Orlando’. Die Vorlage zu Pulci’s ‘Morgante’, ed. by J. Hübscher (Marburg: Universitäts-Buchdruckerei, 1886)), but also other scholars: in her edition of Morgante Franca Ageno compared cantare by cantare the Morgante and the Orlando laurenziano, highlighting the differences between the two, see Luigi Pulci, Morgante, ed. by Franca Ageno, 2 vols (Milano: Arnoldo Mondadori, 1994; repr. of 1st ed., Milan-Naples: Riccardo Ricciardi, 1955); in his Storia del Morgante (Firenze: Le Monnier, 1958), Domenico De Robertis investigates the compositional strategies of Pulci through a comparative study between the two texts; see also Remo Ceserani ‘L’allegra fantasia di Luigi Pulci e il rifacimento dell’Orlando’, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 135 (1958), 171–214 and ‘Un episodio cavalleresco dell’ Orlando rifatto nel Morgante di Luigi Pulci’, Italica, 36.4 (1959), 251–61. The relationship between Morgante and Orlando is still a hot topic of discussion, in particular following Paolo Orvieto, ‘Sul rapporto Morgante-Orlando Laurenziano’, in Ritterepik der Renaissance. Akten des deutsch-italienischen Kolloquiums, Berlin 30.3–2.4.1987, ed. by K. W. Hempfer (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1989), pp. 145–53; see also Mario Martelli, ‘Tre studi sul Morgante’, Interpres, 13 (1993), 56–109. For further discussion on the Orlando, see Franca Strologo, ‘Alcune osservazioni intorno alla questione dei rapporti tra l’Orlando e il Morgante’, in Luigi Pulci, la Firenze laurenziana e il ‘Morgante’, Atti del Convegno, Modena, Accademia Nazionale di Scienze Lettere e Arti, 18–19 gennaio 2018, ed. by Licia Beggi Miani and Maria Cristina Cabani (Modena: Accademia Nazionale di Lettere, Scienze ed Arti, 2019), pp. 189–208; see also the chapter by Franca Strologo in this volume.

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betrayals, the formidable strength of Orlando and Rinaldo, paladins of the faith. In cantari XXIV–XXVIII he describes a new Carlo Magno, holy and venerable in his struggle against the pagans. The new Carlo is attuned with the new sources and the elevated and engaged tone of the last part of the poem.50 At the same time, he creates episodes that became immediately popular such as the one involving the giant Morgante and the half-giant Margutte, or the battle of Bambillona, or the giants Fallalbacchio and Cattabriga in cantare XXIV.51 These soon circulated independently in printed pamphlets of a few sheets. Despite this, in its conception Morgante is by no means a work aimed at an unsophisticated audience.52 The commission by Lucrezia Tornabuoni, Piero de’ Medici’s wife, and Lorenzo’s mother, is part of a precise cultural policy that had been established in Florence since the 1460s. It was useful for the Medici to support a poet like Pulci, whose family, though it had lost status, nonetheless belonged to the Florentine aristocracy and who practised a poetry with popular and municipal traits. Culture in the 50 The new tone also involves the choice of words (drawn from Latin or vernacular literary traditions) and morphological categories in the last cantari: see Luca Zipoli, ‘Da “comedìa” a “tragedìa”: lingua e stile nel secondo Morgante’, in Luigi Pulci, la Firenze laurenziana e il ‘Morgante’, pp. 113–38. 51 These are the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century editions known: Luigi Pulci, Falabacchio e Cattabriga giganti (Florence: Johannes Petri, c. 1497), ISTC ip01119500, IGI 4543, GW M36607, containing cantare XXIV; Id., Morgante e Margutte (Florence: Bartolommeo di Libri, c. 1490), ISTC ip01125100, GW M36601; Id., Morgante e Margutte (Cremona: Caesars Parmensis, tra il 1492 e il 1495), ip01125300, GW M36604; Id., Morgante e Margutte (Rome: Marcellus Silber, dopo il 151), ISTC ip01125500; Id., La rotta di Babilonia (Gaeta: Andreas Freitag, c. 1487), ISTC ip01126200; Id., La rotta di Babilonia (Florence: Lorenzo Morgiani e Johannes Petri, c. 1495), ISTC ip01126500, IGI 8229, GW M36606; Id., Le battaglie che fece la regina Anthea per vendetta de suo padre (Brescia: Damiano Turlino, 1549), CNCA 5191; Id., Il fioretto di Morgante e Margutte (Siena, 1582), CNCE 66632; Id., Il fioretto di Morgante e di Margutte (Venice: Francesco de Tomaso di Salo, 1564), CNCE 61435; Id., Il fioretto di Morgante e Margutte (Venice, 1523), CNCE 73233; Id., Il fioretto di Morgante e Margutte (Venice: Francesco Bindone e Maffeo Pasini, 1541), CNCE 51717; Id., Fioretto di Morgante e Margutte (Milan: I. da Castiglione per i fratelli de Legnano, [1519]), CNCE 57848; Id., Marguttino, dove si contiene il fioretto di Morgante Maggiore fino alla morte di Margutte (Brescia: Lodovico Britannico, 1547); Id., Morgante et Margutte (Florence: Giovanni Baleni, 1600), CNCE 60580; Id., La rotta di Roncisvalle (Siena: Luca Bonetti, 1584), CNCE 66773; Id., La rotta di Roncisvalle (Florence: Giovanni Baleni, 1590); Id., La rotta di Roncisvalle (Florence: alle scalee di Badia, dopo il 1550), CNCE 61454. 52 Salvatore Nigro claims that for Pulci the ‘people’ are only the source of a subject and a technical vocabulary taken up in a new dimension and for an audience that is not popular at all. See Salvatore S. Nigro, Pulci e la cultura medicea (Bari: Laterza 1972), pp. 7–8.

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vernacular was no longer to be the prerogative, and the mark of identity, of the anti-Medici faction.53 On the other hand, a poem celebrating Charlemagne was part of a political framework of good relations with France.54 Pulci, then, employs the traditional chivalric poem. He imitates it and, as we saw, he plays with it, amplifies it, always with an eye to a precise public, which for him was not only an audience but also a brigata, a social circle with whom he shared personal and affective relationships. The intimate public of Morgante is constituted first of all by the circle around the Medici. The relationship between Pulci and the Medici family, moreover, was not exclusively that of patron and client. Pulci’s family belonged to the oligarchy that had governed Florence, and he would not have minded wearing the mazzocchio, the hat of the magistrates, like his father:55 his service to the Medici, on the one hand, was a necessity; but on the other hand, it can be read more as a militant adhesion, rather than a servile relationship.56 53 On the cultural policy of the Medici in the 1460s and 1470s, see Mario Martelli, ‘Firenze’, in Letteratura italiana. Storia e geografia, 3 vols (Torino: Einaudi, 1988), II, L’età moderna, pp. 5–123; Id., Letteratura fiorentina del Quattrocento. Il filtro degli anni Sessanta (Firenze: Le Lettere, 1996). 54 Pulci was introduced to the Medici family around 1461 and entered the good graces of Lucrezia Tornabuoni, wife of Piero de’ Medici. At that time the Medici had plans to reconnect with France. Literary works, such as the Vita Caroli by Donato Acciaiuoli, also contributed to this programme. For an analysis of the use of Charlemagne in history and propaganda in Florence see Oren Margolis, ‘The Quattrocento Charlemagne: Franco-Florentine Relations and the Politics of an Icon’, in The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, ed. by William J. Purkis and Matthew Gabriele (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2016), pp. 203–30. 55 Nigro, Pulci e la cultura medicea, p. 10; see also Pulci’s letter XX to Lorenzo de’ Medici, written in 1472: ‘Faresti bene alla tornata mia serbarmi quello mazzocchio, e cacciarmelo infino al naso, perché il mio padre esercitò venti volte, fu nel ’39 Podestà di Colle di Valdelsa, e nel ’50 stracciato Capitano della montagna di Pistoia, o vogli tu o no, e tutto per di popolo, perché non era magiore di me in quel tempo’ [You would do well at my return to keep that mazzocchio of mine, and kick it up to my nose, because my father was in office twenty times, in ’39 he was Podestà di Colle di Valdelsa, and in ’50 was ‘stracciato’ Captain of the mountain of Pistoia, whether you like it or not, and all by the will of the people, because he was not better than me at that time], Luigi Pulci, Morgante e Lettere, ed. by Aulo Greco, 2 vols (Torino: UTET, 2006), II, 1261–2 (the translation is mine); here Pulci asks Lorenzo to hold a public office for him, indicated by the mazzocchio; the word stracciato (‘torn’) means he was about to be elected to the office, but unable to take charge of it due to some impediment: Luigi Pulci, Morgante e Lettere, ed. by Domenico De Robertis (Florence: Sansoni), 1984, pp. 1060–1. 56 According to Mario Martelli, the entry of Pulci into the service of Lucrezia Torna­ buoni, as well as the long familiarity, starting at least from 1465, that bound him to the young Lorenzo, meant that the poet became a Medici client, but not that he went over to Cosimo’s side, Martelli, ‘Firenze’, pp. 28–9; Id., Letteratura fiorentina,

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Perhaps for this reason and because Morgante originated in response to a political request, it accentuates a fundamental element of the popular chivalric poem. Without departing from the ideological order usual in chivalric poetry of the fifteenth century, Pulci emphasises the representation of Carlo Magno’s court as a place where politics is made and discussed, where exemplary behaviour is displayed, injustices and betrayals take place, the most serious of which is the one that leads to the defeat of Roncevaux.57 Pulci, however, manipulates the topoi already much in use by the practitioners of poems in ottava rima. In Morgante, the court of Carlo Magno is still the origin of all the stories; it is the centre, the starting point and the point of return, the place of identity par excellence of the whole of Christendom. It is the function of Carlo Magno’s court to initiate the action of the narrative. At the same time, it constitutes the essential foundation of the Carolingian stories, which put the clash with the Other, the Saracen, at the centre, and based the strength of the Christian armies on the strength of exceptional paladins, but also on the court’s ability to keep the paladins united and in harmony. Even in his intelligent playing with the genre (on a linguistic and narrative level), Pulci builds a poem in which the epic atmosphere is still clearly present. p. 177; Decaria reconstructs in detail the relationship between Pulci and Francesco Castellani, with whom he served before entering the Medici house: see Alessio Decaria, Luigi Pulci e Francesco di Matteo Castellani. Novità e testi inediti da uno zibaldone magliabechiano (Firenze: Società Editrice Fiorentina, 2009); Alessandro Polcri, Luigi Pulci e la Chimera. Studi sull’allegoria nel Morgante (Firenze: Società editrice fiorentina, 2010), pp. 5–66 argues against the idea of a withdrawal of Pulci from Medici circles during the last ten years of his life, stressing the importance of his assignment in the service of Roberto Sanseverino, a condottiere, nephew of Francesco Sforza and count of Caiazzo; on Luigi Pulci as a historical personage and his relationship with his contemporaries seen through his works, see Marco Villoresi, ‘Tra autobiografia e confessione’, in Luigi Pulci in Renaissance Florence and Beyond: New Perspectives on his Poetry and Influence, ed. by James K. Coleman and Andrea Moudarres (Turnhout: Brepols 2017), pp. 13–30. On the special meaning that the notion of friendship acquired in Renaissance Florence, see Dale Kent, Friendship, Love, and Trust in Renaissance Florence (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009). See also Matteo Residori’s paper on friendship and gratitude in the Morgante, with a special focus on the theme in connection with a political notion of friendship as personal involvement and public engagement for the well-being/good of the collective. Residori shows that the Morgante is pervaded by a continuous and consistent reasoning about friendship, which is represented in facts and characters; see Matteo Residori, ‘“Non si perde servigio mai nessuno”. Gratitudine, amicizia e giustizia nel Morgante’, P.R.I.S.M.I. Revue d’études italiennes, n.s., 1 (2020), 29–52. I thank the author for letting me see a draft of his article. 57 Annalisa Perrotta, ‘Lo spazio della corte: la rappresentazione del potere politico nel Morgante di Luigi Pulci’, The Italianist, 24 (2004), 141–68.

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The representation of Carlo Magno and his court in the Morgante meets two requirements: a political-institutional one and a narrative one. The ‘political’ mention of Carlo Magno / Charlemagne is taken up and reinforced by the incipit included in the Ripolina edition: Morgante deals with Carlo Magno / Charlemagne and takes its title from a contingent fact, the great popularity of one of its characters. In reality, Carlo Magno is not a central character in the poem, the narrative of which is mostly set far from the court and the sovereign.58 However, Carlo Magno’s centrality is declared at the beginning and at the end, in cantari I and XXVIII. Affirming Carlo Magno as the central figure of the poem has no descriptive aim (that is displaying what will follow, or what has been told). In the first cantare, Pulci declares that he undertook his work as a gesture of obedience ‘per obedir chi sempre obedir debbe | la mente, e faticarsi in prosa e in rima’ [to obey one my mind must e’er obey | by toil of prose and enterprise of ryme] (Mg I 4, 2–3),59 and as reparation because he regretted (‘increbbe’) that the story of Charles the emperor was ‘male intesa e scritta peggio’ [badly understood and written worse] (Mg I 4, 4 and 8). In his last cantare, XXVIII, he reconstructs the figure of the French sovereign, and retraces the main stages of his history, mixing sources of different natures and connecting the history of Charles to Florence, to himself and to the commissioning of the poem.60 The first stanzas of Morgante and the last cantare are joined by numerous threads. The connection illustrates the ‘institutional’ function of the poem: it places Morgante within the cultural activity promoted by the Medici, which has as its protagonists, as well as Pulci, Donato Acciaiuoli, and Angelo Poliziano, all personalities more or less openly present in the poem. The beginning of the poem and its end are also the two places where the author underlines his own figure in the text: in relation to the other characters of the court, to the literary and historiographical tradition of Florence, but also reflecting on the limits and possibilities of his poetry, for example assimilating / comparing himself to Ulysses, who crossed the boundary of the pillars of Hercules (XXVIII 131). Finally, the connection between first and last 58 Carlo Magno is present in I 9–16, III 20–32, VIII 34–95, IX–XIII, XVIII, XXIV– XXV, XXVII–XXVIII. Critics have often noted that the poem does not accomplish what it announces at the beginning and have stressed Carlo’s marginality in Morgante. See Stefano Carrai, ‘Morgante’, in Letteratura italiana. Le opere, ed. by A. Asor Rosa, 4 vols (Turin: Einaudi, 1992–6), I (1992), 769–89 (p. 769). 59 Unless otherwise indicated the English translation of the Morgante is that of Joseph Tusiani: Luigi Pulci, Morgante. The Epic Adventures of Orlando and His Giant Friend Morgante, trans. by Joseph Tusiani, introduction and notes by Edoardo A. Lèbano (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1998). 60 From a different perspective, I analysed the structure of Morgante in Annalisa Perrotta, ‘“Alla mia vela aggiugnerò alcun ferzo”. Politica e poetica nel Morgante di Luigi Pulci’, Chroniques italiennes, web series, 38 (2020), 1–22, [accessed 13 April 2022].

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cantari shows the project which led to the writing / publishing of Morgante seen as a whole, despite its inner juxtaposed structure, made up of successive additions. The following pages will therefore illustrate the function of Morgante’s ‘frame’ in the economy of the poem and the ways in which Carlo Magno’s centrality in the poem is established and the reasons for that. When Pulci interrupts the narration of the deeds of Rinaldo and his new companion Fuligatto at XXIII 47, we do not know whether or not the plan of the poem was to include the narration of the battle of Roncevaux. The poem in twenty-three cantari was sent to press with some concluding ottave (49–54), in which the narrator announces a change of direction in the story, the sound of a faraway horn calling him to pursue another fantasy full of gloomy omens (‘sento di lungi chiamarmi col corno…’, XXIII 48, 6). Cantare XXIV opens by resuming the narrative action announced at the end of the previous cantare: the fracture thus appears highlighted.61 Like the first cantare, moreover, the twenty-fourth cantare begins with the name of Carlo Magno: ‘Io cominciai a cantar di Carlo Mano | convien che ’l mio cantar pur giunga in porto’ [But my song started with King Charlemagne. | So let this song of mine now reach its end] (XXIV 4, 3–4); ‘O Carlo, avventurato presto in Cielo, | tu sarai tribolato al mondo ancora’ [O Carlo, soon to be in heaven blest | you still must suffer on this earth so much] (XXIV 5, 1–2), and represents a return to an original plan. Both instances, the fracture and the recovery, are part of a process that affects the formal structure of Morgante. The fracture probably indicates a sudden and tragic event not only for the poet but for an entire community: first of all the intimate and privileged public mentioned above.62 Presumably this was the Pazzi conspiracy (1478) that left Lorenzo de’ Medici wounded, and Giuliano his brother dead, which was at the origin of a war that deeply disturbed the entire population of Florence, and led to a political crisis involving Italy and Europe. Morgante answers the need to represent the tragedy within an authorised and institutional framework, which requires the poet to sing the exploits of the real Charlemagne, to obey the will of Lucrezia Tornabuoni, to underline the special political alliance that linked Florence to France (as king Louis XI had been an open supporter of Lorenzo de’ Medici after the Pazzi conspiracy), but also to punish those who betrayed and killed:

61 Alessio Decaria, ‘Tra Marsilio e Pallante: una nuova ipotesi sugli ultimi cantari del Morgante’, in L’entusiasmo delle opere: studi in memoria di Domenico De Robertis, ed. by Isabella Becherucci, Simone Giusti and Natascia Tonelli (Lecce: Pensa Multimedia, 2012), pp. 299–340 (pp. 299–300, 304). 62 For the identification of the Pazzi conspiracy as the probable reason for the interruption of the poem, see Stefano Carrai, Morgante, p. 114; Id., ‘“Sento di lungi chiamarmi col corno”: la rotta di Roncisvalle come finale del Morgante’, in Carlo Magno in Italia e la fortuna dei libri di cavalleria, ed. by Johannes Bartuschat and Franca Strologo (Ravenna: Longo editore, 2014), pp. 145–51; Decaria, ‘Tra Marsilio’, p. 306.

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convien che ’l mio cantar pur giunga in porto, e ch’io punisca il traditor di Gano d’un tradimento già ch’io veggo scorto cogli occhi della mente in uno specchio. (XXIV 4, 4–7) [So let this song of mine now reach its end and let me punish wicked Ganelon for a new treason that, alas, I can as in a mirror finally behold.]

Pulci’s personal involvement in the punishment is a sign of his engagement in Florentine political affairs and anticipates the equally personal dimension that the narration often takes in cantari XXIV–XXVIII.63 The Morgante appears closely linked to the tradition of anonymous poems in circulation at the end of the fifteenth century.64 At the same time, however, Pulci distances himself from it in that he reveals the mechanisms of the traditional chivalric poem. This unveiling takes place through a compositional method made up of juxtapositions: the two parts of the poem (cantari I–XXIII and XXIV–XXVIII) appear randomly juxtaposed, because of the abrupt interruption in cantare XXIII. The more institutional parts appear to have been inserted one after the other, the encomiastic narration of Carlo’s deeds, the praise of the commissioners, and the more narrative parts: in the former, Carlo is the champion of Christianity and the restorer of Florence, in the latter, he is the foolish sovereign who gets his nose beaten by Gano. In cantare XXVIII, a sort of mise en abyme of the poem, the different voices of the characters / speakers also appear to be juxtaposed, alternating with different citharas to sing the praises of Carlo Magno / Charlemagne. It is precisely in stitching one to the other, without hiding the seams, that Pulci plays his smart game in the poem, and in so doing he succeeds in keeping together the different spirits of the two parts of his work.

C

Carlo Magno in Morgante: the frame

antare XXVIII takes up numerous constituent elements of the first stanzas of the poem in a sort of ring composition that provides the ideological framework in which to insert the narration of the story of Carlo Magno. The frame allows for a re-reading of the first part of the poem (cantari I–XXIII) in the light of the tragedy of the final defeat at Roncevaux. 63 For the allegorical and polemical interpretation of the last cantari of Morgante, see Paolo Orvieto, Pulci medievale (Roma: Salerno editrice, 1978), pp. 244–83; Id., Pulci. Luigi e una famiglia di poeti (Roma: Salerno editrice, 2017); Id., Lettura allegorica del ‘Morgante’ (Roma: Salerno editrice, 2020); Decaria, ‘Tra Marsilio’; Federica Signoriello, ‘Pulci and Ficino: rethinking the Morgante (cantos XXIV– XXV)’, Rivista di studi italiani, 35.1 (2017), 80–127. 64 See above pp. 141–5.

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The first connecting link between the two cantari concerns the use of the topical metaphor of writing as a journey by sea.65 Pulci uses the metaphor several times in the course of the narration, especially at the beginning of each cantare.66 In the first cantare the metaphor appears in octave 4 immediately after a seasonal introduction: the poet recounts the moment of the ‘launching’ of his little boat, following the two stimuli that initiated the poem: obedience to the patron and the displeasure of seeing Carlo Magno / Charlemagne and his deeds misrepresented. Quand’io varai la mia barchetta prima per obedir chi sempre obedir debbe la mente, e faticarsi in prosa e in rima, e del mio Carlo imperador m’increbbe; ché so quanti la penna ha posti in cima, che tutti la sua gloria prevarrebbe: è stata questa istoria, a quel ch’io veggio, di Carlo, male intesa e scritta peggio. (Mg I 4) [’Twas then I launched my little vessel, first To obey one my mind must e’er obey By toil of prose and enterprise of ryme, And then to weep for Charles, my Emperor, Whose glory – this I know – by far exceeds The praises of all those who penned its height: Yet badly understood and written worse Was the same story I now treat in verse.]

In cantare XXVIII the nautical metaphor has a massive presence: as in the first cantare, but unlike in the following cantari, the metaphor is used in connection with the patron to whom the narrator alludes at the beginning of the poem (‘chi sempre obedir debbe | la mente’), and who is identified specifically here: perché donna è costì, che forse ascolta, che mi commisse questa istoria prima, e se per grazia è or dal mondo sciolta, 65 On the metaphor see Ernst Robert Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, trans. by Willard R. Trask (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953; repr. 2013), pp. 128–32 (original publication, Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter (Bern: Francke, 1948); with a special focus on chivalric literature, Giuseppe Ledda, ‘La navigazione come metafora testuale nei poemi epico-cavallereschi: da Pulci ad Ariosto’, Italianistica, 46.3 (2017), 67–87. 66 The word ‘barca’ [boat] appears in cantari II 1, 5 and XVIII 130, 1; ‘barchetta’ [little boat] I 4, 1, XXI 1, 5, XXVII 40, 7, XXVIII 2, 6; 24, 4; 130, 1; 140, 1; ‘nave’ [ship] XXVIII 25, 7; ‘porto’ [harbour] III 1, 8, XIV 1, 8, XXIII 1, 8, XXIV 4, 4, XXVIII 2, 7; 24, 7; 47, 3; 130, 1; 154, 5; ‘legno’ [wood] III 1, 7, XXVIII 140, 2 and 154, 5.

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so che tanto nel Ciel n’è fatto stima, ch’io me n’andrò con l’una e l’altra volta con la barchetta mia, cantando in rima, in porto, come io promissi già a quella che sarà ancor del nostro mare stella. (Mg XXVIII 2) [A lady is up there, who may be listening: ’twas she who first commissioned this my tale. Now that her soul, free of its worldly weight Is up in heaven so much more revered, I now that with my singing rymes I’ll go, Changing my route, in this small boat of mine, Till I reach port, as I have promised her, Who on this sea is still my guiding star.]

Lucrezia Tornabuoni the one ‘who first commissioned this my tale’ is now dead (she died on 25 March 1482), but perhaps she is still listening to her poet from heaven and will be for him the guiding star of navigation towards the port. His route will be against the wind, but ‘con l’una e l’altra volta’, that is tacking against the wind in order to keep to the course set; thus ‘cantando in rima’ the poet will succeed in reaching his destination.67 The words in rhyme, i.e. prima/rima contribute to create the connection between the two cantari: ‘quand’io varai la mia barchetta prima’ [’twas then I launched my little vessel, first] (I, 4, 1) is linked with XXVIII 2, 2 ‘donna […] | che mi commisse questa istoria prima’ [a lady […] | ’twas she who first commissioned this my tale].68 The nautical metaphor in cantare XXVIII deepens in the following ottava: Infino a qui l’aiuto di Parnaso non ho chiesto né chieggo, Signor mio, o le Muse o le suore di Pegàso, come alcun dice, o Caliopè o Clio: questo ultimo cantar drieto rimaso tanto mi sprona e la voglia e ’l desio che, mentre io batto i marinai e sferzo, alla mia vela aggiugnerò alcun ferzo. (Mg XXVIII 3) 67 As a commentary on this line, Davie adds: ‘so the reader is warned to expect not a single linear narrative, but one which proceeds now in one direction, now in another’, Mark Davie, Half-serious Rhymes, The narrative Poetry of Luigi Pulci (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1998), p. 157; a similar image occurs in Mg XXVIII 25, 6. 68 Ageno seems to understand ‘prima’ of Mg I 4, 1 as an adverb and therefore isolates the word between commas; De Robertis does not add a comma, leaving at least the ambiguity between adverbial and attributive function.

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Pulci does not intend to invoke the muses: rather ‘this one Canto that still lies ahead’ ‘spurs all my mind and heart’, so he beats and lashes (‘batto e sferzo’) the sailors and will add ‘alcun ferzo’, that is hoist more sail.69 The metaphor seems to indicate, thus, the compositional procedure for additions and juxtapositions that is particularly evident in this last part of the poem, but which also describes more widely Pulci’s compositional method. In cantare XXVIII, just before introducing the other source of his story, that is the Arnaldo who had already suggested the presence of Rinaldo at Roncevaux (XXV 115, 4), Pulci again uses the nautical metaphor: non c’è il nocchier che la mia barca mosse, e bisogna che terra io ricognoschi come se quella in alto mare or fosse, e rilevare il porto per aguglia, perché la sonda alle volte ingarbuglia. (Mg XXVIII 24, 4–8) [There is not the steersman who launched my boat,70 And ’tis now up to me to sight the land From the high sea in which I am sailing still, And check the port not with the plummet, which Is often stuck, but with the sounding stick.]

The steersman is again Lucrezia, navigation is difficult because the port cannot be sighted: ‘morto è Turpino, e seppellito e pianto’ [Turpin is dead and buried with much weeping] (Mg XXVIII 25, 1). Therefore, it is necessary ‘scambiar timonista’ (25, 4), to change the steersman of the ship; in this second metaphor the small boat to be brought into port has become ‘la nave | di ricche merce ponderosa e grave’ [this full-loaded, riches-bearing boat] (25, 7–8). The content of what follows determines an infraction of the topos of modesty: what used to be a small boat, now looks like a commercial ship. The narration of Charlemagne’s life after Turpino’s death continues by juxtaposing one voice with another, the various pieces of cloth 69 According to Ageno, a ferzo is a cloth that sewn with others forms the sail. See Ageno (ed.), Morgante, II, 1058. 70 Tusiani translates: ‘There is no steersman who may guide my boat’; I have slightly changed this translation, reintroducing the past tense.

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/ ferze of which the sail is composed: those of Arnaldo, Lattanzio and finally that of Alcuin.71 In XXVIII 130 the nautical metaphor ‘Io ho condotto in porto la mia barca’ [My vessel I have brought now into port] (v. 1) reappears and in the following stanzas. Lucrezia is still in her leading role, described as a polar star, but also as Saint Elmo, protector of sailors:72 donna è nel Ciel che mi fia sempre schermo; ma non pensai che innanzi al fin morisse! Questa fia la mia stella e ’l mio santo Ermo, e perché prima in alto mar mi misse. (Mg XXVIII 131, 3–6) [… a Lady is in heaven Who will protect me (never had I thought She’d die before the end of this my tale!). Her blessed soul that now can see all things Will be my star. She showed me first the sea.]

The quotation from Dante, Inferno, II, 94 ‘Donna è gentil nel ciel che si compiange’ [In high heaven a blessèd dame | Resides, who mourns with such effectual grief],73 makes Lucrezia the intermediary between the poet and the Virgin, and this image is consolidated in the Salve, Regina at the end of the poem, where the Virgin Mary pilots the poet’s boat into the harbour. The work had begun in her name in ottava I 2, 4, ‘E tu, Vergine, figlia e madre e sposa’ [and you, O Virgin, daughter, mother, bride]: the two women open and close the poem (I 2, 4; XXVIII 154–5). To the Virgin Pulci entrusts the soul of Lucrezia, named here for the first time, and to Lucrezia his own salvation: Lucrezia as Beatrice, an intermediary together with the Virgin, one might say.74 The poem-boat sets sail in the first cantare at Lucrezia’s 71 On those alleged sources of Pulci’s narrative, see Orvieto, Lettura allegorica, pp. 149–61. 72 In the text it is ‘Sant’Ermo’; for the identification of the saint, see Ageno (ed.), Morgante, II, 612. 73 Dante refers to the Virgin: Beatrice is describing what made her help Dante. For the translation I used Dante, The Divine Comedy, translated with notes by H. F. Cary (Ware: Wordsworth, 2012). 74 Pulci had inserted the Salve, Regina as a conclusion also of the versions in twenty-three cantari, published before Lucrezia’s death: the whole text is slightly revised in the later version, written after the death of his patroness; in particular the penultimate verse is transformed from a prayer addressed to the Virgin for the good of Lucrezia, ‘io te ne priego per le sue virtute | che gli concede al mondo et in ciel salute’ [I beseech thee for her virtues | that thou grant her salvation in the world and in heaven], to a prayer addressed to Lucrezia for the author’s own good: ‘sì che lei priego per le sue virtute | che per me impetri grazia di salute’ [So that I pray to her by her virtues, that she obtains for me the grace of salvation]

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instigation, and in cantare XXVIII it is Lucrezia as guiding star that allows the poet’s safe arrival: the end of the work, but also a place to enjoy Lucrezia’s protection.

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Charlemagne in the History of Florence

organte forms part of a complex of cultural initiatives and its author is only one of the participants in them. Pulci, however, shows an awareness of his task, and of the role that the writing of a poem about Charlemagne gives him: his position is not that of a mere executor of the instructions he has received from his patrons. The system constituted by Morgante’s frame, formed by cantari I and XXVIII would seem to confirm the author’s militant attitude of adherence to the requests of his patron. The history of Charlemagne in Florence in the fifteenth century is closely connected with ideas about the origins of the city, and therefore with the construction of an identity with specific characteristics, of an ideal Florentine political model for internal and external use.75 Moreover, the link between Florence and France was of particular importance at the end of the century and Charlemagne was a symbol of this link. Between the first and the last cantari Pulci seems to draw a line from Leonardo Bruni, to whom we owe an influential reinterpretation of the myth of the foundation of Florence, to Donato Acciaiuoli and to insert the Morgante into this line. Bruni and Acciaiuoli did not give the same interpretation to the bond they contributed to building between Florence and the monarchy of France; but, of course, Pulci, at the beginning of the 1480s, could understand both the operations as linked and pointing in the same direction, the one he wanted to represent in the last part of his Morgante. As summarised by Margolis, the ruling oligarchy is significantly at the centre of the picture: Leonardo Bruni had tried to rid the Florentine legendary history of its Carolingian myth to make it conform to the needs of the ruling oligarchy: triumphant, expansionist, and in search of historical precedent for the sovereignty in Tuscany it now hoped to exercise. […] Donato Acciaiuoli wrote his Vita Caroli on behalf of a scion of that same oligarchy [i.e. Piero de’ Medici] under threat, its prerogative to rule slipping away. It is no wonder, then, that Acciaiuoli chose to ground that prerogative in the legend of Charlemagne, giving it historical legitimacy while putting it under the wing of a revived French monarchy.76

Leonardo Bruni is mentioned in the first canto, when the narrator invokes a worthy writer who does justice to Charles’ greatness: (the translations are mine): obviously the function of intermediary is given to Lucrezia only post mortem, Ageno (ed.), Morgante, II, 1114. 75 On the Latin versions of Charlemagne’s biography in Medici Florence see Margolis, ‘The Quattrocento Charlemagne’, p. 204. 76 Margolis, ‘The Quattrocento Charlemagne’, p. 217.

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Diceva Leonardo già Aretino che s’egli avessi avuto scrittor degno, com’egli ebbe un Ormanno e ’l suo Turpino, ch’avessi diligenzia avuto e ingegno, sarebbe Carlo Magno un uom divino, però ch’egli ebbe gran vittorie e regno, e fece per la Chiesa e per la Fede certo assai più che non si dice o crede. (Mg I 5) [Leonardo Aretino ’twas who wrote That if a worthy writer he had found, Possessed of both intelligence and care, The way he had an Urman and his Turpin, Charles would be reckoned now a man divine, For mighty victories and realms he won, And surely did for Church and Faith achieve Far more than people mention and believe.]

The commentators have not found, as far as I know, a precise source for these words attributed to Bruni. Together with the new narrative of the origins of Florence, which Charlemagne would only have restored, not founded, after Totila’s destruction of the city, the Historia florentini populi also contains an eloquent eulogy of the emperor (Historia, I 4–6). Here Pulci, however, does not quote Bruni, but is authorised by Bruni to become the new singer of Charlemagne’s deeds. Ma il mondo cieco e ignorante non prezza le sue virtù com’io vorrei vedere. E tu, Fiorenzia, della sua grandezza possiedi e sempre potrai possedere: ogni costume ed ogni gentilezza che si potessi acquistare o avere col senno, col tesoro e colla lancia, dal nobil sangue è venuto di Francia. (Mg I 7) [But, blind and ignorant, the world does not Esteem his virtues as I’d like to see. And yet some of his greatness you still own, O Florence, and can yours forever be: Every good custom, all the courtesy A man on earth could ever gain and keep Through wisdom or through treasure or through lance Has come out of the noble blood of France.]

The elevation of the figure of Carlo Magno is presented as part of the relationship linking patronage, poetry and history, the central node of Florentine cultural policy

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in the 1470s.77 A good author gives prestige to the actions and reputation of great men (Mg I 4, 5–6); the story of Charlemagne was ‘male intesa e scritta peggio’ [yet badly understood and written worse] (Mg I 4, 8); in I 5, 3 the author of Morgante judges the previous writers, namely Ormanno and Turpino, whose works he regards as insufficient to guarantee Charlemagne’s fame in an afterlife;78 this is the reason why ‘il mondo ignorante non prezza | le sue virtù, com’io vorrei vedere’ [blind and ignorant, the world does not | esteem his virtues as I’d like to see] (Mg I 7, 1–2): the poet participates in the disappointment for the discredit into which the figure of Carlo Magno has fallen. Pulci laments the lack of a good narrative about Charlemagne, therefore he highlights the need for a new, elevated, account of Charlemagne’s biography. The contrast between what Pulci states and what he does in the course of the poem is not as obvious as it may seem: he adopts a genre, that of the Carolingian cantare, and moves within its rules, which determine an expected representation of Carlo Magno as weak and not quite authoritative. However, Pulci inserts his writing within a project, outlined with precise keywords and specific, implicit and explicit, cultural points of reference: for this reason, the juxtaposition between the praise and the discredit of Charlemagne is not contradictory. The mention of Bruni in the first canto is combined with the use of specific sources in the historical and fantastic reconstruction of the figure of Charlemagne 77 See, for example, the dedicatory letter, attributed to Poliziano, who had written a preface to the ‘Raccolta Aragonese’ (1477), in which the link between personal value, high poetry and political patronage is clearly delineated. 78 ‘Diceva Leonardo già Aretino, | s’egli avessi avuto scrittor degno | com’egli ebbe un Ormanno e ’l suo Turpino, | ch’avessi diligenzia avuto e ingegno, | sarebbe Carlo Magno un uom divino’ (Mg I 5, 1–5) [Leonardo Aretino ’twas who wrote | that if a worthy writer he has found, | possessed of both intelligence and care, | the way he had an Urman and his Turpin | Charles would be reckoned now a man divine]. Turpin is the usual (fictitious) source of stories about Charlemagne and the peers of France, Ormanno is cited in Andrea da Barberino, Reali di Francia I, 38, and is mentioned again, joined with Turpino, in Mg XXVIII 51, 53. The interpretation of Mg I 5,3 is controversial: is Pulci praising or discrediting Turpino and Ormanno? Puccini considers Ormanno and Turpino as contemporaries of Charlemagne, when Pulci is talking about historians writing after Charlemagne’s death, see Luigi Pulci, Morgante, ed. by Davide Puccini, 2 vols (Milan: Garzanti, 1989), I, 5; Orvieto, Lettura allegorica, p. 159, interprets the ottava as if Pulci was distinguishing an ‘ancient’ Carlo Magno, whose life was recounted by Ormanno and Turpino, and a ‘modern’ one, who has not yet had a good historian. These two interpretations presuppose a contradiction in the ottava: Ormanno and Turpino are worthy writers but, if Charlemagne had benefitted from the writings of a good author, he would have been a ‘divine man’; anyway, whatever Pulci’s explicit judgement about Turpino and Ormanno, they were incapable of guaranteeing his fame.

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in cantare XXVIII.79 As in the first cantare (I 7, 3–8) so in the last Pulci deals with the connection between Charlemagne and the origins of Florence. Returning from Rome after his coronation as emperor, Charlemagne per più magnificenzia, rifece e rinnovòe l’alma Florenzia, e templi edificò per sua memoria, e dètte a quella doni e privilegi. […] come cor generoso all’alte imprese, restaürava e città e castella, come e’ fece ancor già Fiorenza bella’ (Mg XXVIII 100, 7–101, 2 and 121, 6–8) [on his way back, with high munificence, he renovated and rebuilt great Florence, where he raised temples that bespoke his name, and left most regal gifts and privileges; […] and, being ever fond of dauntless deeds, cities and castles he made strong and fast, as he had done with Florence in the past.]80

In these words, Pulci paraphrases the Vita Caroli by Donato Acciaiuoli, thus creating a synergy between Bruni, Acciaiuoli and himself.81 79 Gabriele Bucchi analyses the different kinds of temporality in Morgante, considering the differences between the two parts of the Morgante (cantari I–XXIII and XXIV–XXVIII) and the tensions among a linear, historical temporality, a cyclical temporality, the time of the hope and salvation and the time of sin and its punishment in cantare XXVIII, Gabriele Bucchi, ‘Dalla predestinazione divina alla benedizione del lettore: Pulci e il tempo’, Chroniques italiennes, web series, 38 (2020), 88–112. 80 Pulci follows quite closely the work of Acciaiuoli: Charlemagne, coming back to France after his coronation in Rome ‘in memoriam dignitatis adeptae Florentiam urbem, quam olim magna ex parte deleverant Ghoti, in pristinum statum cum summa celebritate restituit […] novis moenibus cinxit, templis ornavit’ [in memory of the honours received, he restored to its original condition the city of Florence, which the Goths had once destroyed to a great extent, gaining great renown from this, […] (he) surrounded it with new walls, adorned it with temples], Vita Caroli, p. 117 (the translation is mine). 81 For the legend of the origins of Florence, see Chiara Coluccia and Riccardo Gualdo, ‘Le metamorfosi di Carlo. Il volgarizzamento della Vita Caroli di Donato Acciaiuoli’, in Il Principe e la storia, Atti del Convegno di Scandiano, 18–20 settembre 2003, ed. by Tina Matarrese and Cristina Montagnani (Novara, Interlinea, 2005), pp. 307–38.

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In cantare XXVIII, however, the linking operation between the author of Morgante and the other writers employed in praise of Charlemagne and in the celebration of the (delicate) bond between Republican Florence and France is carried out through an interweaving of voices and figures: different actors contribute to the joint praise of the Emperor and Florence. The competition appears disharmonious, because, like the sail of the nautical metaphor used in XXVIII 3, it is made of ferzi, that is, of juxtaposed sheets sewn together, and his vessel proceeds by adding sail to sail. The first voice is that of the narrator and writer of the work, who is completing the poem and makes explicit, as we have seen, his privileged link with Lucrezia Tornabuoni: the voice of the narrator summarizes the events following the battle of Roncevaux, but also gives an account of the different narrative possibilities, or different opinions on the conduct of the story. In particular, it links the narrated story, and Carlo Magno’s traditional stolid confidence in Gano, with the figure transmitted by history and which he proposes to praise.82 He tries, in short, to link history and fiction; in doing so he does not resolve but highlights the most critical points. The most important, but also the most difficult knot to unravel concerns Gano, the traitor: why does this figure not appear in Carlo Magno’s historical biographies? It is censorship, answers Pulci, dictated by prudence: Nota che Carlo Magno era uom divino, e lungo tempo avea tenuto seco un dotto antico, chiamato Alcuïno, ed apparò da lui latino e greco, ed ordinò lo Studio parigino; or par che sia dello intelletto cieco; onde alcun aüttor come prudente di Ganellon non iscrive nïente. (Mg XXVIII 16) [Remember: Carlo was a holy man Who for a long time kept, right at his court, A learned scholar, known as Alcuin, From whom he learned Latin and Greek; he also had built the University of Paris. Yet mentally he seems so totally blind That, to avoid this issue, many a prudent writer Has never even mentioned this Ganelon the traitor.]

82 In XXVIII 6 he reports that ‘alcun qui dice’ [some people say here] (6, 1) that Gano was freed with cunning, but once out of prison he found only a great mist (the mist of sin, 6, 6) that led him back to prison; and he concludes ‘dico io: non so se confermar mi debbia, | per non parere un auttor da nebbia’ [this is what I can say: I do not know if that can be confirmed, not to seem an author lost in the mist] (6, 7–8, the translation is mine).

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At court Charlemagne had a man like Alcuin, a ‘learned scholar’ who ‘had built the University of Paris’, who could be judged ‘mentally totally blind’ because he could not defend his lord from betrayal (16, 6); therefore the authors considered it prudent to keep silent. Apparently Pulci reflects here on the relationship between intellectuals and power. In the following ottave, Pulci attempts to explain Charlemagne’s credulity: the inscrutable will of God, first of all: ‘credo che Iddio a buon fine permette | l’opere sante e così le maledette’ [for God allows – this is my firm belief – | not only man’s good deeds, also his mischief] (XXVIII 17, 7–8). He then adds an explanation that contains a small analysis of human relations: Molte volte, anzi spesso, c’interviene che tu t’arrechi un amico a fratello, e ciò che fa ti par ch’e’ facci bene, dipinto e colorito col pennello: questo primo legame tanto tiene che, s’altra volta ti dispiace quello e qualche cosa ti farà molesta, sempre la prima impressïon pur resta. Avea già lungo tempo Carlo Magno tenuto in corte sua Gan di Maganza; ed oltre a questo vi vedea guadagno, però che Gano avea molta possanza e qualche volta gli fu buon compagno; e perché molto può l’antica usanza, l’abito fatto d’uno in altro errore facea che Carlo gli portava amore. (Mg XXVIII 19–20) [It happens many a time and far too often That if you love a friend like your own brother, You deem whate’er he does indeed well done, Done to perfection with the finest brush; and so does the first bond unite the two that, should some other time another deed displease or anger you in many ways, with you that first impression ever stays. For a long time Emperor Carlo had kept Gano of Maganza at his court; and, furthermore, he saw his own advantage, who proved at times to be a valiant mate; and since old habits grow too powerful, the habit of his many errors could also make Carlo’s love a habitude.]

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Pulci uses the first-person plural (in Italian ‘c’interviene’ [it happens to us]) to emphasise the involvement of himself and his audience, and first of all of his inner circle. It is a fact of life that we all find it hard to believe that someone who was once a friend ‘done to perfection with the finest brush’ (19, 4) can then turn his back on you and betray you, because ‘with you that first impression ever stays’ (19, 8). Read after the Pazzi conspiracy, ottava XXVIII 19 shows how the work reflects on the present through the Carolingian past and, in this way, formulates evaluations and advice. In continuing the dialogue with an imaginary interlocutor, the narrator faces a second question, concerning Gano’s perseverance in staying at court: did he know he would be caught sooner or later, why did he run away? The search for causes leads the narrator to remember the slap given by Ulivieri (XXV 69, 5–8), an outrage that makes Gano despair to the point of determining the most terrible of betrayals. Other examples that can explain the conditions in which betrayal can occur should not be sought ‘d’altro antico auttore’: Quando Ulivier percosse il viso a Gano, io dissi allor come e’ si pose in core di vendicarsi, ché gli parve strano, sendo pur per natura traditore. Ricòrdati, lettor, del Lampognano, e non cercar d’altro antico aüttore, e sempre tien’ la paura in corazza, ché il disperato alfin mena la mazza. (Mg XXVIII 22) [When Oliver struck Gano on the face, I quickly said that Ganelon had sworn, revenge at once (a traitor though he was, he thought that slap most inappropriate) Of Lampognano I remind you, reader, and pay attention to no ancient author: use your fear always as your own defense, for desperate men think only of offense.]

The reader may well remember the conspiracy that killed Galeazzo Maria Sforza on 26 December 1476, led by Andrea Lampugnani.83 With the same mechanism used in the first cantare for the abbey of San Liberatore in Menappello (I 6), Pulci brings 83 Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani, of a noble family, Chancellor of the Secret Council since 1465. In her entry for the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (2004), 63, pp. 272–5, , Francesca Vaglienti underlines the reasons for resentment of the Lampugnani family against the ducal family, following the decline of the dynasty in the second half of the century.

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the history of the past closer to something experienced by him and his audience: ottava 6 of the first cantare provides concrete evidence of Charlemagne’s work in support of the Christian faith. The abbey of San Liberatore near Menappello is a witness of Charlemagne’s efforts to preserve the Christian faith: there a great clash took place between Charlemagne and a pagan king, who was killed with most of his army. Many, says Pulci, know about the battle, and you can still see there such an amount of bones, ‘che tante in Giussafà non ne verranno’ (Mg I 6, 8) [more bones […] | than will some days in Jehoshaphat convene], near Jerusalem, where it is said that the Last Judgement will take place; Roncevaux will also be compared to the valley of Jehoshaphat, so that of San Liberatore appears as a revisitation in a victorious key of the battle of Roncevaux.84 The Lampognano conspiracy, on the other hand, refers only to the tragedy, the Pazzi conspiracy, and contains a lesson: beware of the ‘desperate’ and always keep ‘la paura in corazza’ [literally ‘your fear inside your armour’; the translation is mine]. In her analysis of the last cantare and the authorship of Pulci within the relationship between history and fiction, Constance Jordan writes: [Pulci] implies a parallel between Gano’s betrayal of Orlando and the murder of Galeazzo Maria Sforza by Andrea Lampognano and other young Milanese on December 26, 1476. This instruction, unlike any other in the poem, establishes that there is no fundamental difference between making judgements about history on the one hand and contemporary events on the other; the historian is to be as much his own authority in the matter of the past as the citizen is in regard to the present he lives from day to day.85

84 The Valley of Jehoshaphat and the day of Judgement are mentioned in Joel 3, 12: ‘Consurgant, et ascendant gentes in vallem Josaphat, quia ibi sedebo ut judicem omnes gentes in circuitu’ [Let the nations stir themselves up | and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge | all the surrounding nations]. I quote from Biblia Sacra juxta Vulgatam Clementinam, ed. by Michaele Tweedale (Londini: Editio Electronica, 2005) and The Holy Bible ESV (Wheaton, IL: Kindle edition, 2007). The valley of Jehoshaphat is mentioned a few times during the account of the battle of Roncevaux, see in particular Mg XXVI 17, 7–8: Orlando summons and sets the troops for the battle, and the horn’s sounds ‘[…] parea proprio al Giudicio chiamassi | in Giussafà, sì che i morti destassi’ [seemed to call the dead out of each tomb | down in Jehoshaphat, the Day of Doom], and Mg XXVII 210, 6–7, Carlo Magno prays that God will reunite the dismembered bodies of his people, so he will be able to bury them: ‘e come in Giussafà le mane e’ piedi | e l’altre membra insieme accozza’ [gather, as in Jehoshaphat, all bones | hands with hands, feet with feet]. 85 Constance Jordan, Pulci’s ‘Morgante’: Poetry and History in Fifteenth-Century Florence (Cranbury; London; Mississauga: Associated University Presses, 1986), pp. 160–1.

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At this point the narrator feels the need to introduce a further source and therefore a new narrator to act as helmsman until the end of the journey: Arnaldo whose fictitious name is always associated with that of another legitimising figure, Angelo Poliziano. Arnaldo is introduced in cantare XXV: to him is attributed the greatest innovation in Pulci’s narration of the battle at Roncevaux, the participation of Rinaldo, who is transported over the Pyrenees on the back of the learned devil Astarotte transformed into a horse. Pulci tells of having found the new source thanks to the intervention of an ‘angel’ (XXV 115, 4) whose identity is declared a little later: E ringrazio il mio car, non Angiolino, sanza il qual molto laboravo invano, più tosto un cherubino o serafino, onore e gloria di Montepulciano, che mi dètte d’Arnaldo e d’Alcuïno notizia, e lume del mio Carlo Mano: ch’io ero entrato in un oscuro bosco, or la strada o ’l sentier del ver cognosco (Mg XXV 169) [And then I wish to thank dear Angiolino, without whose help I would have toiled in vain – a cherub I should say, or seraphim, Montepulciano’s glory and renown; ’twas he enlightened me on Charlemagne by pointing out Arnald and Alcuin: deep in a wood I was, unknown to me, but now the rightful path I clearly see.]

Under the protection of Poliziano, Pulci can well declare the truthfulness of his narrative. In XXVIII, Arnaldo sings again about Rinaldo, with a new digression from the known story. In the Cantari di Rinaldo, Rinaldo dies as a saint during the construction of the cathedral of Cologne. According to Arnaldo, ‘auttor di sopra in cui mi specchio’ (XXVIII 33, 1) [the above-mentioned author, whom I trust],86 Rinaldo’s story is different: ‘e’ voleva di corte partire | e cercar tutto il mondo come Ulisse’ (XXVIII 29, 3) [he had made up his mind to leave his court | and, like Ulysses, novel lands explore], and following the words of Astarotte (XXV 229–36) ‘e’ passassi al fin d’Ercule i segni’ (33, 8) [Hercules’ pillars, then, he wished to cross]: the narrator imagines him converting people and reaching at the end ‘quell’altro emispero’ (34, 6) [the other hemisphere].87 Arnaldo embodies that part of Pulci’s 86 A closer translation would be ‘the above-mentioned author, in whom I mirror myself ’. 87 Pulci refers to the Ulysses character of Dante’s Inferno, XXVI, who speaks of the ‘ardore | ch’i’ ebbi a divenir del mondo esperto’ (lines 97–8) [the zeal I had to explore the world].

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creativity that is impatient with limitations, and which had already been represented in the hyperbolic giant Morgante and his relationship with Orlando: Arnaldo allows Pulci to return to the matter and to change the destiny of the characters, with the blessing of another authoritative character, Angelo Poliziano.88 This section of the cantare ends in just under twenty ottave, and contains an exaltation of the religious value of Charlemagne’s work: Credo che al tempo di que’ paladini, perché la fede amplïasse di Cristo, sendo molto potenti i saracini, molte cose a buon fin permisse Cristo; ché se non fussi stato a’ lor confine Carlo a pugnar per la fede di Cristo, forse saremo ognun maümettisti: ergo, Carole, in tempore venisti. (Mg XXVIII 38) [I think that at the age of those knights, so that the Christian faith might reach the lands where still the Saracens were fierce and strong, Christ let strange things occur to that good end; because if Charles had not gone there – to those quite distant lands – to fight (ergo, Carole, in tempore venisti), maybe Mohammed we would still adore.]

Here, as in I 58 the word Christ rhymes only with itself.89 The connection is evident also in the contents, since the ottava of the first cantare reports the words of the abbot who tells the story of the conversion of Paul of Tarsus and how he became a ‘tromba’ [trumpet] of faith (I 58, 7). So, continues the abbot, Morgante too will be an instrument of God’s faith, not a trumpet but a bell, we could call it, since he uses a bell clapper as a weapon:90 Morgante […] se n’andava soletto là dove rotta una campana cova […] e spiccane un battaglio a tutta pruova e a Orlando il mostrava in effetto: ‘Di questo che di’ tu, signor d’Angrante?’

88 Davie emphasises that Pulci ‘used the name “Arnaldo” for his own independent writing which he was able to defend with renewed assurance after Poliziano’s vote of confidence in canto XXV’, Davie, Half-serous Rhymes, p. 160; about Arnaldo, see Orvieto, Lettura allegorica, pp. 155–7. 89 As in Dante, Divina Commedia, see for example Paradiso, XXXII, lines 83–7. 90 On the symbolic meaning of Morgante’s clothing see Polcri, Luigi Pulci e la Chimera, pp. 145–8.

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Annalisa Perrotta ‘Dico che è tal qual conviensi a Morgante’. (Mg II 10) [Morgante […] looked through Things in a corner where a broken bell, long ago fallen, lay beneath the roof: with all his strength he snatched its clapper out, and showed it to Orlando finally: ‘What do you think of this, my noble lord?’ ‘I say that for Morgante it’s very good’.]

From the beginning to the end of the poem, Morgante, the creation of Pulci, and symbol of the whole poem, thus joins Charlemagne as an instrument of consolidation, defence and propagation of the Christian faith. Sealing the sanctification of Charlemagne as an instrument of God in defence of the faith is the quotation from Dante which leads to a new moment of connection between the first and last cantare: Io mi confido ancor molto qui a Dante, che non sanza cagion nel Ciel sù misse Carlo ed Orlando in quelle croce sante, ché come diligente intese e scrisse; e così incolpo il secolo ignorante che mentre il nostro Carlo al mondo visse, non ebbe un Livio, un Crispo, un Iustin seco o famoso scrittor latino o greco. Ma perch’io dissi altra volta di questo, quando al principio cominciai la istoria, forse tacere, uditor, fia onesto: poi ch’io ho collocato in tanta gloria Carlo ed Orlando, or basti, sia per resto, perché e’ non paia vanitate o boria a giudicar de’ segreti di sopra quel che meriti ognun secondo l’opra. (Mg XXVIII 40–1) [I thoroughly agree with Dante, who, for a good reason, placed in heaven both Charles and Orlando in that Holy Cross (he understood and wrote intelligently); but I must blame the ignorant, dark age that, while king Carlo lived, could not produce a Livy or a Sallust or a Justin, who might sing in Greek or Latin all the wonders of this King. But since at the beginning of my tale I have already mentioned this great lack,

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it is perhaps now better not to speak. In such great glory I’ve already placed Charles and Orlando that I here conclude: I do not want to judge God’s mysteries – that is, how great in heaven is their gain – lest I be called conceited or else vain.]

Dante, Bruni and Poliziano are the fundamental points of reference in the construction of an authoritative voice – even in the most macroscopic deviations from the original – and in fulfilling the patron’s mandate:91 singing the praises of Charlemagne. But the vocal diffraction that takes place in the last canto is not yet finished. There are two other voices that intertwine in singing the praises of Charlemagne. The first voice is that of Lattanzio: he is a harpist in Aquisgrana (XXVIII 53, 1), a gentle and famous artist, a singer whom Pulci imagines performing before Alcuin during Carlo Magno’s funeral, singing the deeds narrated by Turpino and Ormanno. Lattanzio narrates the main events of the Italian Carolingian cycle: the childhood of Carlo Magno, the vicissitudes of Aspramonte and Spain, the taking of Pamplona, the embassy of Gano, and the betrayal and battle of Roncevaux. In cantare XXVIII, at the end of the story, the author proposes a summary of the whole story. Lattanzio tells of young Rinaldo and the construction of the castle of Montalbano by Malagigi. He also recounts ‘ciò che addietro nel Morgante è scritto’ (XXVIII 63, 1) [what I in my Morgante heretofore | have written], thus constituting a sort of mirror for the narrator himself: ‘e bisognòe qui andar pel segno ritto | (non so se troppa mazza altrove misse) | che l’auttor che Morgante compose | non direbbe bugie tra queste cose’ (XXVIII 63, 5–8) [and very faithfully I followed him, | not knowing if at times he went too far: | I do not want the man who the Morgante wrote | to be in this accused of even one false note]. Lattanzio is the narrator of chivalric stories in the Italian tradition, he is the cantimpanca who performs in front of an audience in a circumstance of collective interest.92 91 Pulci makes a reference to Dante, Paradiso XVIII 43–5, in cantare I 8 and in XXVIII 40. In the Paradiso Dante describes the movement of many souls represented as lights running up the Cross: they are the martyrs of the faith; among them he recognizes Orlando and Charlemagne ‘Così per Carlo Magno e per Orlando | due ne seguì lo mio attento sguardo, | com’occhio segue suo falcon volando’ [The next for Charlemain | And for the peer Orlando, two my gaze | Pursued, intently, as the eye pursues | A falcon flying]. 92 Orvieto recognizes Lattanzio as representing the author in the text and investigates the reasons why Pulci chose such a name: perhaps it is a reference to the Christian author Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (Cecilio Firmiano Lattanzio, c. 250–c. 325), who wrote Divinae Institutiones, and, most of all, was an expert in oracles and Sybils understood as prophets of Christianity: in his work Orvieto transcribes a list of all known Sybils, drawn from Varro; Pulci uses the same list in his Confessione; see Orvieto, Lettura allegorica, pp. 149–53.

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Pulci significantly imagines that another voice follows Lattanzio, a much more skilful colleague. This is that Alcuin before whom Lattanzio had performed, and who now, in turn, comes forward. In XXVIII 6 Alcuin is the venerable scholar who taught Charlemagne Greek and Latin and established the University of Paris. Now he recognizes the value of the one who preceded him, so closely related to the main narrator of the Morgante, and sings in turn: he goes up to the podium ‘secondo l’antico uso’ [according to an ancient custom], ‘la cetra accomodò con flebil canto’ [sadly started with his lyre] (XXVIII 67, 8).93 The learned Alcuin sings the historical biography of Charlemagne, the story of his life and death, juxtaposing this second narration to the first sung by Lattanzio. The story of this second biography of Charlemagne comes from the Vita Caroli Magni by the Florentine Donato Acciaiuoli composed in 1461, but it is probable that Pulci used also the Vita Caroli Magni by Einhard, that at the time was known and often attributed to Alcuin:94 as Orvieto argued, only in Einhard we can find words referring to the special relationship between Charlemagne and his collaborator, and the bond of gratitude that links the author to his patron.95 93 Decaria recognised in the couple Lattanzio-Alcuin that of the couple Pulci-Poliziano: at the end of cantare XXVIII they will together find Pallante (Mg XXVIII 147): Pallas, the young hero of the Aeneid, killed by the hand of Turnus (Aen. X 439 ff.); according to Decaria his name hides that of Giuliano de’ Medici, killed in the Pazzi conspiracy: see Decaria, ‘Tra Marsilio e Pallante’, pp. 319–31. The hidden reference to Giuliano suggests a re-reading of the last five cantari in a new light, underlining the personal involvement of Pulci in Florentine events and his cultural engagement, which leads him to re-elaborate it in literary terms and within a specific, collective code; for further considerations on the battle of Roncevaux, see Stefano Carrai, ‘La morte di Orlando nel Morgante’, in Luigi Pulci in Renaissance Florence, pp. 163–79. 94 Pulci chose Alcuin to present the historical biography of Charles because he thought he was the author of Einhard’s Vita Caroli as did Riccobaldo in the Pomarium ravennatis Ecclesiae and the Istoria imperiale; see Ageno (ed.), Morgante, II, 1074. 95 ‘Pure era mio padre e signore | e tanto tempo m’ha nutrito in Corte’ [He was father and lord to me, | who at his court for a long time was raised], ‘ma perch’io sono alla vita obligato, | non voglio anche alla morte esser ingrato’ [but since I am obliged to life, to death | I must be loyal till my final breath] (Mg XXVIII 69); Einhard calls Charlemagne ‘nutritoris mei’ and then adds ‘nutrimentum videlicet in me inpensum et perpetua […] cum ipso ac liberis eius amicitia, qua me ita sibi devinxit debitoremque tam vivo quam mortuo constituit, ut merito ingratus videri et iudicari possem’ [the care which Charlemagne took in my upbringing, and the friendly relations which I enjoyed with him and his children from the moment […] By this friendship he bound me to him and made me his debtor both in life and in death]; Eginardo, Vita Karoli, ed. by Paolo Chiesa (Firenze: Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2014), pp. 4–5 (my emphasis), English translation by Lewis Thorpe: Einhard and Notker the Stammerer, Two Lives of Charlemagne (Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1969), ‘Einhard’s Introduction’, p. 52; in the commentary of the

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Acciaiuoli is not mentioned in the text directly, but he is ‘hidden’ behind the clothes of the learned Alcuin.96 Alcuin’s singing, which began at ottava 68, stops at ottava 105, and then his audience ‘resumed its weeping loudly, audibly’ (Mg XXVIII 105, 3). The narrator continues to linger in his portrait until ottava 129: here he announces, as was the case for the sequels of the chivalric stories that went to press in those years, a sort of sequel to the story of Charlemagne, Ciriffo Calvaneo, in which he will make ‘in terra più che semideo’ Louis the Pious son of Charles (129, 8). The story narrated by Einhard / Acciaiuoli and sung by Alcuin (to which is added the voice of the narrator of Morgante) finally returns to the poet of Morgante. The future works and the continuous commitment to the praise of the kings of France (Ciriffo), the link with Lucrezia Tornabuoni that would be ‘schermo’ [defence] for the poet if he will decide to pass beyond the pillars of Hercules (‘passare più in là che Ulisse’, Mg XXVIII 131). The same praise of Lucrezia Tornabuoni passes through the praise of her works (XXVIII 132–6). She thus becomes part of the group of authors who participate in the frame of Morgante and the political project that is carried out with it. Moreover, the praise of Madonna Lucrezia through her biography is combined with that of Charlemagne: Sare’ forse materia accomodata, con la vita di Carlo tanto eletta la vita di tal donna comparata, Lucrezia Torna-buona, anzi perfetta, nella sedia sua antica rivocata dalla Virgine etterna benedetta che riveder la sua devota applaude; e canta or forse le sue sante laude. (Mg XXVIII 132)

Italian edition the special connection of patronage between Charlemagne and Einhard is underlined (p. 60, note 4); for the relationship between Einhard’s and Acciaiuoli’s work, see Donato Acciaiuoli, La ‘Vita Caroli’ di Donato Acciaiuoli: la leggenda di Carlo Magno in funzione di una historia di gesta, ed. by Daniela Gatti (Bologna: Pàtron, 1981), ‘Introduzione’, pp. 7–74; for the debts of Pulci to Einhard, see Paolo Orvieto, Pulci. Luigi e una famiglia di poeti, pp. 238–42. 96 Significantly, the work came out in the same years as Pulci entered the Medici household. Acciaiuoli participated as ambassador at the coronation of Louis XI King of France in 1461 and on that occasion presented his work as a gift from the Republic of Florence; see Donato Acciaiuoli, La ‘Vita Caroli’, pp. 15–19; Arnaldo D’Addario, ‘Donato Acciaiuoli’, in Dizionario biografico degli italiani (1960), 1, pp. 80–2; Eugenio Garin, ‘Donato Acciaiuoli cittadino fiorentino’, in Medioevo e Rinascimento (Bari: Laterza, 1954), pp. 211–87; Mark Davie, ‘Biography and Romance: the Vita Caroli Magni of Donato Acciaiuoli and Luigi Pulci’s Morgante’, in The Spirit of the Court. Selected Proceedings of the Fourth Congress of the International Courtly Literature Society (Toronto 1983), ed. by Glyn S. Burgess and Robert A. Taylor (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1985), pp. 137–52.

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The first and the last cantari are therefore closely linked: the connections seem to lead to the hypothesis of a unitarian conception of the poem, from its beginning to its end: the deeds of Orlando, Rinaldo, Morgante and the other paladins of Carlo Magno’s court were to end with the defeat at Roncevaux. We do not have the first edition of Morgante and we do not know what the contents of the incipit of the poem were in its first version. We do know, however, that the first cantare contains elements (such as the mention of Manoppello’s abbey) probably added after 1470. In any case, the last cantare is linked to the first one; the echoing of one part with the other builds a unity of intention (Pulci presents his poem in twenty-eight cantari as a single operation). This unity is not centred on the kaleidoscopic adventures of the paladins, but precisely on the centrality of the figure of Carlo Magno, in the construction of his links with the history of Florence on the one hand, and, on the other, in the representation of the author of the poem as a Medici poet, integrated within a community that is both intellectual and political and that works for a well-defined purpose (for the Medici, but also for Florence), especially when it does so in response to a situation of alarm over the political state of the city, prevalent after the conspiracy of 1478.

5 Matteo Maria Boiardo: Inamoramento de Orlando Maria Pavlova

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hough somewhat overshadowed by its celebrated sequel, the Inamoramento de Orlando (1495), also known as the Orlando Innamorato, is today considered one of the finest literary monuments of the Ferrarese Renaissance as well as a landmark in the history of the chivalric genre in Italy.1 Comprised of three books containing 69 cantos in total, it enjoyed a wide readership from the publication of the editio princeps of the first two books (1483) to the end of the sixteenth century, both before and after its rifacimenti by Francesco Berni (1541) and Ludovico Domenichi (1545).2 And yet, despite its accessibility to a wide audience, it is far more sophisticated than the works of popular literature from which it partly draws its inspiration. Its author, Count Matteo Maria Boiardo (1441–94), was an aristocrat, a humanist, an acclaimed lyric poet, and a close companion of Duke Ercole I d’Este. More than simply a chivalric romance, the Inamoramento de Orlando is an encomiastic work charged with political significance, a poem deeply steeped in both the vernacular romance tradition and the classics, whose hybrid nature reflects Boiardo’s cultural background as well as the cultural climate of the court of Ferrara during the reigns of Borso I d’Este (r. 1450–71) and his brother Ercole (r. 1471–1505).3 1 We know today that Boiardo and his first readers (e.g., Isabella d’Este) used the title Inamoramento de Orlando, Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti, ‘Il mondo cavalleresco e la corte estense’, in I libri di ‘Orlando Innamorato’ (Modena: Panini, 1987), pp. 13–33 (pp. 32–3). This title is adopted in Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti and Cristina Montagnani’s edition of the poem, the most philologically accurate edition to date: L’Inamoramento de Orlando, ed. by Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti and Cristina Montagnani with an introduction and comments by Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti, 2 vols (Milan-Naples: Ricciardi, 1999). All quotations of Boiardo’s poem will be taken from this edition, while English translations will be adapted from Orlando Innamorato, translated with an introduction and notes by Charles Stanley Ross (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989). 2 On the textual history of the Inamoramento de Orlando see Neil Harris, Bibliografia dell’‘Orlando Innamorato’, 2 vols (Modena: Panini, 1981–91), especially II, 20–58. On its sixteenth-century rifacimenti, ibid., pp. 99–154. 3 On Boiardo’s life and his works, see among other studies Tiziano Zanato, Boiardo

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Fig. 5.1  Genealogical table of the Este family.

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By the second half of the fifteenth century Ferrara was both an important humanist centre and a city-state which sought to keep alive the spirit of medieval chivalry, nostalgically clinging to the vestiges of its feudal past.4 A shrewd diplomat and skilful politician, Marquis Nicolò III d’Este (r. 1393–1441) strengthened and consolidated his small state, taking steps to transform it into a Renaissance principality. Nicolò’s court was open to French influences: he and his courtiers enjoyed reading French romances; his third wife and the mother of the future Duke Ercole I, Rizzarda da Saluzzo (1410–74), probably spoke French as her first language,5 and his children (Meliaduse, Leonello, Borso) were named after characters from Arthurian literature. Nicolò cultivated a close relationship with France, and in 1431 King Charles VII of France granted him permission to use the fleurs de lys in his coat of arms. The cordial ties established by Nicolò would be maintained by his successors, with Ferrara remaining closely allied to France not only in the days of Boiardo and Ariosto but also in those of Tasso.6 French culture and the new humanist culture (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 2015). The best book-length introductions to the Inamoramento de Orlando still are Antonio Franceschetti, L’‘Orlando Innamorato’ e le sue componenti tematiche e strutturali (Florence: Olschki, 1975) and Denise Alexandre-Gras, L’héroïsme chevaleresque dans le ‘Roland Amoureux’ de Boiardo (SaintEtienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Etienne, 1988). See also Jo Ann Cavallo, Boiardo’s ‘Orlando Innamorato’: an Ethics of Desire (Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1993); Fabio Cossutta, Gli ideali epici dell’umanesimo e l’‘Orlando innamorato’ (Rome: Bulzoni, 1995); Raffaele Donnarumma, Storia dell’‘Orlando innamorato’: poetiche e modelli letterari in Boiardo (Luca: M. Pacini Fazzi, 1996); and Roberto Galbiati’s recent Il romanzo e la corte. L’‘Inamoramento de Orlando’ di Boiardo (Rome: Carocci, 2018). 4 On Renaissance Ferrara, see Luciano Chiappini, Gli Estensi (Varese: Dall’Oglio, 1967) and Id., Gli Estensi: mille anni di storia (Ferrara: Corbo, 2001); Werner L. Gundersheimer, Ferrara: the Style of a Renaissance Despotism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973); Phaethon’s Children: the Este Court and its Culture in Early Modern Ferrara, ed. by Dennis Looney and Deanna Shemek (Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2005); Thomas Tuohy, Herculean Ferrara: Ercole d’Este, 1471–1505, and the Invention of a Ducal Capital (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). 5 Rizzarda was the daughter of Marquis Tommaso III di Saluzzo and the French noblewoman Margherita di Pierrepont. The Saluzzo family considered themselves vassals of the French king. Rizzarda’s father, who spent much time at the French court, is the author of Le Chevalier errant, one of the most important chivalric works of the late Middle Ages. See Thomas d’Aleran, Le Chevalier errant, ed. by Daniel Chaubet (Moncalieri, Turin: Centro interuniversitario di ricerche sul viaggio in Italia, 2001). 6 Despite the Francophile direction of their foreign policy the Este strove to remain on good terms with the Holy Roman Emperors too. Thus, in 1452 Borso was created Duke of Modena and Reggio by the Emperor Frederick III. During the period of the Italian Wars the Este occasionally acted disloyally towards the

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coexisted and interacted in various ways in Renaissance Ferrara. Nicolò’s son Marquis Leonello (r. 1441–50), a pupil of Guarino Veronese, surrounded himself with learned men and established an impressive library of classical works. He supported humanist scholarship, and expanded the University of Ferrara, which grew into a full university and attracted students from all over Europe.7 Scholars and poets of the calibre of Guarino, Teodoro Gaza, Basinio da Parma and Francesco Accolti were associated with its faculty of arts. Leonello’s successor, Borso, had a rather different personality. His ambition was to assert himself as a key political player in the Italian peninsula, and in order to do so, he used both warfare and diplomacy. Less well educated than his brother, like his father, he was fond of chivalric literature, especially Arthurian romances, and many such works were added to the Este library between 1450 and 1471.8 Borso’s desire to build a myth of himself as a just and generous ruler resulted in a proliferation of literary and artistic works celebrating his exploits and his ‘chivalrous’ reign, the most famous of which are perhaps the astrological cycle of frescoes in the Palazzo Schifanoia executed by Francesco del Cossa, Ercole de’ Roberti and Cosimo Tura.9 Borso died on 19 August 1471. Earlier that year Pope Paul II had granted him the long-coveted title of Duke of Ferrara. The solemn ceremony took place in Rome on Easter Sunday, 14 April, and Boiardo was among the courtiers who accompanied him to the papal court to witness his moment of glory. Soon after his return from Rome Borso fell ill. The last months of his life saw the heightening French: for example, ‘nell’elezione imperiale del 1519 […] il cardinale Ippolito si era dichiarato a favore di Carlo V, inviando a tale proposito Calcagnini a Francoforte’ [in the 1519 imperial election […] Cardinal Ippolito supported Charles V, and to this end he sent Calcagnini to Frankfurt], Marco Dorigatti, ‘Figure del potere nell’Orlando furioso’, in Cultural Reception, Translation and Transformation from Medieval to Modern Italy. Essays in Honour of Martin McLaughlin, ed. by Guido Bonsaver, Brian Richardson, and Giuseppe Stellardi (Cambridge: Legenda, 2017), pp. 69–83 (p. 76). 7 The University of Ferrara was founded by Marquis Alberto V d’Este in 1391, but it evolved into a fully functioning university only some fifty years later. According to Paul Grendler, ‘the real foundation date’ is 1442 (see his ‘Ferrara, 1442’, in Id., The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), pp. 99–106 (p. 99)). 8 On the contents of the Este library during Borso’s reign, see Giulio Bertoni, ‘La biblioteca di Borso d’Este’, Atti della Regia Accademia di Scienze di Torino, 61 (1925–6), 370–402, and Id., La biblioteca estense e la coltura ferrarese ai tempi del duca Ercole I, 1471–1505 (Turin: Loescher, 1903), pp. 213–25 (for the 1467 inventory of the library). 9 Of the vast bibliography on the Schifanoia frescoes, see among other studies Aby Warburg, ‘Arte e astrologia a Ferrara’, in his La rinascita del paganesimo antico: contributi alla storia della cultura, ed. by Gertrud Bing, trans. by Emma Cantimori (Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1966), pp. 251–72.

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of political tension in Ferrara, as both Ercole, Marquis Nicolò III’s legitimate son, and his nephew Nicolò, the son of Marquis Leonello,10 were rivals for the succession. Ercole became the new Duke of Ferrara the day after his brother’s death. It is possible, though not certain, that by heralding the return of the golden age (‘Hor è il mal vento e quel verno compito / e torna il mondo di vertù fiorito’ [The winter and sharp winds are gone, / and virtue blossoms as before], Inam., II i 2,7–8), the opening of Book II of the Inamoramento de Orlando celebrates Ercole’s ascension to the dukedom.11 The chronology of the composition of Boiardo’s poem is still not entirely clear. For a long time it was believed that Boiardo began his ‘bela historia’ around 1476, perhaps inspired by the publication of the 1475 Ferrarese edition of Boccaccio’s Teseida.12 However, as has been convincingly shown by Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti, Book I must have been written during the last years of Borso’s reign.13 It is very likely that Book I was started in the 1460s and Book II in 1471, either after Borso’s ducal coronation or after that of his brother.14 As for Book III, Boiardo must have embarked on its composition around 1485, soon after the end of the war between Ferrara and Venice (1482–4). The last book of the Inamoramento de Orlando, which consists of only eight and a half cantos, was abruptly interrupted by the French 10 Leonello had been born out of wedlock and legitimated by his father Nicolò III in his will. 11 Tissoni Benvenuti, ‘Introduzione’ to her and Montagnani’s edition of L’Inamoramento de Orlando, pp. xi–xxxii (p. xiv). See also Marco Dorigatti, ‘Rugiero and the Dynastic Theme from Boiardo to Ariosto’, in Italy in Crisis, 1494, ed. by Jane Everson and Diego Zancani (Oxford: Legenda, 2000), pp. 92–128 (pp. 102–5); and Id., ‘La favola e la corte: intrecci narrativi e genealogie estensi dal Boiardo all’Ariosto’, in Gli Dei a corte. Letteratura e immagini nella Ferrara estense, ed. by Gianni Venturi and Francesca Cappelletti (Florence: Olschki, 2009), pp. 31–54 (p. 32). 12 This composition date was suggested by Giulio Reichenbach in his L’‘Orlando innamorato’ di M. M. Boiardo (Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1936), p. 93. See also Giovanni Ponte, La personalità e l’opera del Boiardo (Genoa: Tilgher, 1972), p. 79. For a discussion of the Teseida in the context of the Italian romance tradition, see Jane E. Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism: the Matter of Italy and the World of Rome (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), especially pp. 107–13. 13 See Tissoni Benvenuti, ‘Introduzione’, especially pp. xi–xvi. According to Galbiati, Boiardo must have started composing his poem ‘tra il 1466 e il 1469, ossia durante i tre anni trascorsi da Boiardo a Ferrara’ [between 1466 and 1469, that is during the years that Boiardo spent in Ferrara], Il romanzo e la corte, p. 117, but more research is needed to prove this hypothesis. For a detailed discussion of the poem’s composition, see Zanato, Boiardo, pp. 145–61. 14 According to Zanato, the proem to the opening canto of Book II could equally refer to Borso’s investiture as Duke of Ferrara (Boiardo, pp. 158, 168).

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invasion of Italy in the autumn of 1494, which, as we shall see, Boiardo regarded as a great calamity despite Ercole’s French sympathies and the traditional alliance of Ferrara. According to Carlo Dionisotti, the brevity of Book III points to the fact that by the 1480s Boiardo may have become disillusioned with the chivalric genre, which, in Dionisotti’s view, had its heyday between 1460 and 1480, entering a period of crisis in the last twenty years of the fifteenth century, when the demand for this kind of literature remained high but the quality of newly composed chivalric works left much to be desired.15 If the above-mentioned dates of composition are correct, this has important implications for our reading of the Inamoramento de Orlando, which has been variously interpreted as a work of pure entertainment,16 as a chivalric poem celebrating the courtly ideals of love and cortesia as well as the new humanist ideals such as prudentia,17 and even as a didactic allegorical poem.18 Its first book is above all a testament to the cult of chivalry, which had been actively promoted by Borso since his accession to power, and its debt to Arthurian literature reflects the reading pref15 Carlo Dionisotti, ‘Fortuna del Boiardo nel Cinquecento’, in Id., Boiardo e altri studi cavallereschi, ed. by Giuseppe Anceschi and Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti (Novara: Interlinea, 2003), pp. 143–61 (esp. pp. 144–5). Dionisotti’s influential essay was first published in 1970 as ‘Fortuna e sfortuna del Boiardo nel Cinquecento’, in Il Boiardo e la critica contemporanea, Atti del convegno di studi su Matteo Maria Boiardo, Scandiano-Reggio Emilia, 25–27 aprile 1969, ed. by Giuseppe Anceschi (Florence: Olschki, 1970), pp. 221–41. His view, largely accepted by scholars of chivalric literature, has been recently challenged by Galbiati, who maintains that the genre did not undergo a crisis at the end of the fifteenth century and that Boiardo’s slowness in composing Book III was due to personal problems and other commitments (Il romanzo e la corte, p. 128). For further discussion see ‘Crisis and Continuity’ in this volume. 16 According to Francesco De Sanctis (who preferred Berni’s rifacimento to the original text of the Inamoramento), Boiardo’s poem lacks ‘elementi religiosi, che costituiscano una forza interna’ [religious elements constituting an internal force], and ‘Non v’è neppure culto per la Cavalleria’ [Nor is there a cult of Chivalry], its 69 cantos being ‘tutti radicalmente ridicoli e buffoneschi’ [all fundamentally ridiculous and comical], Francesco De Sanctis, ‘L’Orlando Innamorato’, in Id., La poesia cavalleresca e scritti vari, ed. by Mario Petrini, in Opere di Francesco De Sanctis, 12 vols (Bari: Laterza, 1939–62), IX (1954), 59–87 (pp. 61–2). 17 This is how the poem is interpreted by critics such as Franceschetti, L’‘Orlando Innamorato’ e le sue componenti tematiche e strutturali; Alexandre-Gras, L’héroïsme chevaleresque dans le ‘Roland Amoureux’ de Boiardo; and Cossutta, Gli ideali epici dell’umanesimo e l’‘Orlando innamorato’. 18 This approach is typical of North American scholarship. See Jo Ann Cavallo’s Boiardo’s ‘Orlando Innamorato’: an Ethics of Desire as well as her other critical works on Boiardo. In his Il romanzo e la corte Galbiati highlights the allegorico-didactic dimension of the novellas woven into the fabric of the poem.

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erences of the first Duke of Ferrara and his courtiers. By contrast, Books II and III, which draw on both vernacular (such as the Italian rifacimenti of the twelfth-century Chanson d’Aspremont) and classical sources, reflect the literary tastes of both Borso and Ercole.19 Turning chivalric poetry into a political tool, Boiardo introduces the dynastic theme centred around the character of Rugiero,20 the fictional founder of the Este family. His adoption of this classical motif constitutes a significant innovation in the Italian romance tradition, and is a good example of Boiardo’s integration of classical elements into the romance texture of his poem.21 The encomiastic thread that runs through Books II and III of the Inamoramento de Orlando is best understood in the context of Boiardo’s career as a humanist and poet in the course of which he produced numerous encomiastic works celebrating the ruling dynasty to whom he and his family had close ties.22 Feltrino Boiardo, his paternal grandfather, was a prominent figure at the courts of Nicolò III (from whom he received the lordship of Scandiano in 1423), Leonello and Borso. Boiardo himself was very close to Ercole, who granted him various honours and privileges.23 However, rather than a master/lord relationship, it was a relationship founded on mutual feelings of respect and attachment, as the poet was not financially depend-

19 On Boiardo’s engagement with the Aspramonte, see Antonio Franceschetti, ‘L’Orlando innamorato e la tradizione dell’Aspremont’, GSLI, 147 (1970), 518–33 (later reprinted in his L’‘Orlando Innamorato’ e le sue componenti tematiche e strutturali); Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti, ‘Rugiero o la fabbrica dell’Inamoramento de Orlando’, in Per Cesare Bozzetti. Studi di letteratura e di filologia italiana, ed. by Simone Albonico et al. (Milan: Mondadori, 1996), pp. 69–89 (pp. 69–72); and Maria Pavlova, ‘L’Africa nell’Orlando furioso’, Schifanoia, 54–5 (2018), 193–205 (pp. 193–9). On Boiardo’s use of classical works, see Cristina Zampese, Or si fa rossa or pallida la luna: la cultura classica nell’‘Orlando Innamorato’ (Lucca: Maria Pacini Fazzi, 1994); and Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism. 20 Some character names are spelled differently in different chivalric texts (e.g., Rugiero in the Inamoramento de Orlando, Ruggiero in the Orlando furioso). I have adopted the spelling of character names as they appear in the editions I quote from. 21 One precedent is Nicola da Casola’s Franco-Italian Guerra d’Attila (composed between 1358 and 1368 and closely linked to the Este court) which may have been known to Boiardo. See Marco Villoresi, ‘Boiardo lettore dell’Attila di Nicola da Casola?’, in Id., La fabbrica dei cavalieri: cantari, poemi, romanzi in prosa fra Medioevo e Rinascimento (Rome: Salerno, 2005), pp. 312–30. 22 Boiardo’s other works in praise of the Este rulers include his first Latin pieces, the Carmina de laudibus Estensium (1463–4) and the Pastoralia (1464), which glorify both the then ruler of Ferrara Borso and his future successor Ercole, as well as the Epigrammata (1476), which condemns Nicolò’s failed conspiracy to overthrow Ercole. 23 In 1476 documents he features as one of the five companions of the Duke, with an official salary and his own rooms at the court.

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ent on his patron.24 In his Satire (1517–25) Ariosto would accuse Cardinal Ippolito d’Este of ingratitude, but his father Ercole was a genuine admirer of Boiardo’s talent and one of the first and most enthusiastic readers of his ‘bela historia’, as emerges from contemporary documents mentioning the Inamoramento de Orlando. When the editio princeps of the first two books came out in 1483 (most probably in February), copies were sent to Ercole.25 We also know that in September of the same year Andrea da le Vieze, the head of the scriptorium of the Este family, was paid for Boiardo’s ‘libro de Orlando’ [book of Orlando] transcribed by Lovise Roseto and decorated with a golden initial, the ducal coat of arms, and red and blue letters.26 The Duke thus commissioned for his library a manuscript copy of the poem (sadly now lost) , taking pride in the work of his courtier and life-long friend. Not just the Inamoramento de Orlando, but most of Boiardo’s works are dedicated to Ercole, including those that had been composed before 1471, such as his translations, or volgarizzamenti, of Cornelius Nepos’ Lives of Eminent Commanders (Libro dela vita deli excelenti Capitani, completed in 1467–71) and Xenophon’s Cyropaedia (La pedìa di Cyro, completed before August 1471). These and other humanist works executed by Boiardo, his translations of Herodotus’ Histories and of Apuleius’ Golden Ass as well as his Istoria imperiale, supposedly a translation of a history of emperors from Augustus to Otto IV by Riccobaldo Gervasio da Ferrara (c. 1245–1318), show that his interests, and those of his ideal reader, Ercole, were wide-ranging, and included ancient and more recent history.27 Importantly, these 24 In her discussion of the dynastic theme in the Inamoramento de Orlando, Everson points out that ‘Boiardo brings in this innovation of his own volition, that is it can be seen as a free, literary choice, not dictated by the demands of his patron (though likely to be well received by him) nor by his own social and financial circumstances’, Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism, p. 317. 25 We know that on 24 February 1483 Antonio Trotti sent to Ercole ‘tri de quilli libri di Orlando’, which had been given to him by Pier Giovanni di Filippo Pinotti da San Lorenzo, who had assisted Boiardo in the publication of his poem. No copies of the first edition have survived, and the printer’s name and the place of publication remain unknown, even if it is possible that it was printed in Reggio Emilia or Modena or perhaps Scandiano by Pietro Giovanni del fu Filippo da San Lorenzo. See Harris, Bibliografia dell’‘Orlando Innamorato’, I, 15–17. 26 Marco Villoresi, La letteratura cavalleresca (Rome: Carocci, 2000), p. 153. 27 On Boiardo’s volgarizzamenti, see Zanato, Boiardo, pp. 84–144. On his Pedìa di Cyro, see Valentina Gritti, ‘Ercole d’Este come Ciro: un modello di buon governo’, in Il Principe e la storia: atti del convegno scandiano 18–20 settembre 2003, ed. by Tina Matarrese and Cristina Montagnani (Novara: Interlinea, 2005), pp. 93–115. On his translation of Herodotus, see for example Dennis Looney, ‘Herodotus: Accept this Greek’, in Id., Compromising the Classics: Romance Epic Narrative in the Italian Renaissance (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1996), pp. 65–76; and Edoardo Fumagalli, ‘Il volgarizzamento di Erodoto’, in Il Boiardo e il mondo estense nel Quattrocento, ed. by Giuseppe Anceschi and Tina Matarrese, 2

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works offer a plethora of different representations of political authority and leadership. The Inamoramento de Orlando gains in meaning when located in the broader context of Boiardo’s diverse oeuvre, which is one of the aims of the present chapter.

T

‘il magno Imperatore’ [the great Emperor]: Boiardo’s portrayal of Charlemagne

he Inamoramento de Orlando recounts the ‘romance’ adventures of Charlemagne’s paladins and their Saracen counterparts as well as several wars, all of which are initiated by the Saracens. The main narrative strand of Book I concentrates on Orlando’s unrequited love for the beautiful and cunning Saracen princess Angelica, a hitherto unknown chapter in the life of Charlemagne’s nephew, as Boiardo claims in the opening octaves of the first canto: et odereti i gesti smisurati, l’alta fatica e le mirabil prove che fece il franco Orlando per amore nel tempo de il re Carlo Imperatore. [you shall hear deeds no man can measure, stupendous feats, amazing labours Love caused Orlando to perform when Charlemagne was emperor.] (Inamoramento de Orlando, I i 1, 5–8)

Orlando takes part in the war at Albracà, defending Angelica from Agricane, Emperor of Tartary, who is madly in love with her and ‘al tuto è destinato / Angelica per moglie ottenire. / Essa ha proposto più presto morire’ [has designs / to make Angelica his wife. / She has declared she’d sooner die] (Inam., I ix 39), and from the Saracen woman warrior Marfisa, who nurtures an implacable (and inexplicable) hatred towards Angelica. This plotline becomes secondary in Book II, which is dominated by the epic narrative centred on the war that Agramante, the young and charismatic King of Africa, declares on Charlemagne, enlisting his maternal cousin Rugiero, ‘che di prodeza in terra non ha pare’ [whose prowess is unmatched vols (Padua: Antenore, 1998), I, 399–428. The precise nature of the relationship between Boiardo’s Historia imperiale and Riccobaldo’s works remains unclear. On this question, see Richard Michael Tristano, ‘History “without scruple”: the Enlightenment confronts the Middle Ages in Renaissance Ferrara’, Medievalia et humanistica, 38 (2012), 79–121 (pp. 82–5). The 1495 inventory of Ercole’s library suggests that the duke’s eclectic reading preferences ranged from classical literature (89 works) to ‘modern’ vernacular literature (88 works) to practical and technical topics (105 works) and religion (96 works). See Everson, ‘Books, Readers and Reception’, in her The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism, pp. 127–60 (esp. pp. 148–9). The inventory is reproduced in Bertoni, La biblioteca estense e la coltura ferrarese, pp. 235–52.

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on earth] (II i 69, 6). This plotline continues in the eight and a half cantos of Book III, where it is interlaced with new romance episodes.28 Charlemagne is an important, though not central, character in all three books. Tinged with gentle irony, his portrayal combines elements of his previous literary representations and – despite Ferrara’s close contacts with France and the incorporation of historical references in Books II and III – bears little resemblance to his historical prototype or to the contemporary French kings, namely Louis XI (r. 1461–83), known as ‘le Prudent’ [the Prudent] and ‘le rusé’ [the sly] for his political astuteness, or his son Charles VIII (r. 1483–98), whose descent into Italy unleashed the Italian Wars. Before looking more closely at Charlemagne in the Inamoramento de Orlando, it is appropriate briefly to consider the Istoria imperiale (1471–3), which contains a chapter on the historical Charlemagne. Boiardo knew that there were significant differences between the historical figure and his representations in chivalric literature. The Charlemagne of the Istoria imperiale did not spend his whole life fighting Muslims: his Spanish campaign is narrated in a succinct, almost matter-of-fact manner, without any holy war rhetoric. Marsilio is absent from Riccobaldo’s account of the Spanish war: in the real battle of Roncevaux it was the ‘Guasconi’ [Gascons] and not King Marsilio’s troops who slaughtered ‘Rolando Prefetto del passo Britannico, & altri molti nobili Baroni’ [Roland Prefect of the British frontier, & many other noble Barons].29 The historical Charlemagne supported the Christians in the Middle East and North Africa,30 and was eager to spread the Christian faith, converting to Christianity ‘barbarous’ tribes, such as the Saxons. However, far from being an enemy of Saracens, as he is portrayed in some chivalric texts, starting from the Chanson de Roland, he established strong diplomatic relations with the fifth Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, his counterpart in the Islamic world: ‘Grande e precipua amicizia ebbe con Arone Re di Persia, e da lui ebbe molti e preziosi doni, e 28 For a detailed canto-by-canto summary of the Inamoramento de Orlando see the second volume of Tissoni Benvenuti’s edition, pp. 1799–840. 29 Matteo Maria Boiardo (translator), Istoria Imperiale di Ricobaldo Ferrarese nella quale si contiene la divisione dell’Imperio, e la successione de gl’Imperatori dopo Carlo Magno, che primo ottenne l’Imperio Occidentale, in Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, ed. by Ludovico Muratori, 25 vols (Milan: Società Palatina, 1723–51), IX, books III– IV, pp. 289–342 (p. 294). Riccobaldo follows the account of the battle given by Einhard in his Vita Karoli Magni (composed in the late 820s). On medieval biographies of Charlemagne, see The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, ed. by William J. Purkis and Matthew Gabriele (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2016), especially pp. 1–8 (William J. Purkis, ‘The Many Latin Lives of Charlemagne’). 30 ‘[…] in Siria, in Jerusalem, e in Egitto, e in Africa, ove egli intendeva la povertà de’ Cristiani sotto la dominazione de’ Saracini servire a Dio, mandava ogni anno quantità grandissima di pecunia per la loro riparazione’ [in Syria, in Jerusalem, in Egypt and in Africa, where he learnt that there were Christians living in poverty and serving God under Muslim dominion, he sent every year large amounts of money to help them] (Istoria Imperiale di Ricobaldo Ferrarese, p. 298).

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tra questi l’Elefante’ [he had a strong and singular friendship with Harun al-Rashid, from whom he received many precious gifts, including the Elephant].31 Boiardo the chivalric poet is little concerned with historical truth. His Charlemagne bears some similarity to Charlemagne in the Istoria imperiale, but the traits that they share can be found in other literary portrayals of Charlemagne too. Thus, in the Inamoramento de Orlando the French Emperor is certainly not a religious fanatic.32 He is happily married to Marsilio’s sister Galerana, whom we see in the company of Orlando’s wife Alda (Orlando is a married man in the Italian tradition even if the marriage is unconsummated)33 and other ladies at the Pentecostal feast in the opening canto of Book I. Boiardo’s first readers would have been familiar with the story of their love, which is narrated in Andrea da Barberino’s Reali di Francia.34 Marsilio and his barons are present at the Pentecostal banquet: the Saracen guests are stretched ‘comme mastini / sopra a tapeti comme è lor usanza, / spregiando seco il costume di Franza’ [full length like hounds / on carpets, as they always do, / scorning the customs Frenchmen use] (Inam., I i 13, 6–8).35 There is some ill-feeling between Christians and Saracens, as becomes clear during the joust ordered by the French Emperor, when Ogieri Danese urges his fellow Christians to stop fighting each other and face the Saracens instead (‘io vedo caleffarci a’ Saracini, / perché faciamo l’un l’altro tapini!’ [I see the pagans mocking us / for giving one another trouble!], ii 47, 7–8).36 However, if we disregard the latent hostility that 31 Ibid., p. 295. 32 On Christian-Muslim conflicts in the Inamoramento de Orlando, see Jo Ann Cavallo, The World beyond Europe in the Romance Epics of Boiardo and Ariosto (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013), and Maria Pavlova, Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto (Cambridge: Legenda, 2020). 33 See Andrea da Barberino, Aspramonte, III, clvii. 34 See Andrea da Barberino, Reali di Francia, IV, pp. vii–xlix. By contrast, in the Istoria imperiale we learn that Charlemagne’s first wife was ‘una figlia di Desiderio Re de’ Longobardi’ [a daughter of Desiderius King of Lombards] (whom he divorced). He then married ‘Ildegarda nata di precipua nobiltà in Suevia’ [Ildegarda born of a most noble family from Swabia]. His third wife was Frastata, after whose death he married ‘Liurgarda di nazione Alamannica’ [Liurgarda of German birth] (Istoria Imperiale di Ricobaldo Ferrarese, p. 296). See also Chapter 3 above. 35 Charlemagne’s hospitality is not entirely without precedent. In the Reali di Francia Marsilio and his brothers are invited to Charlemagne’s coronation ceremony and his wedding with Galeana (Reali di Francia, VI, p. xlix), while in the Cantari di Rinaldo da Monte Albano Rinaldo’s mother organises ‘una fiera per Pasqua d’Ascensione / che vi possa venir d’ogni ragione, / come se saracini o cristïani’ [an Ascension Day fair / that anyone can attend, / be they Saracens or Christians] (Rinaldo, I 35, 7–8; 36, 1). This quotation is taken from I cantari di Rinaldo da Monte Albano, ed. by Elio Melli (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1973). 36 As Cavallo puts it, ‘The opening narrative oscillates between tension and harmony, placing the focus on both the difficulties of and possibilities for under-

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bubbles up during the joust and surfaces in some of the narrator’s comments, at the beginning of the poem Charlemagne’s court strikes us as a cosmopolitan space, an international centre of chivalry, and Charlemagne emerges as a tolerant ruler who is well versed in the art of diplomacy. Later on, when Charlemagne learns that Gradasso, the Saracen King of Sericana, has attacked Marsilio, he summons his paladins, and announces his decision to help his Saracen brother-in-law, stressing both the fact that they are relatives and the geographical proximity of their states. Exuding an air of authority, he delivers a well-crafted speech, a real rhetorical tour de force:37 Il suo consiglio fece radunare: Fuve Ranaldo et ogni paladino. E’ disse lor: ‘Io odo ragionare che quando egli arde il muro a noi vicino de nostra casa debiàn dubitare: dico che, se Marsilio è saracino, ciò non attendo; egli è nostro cognato et ha vicino a Francia gionto il stato. Et è nostro parere e nostra intenza che se li dona aiuto ad ogni modo contra ala extrema et oribil potenza de il re Gradasso (il qual come io odo) minacia ancor di Francia la excelenza, né dela Spagna sta contento al sodo: ben potemo saper che per nïente non fa per noi vicin tanto potente. Vogliamo adunque, per nostra salute, mandar cinquantamilia cavalieri, e cognoscendo l’inclita vertute de il pro’ Ranaldo e come è bon guiereri, nostro parer non vogliam che se mutte, che amigiorarlo non sarìa mistieri: in questa impresa nostro capitano sia generale il sir de Montealbano’. [He called his council to convene – Ranaldo and each peer was present – and spoke to them: ‘I’ve heard it said that when the wall beside us burns we ought to fear for our own house. standing across borders’, The World Beyond Europe, p. 22. 37 Note, for example, the effective use of groups of two (‘nostro parere e nostra intenza’ [our judgement and our intention], ‘extrema et oribil potenza’ [strong and horrid force]) that lend a sense of gravitas to his address.

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Marsilio is a Saracen: that does not matter. He is our brother-in-law and rules the country next to France. It is our judgement and our intention to give him all help possible to fight the strong and horrid force of King Gradasso, who, I hear, threatens the sovereignty of France. He’s surely not content with Spain! We know it’s not for nothing that he brings his army to our border. For our own safety, we’ve resolved to send our fifty-thousand knights, and recognising what great worth and fighting skill Ranaldo has, we offer our opinion that (since no one better can be found) our captain in this enterprise should be the lord of Montalban’.] (Inamoramento de Orlando, iv 14–16)

Charlemagne’s willingness to come to Marsilio’s rescue is quite remarkable in the context of chivalric literature, even if in contemporary and preceding chivalric works individual Christian knights sometimes help Saracens to fight other Saracens.38 Boiardo’s Charlemagne is not interested in converting the infidels. He cooperates with his Saracen neighbour both for the sake of family ties and in order to assure the security of his own state, which reinforces his image as a pragmatic, broad-minded monarch. And yet things go very wrong. Charlemagne dispatches Rinaldo39 with an army of 50,000 to succour Marsilio (who is overjoyed and ‘molto ne rengracia il re 38 For example, in the Franco-Italian Entrée d’Espagne and different Italian versions of the Spagna Roland/Orlando takes part in the war between two powerful Middle Eastern rulers, and as a result, the entire region converts to Christianity. Nor are such episodes unique to Italian chivalric literature. Suffice it to mention that in the Guillaume d’Orange cycle the eponymous hero and the emperor Louis help Tiebaut, Orable-Guibourc’s first Saracen husband, when his lands are invaded by the Sultan de Perse, while Tiebaut is absent trying to reconquer his town, Orange: on this episode, see Philip Bennett, Carnaval héroïque et écriture cyclique dans la geste de Guillaume d’Orange, Essais sur le Moyen Âge, 34 (Paris: Champion, 2006), pp. 191–2. 39 In Tissoni Benvenuti’s and Montagnani’s edition of the poem, which follows the 1487 Venetian edition for Books I and II and the 1506 Venetian edition for Book III, Rinaldo’s name is variably spelled as ‘Renaldo’, ‘Ranaldo’ and ‘Rainaldo’. For the sake of consistency with the rest of the volume, I will refer to this character as ‘Rinaldo’.

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Carlone’ [offers many thanks to Charlemagne], iv 26, 3). The Christians fight valorously, but, after Malagigi has lured Rinaldo away from the Franco-Spanish camp, Ricciardetto decides that his brother has been either murdered or taken prisoner, and leaves together with the Christian troops, failing to notify the Spanish Saracens. Marsilio is unable to forgive this desertion. Having surrendered to Gradasso, he helps him in the war against Charlemagne, and later, in Book II, he eagerly joins forces with the African king Agramante. Thus, from being allies, the Franks and the Spaniards return to being enemies. However, this is not Charlemagne’s fault: one may say that he has been let down by his men as well as by Fortuna, which is almost as capricious and unpredictable in Boiardo’s universe as it is in Ariosto’s.40 As far as Charlemagne’s relationship with his subjects is concerned, on the whole it is very positive. However, as in the chivalric tradition, he blindly trusts the treacherous Gano di Maganza, who attempts to sow seeds of discord between him and his vassals. During the Pentecostal feast the Maganzesi mock Rinaldo ‘perché non era comme essi adobato’ [his clothes were not as rich as theirs] (i 15, 8). Boiardo follows preceding chivalric literature in portraying Rinaldo, one of Charlemagne’s most valiant knights, as poor, and the Maganzesi, astute and hardened traitors, as wealthy. The positive image of the French court is somewhat tarnished by the fact that true merit is not always rewarded. As Rinaldo explains to the Saracen King Balugante, ‘e giotti a mensa e le putane in letto / sono più volte tra nui acarezate’ [whores in bed and, at dinner, gluttons / most often get endearments from us] (18, 5–6). Charlemagne has Astolfo thrown into prison, when, having been unhorsed by Gano’s relative Anselmo dela Ripa ‘con falso inganno e molta tradigione’ [with treachery and false deceit] (iii 21, 6), Astolfo attacks ‘Gano e tutta sua gesta’ [Gano and his band] (22, 7). The endearingly self-confident Astolfo teaches Charlemagne and Gano a lesson when he leaves the prison and, with the help of a magic lance, defeats Gradasso who in the meantime has taken captive Charlemagne and all his knights apart from Orlando and Rinaldo, who are away. Astolfo cannot withstand the temptation to play a trick on Gradasso’s prisoners by pretending that he has been unhorsed and is now Gradasso’s buffoon, as Gano described him to the King of Sericana. He then tells his fellow Christians that they too will find employment at Gradasso’s court, as, on Astolfo’s recommendation, the Saracen is happy to have Charlemagne as his ‘ripostieri’ [dispenser] (vii 61, 7) and Gano will do the work of a servant of the lowliest sort. Such devastating news plunges the prisoners into the utmost despair. ‘Non dimandar se il re Carlo è dolente’ [Don’t ask if King Charles is distressed] (63, 3), comments the narrator, thus underscoring the emperor’s lack of fortitude in the face of adversity.41 At this point, feeling vindicated, Astolfo reveals the truth, asks his lord to forgive him, and humbly assures him of his loyalty: 40 On the notion of Fortuna in the Inamoramento de Orlando, see Galbiati, ‘Le avventure di Orlando’, in Il romanzo e la corte, pp. 33–77 (esp. pp. 50–70). 41 This is not the first time the emperor is taken prisoner. In Antiphor de Barosia, a poem which may have been known to Boiardo, Charlemagne is defeated and

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e disse: ‘Signor mio, voi seti franco! E se il mio fallir mai vi trasse ad ira, per pietate e per Dio chiedo perdono, che sia quel che io mi voglia vostro sono’. [and said, ‘My lord, you are free, and if I’ve ever angered you, I beg your pardon. Praise the Lord, whatever else I am, I’m yours’.] (Inamoramento de Orlando, I vii 64, 5–8)

This episode concerning Astolfo has a strong comic edge. The Emperor stops the skirmish between Astolfo and the Maganzesi ‘dando gran bastonate a questo e a quello, / che a più di trenta ne roppe la testa’ [giving great blows to this man, that man: / he broke the heads of over thirty] (Inam., I iii 24,1–2). Charlemagne’s behaviour can hardly be described as regal, but, in his defence, one could point out that he is not the only target of Boiardo’s irony. His treatment of Astolfo is unfair, but not morally abhorrent, at least not in the eyes of the court. Charlemagne believes Griphone di Maganza’s version of events because, rather than calmly explaining how he has been wronged, Astolfo keeps shouting and hurling threats at his enemies, at one point attempting to kill Anselmo di Maganza. In short, he behaves in a way that wins him little sympathy from anyone present (‘Hor dà ciascuno ad Astolpho gran torto’ [Everyone blamed Astolfo then], 30, 3). Although Astolfo is a victim, the reader cannot help thinking that he partly brings this misfortune upon himself. Gano is not a prominent character in the Inamoramento de Orlando. He is a relatively conspicuous figure only until I vii, the canto in which Astolfo frees the Christians and, with Charlemagne’s permission, makes Gano swear ‘per quatro giorni de intrar in prigione, / e dove e quando io lo vorò mandare’ [sometime to spend four days in prison: / the choice of where and when are mine] (vii 68, 3–4). After that, he disappears from the narrative, reappearing only in Book II, where he temporarily forgets that he is a traitor. We know that he will later murder Rugiero,42 but in Books II and III we see him fighting the African invaders together with the other Christians. Boiardo only alludes to the presence of traitors at Charlemagne’s thrown into prison by Orlando who pretends to be a Saracen (Antiphor de Barosia, XIII), while in the Ugieri il Danese we find an episode that is quite similar to that of Astolfo’s duel with Gradasso. The story runs as follows: Charlemagne imprisons Ugieri because he has tried to kill Charlemagne’s son Carlotto who had killed his son. Many years after, the Saracens declare war on France. When all the Christian knights have been defeated by Bravieri, who overpowers his opponents with loud shrieks, Ugieri is released from prison and kills the infernal Saracen by plugging his and his horse’s ears, as the fairy of Verona advises him to do (Ugieri il Danese, IV–IX). 42 Gano’s relative Griphone treacherously strikes Rugiero from behind in III iv, 23–8.

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court and to Charlemagne’s gullibility; he shows his familiarity with the chivalric tradition without, however, making this a central theme of his poem. His reluctance to give more prominence to Gano may perhaps be partly explained by the old legend according to which the Este family was descended from Ganelon.43 It is clear that Borso could not have taken this legend seriously, otherwise he would have found the opening cantos of the Inamoramento highly insulting. Still, it was probably prudent not to vilify Gano excessively.44 Thus, Boiardo’s Gano is almost a reformed character, while Charlemagne, unlike his counterpart in Trabisonda who is totally controlled by Gano and treats Rinaldo in an unfair and cruel way, does not commit serious acts of injustice and is loved and respected by his vassals. Rinaldo for one is tenderly attached to his emperor. As we saw earlier, Charlemagne puts Rinaldo at the head of the army sent to rescue Marsilio, publicly praising his valour, which brings tears to the eyes of the paladin. Rinaldo’s devotion to Charlemagne is equally strong in Book II, where he weeps at the thought that his beloved lord must be dead (II xiv, 36–7). Charlemagne in turn breaks down in tears in Book III, when it seems that the Christians will lose the war. In this emotionally charged scene, the Emperor urges his men to flee, announcing his readiness to die on the battlefield:45 43 We find this genealogy in Giovanni di Nono’s Liber de generatione aliquorum civium urbis Paduae (c. 1325). It would seem that the Este rulers accepted this story until it was supplanted by an alternative legend, that of Rugiero, which must have originated during the reign of Borso. 44 It is worth noting that Gano is not evil through and through in all texts of the Italian and francophone Carolingian tradition. In the Chanson de Roland he is portrayed as a complex character: a traitor but one that is endowed with positive qualities; see Cesare Segre, ‘Introduzione’, in La canzone di Orlando, ed. by Mario Bensi, with an introduction by Cesare Segre, trans. by Renzo lo Cascio (Milan: Rizzoli, 1985), pp. 5–27 (p. 13); and Marianne Ailes, The Song of Roland: On Absolute and Relative Values, Studies in Mediaeval Literature, 20 (New York: Edwin Mellen, 2002), pp. 49–69. In the Fierabras tradition, too, he is capable of noble feelings and actions: ‘Io voglio a questo punto esser leale / che la lealtà tucto il mondo vale’ [Now I want to by loyal, / for loyalty is worth the entire world], he announces in the Cantari di Fierabraccia et Ulivieri, XII 9, 7–8, and, for once, his actions match his words, El cantare di Fierabraccia et Ulivieri. Italienische Bearbeitung der Chanson de geste Fierabras, ed. by Edmund Stengel and Carl Buhlmann, Ausgaben und Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der romanischen Philologie, 2 (1881). On the positive portrayal of Ganelon in the francophone versions of this medieval tale, see Phillipa Hardman and Marianne Ailes, ‘Re-presenting Otherness: The Insular Fierabras Tradition’, in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2017), pp. 264–345 (p. 323). 45 See Chapter 6 ‘Crisis and Continuity’ below for a discussion of a similar episode in the Mambriano.

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O chi vedesse in facia il re Carlone guardar il ciel e non parlar nïente! a sassi mossa avrìa compassïone vegendol lachrimar sì rottamente. ‘Campati voi!’ diceva al Duca Amone ‘Campati, Namo e Gaino, el mio parente. Campati tutti quanti e me lassati che qua voglio io purgar e mei peccati! […]’ [Oh, to have seen King Charlemagne silently looking to the sky. The very stones would have been moved to pity to have seen his tears. ‘Save yourself!’ he told Duke Amone. ‘Namo and Gano, save yourselves! All of you, save yourselves. Leave me! I only want to purge my sins! […]’] (Inamoramento de Orlando, III iv, 34)

Here, Boiardo stresses Charlemagne’s humanity. Overwhelmed with emotion, his barons too are moved to tears, and the distance between the ruler and his subjects is erased. Charlemagne is portrayed as a father-like figure, who does not want his people to perish because of him. At the same time, his surrender to despair is a sign of weakness, and his behaviour in this moment of crisis undermines his image as a strong leader. While Boiardo never doubts his courage, he does not depict him as a paragon of calm and steely resolve. On the one hand, Charlemagne is a competent condottiero and a brave warrior: ‘Re Carlo Mano avìa fate le schiere / molto ordinate e con gran sentimento’ [King Charles the Great arranged his troops / precisely, with regard to rank], (II xxiii 18, 1–2). More than once we see him risking his life in battle: in I vii he fights with a number of Saracens, including Marsilio, Feraguto, the giant Alfrera, and Gradasso: Avìa quel Re [Charlemagne] la spada insanguinata, montato era quel giorno in su Baiardo. La gente saracina ha sbaratata: mai non fu visto un Re tanto galiardo! [That king had bathed his sword in blood that day, and he was mounted on Baiardo. He scattered wide the Saracens; no king was ever seen so bold!] (Inamoramento de Orlando, I vii 8, 1–4)

In II xxiv he confronts Marsilio and Feraguto again; in II xxx he grievously wounds Balifronte; and in III viii he manages to unhorse Agramante. And yet, as the above-quoted octave shows, he is not always entirely convincing as a figure of

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authority. The fact that he lacks firmness of character is apparent already in Book I, where, having been taken prisoner by the King of Sericana, he readily – too readily, one is tempted to say – agrees to give Rinaldo’s horse Baiardo to Gradasso and promises to do his best to persuade Orlando to part with his sword Durindana in exchange for his and his barons’ freedom. In this respect, Charlemagne resembles his Saracen brother-in-law Marsilio who, similarly, is portrayed as lacking in force of character.46 Both of them at times appear in a comic light. Boiardo gently pokes fun at them, making it clear, for example, that their military skills are rather mediocre compared to those of the younger warriors. Thus, commenting on their duel in Book II, the narrator confesses that he finds it unimpressive: Hor de Marsiglio e del’Imperatore vi lassarò (ch’io non ne fo gran stima), e contarò la forza e ’l gran valore degli altri doi [Feraguto and Rinaldo] che son d’ardir in cima. [Marsilio and the emperor I’ll leave – I don’t rate high their worth – to show the great force of the others, those two who are the peak of ardor.] (Inamoramento de Orlando, II xxiv 45, 1–4)

Both Marsilio and Charlemagne are religious, but their respective Gods do not seem to take them seriously, and their attempts to communicate with the divine often make the reader smile. Marsilio verbally abuses the Saracen gods when Fortuna turns its back to the Saracens (II xxiii 71). Charlemagne fervently prays to the Christian God, but his prayers are not always answered.47 In canto xxiv of Book II he charges at Feraguto, ‘sempre chiamando a Dio del ciel aiuto’ (19, 2), but his religious devotion does not save him: Feraguto, who is physically stronger, ‘gionse nel’elmo al franco Imperatore / e sopra al prato lo mandò disteso’ [struck on his helm the emperor / and sent him sprawling on the ground] (20, 5–6). 46 Like Charlemagne, Marsilio is prone to fits of despair: ‘Il re Marsilio a te [Feraguto] solo è rivolto / e te piagnendo solamente noma; / io vidi il vechio Re batersi il volto / e trar de il capo la canuta chioma’ [Our king, Marsilio, turns to you / alone and calls your name in tears. / I saw the old king beat his face / and tear the gray hairs from his head] (I iv 10, 1–4). On Boiardo’s portrayal of Marsilio and his Saracen subjects, see Cavallo, The World Beyond Europe, pp. 125–32, and Pavlova, Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto, pp. 76–83. 47 This is also true in the French tradition, where Charlemagne’s prayers are sometimes unanswered or answered too literally and excessively. See Philip Bennett, ‘Charlemagne and his Vassals: Ideal King or Unjust Ruler’, in Charlemagne in Medieval Francophonia and Occitan Literature, ed. by Marianne J. Ailes and Philip E. Bennett (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming).

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Most Boiardo scholars agree that religion cannot be considered one of the central themes of the Inamoramento de Orlando: the religious ideology of chivalry that underpins the chansons de geste and some of their Italian rifacimenti gives way to an entirely secular chivalric code.48 In the oft-quoted proem to II xviii, the narrator claims that King Arthur’s court was superior to Charlemagne’s, as the latter’s knights devoted all their energy to fighting holy wars, thus closing their hearts to the transforming power of love: Fo glorïosa Bertagna la grande una stagion, per l’arme e per l’amore (onde ancor hoggi il nome suo si spande sì ch’al re Artuse fa portar honore), quando e bon cavalieri a quele bande mostrarno in più batalie il suo valore, andando con lor dame in aventura et hor sua fama al nostro tempo dura. Re Carlo in Franza poi tienne gran corte, ma a quela prima non fo somiliante, ben che assai fosse ancor robusto e forte et avesse Renaldo e ’l sir d’Anglante: perché tiéne ad Amor chiuse le porte e sol se dete ale bataglie sante, non fo di quel valor o quela estima qual fo quel’altra ch’io contava in prima. [There was a time Great Britain was illustrious in arms and love (for which reason her name is celebrated still, bringing great honour to King Arthur), when the good knights in those lands displayed their worth in many battles and sought adventure with their ladies; and her fame has lasted to our day. Later, King Charles held court in France; his court was no equivalent,

48 It has been argued that Ariosto’s approach to religion is more serious than Boiardo’s, so much so that the Furioso can be called a Christian poem. See, for example, Stefano Jossa’s chapter in this volume as well as his ‘“A difesa di sua santa fede”. Il poema cristiano dell’Ariosto (Orlando furioso, XXXIV 54–67)’, in Chivalry, Academy, and Cultural Dialogues. The Italian Contribution to European Culture. Essays in Honour of Jane E. Everson, ed. by Stefano Jossa and Giuliana Pieri (Cambridge: Legenda, 2016), pp. 32–42. For an alternative interpretation of Ariosto’s treatment of religion see Pavlova, Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto.

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Maria Pavlova though it was sturdy and strong, and had Renaldo and the lord of Anglante [i.e. Orlando]. Because it closed its gates to love and only followed holy battles, it could not boast the worth, the fame the former showed, the first I named.] (Inamoramento de Orlando, II xviii, 1–2)

In the Inamoramento de Orlando Charlemagne’s paladins are far from being indifferent to love. Boiardo is sometimes credited with being the first chivalric author to combine the Carolingian and Arthurian branches of the chivalric tradition, which is not entirely accurate, considering that ‘Arthurian’ elements (i.e. love stories and romance episodes) are present in other fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Carolingian stories. However, ‘Arthurian’ themes and motifs assume an unprecedented prominence in Boiardo’s poem, and the theme of love becomes pivotal to its plot, especially in Book I, where the traditionally chaste Orlando falls head over heels in love with Angelica.49 Charlemagne himself is not immune to Angelica’s charms: ‘Ogni Barone, / di lei se accese, et anche il re Carlone’ [All the barons, / and King Charles, were in love. They blazed], (I i 32, 7–8). Despite being a married man, he is willing to fight Argalìa, when the damsel says that whoever defeats her brother in battle will receive her as his reward.50 His ardent yet rather short-lived passion for 49 As Franceschetti puts it, love ‘costituisce il grande centro ideale intorno a cui si muovono, in linea di massima, i personaggi e le vicende dell’Innamorato’ [is the big ideal centre around which the characters and events of the Innamorato move], L’‘Orlando Innamorato’ e le sue componenti tematiche e strutturali, p. 55. Not all critics share this view. While Emilio Bigi, La poesia del Boiardo (Florence: Sansoni, 1941), Giovanni Ponte, La personalità e l’opera del Boiardo, Denise Alexandre-Gras, L’héroïsme chevaleresque, Raffaele Donnarumma, Storia dell’‘Orlando innamorato’, and Riccardo Bruscagli, ‘Primavera arturiana’, in Id., Studi cavallereschi (Florence: Società Editrice Fiorentina: 2003), pp. 3–36, maintain that the cornerstone of Boiardo’s poem is a cult of love in its different manifestations, others claim that love is described superficially, e.g. Liborio Azzolina, Il mondo cavalleresco in Boiardo, Ariosto, Berni (Palermo: Reber, 1912), Angelandrea Zottoli, Di Matteo Maria Boiardo, discorso (Florence: Sansoni, 1937), that there is a strong didactic message behind many of the love stories (Cavallo), or that Boiardo’s portrayal of love is often ambivalent (Galbiati). Most scholars agree that Boiardo devotes more space to the theme of love in Book I than in Books II and III. For an in-depth analysis of Boiardo’s appropriation of Arthurian elements, see Marco Praloran, ‘“La più tremenda cosa posta al mondo”. L’avventura arturiana nell’Inamoramento di Orlando’, in Id., Le lingue del racconto. Studi su Boiardo e Ariosto (Rome: Bulzoni, 2009), pp. 79–98. 50 It is worth noting that this episode may have inspired the episode of Armida’s arrival at the Christian camp in canto IV of Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata. Unlike Boiardo’s Charlemagne, Goffredo remains indifferent to the pagan temptress.

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the Saracen sorceress is not without precedent: in the Innamoramento di Carlo his counterpart develops an infatuation with the Saracen princess Belisandra, ‘Sapi che Carlo è ferito nel core, / per una gioveneta ha pena e gai, / ligiadra e vaga, bella, a dir il vero’ [I want you to know that Charlemagne’s heart is wounded, / he is wretched and woeful because of a young lady, / who is pretty and charming, beautiful, to say the truth], (Innamoramento di Carlo, I 47, 5–7), and Rinaldo, together with Orlando, who finds his uncle’s senile love morally distasteful, but grudgingly agrees to accompany Rinaldo, travels to Paganìa to kidnap her.51 Boiardo alludes to this story in I xxviii, 5, where Orlando reproaches Rinaldo for having gone on that shameful mission. Boiardo’s Charlemagne quickly overcomes his passion for Angelica, which the poet must have deemed inappropriate for his age and status. But not so Orlando and Rinaldo. The former is besotted with Angelica throughout the ‘bela historia’ [beautiful story]; the latter is cured of his obsession in I iii, when he drinks from the fountain of Merlin, but in II xv the waters of the Fountain of Love rekindle his desire, and he once again becomes Orlando’s rival in love. Thus, the two best Christian warriors are in the throes of love at the time of Agramante’s and Marsilio’s invasion. Rather than urging them to come back to their senses, Charlemagne decides that a conventional appeal to duty might not be effective and that the two cousins will fight more vigorously if he can make them believe that they are fighting not for Christ but for their lady. He emerges as a shrewd and pragmatic leader in the episode in which, having entrusted Angelica to Namo, he talks to Rinaldo and Orlando separately, assuring each of them that he intends to give the lady to him: chiamò Renaldo et ebe a lui promesso non dar la dama a Orlando per expresso, Pur che facesse quel giorno col brando sì fata prova e dimostratïone che più de lui non meritasse Orlando. Poi d’altra parte il figlio di Melone fece chimar da parte, e ragionando 51 Innamoramento di Carlo e dei suoi Paladini (Bologna: Bazaliero di Bazalerii, 1491). On the representation of love and women in this poem, whose first extant printed edition was published in 1481, see Eleonora Stoppino, Genealogies of Fiction: Women Warriors and the Dynastic Imagination in the ‘Orlando furioso’ (New York, Fordham University Press: 2012), pp. 51–7. A possible source for the story of Charlemagne’s passion for Belisandra is the folktale that Petrarch discovered during his stay in Aix-la-Chapelle and that he related in a letter to Cardinal Giovanni Colonna. According to that tale, Charlemagne became so besotted with a common woman that he totally neglected his duties as head of state. See Andrew J. Roming, ‘Charlemagne the Sinner: Charles the Great as Avatar of the Modern in Petrarch’s Familiares 1.4’, in The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, pp. 181–202.

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Maria Pavlova con lui gli diè secreta intentïone che mai la dama non avrà Renaldo, pur che combata il giorno al campo saldo. Ciascun di lor quel giorno se distina di non parer del’altro mai pegiore. Ahi, sventurata gente saracina, ch’adosso ben ti vien un gran romore! [he called Ranaldo, and he swore he would not give the Count that lady – on one condition: if he showed once and for all, now, with his sword he, not the Count, deserved her more. That done, he called Orlando over, pulled him aside, and had a chat, telling him surreptitiously Ranaldo’d never have that woman if he (the Count) fought well that day. Therefore those barons each decided to prove himself the better knight. Ah, what unlucky Saracens! What ruin will befall them soon!] (Inamoramento de Orlando, II xxiii 15, 7–8; 16–17, 1–4)

Although here we see Charlemagne in his traditional role as a defender of Christendom, he does not completely reject the new chivalric ideology which is defined by the central belief that love is a benevolent force that ennobles the lover and increases his (or her) martial prowess. When later Charlemagne’s and Marsilio’s troops clash on the battlefield, many of the fighters on both sides are spurred on not by religious beliefs, but by their devotion to their ladies.52 Charlemagne’s ruse would have given the Christians an easy victory in the war against Agramante and Marsilio had the capricious Fortuna not decided to lure Orlando, Rinaldo and (in the Furioso) Angelica away from the Christian army. 52 Just like the Arthurian knights of old who used to ‘andar[…] con lor dame in aventura’ [seek adventure with their ladies] (Inam., II xviii 1, 7), Saracens travel with their ladies: ‘Avean usanza tuti i Re pagani, / la qual in questo tempo anco è rimasa, / che campegiando o vicini o lontani / ma’ le lor dame lasciavano a casa: / né sciò se lor pensier sian fermi o vani, / ché pur sta mal la paglia con la brasa; / ma d’altra parte anchor per Amore / l’animo crescie e più se fa di core’ [The custom of the pagan kings – / and it remains so to this day – / was to ride always with their ladies / whether their camp was near or far. / I don’t know what their thinking is, / since embers don’t mix well with straw. / But on the other hand, love makes / courage increase and hearts grow great] (II xxiii, 11).

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or all his positive traits, it is debatable to what extent Charlemagne can be considered an exemplary ruler. Although he takes his duties seriously, he fails to qualify as a paragon of royal wisdom and fortitude. He cannot compare with Xenophon’s Cyrus, a young and energetic philosopher-monarch who takes on ‘il ruolo di alter ego di Ercole’ [the role of Ercole’s alter ego] in Boiardo’s translation, which, ‘eseguito su probabile richiesta del futuro duca, nasce allo scopo di mettere in luce nel racconto delle imprese e delle doti guerriere e politiche di Ciro la somiglianza con il moderno principe, Ercole I’ [probably commissioned by the future duke, aims to highlight in its account of Cyrus’ campaigns and his political and military virtues his resemblance to the modern prince, Ercole I].53 Although it would be fair to say that there is no Cyrus-like figure in the Inamoramento de Orlando, new, ‘humanist’ elements are clearly discernible in the portrayal of a number of its characters. Interestingly, while the poem contains a multitude of characters invested with political authority, it is Brandimarte, an ordinary Saracen knight, who embodies the virtue of prudentia or prudence (practical reason), which is one of the most important virtues of Xenophon’s Cyrus.54 Brandimarte is Orlando’s loyal friend who accompanies him on many adventures, and on more than one occasion saves him from mortal danger. Whereas Orlando is often out of his depth in situations in which he cannot rely on his sword or in which physical prowess alone does not guarantee suc-

53 Gritti, ‘Ercole d’Este come Ciro’, pp. 120–1. Boiardo’s volgarizzamento is greatly indebted to Poggio Bracciolini’s Latin translation (c. 1446), which Poggio had dedicated to King Alfonso of Naples, encouraging Alfonso to imitate the Persian king in the preface. As Valentina Gritti points out, in his dedication to Ercole Boiardo draws a very strong parallel between the future duke and Cyrus, stronger than that between Cyrus and Alfonso in Poggio. Xenophon’s idealised biography of Cyrus enjoyed considerable popularity in fifteenth-century Italy (it was translated not only by Poggio and Boiardo, but also by Francesco Filelfo and Lorenzo Valla), and its eponymous hero, who is very different from the Cyrus that emerges from Herodotus’ Histories, was generally seen as a model of princely virtues. 54 On Boiardo’s Brandimarte, see Alexandre-Gras, L’héroïsme chevaleresque dans le ‘Roland Amoureux’ de Boiardo, pp. 331–8; Maristella De Panizza Lorch, ‘“Ma soprattutto la persona umana / era cortese”: Brandimarte’s cortesia as expressed through the hero’s loci actionis in Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato, Book I’, in La corte e lo spazio. Ferrara estense, ed. by Giuseppe Papagno and Amedeo Quondam, 2 vols (Rome: Bulzoni, 1982), II, 739–81; Cavallo, The World beyond Europe, pp. 211–34; and Pavlova, Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto, pp. 102–4 (on the contrast between Orlando and Brandimarte). On prudentia in humanist thought, see La vertu de prudence entre Moyen Âge et âge classique, ed. by Evelyne Berriot-Salvadore, Catherine Pascal, François Roudaut and Trung Tran (Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2012).

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cess,55 Brandimarte uses his prudence to find a solution. For example, when the two friends are imprisoned by Manodante, he tells Orlando that they should exchange identities so that Orlando can get out and find Manodante’s son Ziliante (II xii). Orlando frantically prays to all the saints he can remember, ‘chiamando tuti i Santi ch’egli adora, / quanti n’ha il Ciel, e poi del’altri ancora’ [calling the saints whom he adored, / all heaven holds, and then some more], (10, 7–8), while Brandimarte calmly assesses the situation and elaborates a plan of action. Orlando’s ‘tormento’ (13, 1), which cannot but bring to mind Charlemagne’s moments of despair, is contrasted with Brandimarte’s sangfroid. This and other episodes suggest that physical strength is sometimes not enough to bring victory in the often dangerous universe of the Inamoramento de Orlando. However, only very few of Boiardo’s characters are able to use practical reason, and apart from Brandimarte, these characters are for the most part rather advanced in age, e.g. the King of Garamantha, Sobrino and Atalante,56 and hence less interesting than the young and impetuous knights who lack this important quality. As we saw above, Charlemagne is not always successful in dealing with difficult situations. He does not possess the foresight of characters such as Sobrino. Nor is he particularly good at quick decision-making in critical circumstances. However, it cannot be denied that he is more competent than most Saracen rulers. The Inamoramento de Orlando abounds in irresponsible Saracen monarchs who put their personal ambitions before the security of their people.57 A distinctly moral55 ‘Il est évident qu’un Roland, préférant attaquer à l’epée le sphinx, dont la question l’embarrasse, plutôt que de consulter le livre de conseils qu’on lui a remis, ne démontre aucune prudence’ [It is evident that Roland’s conduct is anything but prudent when he chooses to attack the sphinx, whose question confuses him, rather than consulting the book of advice which he was given], Alexandre-Gras, L’héroïsme chevaleresque dans le ‘Roland Amoureux’ de Boiardo, p. 331. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the titular hero is undergoing an identity crisis in the Inamoramento de Orlando. According to Everson, ‘Orlando is […] presented, in the context of serious warfare, as somehow enfeebled, lacking the power of command, decisiveness, and courage’, Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism, p. 246. 56 On Sobrino as a character endowed with prudence, see Dorigatti, ‘Sobrino ario­ stesco e misconosciuto’, Belfagor, 65.4 (2010), 401–14 (pp. 401–6). 57 For detailed discussions of these Saracen characters, see Denise Alexandre-Gras, ‘Tre figure boiardesche di eroe saraceno: Ferraguto, Agricane, Rodamonte’, Annali d’italianistica, 1 (1983), 129–43; Gian Paolo Giudicetti, ‘Mandricardo a cavallo di due poemi: il suo ruolo nel terzo libro dell’Inamoramento de Orlando e nell’Orlando Furioso’, Schifanoia, 36–7 (2009), 103–44 (esp. pp. 103–10); Jo Ann Cavallo, The Romance Epics of Boiardo, Ariosto and Tasso: from Public Duty to Private Pleasure (Toronto; London: University of Toronto Press, 2004), pp. 15–66; Ead., The World Beyond Europe; Maria Pavlova, ‘Rodomonte e Ruggiero. Una questione d’onore’, Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana, 42 (2013), 135–77

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istic note is struck at the very beginning of the poem in the narrator’s disapproval of Gradasso’s decision to travel to France to get hold of the horse Baiardo and the sword Durindana: E sì como egli advien a’ gran signori che pur quel voglion che non pòno avere, e quanto son difficultà magiori la disiata cosa ad otenere, pongono il regno spesso in grandi errori, né posson quel che voglion possedere, così bramava quel Pagan galiardo sol Durindana e il bon distrer Baiardo. [And as it happens to great lords who only want what they can’t have, the greater obstacles there are to reaching what they would obtain the more they jeopardise their realms, and what they want, they cannot gain. Thus that bold pagan only craved sharp Durindan and swift Baiardo.] (Inamoramento de Orlando, I i, 5)

If Gradasso leads a huge army from Sericana to Europe hoping to seize Rinaldo’s horse and Orlando’s sword, Agricane, the Emperor of Tartary, besieges Albraca because he is madly in love with Angelica, who has rejected his marriage proposal. A formidable warrior, he has no sympathy for those who are afraid of the enemy. His troops are terrified of him and for good reason: not only does he threaten to cut them to pieces if they attempt to flee the battlefield, ‘Ché tuti quanti, gente maledetta, / prima che il sole a sera gionto sia, / vi tagliarò col brando in peci e in feta’ [Before the sun has set tonight – / abominations, watch out! – I / will chop you with my sword to pieces] (Inam., I xvi 7, 1–3), but he kills his soldiers at the slightest sign of faint-heartedness, ‘E come vede alcun che non è armato, / o che se alonghi alquanto dela schiera, / subitamente il manda morto al prato’ [And when he saw a man unarmed / or someone straying from the others, / he quickly knocked him dead to earth] (xv 58, 1–3). Similarly, Agricane’s son Mandricardo has no compassion for his subjects. In introducing him, the narrator informs us that he was so ‘superbo et inhumano’ [arrogant and ruthless] (III I, 6, 5) that he did not want to have any cowards or invalids in his lands and ordered to execute all those who could not fight. Rodamonte, the King of Sarza, sails to Europe despite the ‘contrario vento’ [headwind] (II vi 7, 2), which results in many of his men perishing in a storm. (pp. 141–50); and Ead., Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto, especially pp. 89–126.

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Sacripante, the King of Circassia, is so infatuated with Angelica that when he learns that Mandricardo has killed his brother and is devastating Circassia, he fails to return to his people whom he had left to defend Angelica from Agricane (II iii). He chooses love over duty, sacrificing his kingdom to save his beloved. Finally, Agramante, the powerful King of North Africa, gives no heed to the advice of his grey-haired vassal-kings and embarks on a military campaign against Charlemagne despite the prophecy that it would result in the destruction of his state. Blinded by his dream of glory, he disregards the fact that his grandfather’s similar undertaking ended in a disaster: in the Aspramonte King Agolante and his sons Troiano and Almonte lose their lives in an attempt to invade Charlemagne’s empire. In his pursuit of immortal fame Agramante recklessly jeopardises the future of North Africa, a wealthy and flourishing empire which was founded by Sonniberra, Atamandro, and Argante, the sons of Alexander of Macedon. Through Rugiero these three brothers are ancestors of Leonello, Borso and Ercole, of whom Boiardo may have been thinking when composing the first canto of Book II shortly before or after Borso’s death. The first rulers of Africa unified this culturally diverse part of the world without any bloodshed: ‘la natura sua, ch’è tanto bona, / tirava ad obederli ogni persona’ [their excellence of character / prompted every man’s obedience] (II i 11, 7–8).58 If Cyrus’ political success is largely due to his prudentia,59 Alexander’s sons ruled their realm in peace and prosperity thanks to their cortesia alone. Although Agramante too possesses the virtue of cortesia, he is overly self-confident, quick-tempered and stubborn. As has been pointed out by Michael Murrin, he resembles – at least superficially – Herodotus’ Xerxes, the anti-hero of the Histories, an ambitious ruler who, seeking to make a name for himself as a conqueror, chose to ignore the lessons of the past.60 Charlemagne is clearly a better ruler than these young and foolhardy kings. And so is his brother-in-law Marsilio who is genuinely concerned with the security of 58 Later, in one of the encomiastic digressions, Boiardo will draw an implicit parallel between these three brothers and Ercole, underscoring his lord’s moral rectitude and natural goodness: ‘[if Ercole] avesse a prender stato opinïone / come egli ha a seguir ben e fugir male, / tutti gli ocel, non dico le persone, / per obedirlo avrìan aperte l’ale’ [should set his mind on conquering / rather than searching after peace, / then every bird, not only men, / would spread their wings and bow to him] (II xxi 59, 3–6). 59 As Boiardo states in the prologue to his translation, ‘sì governò cum tal prudentia Cyrro che da li amici in honorevole amore, da li victi e subditi in amorevole riverenza fu tenuto’ [Cyrus ruled with such prudence that he was loved and honoured by his friends and lovingly revered by the vanquished and his subjects], Matteo Maria Boiardo, La pedìa de Cyro, ed. by Valentina Gritti (Novara: Interlinea, 2014), p. 131. 60 Michael Murrin, ‘Agramante’s War’, Annali d’Italianistica, 1 (1983), 107–28; reprinted as Chapter 3 in his History and Warfare (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994).

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Spain. However, as characters, Charlemagne and Marsilio are less charismatic than their hot-headed counterparts and are given less time in the spotlight. Although Boiardo’s narrator at times adopts a moralising tone, the Inamoramento de Orlando is not a treatise on the art of statehood and princely duty, and by overemphasising its ‘underlying didactic intent’ one runs the risk of misconstruing its essence.61 Whilst acknowledging his heroes’ shortcomings as rulers, Boiardo admires and celebrates their knightly virtues such as prowess, courage, cortesia, the thirst for glory, loyalty, and love, virtues which are certainly not entirely absent from his portrayal of Charlemagne but which are arguably much more visible in other characters. His ‘bela historia’ was written not so much to instruct as to entertain and it was written for an audience that enjoyed chivalric literature and was conscious of the gap between chivalric fantasies and real life. Thus, Agricane may be unreasonably harsh towards his subjects, but the narrator himself does not feel particularly sorry for the hapless masses.62 Boiardo, who lived in a period when warfare was considerably less deadly than it would become after 1494, portrays wars as adventures, as exciting games played by ‘gran signori’ [great lords] for whom war is an opportunity to prove their worth and immortalise their name. His battles resemble jousts, and there is nothing particularly tragic about the countless deaths that occur in them. Jousts and tournaments were of course one of the favourite forms of entertainment of the Ferrarese rulers and nobles, and both Borso and Ercole organised many. We know from contemporary chronicles that in the 1470s and the 1480s Ercole held a series of jousts in which knights were invited to save the God of Love from being hanged.63 One could argue that the war at Albraca, a war fought between the defenders of Angelica (Sacripante and Orlando), her embittered suitor Agricane and her enemy Marfisa, is close in spirit to such public amusements. Seen from this perspective, rather than an imprudent and cruel monarch, Agricane is a noble knight who is Orlando’s rival in love and who dies in the name of love. Similarly, Sacripante’s selfless devotion to his lady makes us forget his neglect of his people. As for Gradasso, Agramante, Rodamonte and Mandricardo, they are portrayed

61 ‘Trusting in the didactic force of fiction, Boiardo writes an outwardly entertaining and encomiastic poem with an underlying didactic intent: just as he teaches the correct hierarchy of the soul in the individual, he presents a series of lessons on good government for the ruler’, Cavallo, The Romance Epics of Boiardo, Ariosto and Tasso, p. 13. 62 According to Franceschetti, the reader senses ‘un tono di aristocratico e, se vogliamo, “rinascimentale” disprezzo verso la moltitudine che non conta e non vale niente’ [a tone of aristocratic, and one could say ‘Renaissance’, disdain of the masses that do not count and are not worth anything], ‘Eroi, soldati e popoli nel mondo dell’Innamorato e del Furioso’, in Humanitas e poesia: studi in onore di Gioacchino Paparelli, ed. by Luigi Reina, 2 vols (Salerno: P. Laveglia, 1988-90), I, 117–42 (p. 128). 63 Tuohy, Herculean Ferrara, pp. 251–2.

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as glory-seeking chivalrous young men who follow the ideal of active life rather than merely as foolish aggressors and inefficient rulers. Agramante, in particular, is often misunderstood by Boiardo scholars. For all his resemblance to Xerxes, he is a much more likeable and kind-hearted ruler than his Persian counterpart, who is an embodiment of the Western stereotype of the Oriental despot.64 Though his recklessness will bring about the ruin of North Africa, the fact remains that Agramante exercises his power with compassion and wants to be loved rather than feared by his subjects.65 This is evident from his very first speech, in which he invites his vassal kings to follow him to France: Onde io vi prego, gente di valore: se di voi stessi aveti rimembranza e se cura vi tien del vostro honore, s’io debo aver di voi giamai speranza, se amati ponto me, vostro signore, meco vi piacia di passar in Franza […]. [And so I ask you, my bold barons, if you’ve remembrance of yourselves, if you’re concerned for your own renown, if I can pin my hopes on you, if you have love for me, your lord, come with me, if you please, to France […].] (Inamoramento de Orlando, II i 37, 1–6)

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The dynastic theme: the Trojans, the Franks and the Este

ost of the protagonists of the Inamoramento de Orlando have at least some political authority. And yet the character who acts as a bridge between fiction and the real world is not a political leader.66 In the last octave of Book I Boiardo introduces Rugiero who, as announced in the title of Book II, is the progenitor of the Este family. We do not know if Boiardo was inspired by pre-existing legends, but, as mentioned earlier, it is likely that the myth of Rugiero originated during Borso’s reign, possibly already in the 1460s when Boiardo’s maternal uncle Tito

64 Xerxes has the sea whipped and the engineers decapitated when the bridge over the Hellespont is destroyed by a storm. He has a young man sundered into two parts because his father asked him to exempt his son from military service (Herodotus, Histories, Book VII). 65 For an in-depth discussion of Boiardo’s Agramante and his prototypes in the chivalric tradition, see Pavlova, Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto, pp. 107–26 (especially pp. 115–25). 66 Agramante puts him in command of the troops from Tripoli (II xxix 18), but we perceive him as a private knight rather than a military leader.

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Vespasiano Strozzi began to compose his Borsias.67 Another important clue pointing to the fact that Boiardo could have decided to give his poem a new political function after Borso’s coronation but before his death in August 147168 is Rugiero’s descent, through his Saracen mother Galaciella, from Alexander the Great, who, unbeknown to many modern readers of the Inamoramento, was Borso’s personal hero. In the opening canto of Book II Alexander is portrayed as a man of intrepid heart and a warrior capable of showing compassion to his defeated enemies.69 Later, in canto V of Book III (which was most probably composed between 1485 and 1486, and in any case before 1491),70 we learn that he is not the only ancient hero in Rugiero’s genealogy: on his Christian father’s side, the future founder of the Este dynasty traces his lineage to Hector of Troy, whose wife had hidden their small child before being slaughtered by the Greeks. It is perhaps significant that Rugiero descends from the Trojan warrior in a direct line: his forefather Astianatte, or Astyanax, is 67 Rugiero, whose parents appear in the Italian versions of the Chanson d’Aspremont, does not seem to feature in preceding chivalric literature, even if there are references to Galaciele and her son Rizer in Raffaele da Verona’s Franco-Venetian prose romance Aquilon de Bavière. However, he is probably not created ex nihilo. Boiardo could be engaging with Strozzi’s Borsias (1460–70; 1485–96), an encomiastic work dedicated to Borso. Thus, in Book II of this Latin poem, Borso is referred to as ‘Rugerius heros’ [hero worthy of Rugerus] and ‘Rugeria stirps’ [of Rugerus’ lineage], while in Book VI Strozzi gives an account of Rugerus’ life which mostly resembles Boiardo’s story. Given a number of differences between Strozzi’s and Boiardo’s versions of the legend, it is possible that the uncle and the nephew were drawing on a now lost source. On Strozzi and Boiardo, see Walter Ludwig, ‘Analyse und Kommentar’, in Die Borsias des Tito Strozzi. Ein lateinisches Epos der Renaissance, erstmals herausgegeben, eingeleitet und kommentiert von Walther Ludwig (München: Fink, 1977), pp. 225–394 (pp. 316–28); Tissoni Benvenuti, ‘La fabbrica dell’Inamoramento’, pp. 77–81; and Riccardo Bruscagli, ‘Ruggiero’s Story: the Making of a Dynastic Hero’, in Romance and History: Imagining Time from the Medieval to the Early Modern Period, ed. by Jon Whitman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), pp. 151–67 (pp. 151–6). 68 The precise date remains disputed, but, as Riccardo Bruscagli observes, the introduction of the dynastic theme ‘coincides, more or less, with Borso’s investiture with the new ducal title: with the moment, in other words, when Ferrara enters a new, much nobler category of lordship’, Bruscagli, ‘Ruggiero’s Story: the Making of a Dynastic Hero’, p. 155. 69 On Borso and Alexander the Great, see Pavlova, Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto, pp. 116–20. Apart from a brief reference in II xxii 1, where Boiardo cites Alexander and Caesar as examples of great warriors, Alexander features only in the opening canto of Book II and does not reappear in Agramante’s and Rugiero’s respective stories, which could mean that Ercole was less interested in Alexander than his brother Borso. 70 These are the composition dates of the first eight cantos of Book III according to Zanato. See note 13 in this chapter.

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Hector’s legitimate son; it would seem that by so doing Boiardo was supporting Ercole’s efforts to consolidate his power by emphasising his hereditary legitimacy. Considering that both Leonello and Borso were illegitimate children of Nicolò III, Ercole’s advent to power marked the restoration of the legitimate line of descent.71 On the other hand, the fact that the Trojan theme is introduced at the very end of the poem, at least 14–15 years after Ercole’s succession to the dukedom and 9–10 years after his nephew Nicolò’s unsuccessful attempt to overthrow him,72 suggests that the Trojan myth probably was not the poet’s response to an ongoing political crisis, but rather an act of homage that postdates Ercole’s struggle with Nicolò. Interestingly, whereas Charlemagne and other political leaders in the chivalric universe of the poem do not have ‘secret’ enemies, if we do not take into account the inveterate traitor Truffaldino who tries to deliver Albracà to Agricane, much to the latter’s indignation, the same cannot be said of Rugiero’s ancestors. His genealogy on both sides is punctuated by deaths following betrayal: Alexander of Macedon is poisoned by ‘Antipatro, il falso traditore’ [the false traitor Antipatro] (II i 29, 6); Astyanax is killed ‘da un falso Greco nominato Egisto’ [by a false Greek called Aegisthus] (III v 22, 8); Rugiero’s father Rugiero II of Risa is betrayed by his own brother, ‘Beltramo traditore’ [the traitor Beltramo] (III v 31, 5). The genealogical digressions in Books II and III thus enable Boiardo to warn his readers of the greatest danger that princes face, a theme that, though relegated to the margins, especially in Book I, where, as we have seen, Boiardo shows only a superficial interest in Gano, is certainly not absent from his ‘bela historia’ [beautiful story]. Looking more closely at the stanzas devoted to Rugiero’s Trojan ancestry, we see that he is related not only to Hector but also to Charlemagne. Indeed, Charlemagne, too, is a descendant of Hector. As Rugiero tells Bradamante, Hector’s great-great71 For this interpretation see Dorigatti, ‘Rugiero and the Dynastic Theme’, especially p. 105. By contrast, Boiardo’s Alexander was sired by an ‘astrologo prudente’ [wise astrologer] (Inamoramento, II i 22, 1) who had tricked Queen Olimpia into sleeping with him. Boiardo attaches no stigma to Alexander’s illegitimate birth, which, again, makes one think that the first canto of Book II could have been composed in the last months of Borso’s reign. 72 Nicolò did not lose hope of toppling Ercole after the latter’s election to the dukedom. He attempted a coup d’état in September 1476, but the uprising was unsuccessful and the conspirators were severely punished. Nicolò himself was beheaded. On this conspiracy see Dorigatti, ‘Rugiero and the Dynastic Theme’, pp. 102–4. Nicolò’s father Marquis Leonello is cast in a negative light in the encomiastic digression in canto XXV of Book II (Febosilla’s frescoes), where Ercole is represented as the victim of Fortuna in his childhood and youth. Although Boiardo does not mention Leonello explicitly, by saying that Ercole ‘a Vertute diè di piglio’ [carried Virtue with him] (54, 6) when he was forced to leave for Naples in 1445, he implies that Leonello’s reign was an inglorious period in the history of Ferrara.

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grandson Floviano settled in Rome and sired two sons, Constante and Clodovaco, who then founded two illustrious dynasties: doe ieste illustre da questi discesero che poi col tempo molta fama apresero. Da Constante discese Constantino, poi Fiovo e ’l re Fiorello, el campïone; e Fioravante e giù sino a Pipino, regal stirpe de Francia, e il re Carlone. E fu l’altro lignagio ancor più fino: di Clodovaco sciese Gianbarone e di questo Rugiero, paladin nuovo, e sua gentil isciata insino a Buovo. [from these two sons two houses came that over time acquired great fame. After Constante came Constantine, Fiovo, Fiorell, that champion, Fioravant, and more, to Pipin– the royal stem of France – and Charles. The other line was even finer. Clodovac issued Gianbarone; from him, Rugier, the new peer, came. This noble lineage reached Bevis.] (Inamoramento de Orlando, III v 28, 7–8; 29)

As has been shown by Walter Ludwig and Tissoni Benvenuti, in tracing Charlemagne’s family tree to Constante, Boiardo is following Andrea da Barberino’s Reali di Francia.73 Andrea, too, mentions the Trojan origins of the ‘primi Reali di Francia’ [first Kings of France] (Reali di Francia, I 18),74 but this dynasty ends with the death of King Fiorenzo, who is defeated by Charlemagne’s ancestor Fiovo who belongs to another, non-Trojan, dynasty. Boiardo’s Charlemagne, however, has Trojan blood in his veins, and so does Strozzi’s Charlemagne. In Book VI of the Borsias, whose composition date is uncertain but which was probably written in the mid to late 1480s, when Boiardo was working on the third book of his poem, we are given the following account of the foundation of the French kingdom: Hector’s son Francus fled to Scythia after the fall of Troy, Francus’ son Belfortes75 then sailed to the West, 73 See Ludwig, ‘Analyse und Kommentar’, p. 323, and Tissoni Benvenuti’s comment on the stanza in question. 74 Andrea da Barberino, I Reali di Francia, ed. by Giuseppe Vandelli and Giovanni Gambarin (Bari: G. Laterza, 1947). 75 According to Ludwig, Belfortes could be named after the first Ferrarese printer Andrea Belfort (also known as Andrea Gallo) who was active from around 1470, Ludwig, ‘Analyse und Kommentar’, p. 323.

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fought with the Gauls, defeated them, and his son Priamus became their king. Priamus’ offspring include King Pepin and ‘Carolus armipotens […] / fortia quem Magni decorant cognomine facta’ [the armipotent Charles […] / adorned by great deeds as suggested by his cognomen Magnus [the Great]] (Borsias, VI, 271–2). Neither Strozzi nor Boiardo invented the ‘legend of the Trojan origin of the Franks, which had enjoyed currency since Merovingian times’.76 Boiardo refers to a version of this myth in his Carmina, composed some twenty years before canto V of Book III, where he also states that the Este rulers are related to the French kings.77 Thus, rather than developing a new legend, Boiardo and his uncle are elaborating on an already existing one, creating two alternative genealogies. The differences between Charlemagne’s family tree in their respective works are very interesting: while in Strozzi only one generation separates the sack of Troy from Belfortes’ journey to Gaul and the connection between Trojans and Franks is very direct, as is evident already from the fact that Hector’s son is called Francus, in Boiardo Italy becomes the new home of Hector’s son Astyanax and his offspring and the Trojan Constante arrives in France via Rome. Strozzi does not explain the exact nature of kinship between the Trojan Franks and Rugerus but devotes much space to Belfortes, whom he portrays as an Aeneas-like figure.78 By contrast, Boiardo’s focus is on Rugiero, 76 Maurice Keen, Chivalry (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), p. 108. On the origins of this legend, which was first mentioned in the seventh-century Chronique de Frédégaire, and its presence in French historiography, see Ronald E. Asher, National Myths in Renaissance France: Francus, Samothes and the Druids (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993), especially pp. 9–43. 77 In the Carmina, Charlemagne is a descendant of the Trojan Aeneas, and Marquis Nicolò III d’Este descended from Charlemagne: ‘Hinc Hispana datus premeret qui littora Caesar / Carolus a magno Caesare nomen habens. / Ilius at soboles tot iam deducta per annos / edidit Aestensi sanguine Nicoleon’ [From here descended that Caesar who would rule the Hispanic shores, / Charles who is named after the great Caesar. / And his lineage after many years / gave birth to Nicolò of Estense blood] (Carmina II, 25–8). I cite from Matteo Maria Boiardo, Pastoralia. Carmina. Epigrammata, ed. by Stefano Carrai and Francesco Tissoni (Novara: Interlinea, 2010). Other fifteenth-century authors, such as Ugo Caleffini, Candido dei Bontempi da Perugia and Cornazzano, also mention the Este’s descent from the French, without, however, giving specific details. See Tissoni Benvenuti, ‘Rugiero o la fabbrica dell’Inamoramento de Orlando’, pp. 76–7. 78 ‘Hinsichtlich der Vorfahren des Rugerus von Risa bleibt Strozzi vage. Man erfährt nur, dass sie aus Francia stammen und dass er zu den Gallorum proceres gehörte. Damit ist angedeutet, dass er an der fränkish-trojanischen Abstammung teil hatte, ohne dass sich Strozzi genauer festgelegt hätte’ [Strozzi remains vague about the ancestors of Rugerus of Risa. We only learn that they had come from France and that he belonged to the Gallorum proceres (Gallic nobility). This implies his Frankish-Trojan ancestry, without Strozzi giving any further specific

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and Charlemagne and his ancestors are only mentioned in passing. In Boiardo’s Carmina and Strozzi’s Borsias the Este are Trojan by virtue of their kinship with the French. Conversely, in the Inamoramento Rugiero’s paternal family are direct descendants of Hector, and the branch to which they belong is ‘ancor più fino’ [even finer] (III v 29, 5) than the one that leads to Charlemagne. This cannot but remind us of the proem to canto XXII of Book II, cited earlier in this chapter, in which Boiardo proclaims that the court of Arthur was superior to that of Charlemagne. Clearly, although the Inamoramento offers a very sympathetic portrayal of the legendary emperor of the Franks, it certainly does not elevate him to an unreachable pedestal. Boiardo’s treatment of the Trojan theme shows that for him the Este were not merely vassals of the French crown but an equally old and noble dynasty, even if his Rugiero will of course enter Charlemagne’s service after his conversion.79 Rugiero can be said to be the main male protagonist of Books II and III of the Inamoramento de Orlando. He outshines both the titular hero Orlando and Rinaldo. The former, as mentioned earlier, has too many moments of indecision and despair, which undermine his image as an exemplary hero. The latter, though certainly endowed with valour, ‘does not have a particular, personal mission nor at any stage does he actually right wrongs and establish peace’.80 Right from the very beginning Rugiero is presented as a perfect knight: ‘qual fo d’ogni virtù il più perfeto / di qualunque altro ch’al mondo si vanta’ [blessed with all virtues, who surpassed / all other men the world has known], (I xxix 56, 4–5).81 He is adopted by the Saracen sorcerer Atalante after the death of his parents and spends his childhood on the Mount of Carena. He is a 16-year-old adolescent when he is found by Brunello and knighted by his maternal cousin Agramante who invites him to participate in his military campaign against Charlemagne. Rugiero’s exceptional physical strength, which he first displays during the joust at the foot of the Mount of Carena in II xvii, is only matched by his moral virtues. They include justice and details], Ludwig, ‘Analyse und Kommentar’, p. 324. 79 According to Dorigatti, Rugiero’s ‘Trojan ancestry allows Boiardo to assign the origins of the House of Este to a time pre-dating the Papacy, thereby implying its autonomy and validating its claim to full sovereignty’, ‘Rugiero and the Dynastic Theme’, p. 101. By splitting the Trojan lineage into two distinct branches Boiardo could be doing something similar: one could, perhaps, argue that he subtly asserts the sovereignty of Estense Ferrara and its independence even from its closest ally. It is worth noting that in Book VII of his partially lost Historiae Ferrariae the court historiographer Pellegrino Prisciani (1435–1518) dismisses as a fable the legend according to which the Este descended from the French and instead claims that their lineage stems from the Trojan Marthus, see Tissoni Benvenuti, ‘Rugiero o la fabbrica dell’Inamoramento de Orlando’, pp. 85–6. 80 Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism, p. 251. 81 On Boiardo’s portrayal of Rugiero, see Cavallo, The World beyond Europe, pp. 95–107; Pavlova, ‘Rodomonte e Ruggiero’, pp. 148–50, and Ead., Saracens and their World, pp. 125–6.

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gratitude (he saves Brunello from the gallows and explains to Agramante that he himself has killed Bardulasto, a crime of which Brunello has been accused, II xxi); humility (he humbly submits to Agramante’s authority and asks him to dub him a knight); courage and audacity (he enthusiastically agrees to sail to Europe with his African lord). Rugiero, as Marco Dorigatti puts it, ‘comes to symbolize the ideal prototype of the Este ruler’.82 It is not by chance that on two occasions Boiardo describes him with the adjective ‘reale’ [regal], II xxi 31, 6; xxxi 31, 1. Of all the characters of the Inamoramento de Orlando, he most resembles Virgil’s Aeneas, even if, unlike his classical counterpart, he is not particularly aware of his dynastic mission. It is in fact his thirst for adventure that brings him to Christian Europe. In Book III he meets Bradamante for whom he develops romantic feelings, but it is not entirely clear if the poet intended them to marry. Apart from serving as a pretext to insert the genealogical stanzas, this episode allows Boiardo to celebrate his dynastic hero’s ‘Arthurian’ side. Thus, Rugiero is given an opportunity to exercise the virtue of cortesia, he offers to take Bradamante’s place in the duel with Rodamonte, and his falling in love with the beautiful Christian damsel is yet another proof of the nobility of his heart.

B

Conclusion

oiardo grafts the dynastic theme onto the fabric of his poem, makes references to ancient and contemporary historical figures and, from the opening stanza of Book I to the end, implicitly likens his aristocratic audience to the knights and damsels of old. This unprecedented openness to external reality constitutes one of the most innovative aspects of the Inamoramento de Orlando, foreshadowing Ariosto, who would later engage with contemporary history in even more complex and profound ways. Boiardo’s ‘bela historia’ is neither an allegorical-didactic work exposing the ills of contemporary society nor a poem of escapism, for it is inspired by the cult of chivalry in Borso’s and Ercole’s Ferrara. It offers a highly idealised portrayal of chivalry, generously seasoned with subtle, good-humoured irony, with a disapproving note only very rarely entering the narrator’s warm and joyful voice. It would not be wrong to say that it is underpinned by a very positive vision of human nature inasmuch as none of its main protagonists is portrayed as evil or unchivalrous. The Inamoramento contains a number of characters who are presented as exempla of effective political leaders, i.e. Alexander of Macedon’s sons, or who possess some of the qualities that make an effective political leader. At the same time, characters whose political skills are weak or non-existent are often graced with other, chivalric virtues, and their shortcomings as rulers rarely result in their ruin; even when they do, the catastrophic downfall is postponed for as long as possible, as happens with Agramante. 82 Dorigatti, ‘Rugiero and the Dynastic Theme from Boiardo to Ariosto’, p. 98.

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Boiardo’s Charlemagne is a likeable, albeit not particularly prominent, character and a relatively successful leader. The Francophile politics of the Este rulers must have contributed to Boiardo’s and his readers’ fascination with Carolingian literature, but the image of Charlemagne that we find in the Inamoramento is much more influenced by the chivalric tradition than by contemporary history. Indeed, the cunning and sometimes ruthless Louis XI, who showed great ability in the art of statesmanship, or the no less ambitious Charles VIII have little in common with the good-natured elderly emperor who is eclipsed by younger and more charismatic Christian and Saracen characters. Although Boiardo’s representation of Charlemagne is on the whole very respectful, he is not spared the humour and gentle irony that pervade the poem. Boiardo does not see his court as embodying the most perfect chivalric model. Nor does he make Rugiero a descendant of the Trojan Franks, even if he does mention his distant kinship with Charlemagne. Boiardo’s treatment of the dynastic theme is not surprising if we remind ourselves that Borso’s and Ercole’s French sympathies did not prevent them from always putting Ferrara’s interests first.83 The poet knew that Ercole would be glad to find out that Rugiero’s lineage is even more illustrious than that of the venerable ‘re Carlone’ [King Charles] (III v 29, 4). Boiardo must have realised that, for all its humanist spirit, his poem was of limited use as a survival guide in times of crisis and upheaval. Tellingly, his muse abandoned him in 1482 and then again in 1494. By way of a conclusion, it is worth quoting the very last stanza of the Inamoramento: Mentre che io canto, o Dio redemptore, vedo la Italia tutta a fiama e a foco per questi Galli, che con gran valore vengon per disertar non sciò che loco: però vi lascio in questo vano amore di Fiordispina ardente a poco a poco. Un’altra fiata, se mi fia concesso, raconterovi el tutto per espresso. [But while I sing, o my redeemer, I see all Italy on fire, because these French – with great valour! – come to lay waste who knows what land. So I will leave this hopeless love of simmering Fiordespina. 83 One episode in particular comes to mind: in August 1466, much to the displeasure of Louis XI, on Borso’s order, Ercole led troops to Florence to support a failed coup against Piero de’ Medici led by Luca Pitti, Angelo Acciaiuoli, Diotisalvi Nerone and Nicolò Soderini. See Chiappini, Gli Estensi: mille anni di storia, pp. 142–3.

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Maria Pavlova Some other time, if God permits, I’ll tell you all there is to this.] (Inamoramento de Orlando, III ix 26)

Boiardo is clearly alarmed by the arrival of the French army, which, in his eyes, is a devastating event for the whole of the Italian peninsula, that is for the enemies and friends of the French alike. By referring to the invaders’ ‘gran valore’ [great valour] he tries unsuccessfully to bridge the gap between history and chivalric fiction, romanticising Charles VIII’s military campaign. And yet ‘gran valore’ takes on an ironic overtone, and the poet’s voice trails off into silence. Boiardo’s dismay is equally palpable in some of his despatches to Ercole in the autumn of 1494, when, as captain of Reggio, a post he had occupied since 1487, he was responsible for overseeing the passage of the French troops through Reggio, witnessing numerous acts of violence and plunder.84 Despite the long-standing friendship and alliance between Ferrara and France, the thought of establishing a parallel between Charlemagne and Charles VIII does not cross Boiardo’s mind, and the French soldiers are referred to as ‘Galli’, a term that Boiardo never uses when talking about Charlemagne and his subjects. In this respect, his response to the French descent is very different from that of his contemporary and counterpart Leonardo di Francesco Benci (1445–1526), a little-known yet interesting Florentine romancer who explicitly compares Charlemagne to the French king in the proem of his Storia del marchese Ulivieri da Vienna, which he completed in 1494.85 While Benci seems to feel at home in the desperately unstable world of 1494, Boiardo does not. Yet his lapse into silence is not only a testimony to his chivalric idealism; it is also the best thing he could do as a vir prudens. After all, the dedicatee of the poem, Duke Ercole, had ambivalent feelings about the French intervention into Italian politics and did not want to be seen as their stalwart supporter. So much so that in the battle of Fornovo (6 July 1495), which would take place in the summer after Boiardo’s death, one of his sons, Don Ferrante, would be fighting on the French side, while another son, the future Duke Alfonso I and the brother of the dedicatee of the Furioso, would be helping the Holy League to expel the French from Italy.86

84 See Zanato, Boiardo, pp. 30–3. 85 On Benci’s Storia del marchese Ulivieri da Vienna see Marco Villoresi, ‘Un autore ritrovato: primi accertamenti su Leonardo di Francesco Benci (1445–1526)’, Interpres, 19 (2000), 205–48. On Charlemagne in fifteenth-century Florentine humanist texts, including Ugolino Verino’s epic poem Carlias, which Verino wanted to dedicate to Charles VIII, see Oren Margolis, ‘Franco-Florentine Relations and the Politics of an Icon’, in The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, pp. 203–30. 86 Tuohy, Herculean Ferrara, p. 14.

6 Crisis and Continuity at the Turn of the Century Jane E. Everson

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he invasion of 1494 by the French king Charles VIII, the first incursion by a foreign European power into Italy for many generations, was seen by many writers including Boiardo and the historian Guicciardini as a disaster. Boiardo broke off his Innamorato, claiming to be unable to continue with a narrative about French heroes while French troops conducted bloody warfare on Italian soil; Guicciardini considered it the beginning of ‘le calamità d’Italia’ [the calamitous woes of Italy].1 The campaign of Charles VIII came to an end in 1495 with the disputed victory at Fornovo, but the political aspirations it unleashed remained alive. His successor, Louis XII, launched a new invasion in 1499, leading to the overthrow of the Sforza in Milan and a series of bloody battles and sieges at Alessandria and Novara.2 Louis’ campaigns culminated in the battle of Ravenna in 1512 which marked another Pyrrhic victory, this time for the French and their allies.3 Warfare between invading French, Spanish and Imperial troops would continue thereafter until well after the death of Ariosto in 1533. The wars of Italy, and in particular the involvement of the French as instigators, posed an unavoidable, almost insuperable challenge for the Carolingian narrative tradition. How to celebrate Charlemagne as Emperor of France and the French paladins as the great knightly heroes of that literary tradition when for the contemporary public the French king and his armies constituted only terrifying and hostile forces, whose behaviour was neither courteous nor heroic. In addition, some of the Italian states were close and constant allies of the French, others were consistently hostile or victims of their aggression, and yet others changed allegiance according to perceived interests or the military contract of the ruler. These differing perspectives and the changing political emphases can be traced in various ways in the poems written between 1494 and 1516, and are most especially evident in the characterisation of Charlemagne himself, the extent to which war constitutes the main narrative thread, and in how warfare is described in the poems. See Boiardo, Orlando innamorato, III, ix, 26; Francesco Guicciardini, Storia d’Italia, ed. by Costantio Panigada, 5 vols (Bari: Laterza, 1929), I, 1. 2 In addition to reviving the old Angevin claims to the Kingdom of Naples, Louis laid claim to Milan through his grandmother Valentina Visconti. 3 See again Guicciardini, Storia d’Italia, II, 8–9; Ariosto, Orlando furioso, XIV, 1–9. 1

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Charlemagne: an ambivalent figure

y long tradition, as previous chapters have noted, Charlemagne constituted the central figure of the epic narrative tradition named for him. Characterised as both King and Emperor of France (re di Francia), sometimes as Holy Roman Emperor (imperator romano), he is portrayed as the supreme ruler, the political and strategic heart of Christendom. Though often shown not taking part in military actions, Charlemagne in his court in Paris functioned as the point of departure of narratives and their natural conclusion. The Emperor dispensed justice, established peace and maintained order. The literary myth of Charlemagne fused in Italy with the political myth of the Emperor as overlord of the Italian states. While the French were safely beyond the Alps and the historical Emperor similarly absent, such myths could be safely and endlessly recycled. In the new context produced by the invasion of 1494, the representation of Charlemagne required fundamental re-examination. Charles VIII might see himself as a new Charlemagne (novo Carlo), as did Francis I later, and aspire to lead a crusade against the Muslim occupation of the Holy Land, a military expedition against the traditional enemy of Carolingian narrative,4 but could poets after 1494 continue to see the French king in such a positive and impressive light? The answer to that depends on the precise context in which a poet was working, his individual personality and reactions, as well as his sensitivity to the opinions and reactions of his public. In Ferrara, which remained allied to the French until the definitive defeat of Francis I at Pavia in 1525, a poet could theoretically continue untroubled to portray the Emperor in a positive and even heroic fashion. For poets working in nearby Mantua during the 1490s, where the Gonzaga prince oscillated between leading military opposition to the French and seeking a military condotta [command] from Louis XII, the issue was complex. Between 1503 and 1505, Mantua was allied with the French, and Marquis Francesco Gonzaga held the post of lieutenant-general of the combined forces.5 Poets might also change patrons in the course of composition, involving a further shift of perspective, and an ambivalent, even contradictory approach to depicting the French and the figure of Charlemagne in particular.

4 For the crusading aspirations of Charles VIII, see Guicciardini, Storia d’Italia, I, 4; Jane E. Everson, ‘Sulla composizione e la datazione del Mambriano’, Giornale Storico della Letteratura italiana, 160 (1983), 255–6; Ead., ‘Il Mambriano e la crisi degli anni 90’, Letteratura cavalleresca italiana, I (2019), 85–104 (p. 92 and notes); R. Morrissey, L’empereur à la barbe fleurie. Charlemagne dans la mythologie et l’histoire de la France (Paris: Gallimard, 1997), pp. 145–6, and on similar ideas by Francis I , pp. 155–6. 5 On the shifting allegiance of the Gonzaga as dependent on the precise military condotta of the time, see M. Bourne, Francesco II Gonzaga. The soldier-prince as patron (Rome: Bulzoni, 2008), pp. 38–46.

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The poets and poems of the crisis years

he texts which constitute the essential links between the poems of Boiardo and Ariosto: ‘quelli [testi] che l’Ariosto aveva a portata di mano e non poteva non conoscere’ [those poems which Ariosto had to hand, must have known and read],6 include in particular the continuations of Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato by Niccolò degli Agostini and Raffaele Valcieco, and the quite independent Carolingian narrative offered by Il Mambriano of Francesco Cieco da Ferrara. Both Degli Agostini and Cieco have in recent decades been the subject of steadily increasing scholarly attention, and in examining the epic of Charlemagne in Italy at the turn of the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries, we shall concentrate on these two authors.7 It is hard to claim much literary merit for either Degli Agostini’s or Valcieco’s Carolingian poems, whose importance lies rather in the way they illustrate the dead ends into which the Charlemagne tradition might easily have slipped in the early sixteenth century. The literary standing of Francesco Cieco, on the other hand, was recognised by his contemporaries and continues to provide an important series of comparisons and contrasts with the Innamorato which reveal the continuing dynamism of the genre.8 6 Carlo Dionisotti, ‘Fortuna e sfortuna del Boiardo’, in Il Boiardo e la critica contemporanea (Florence: Olschki, 1970), pp. 221–41 (p. 240); and subsequently ‘Fortuna del Boiardo nel Cinquecento’, in Boiardo e altri studi cavallereschi, ed. by G. Anceschi and A. Tissoni Benvenuti (Novara: Interlinea, 2003), pp. 143–61; and Carlo Dionisotti, ‘Fortuna del Boiardo nel Cinquecento’, in Scritti di storia della letteratura italiana, ed. by Tania Basile, Vincenzo Fera and Susanna Villari, 4 vols (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2008–9), I, 381–400. 7 On Il Mambriano, see the series of studies by J. E. Everson, Bibliografia del ‘Mambriano’ di Francesco Cieco da Ferrara (Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 1994); ‘Francesco Cieco da Ferrara’, in Dizionario biografico degli Italiani (1997–8), 49, pp. 715–18; The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001); ‘Il Mambriano di Francesco Cieco da Ferrara fra tradizione cavalleresca e mondo estense’, in L’uno e l’altro Ariosto. In corte e nelle delizie, ed. by G. Venturi (Florence: Olschki, 2011), pp. 153–73; F. Penzenstadler, Der ‘Mambriano’ von Francesco Cieco da Ferrara (Tubingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 1987); and E. Martini, Un romanzo di crisi: Il ‘Mambriano’ del Cieco di Ferrara (Florence: Società editrice fiorentina, 2016). On Niccolò degli Agostini, see N. Harris, Bibliografia dell’‘Orlando Innamorato’, 2 vols (Modena: Panini, 1988–91); G. Papparelli, Tra Boiardo e Ariosto: le giunte all’‘Innamorato’ di Niccolò degli Agostini e Raffaele da Verona (Salerno: Edizioni Beta, 1971); E. Baruzzo, Niccolò degli Agostini continuatore del Boiardo (Pisa: Giardini Editore, 1983); and M. Villoresi, La letteratura cavalleresca. Dai cicli medievali all’Ariosto (Rome: Carocci, 2000), Ch. 9. For a recent, detailed study, comparing and contrasting the three poets mentioned, see Anna Carocci, La lezione di Boiardo. Il poema cavalleresco dopo l’‘Innamoramento de Orlando’ (1483–1521) (Rome: Vecchiarelli, 2018). 8 See Everson, Bibliografia, pp. 39–42 for comments by contemporaries on Cieco’s

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Francesco Cieco da Ferrara

rancesco Cieco, who is known only by this nickname, first appears in historical record as a member of the household of Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and in the course of the 1490s as the subject of correspondence between the Marchioness, Isabella d’Este and her Gonzaga relatives.9 Cieco was employed both at the central court in Mantua and at one of the secondary courts, at Bozzolo. Sometime in the later 1490s he moved to the court of Ferrara and joined the household of Duke Ercole’s second son, Cardinal Ippolito d’Este. Both his Gonzaga patron and Ippolito are addressed in proemi in Il Mambriano, but Cieco does not attempt to build an elaborate dynastic theme for either patron.10 As a poet, Cieco bridges the gap between the traditional and largely anonymous cantastorie reciting his verses and known only by a nickname, and the type of poet represented by Boiardo and Ariosto, members of established families in Ferrara, with links to the court and the ruling family, the Este. Il Mambriano, the principal work for which Cieco is known, is a poem in 45 canti of even length and was composed between 1489/90 and c. 1502.11 It was printed posthumously in Ferrara in 1509.12 Following Boiardo’s lead, his poem reflects, though in different ways, the interests and concerns, cultural, political and military of his patrons. And it is this influence of the patron and the incorporation of external realities into Il Mambriano that is one of the most distinctive modifications in this period to the Italian tradition of these narratives, as the further developments in this vein by Ariosto demonstrate. The most obvious of these insertions are the allusions to the contemporary wars. Cieco’s direct comments on the wars of Italy, principally in the proemi to some of his canti (see especially those to cantos XXIV, XXXI, XXXII) reflect his changing situation and that of his patrons. He may welcome the arrival of the French king, with whom his patrons are in alliance, yet still bitterly lament the effects of warfare on the general population, and so produce an ambivalent picture of the Emperor. He may move from one kind of portrait to a less favourable one (or vice versa) poetic abilities. Most significant for the emphasis on Cieco’s reputation in the genre is the quotation in T. Folengo, Orlandino I, 21: ‘Boiardo, l’Ariosto, Pulci e il Cieco / autenticati sono et io con seco’ [Boiardo, Ariosto, Pulci and Cieco have proved themselves and I together with them]. 9 For details of Cieco’s biography and the archive documentation, see Everson, Bibliografia, pp. 17–24, and Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, 49, pp. 715–18. 10 See Mambriano I, 7, for Ippolito d’Este; XII, 1 for a Gonzaga patron. 11 For a discussion of the dates of composition of Il Mambriano see Everson, Bibliografia, pp. 26–39, and Ead., ‘Sulla composizione e la datazione del Mambriano’. 12 Francesco Cieco da Ferrara, Libro d’arme e d’amore nomato Mambriano (Ferrara: Giovanni Mazzocco, 1509). The editio princeps was followed by a further 12 editions in the course of the sixteenth century. For details of these, see Everson, Bibliografia.

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again according to the alliances of his patrons or his own circumstances and those of his public. Cieco’s subsequent move to Ferrara does not, however, seem to have produced a shift significantly in favour of the French. In addition Cieco’s poem, in common with others of the period, reflects also other elements relating to his patrons and their concerns, and in particular their interest in, and promotion of the revival of classical culture.13

A

Niccolò degli Agostini and Raffaele Valcieco

gostini, who probably came originally from Venice, also worked at the Gonzaga court in the early years of the sixteenth century, and may possibly have succeeded Cieco in the role of court poet-cum-entertainer.14 Certainly Agostini’s interest in Arthurian romance would have appealed to his Gonzaga patrons.15 His first continuation of Boiardo’s poem (known as Book IV) is dedicated to Francesco (interestingly not to Isabella who was already clearly devoting her attentions to Ariosto and his continuation).16 Agostini seems to have been peripatetic thereafter, working for the small court at Pordenone to whose lord, Bartolomeo d’Alviano, capitan generale [captain-general] of the Venetian army, he dedicated his second book (Book V) of the continuation.17 13 See Everson, Bibliografia, pp. 23–39; Bourne, Francesco II Gonzaga, pp. 29–30, 38–42. For Cieco’s incorporation of classical culture, see below, and Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism. 14 For details of Agostini’s life, see Angela Piscini, ‘Degli Agostini, Niccolò’, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (1988), 36, pp. 156–9, ; Carocci, La lezione, pp. 36–8. Agostini died in 1526. 15 Agostini is also the author of romances on Tristan and on Lancelot: Il primo libro dello inamoramento di messer Tristano e di madonna Isotta (Venezia: per Simon de Luere, 1515) followed in 1520 by a second and a third book; Lo inamoramento di messer Lancilotto e di madonna Genevra, nel quale si trattano le horribili prodezze e le strane venture de tutti li cavalieri erranti nella Tavola rotonda (Venezia: Zoppino, 1521). For the popularity of the Arthurian cycles at the Mantua court, see J. Woods-Marsden, The Gonzaga of Mantua and Pisanello’s Arthurian frescoes (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988). 16 El fin de tuti li libri delo Inamoramento di Orlando dil conte Matheo Maria Boiardo (Venice: Giorgio Rusconi, 1505). This printing of just Agostini’s Book IV has not survived, but the following year Rusconi printed Boiardo’s three books together with Agostini’s Book IV (Tutti li Libri de Orlando Innamorato del Conte de Scandiano Mattheo Maria Boiardo (Venice: Giorgio Rusconi, 1506)). On Isabella’s passionate interest in the Orlando furioso, see her letter of 3 February 1507, quoted in Stefano Jossa, Ariosto (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2009), p. 31. 17 Il Quinto Libro dello inamoramento de Orlando (Venice: Giorgio Rusconi, 1514). For the printing history thereafter of Agostini’s continuations, see Harris, Bibliografia dell’‘Orlando innamorato’. Bartolomeo d’Alviano, captain-general, led

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Raffaele Valcieco names himself in canto 18, ottava 90 of his continuation of the Innamorato (a different Book V, continuing Agostini’s Book IV).18 In Panizzi’s view, supported by Harris, he is probably to be identified with one Raphael Valcieco di Verona, author of a work entitled (in its short form) La conceptione della Madonna.19 Valcieco’s continuation Il Quinto Libro e fine de tutti li libri de lo inamoramento de Orlando appeared in 1514. Ostensibly dedicated to Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino,20 and composed in the Urbino territory of Montefeltro, the moving spirit behind this continuation and its publication was in effect Niccolò Zoppino, a key figure in the promotion and reinvigoration of the Carolingian genre from the second decade of the sixteenth century onwards.21 The editor of the recent anastatic edition of Valcieco’s poem suggests the poet must have been a courtier and close associate of Della Rovere, but Carocci is inclined to doubt this, viewing his role rather as relatively low ranking, such as that of tutor.22

I

The critical and cultural context

n a seminal study published originally in 1970, Carlo Dionisotti drew attention to the crucial significance, for the history and development of the Carolingian epic in Italy, of the period between the interruption of the Orlando Innamorato in 1494 and the publication of the Orlando Furioso in 1516.23 Dionisotti was concerned to point to a number of false assumptions habitually made by historians of the genre, and to a series of challenges, even crises which the genre faced in these years. Only a full and penetrating analysis of all these could properly explain the success that Ariosto’s poem met with, from its first appearance in print. Among the false assumptions were the tendency to pass directly from Boiardo to Ariosto,

the Venetian forces against a grand alliance involving both the French and many Italian states. For references to patrons see Agostini, IV, v, 1; IV, xi, 2 – to Francesco Gonzaga; V, verso of title page, with full dedication to ‘Bartholameo Liviano Generale Capitano della Illustrissima Signoria di Vinegia’. 18 Raffaele Valcieco da Verona, Il Quinto Libro e fine de tutti li libri de lo inamoramento de Orlando (Venice: Giorgio Rusconi ad instantia di Nicolò Zoppino, 1514). For printings of Valcieco’s continuation, see again Harris, Bibliografia. 19 See Harris, Bibliografia, I, 51. 20 Francesco Maria della Rovere, lord of Urbino and captain-general of the Papal Forces, was allied to the French against the Venetians. 21 Harris, Bibliografia, II, 70–6, 87–92. For a recent study of the key role played by Zoppino, see Carocci, La lezione, pp. 96–170. 22 Carocci, La lezione, p. 42. 23 Dionisotti, ‘Fortuna e sfortuna del Boiardo’, pp. 221–41; and ‘Fortuna del Boiardo nel Cinquecento’, in Boiardo e altri studi cavallereschi, pp. 15–26. Riccardo Bruscagli takes up and develops some of the points raised by Dionisotti in his essay ‘Ventura e inchiesta tra Boiardo e Ariosto’, in Stagioni della civiltà estense (Pisa: Nistri-Lischi, 1983), pp. 87–126.

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ignoring poems produced in the intervening years, which nonetheless constituted the immediate literary context, those texts whose contents and approach to the genre explain many of the developments found in the Furioso. As far as challenges were concerned, Dionisotti emphasised two in particular: the political and military crisis produced by the Wars of Italy, from 1494 on, which constitute ‘lo sfondo inelminabile di qualunque storia si faccia, della poesia, della lingua o di che altro, in quegli anni’ [the unavoidable background of any historical account, whether of poetry, language or anything else, relating to those years]; and the dominance of classical literature in elite and fashionable culture, together with a growing preference for other vernacular forms, in particular the lyric, but also novelle and comedy. Although it is traditional to consider the first French invasion of 1494 as the beginning of the crisis, in Dionisotti’s view the genre was already facing a series of threats starting possibly as early as 1482, when Boiardo concluded Book II of the Innamorato. When Boiardo subsequently took up the tale in Book III, composition progressed so slowly that he had only completed eight cantos and a few stanzas of the ninth by the end of 1494. Such a slow rate of progress is indicative of an unfavourable cultural context, one which increasingly favoured other genres, classical and mythological subjects, and serious history. It is thus, according to Dionisotti, incorrect to presume that the poems of Pulci and Boiardo would have guaranteed, in the later 1490s and early 1500s, automatic literary success for their followers in the genre, or that Ariosto’s choice to take up Boiardo’s unfinished tale and complete it in the Furioso was a natural and unproblematic one for an aspiring poet.24 In fact the challenges posed to the continuation of the genre of Carolingian epics at the turn of the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries came not only from external factors such as the wars of Italy and a cultural context increasingly favouring classical forms. The innovations contained in the poems of Pulci and Boiardo, and especially those of the latter’s Orlando innamorato also provoked problems for those following in the genre. In responding to the changing cultural climate of the 1470s and 1480s, Boiardo had already emphatically altered the Carolingian narrative tradition: through the introduction of a significant amount of material from the Arthurian romances, with consequent shifts in the portrayal of traditional characters like Orlando; through a structure which draws heavily on the use of entrelacement and multiple plots in place of a broadly unitary narrative; through the emphasis on individual characters’ quests, again deriving from Arthurian romance; and by the frequent use of classical motifs, adventures and even theatre of action.25 Praloran suggests that many of these 24 Carlo Dionisotti, ‘Appunti sui Cinque Canti e sugli studi ariosteschi’, in Boiardo e altri studi cavallereschi, ed. by G. Anceschi and A. Tissoni Benvenuti (Novara, Interlinea, 2003), pp. 81–93 (p. 90). 25 See R. Donnarumma, Storia dell’‘Orlando Innamorato’. Poetiche e modelli letterari in Boiardo (Lucca: Pacini-Fazzi, 1996); J. A. Cavallo, The World beyond Europe in the Romance Epics of Boiardo and Ariosto (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013); Everson, The Italian Romance Epic.

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changes, which Boiardo makes in response to the changing cultural context, have the effect of raising the literary level of the Carolingian epic, of taking it away from the popular world of the piazza and firmly into the salons of the courts. Yet, on the other hand, for poets based at the northern courts, the work of Pulci provoked other problems, in view of the intense Tuscan, even Florentine nature of his language and style, which were rooted in his own Florentine background and that of his audience, both elite and popular.26 Poets composing Carolingian narratives in the period from 1482 onwards, thus had to respond not only to external threats – political, social and cultural – but also to the conundrum of how to write after Boiardo; to which was added the question, since the Orlando innamorato had been left not only unfinished, but was also self-evidently an open work, with no clearly posited conclusion, how, if at all, to carry forward its narrative. Should a poet attempt to continue and complete that poem, and if so, for which public: the populace in the piazza, or the court in the palace? Or should he strike out on an independent course, making no attempt to deal with the unfinished Innamorato? And again, if so, for whom? In the event, it proved virtually impossible for poets to ignore Boiardo and his romance epic, but the responses of the poets we shall consider here differ quite considerably one from the other and in so doing shed light on the ways in which they responded to all the challenges posed to the genre. These responses will be examined here through the presentation of warfare in the narrative, its relative prominence and the elements highlighted, and the character of Charlemagne and his role as both military leader and supreme ruler.

T

Narrating the war

he problem facing poets of the Carolingian epic in the period after 1494 was not so much the context of contemporary war around them – there were in fact many poems produced which recounted the actual battles, sieges and conflicts of the time and found an audience27 – but rather reconciling in some effective way the narrative of the fictional wars of Charlemagne against his traditional pagan opponents with the realities of modern contemporary warfare. Since warfare constituted the principal narrative theme of Carolingian epic, with Charlemagne as its central directing figure, some answer had to be found to this dilemma. One strategy, already used quite considerably in Boiardo’s poem, was to move the theatre of war as far away from Europe as possible. This achieved several aims. It diminished any sense of real threat to the poet and his public; it allowed the narrative of the 26 M. Praloran, ‘L’utopia del poema cavalleresco alla fine del Quattrocento’, in Boiardo, Ariosto e i libri di battaglia, ed. by A. Canova and P. Vecchi Galli (Novara: Interlinea, 2007), pp. 15–39. 27 On these texts providing descriptions of contemporary battles, rather like versified news reports, see Marina Beer and Cristina Ivaldi, ‘Poemetti bellici del Rinascimento italiano: trecento testimoni per una ricerca’, in Schifanoia, I (1986), pp. 91–9.

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battles to be more fanciful, less realistic; it could introduce exotic elements such as giants; and in effect it minimised the role and involvement of Charlemagne, king and Emperor of France. Another possible strategy, also already used by Boiardo, was to diminish the space allocated to serious warfare and to expand the episodes of adventure and romance.28 A further strategy which marks an important shift in the period is the abandonment of any sense of the disaster of Roncevaux as the definitive conclusion of the narrative. The battle of Roncevaux and the death of Roland/ Orlando do not figure in any of the poems written in the wake of the Innamorato. The various balances that these strategies could produce can be traced through the poems of Cieco, Agostini and Valcieco. The early cantos of Il Mambriano set the scenes of warfare in France, with Mambriano’s invasion and siege of Montalbano. But from canto IX that conflict is transposed to the Middle East, where it is eventually concluded in canto XXIV. Orlando’s campaigns soon reach Africa (in canto XI) concluding there in canto XX. In both cases these theatres of war are conveniently removed from Italy, but still located in real geographical regions: the fictional warfare is set in the real world.29 As a continuator of the Orlando innamorato, Agostini, in contrast, is obliged by the ending of Boiardo’s poem to locate the narrative of warfare in France, indeed around Paris, but he defers taking up this theme for the whole of his first book (Book IV).30 He devotes Book V, ii, iii, and iv to describing the fighting around the city before, in V, vii, narrating the death of Agramante and the flight of the pagans.31 Only at this point does he use the tactic of moving the theatre of war safely away from Europe. Valcieco in his continuation does not take up the narrative of war until his canto X, but then devotes most of cantos X–XV to relating the battles around Paris, before once again, like Agostini, moving the war to North Africa. Here too the tensions between the traditional fictional wars of the Carolingian tradition and the reality of contemporary military campaigns are evident. In order to offset the real contemporary threat (war on home territory) all three poets site the fictional wars away from 28 Agostini in particular follows this pathway, devoting virtually all his Book IV to adventures. 29 The third campaign, Orlando’s liberation of the shrine of Compostela and overthrow of petty tyrants, is set in Spain, which brings warfare in the Mambriano back to a traditional literary setting, but not especially close to home for his immediate public. 30 The last completed canto of the Orlando innamorato, III, viii, relates the opening stages of the siege of Paris. By omitting the narrative of the war of Charlemagne against Agramante from his Book IV, composed in the early years of the sixteenth century when there was fighting throughout Italy, Agostini neatly sidesteps the paradox of real versus fictional war and the role of Charlemagne, also absent from Book IV; and see further below. 31 Both Agostini’s Book V and that of Valcieco appeared in the second decade of the century, in 1514, when the wars of Italy had reached a different stage, and the French were seen as perhaps less threatening.

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France and Italy, thus abandoning a major element of the narrative tradition. At the same time, however, moving the ideological warfare of Christian versus Saracen to Africa and the Middle East reflects another aspect of contemporary reality, namely the threat constituted by Turkish expansionism and territorial invasions.32 Although all three poets are writing for patrons directly involved in the contemporary wars, none of them attempts for the most part to describe war in realistic terms. Pitched battles are envisaged as encounters between individual mounted knights, which may turn into chivalric episodes of withdrawing to fight alone, or conversion at the point of death. Weapons deployed are mainly those of old-fashioned chivalric combat, lances and swords, supplemented on the pagan side by some fearsome armoury and in Valcieco by Astolfo’s use of the magic lance.33 To this fundamental lack of realism in the description of fighting, Cieco adds a significant dose of comic incident. An early pagan casualty is crushed to death when a giant falls on him (Mamb. VIII, 33–6), while the battles in the Middle East are enlivened, and eventually won by the intervention of Malagigi and his cohort of demons (Mamb. XIV, 37–9, 72; XXIII, 84–8). Moreover, this lack of realism is further spiced up by Cieco through the introduction of considerable exchanges of dialogue between opponents in battle, which are similarly humorous, ridiculous and often mocking (Mamb. VI, 41–55).34 In this one may see a deliberate policy by Cieco of reducing the threat of war through the use of mockery and laughter. There is, however, one aspect of the war narratives that distinguishes Cieco from Agostini and Valcieco, and that is in the descriptions of the conquest of North Africa. In Il Mambriano Orlando’s goal is to capture Utica, overthrowing its tyrannical ruler Meonte. In Agostini and Valcieco his goal is Biserta, Agramante’s capital. Both types of narrative involve a siege eventually successfully concluded with the capture of the city. In the two continuators, what follows is bloodthirsty, cruel and violent. Biserta is totally destroyed by fire and the sword. The Christian troops led by Orlando sack the city and exterminate the population. This is in fact the note on which Valcieco’s poem ends, with a slaughter of innocent children, in which Bradamente and Marfisa participate, and Orlando fills the halls of the palace with the dead and throws pagans alive out of the windows. 32 Cf. Chapter 4 above. 33 See for example the weapons of the giant Archimbaldo – an anchor, and a powder of sulphur and quicklime, which when thrown in Rinaldo’s eyes temporarily blinds him painfully (Mamb. XIV, 23; 27); and Valcieco, V, c. xiii. Although the first French invasion, of Charles VIII in 1494, struck the Italians especially because of the artillery components, none of these three poets, unlike Ariosto, makes any reference to guns, firepower, cannons and the weaponry of contemporary war. 34 See also Everson, The Italian Romance Epic, p. 220; Ead., ‘Sconvolgere gli stereotipi: la caratterizzazione del traditore e della donna guerriera nel Mambriano’, in Diffusion et réception du genre chevaleresque, ed. by Jean-Luc Nardone, intro. by Dominique Fratani (Toulouse: Université de Toulouse – CIRILLIS italien, 2005), pp. 165–82 (pp. 167–70).

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Sia intrata dento la gente christiana – Facendo con tal gente stranio giocho Taglia e flagella la gente pagana E per le case va impizando el focho Già va ne l’aire la scura fumana Per questo i pagan fuge a pocho a pocho Mamoli e donne corre per le strade Che mai se vide tanta crudeltade. Ogniun de questi adesso fu crudele E da se spento ogni pieta havia Mamolli uccide e done meschinelle Che chiamando merce forte piangia Da mover a pietà fin a le stelle E far pianger li sassi in ogni via Ma più costor li uccide e accende el foco E par che questo a vendicar sia poco. (Valcieco, canto XVII, 24–5) [The Christian forces entered, creating havoc among such people. They slash and beat down the pagans and go through all the houses setting them on fire. Already the dark smoke rises into the air, and as a result the pagans flee little by little. Women and children run through the streets. Whoever saw such great cruelty! Each of these attackers was now cruel and had extinguished in himself all pity. They kill children and wretched women who loudly weeping cry out for mercy, such as to move even the stars to pity and make the stones of every street weep. But these kill them all the more and set fires alight, and it seems that this is small vengeance.]

It is a description that seems to prefigure the violence of the sack of Rome more than 10 years later, but perhaps was already all too realistic in the context of the wars of Italy.35 Yet the description, and even more Orlando’s actions, contrast markedly with the siege of Utica in Cieco’s account. Here, when his African allies begin to rape and pillage, Orlando sternly forbids such behaviour (Mamb. XVII, 65–72) executing those who disobey and restoring women and children to their families. Such behaviour is perhaps less realistic, but is closely linked to Cieco’s particular portrayal of Orlando.

The character of Charlemagne in the poems of the crisis Charlemagne in Il Mambriano

A

s the earliest of the poems to address the French problem, the Mambriano provides three distinct portraits of Charlemagne which together exemplify well the ambivalence felt by poets towards the central figure of the narrative and 35 See, for example, the sack of Capua in 1501 by Cesare Borgia and his troops, with the reported death of all 6,000 inhabitants.

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the links between fiction and reality in this respect. At the beginning of the poem Charlemagne is largely shown in traditional guise. He is the incarnation of his subjects, symbol of their power, the personification of the people and especially of the Christian or French army. In the first battle of the poem, outside Montalbano, Charlemagne is not in fact present on the battlefield, but is nonetheless felt to be present by Mambriano’s soldiers, for whom the Christian army is simply ‘quei di Carlo’ [Carlo’s men] and the mere thought of the arrival of the Emperor on the battlefield causes them to retreat: ‘Or che faremo noi se Carlo arriva / poi che a sì pochi durar non possiamo’ [What shall we do now if Charles arrives, since we cannot stand against so few] (VI, 32). This opening portrait emphasises Charlemagne’s status as warrior and military leader, and this is confirmed almost immediately afterwards in the following battle, in which Charlemagne plays an active role as combatant and the poet underlines his abilities as a fighter, in combat first against a giant, Nubiano: Da la parte ove Carlo si scoperse, Combatteva Nubian, gigante alpestro, E più persone havea morte e disperse, Ma il bon re Carlo, di guerra maestro, Vedendo tanto danno nol sofferse, Anzi ferì colui nel fianco destro Per modo che d’arzone il trasse morto, Il che fu a nostri singular conforto. (VIII, 61) [In the area where Charles entered the fray, Nubiano, a wild, rough giant was fighting. He had killed and routed many soldiers, but Charles the good king, expert in war, when he saw such great harm, would not let it continue, but instead struck the giant in the right side in such a way that he toppled him dead from the saddle. This brought great encouragement to our (the Christian) side.]36

And then against Mambriano himself: Parimente già s’era combattuto Fra Mambriano e Carlo imperatore, Tenendo spada a spada, e scuto a scuto Senza vantaggio alcun più di tre hore. (VIII, 77) [In the same way, sword against sword and shield against shield, the combat between Mambriano and the emperor Charles had already continued for more than three hours without any advantage to either side.]

As Cieco notes, this image of the Emperor as valiant warrior active in battle is one consolidated by the long literary tradition, in a whole range of preceding texts, and is vividly encapsulated in memories the poet has Charlemagne himself recall:

36 Notice the poet’s association of himself with Charlemagne’s army at this point. All translations from the Mambriano are my own.

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Tornavali a memoria i suoi primi anni E le cose ch’in Spagna havea già fatte, L’alte fatiche e i smesurati affanni E l’arme contra lui più volte tratte. (VIII, 72) [He called to mind his early years, and the deeds which he had formerly performed in Spain; the wearisome campaigns and the interminable sufferings and the weapons of war drawn more than once against him.]

Nevertheless the portrait of Charlemagne as warrior is not wholly complimentary. The Emperor is not, unlike Orlando, invincible. He is unhorsed in the combat against Mambriano and only saved from capture or death by the timely arrival first of Ulivieri (VIII, 77–8), and then Rinaldo (ibid., 92–100).37 Charlemagne’s desire to be in the thick of the battle may in one sense be proof of his greatness of character, but it is potentially dangerous for the Emperor to forget his real responsibilities as ruler:38 Questi pensieri il condusserno a tanto Ch’ el se domenticò la propria vita, L’imperio, il setro, la corona e il manto E con Gioiosa, sua spada forbita, Si volge agli nimici da ogni canto Mostrando che da lui non è partita Per questo la grandeza del suo animo E ch’egli è più che mai franco e magnanimo. (ibid., 73) [These thoughts brought him to such a pitch that he forgot his very life, the empire, his sceptre, crown and royal mantle, and with Gioiosa, his burnished sword he turned against his enemies on all sides, showing that in spite of this he had not lost his nobility of spirit and that he was more than ever bold and greathearted.]

More appropriate, the poet suggests, is Charlemagne’s role and actions as overall commander and general. It is the Emperor who rightly gives orders setting out strategy, dispatching envoys to Mambriano and seeking the counsel of his chief warriors (VI, 92, VII, 7). Yet even this early in the poem Charlemagne is portrayed 37 For similar incidents in the French and English traditions, see The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England: The Matter of France in Middle English and Anglo-Norman Literature, ed. by Phillipa Hardman and Marianne Ailes (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2017); and The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature, ed. by Marianne J. Ailes and Philip E. Bennett (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming). 38 The danger was to be amply proved at the battle of Pavia in 1525 when Francis I was captured on the battlefield, an event which in effect spelt the beginning of the end of French ambitions of political dominance in Italy. For Charlemagne’s participation in battle, see also Philip Bennett, ‘Charlemagne the Warrior’, in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature.

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as displaying certain important weaknesses of character. He is prone to despair very quickly, as Cieco illustrates in a very effective metaphor: Carlo fè come suol far quando more Una candella, la qual sminuendo In sé la forza e dupplica il splendore. (VIII, 90) [ Just like a candle does as it dies, its strength flickers and sputters, yet redoubles in brightness, so did Charles act.]

And his physical and mental strength is limited: Questa parola a Carlo fu sì greve Considerando che perduti havea Renaldo e il suo nepote in tempo breve Ch’apena in piede regger si potea E come al sol una massa di neve Si strugge, così lui se distruggea Vedendo tutte le desgratie inseme Rivolte sopra lui con furie extreme. (ibid., 83) [This speech was so grievous to Charles, as he considered that he had lost Rinaldo and his nephew in a short space of time, with the result that he could scarcely stand upright. And as a pile of snow melts and is dispersed in the sun, so he faded and failed, seeing every disaster directed against him with extreme violence/fury.]

Charlemagne may be, as Gano addresses him, ‘sacro imperator’ (VII, 14), but just before this, and, in effect in the presence of his counsellors, the poet describes him as ‘quel buon vecchio’ [that good old man] (ibid., 13). Interwoven with this portrait of Charlemagne as warrior is another traditional aspect of the Emperor: he is deeply pious, the elect of God and defender of the Christian faith. When he finds himself and the whole Christian army bereft of the support of Orlando and Rinaldo, he turns in prayer to God, seeking not only guidance, but offering himself as a sacrifice or scapegoat for the presumed sins of his people. As ruler divinely appointed and as representative of his people (‘quei di Carlo’) it is his responsibility to ensure their safety and protection: Sentendo Carlo tante cose adverse, Drizò la mente a Dio così parlando: ‘O Signor, non voler che in tutto perse Sian le mie forze, a te mi racomando, E s’io t’havesse con opre perverse Offeso, perdonanza te addimando, Non consentier, o Maestà serena, Che ’l giusto per l’ingiusto porti pena.39

39 These last four lines are probably intended only as a general confession of sins, as

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Vogli sopra di me tutto il furore De la iusta Tua ira, e non volere Punir altri che Carlo imperatore. Io son el capo e debbo provedere Con summa diligenza a chi è inferiore, E se gl’advien ch’io gli lasci cadere In qualche fallo per mia negligenza, Io ne debbo far la penitenza’. (VII, 11–12) [When Charles heard of so many threats, he turned his thoughts to God, saying: ‘O Lord, do not let my strength to be wholly lost. I entrust myself to you and if I have offended you with sinful deeds, I beg forgiveness from you. O most serene majesty, do not allow the just to bear the penalty for the unjust. Turn upon me all the fury of your just anger, and do not seek to punish anyone but Charles the emperor. I am the head and should provide with the greatest diligence for those who are more lowly. And if it should happen that I let them fall into some error through my negligence, I should do penance for that’.]

In these early cantos, probably written before 1494, Cieco therefore provides an almost wholly admirable picture of the French King and Emperor, but one which indicates weak points which he will exploit as the poem develops.40 When the narrative of war in the Mambriano moves away from France to the Middle East and Africa, the focus on Charlemagne as both military general and warrior gives place to a greater emphasis on his role as ruler and emperor. In this portrait of the Emperor in the central sections of the Mambriano Charlemagne appears only at the heart of his empire, in Paris, governing as political leader and administering justice in his court. This too is a largely admirable portrait, emphasised by the repetition of certain descriptive phrases: ‘gran re di Parigi’; ‘magnanimo re’; ‘imperator supremo’; ‘imperator giusto e preclaro’ [great king of Paris; magnanimous king; supreme Emperor; just and most noble Emperor].41 His supreme authority is acknowledged not only by the Christians, but also by all the various pagan rulers from across the Middle East and Africa. In this guise Cieco seems to be indeed presenting Charlemagne in his historical role as new Roman Emperor, the role conferred by his coronation in Rome in 800 AD. Here at the centre of this new Roman Empire he receives the tribute of subjugated rulers and newly won allies, both those defeated by Rinaldo in the Middle East, and those conquered and converted by Orlando in Africa: ‘Con gli altri nella pace si obbligorno / di dare ogni anno il censo a Carlo Mano’ [With the other rulers they undertook in peace

was common before battle, but Cieco may also be subtly recalling the tradition of Charlemagne’s incest, for which see Chapter 1 above. 40 On the dating of these cantos, see Everson, ‘Datazione’ and Bibliografia, pp. 27–8. 41 See respectively Mamb. XIV, 39; XXVI, 35; XXIII, 23; XXVI, 39.

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to give tribute every year to Charlemagne] (Mamb. XXXV, 37, 1–2).42 This classical Roman dimension of Charlemagne culminates in the victory procession described in canto XXXV, 7–40, which parallels in words the contemporary visualisation by Mantegna of the Triumphs of Caesar, painted similarly for the Gonzaga court.43 In Cieco’s account the triumphs open with ‘il censo che il re Mambriano / mandava a Carlo pel figliuol d’Amone’ [the tribute that king Mambriano sent to Charles for the son of Amone (Rinaldo)] (ottava 10), consisting of shields and trophies of gold, a statue of Mambriano as a suppliant, a whole herd of fine chargers, camels laden with treasure, and 22 squires and 30 knights (ottave 8–9) and conclude with a procession of 2,000 prisoners marching in front of the triumphal chariot bearing Rinaldo: Più altre cose assai ch’io non vi narro Eran portate inanzi al fio d’Amone E lui dopo sopra il triomphal carro Seguiva ornato di molte corone Con uno habito in dosso il più bizarro Che mai se usasse per alcun barone E sei destrier via più che neve bianchi Conducevano il car leggiadri e franchi. (XXXV, 39) [Many more trophies were carried before the son of Amone (Rinaldo) which I shall not describe to you. He followed behind on a triumphal chariot, adorned with many crowns and wearing the most strange robe ever donned by any peer of France, while six war horses, whiter than snow, noble and light of foot drew the chariot.]

In this central section Charlemagne is seen as the merciful dispenser of justice, in the case of Manfredonio, and the arbiter or referee in disputes between his own paladins.44 In an important exchange involving Astolfo, his words become increasingly stern as he moves from gentle jesting to an assertion of his authority as supreme over all: Carlo disse: ‘Tu hai torto a condolerti, Perché s’io havesse voluto premiarti, 42 See the whole section Mamb. XXXV, 7–41. The acknowledgement of Charlemagne as supreme ruler of the pagans as well as Christians has no precedents in the original French tradition. Relationships between Christians and pagans (Saracens and Turks mainly), both historical and literary, is fluid and nuanced in the Italian context, for which see Annalisa Perrotta, I cristiani e gli Altri. Guerre di religione, politica e propaganda nel poema cavalleresco di fine Quattrocento (Rome: Bagatto Libri, 2017); Maria Pavlova, Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto (Cambridge: Legenda-MHRA, 2020). It is more likely that Cieco is reflecting these contemporary mixed views, than suggesting that Charlemagne’s reign constituted a Golden Age. 43 See also on this E. Martini, Un romanzo di crisi, pp. 389–91. 44 Mamb. XXVI, 43.

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Astolfo mio, secondo li tuoi merti, Io potea iustamente mal trattarti’. (XXXV, 76)45 [Charles said: ‘you are wrong to complain, because, Astolfo, if I had wanted to reward you according to your deserts, I could have justifiably treated you badly.]

This too is a positive portrait, but it is notable especially for being wholly located in Paris. The Emperor is in his legitimate territory – France. The cantos where this portrait figures belong mainly to the period after 1494 but before the renewal of invasions by Louis XII in 1499. In this period, following the defeat at Fornovo (1495) the French king was indeed at home in France, and thus, despite uncertainties about renewed hostilities, less threatening. The third portrait is perhaps the most interesting, since it belongs to the period after 1499 when the French were not only present in northern Italy conducting a series of bloody campaigns, but also creating a challenging situation in terms of alliances for Cieco’s patrons. In these last cantos of the poem (XLIV–XLV), Charlemagne appears as a figure of fun, a ridiculous and weak ruler, fearful for himself and far from heroic. When, following a duel (in fact against a phantom challenger) he finds himself imprisoned, together with most of his paladins, he is the first to agree to produce a huge sum as ransom (XLV, 32), revealing a cowardice that is then shown up by Rinaldo and the reactions of Gano among others:46 Carlo abbraciò Renaldo e disse: ‘Figlio, Non ti metter, se m’ami, a tal periglio, Perché costui excede di possanza Quanti pagani al mondo stati sono E se ’l suo re gli servava lianza, L’imperio nostro giva in abandono, Sicché lascial tornar alla sua stanza Con quel che ’l ciel di noi gli ha fatto dono’. (XLV, 38–9) [Charles embraced Rinaldo and said: ‘Son, if you care for me, do not put yourself in danger, because this opponent exceeds in might all the pagan lords who have ever lived, and if his king were to keep faith with him, our empire would be destroyed altogether. So, let him return to his homeland with what heaven has given to him as a gift from us’.]

The fact that this particular incident is a joke stratagem devised by Malagigi to provide funds for the perennially improvident Rinaldo, as the audience is well aware, underlines the mockery of the Emperor by the poet. Humour is thus used to render the French threat negligible, to downplay the dangers, to provide for the audience comic relief in place of anxiety. Cieco thus leaves his audience with an image of Charlemagne brought low, belittled, humiliated and ridiculed. No longer a warlike 45 For the light-hearted opening exchange see Mamb. XXXV, 51. 46 For these reactions, by Gano, Namo, Turpin and others, see XLV, 40–2.

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Emperor nor the supreme authority over Christian and pagan, he seems concerned only to preserve his own skin and his limited power. Charlemagne in the continuations Though writing only a year or two later, and with the French still present and fighting in Italy, Agostini pays no attention to the figure of Charlemagne in his Book IV. He is completely absent from this poem written in the first few years of the new century. In Agostini’s Book V, written almost a decade later, the Emperor becomes a significant player in the action both as ruler and as warrior. For the first half of this book Charlemagne is presented in a positive and admirable light. He is magnanimous, generous and courteous to his enemies during the truce, and dominates the scenes at court, where he is repeatedly described by both author and characters as ‘magnanimo’ and ‘magno imperatore’.47 When the war resumes, he is the supreme commander of the Christian forces, and engages in combat directly with Agramante himself.48 Yet in the later cantos, after the destruction of Biserta and the death of Agramante, Charlemagne reverts to a much older, more traditional figure, one who is easy prey to Gano’s treacherous suggestions, and hostile to Rinaldo in particular. He is presented as utterly unprepared, both as ruler and military leader, for the attack on Paris launched by Rodomonte at the instigation of Gano.49 Indeed the picture of Charlemagne here is perhaps the most ridiculous of all in poems of this period: Quando re Carlo, che giacea nel letto udì l’horribel suon pien di spavento che li fece tremar il cor nel petto con seco disse: O Dio, ch’è quel ch’io sento? (V, xi, 20) [When King Charles, who was lying in bed, heard the terrible sound, full of fear which made his heart tremble in his breast, said to himself: O God, what is this I hear?]

His response is largely repeatedly to lament the absence of Orlando (V, xi, 52, 71–81), and to prepare for the succession after his death. He shows a kind of desperate courage in undertaking the duel against Rodomonte, but is easily overthrown by the pagan, leaving his people barricaded in Paris and without protection, thus falling into the error he was warned against, and avoided, in Il Mambriano.50 Charlemagne is in due course freed from prison not by Orlando but by Mandricardo 47 Agostini, V, i, 39–40, 53. 48 Ibid., 81–2, and canto III. Cf. the similar pictures given in the first two phases of the Mambriano, discussed above. 49 Ibid., cantos X–XI. For this unflattering portrait of the gullible Emperor, cf. discussion in Perrotta’s chapter above. 50 See above, pp. 237–9 and Mamb. VII, 13–15.

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(now a convert to the Christian faith), whom he recognises as the equal of Orlando. This latter returns from Africa in time for the celebrations, and is received by Charlemagne as in effect the sole guarantor of his rule: ‘unico exaltator di mia corona / e del mio real scetro almo e preclaro’ [the only, and glorious and noble upholder of my crown and of my sceptre] (V, xiii, 98). Supreme authority no longer resides with the Emperor. Though less convincing than Cieco’s, Agostini’s presentation of the Emperor follows a similar parabola from valiant warrior and general to enfeebled and ridiculous old man. Valcieco’s portrait, dating to the beginning of the second decade of the sixteenth century, would seem to follow only Cieco’s last, most ridiculous image of the Emperor. His Charlemagne is consistently weak and susceptible to Gano’s wiles (cantos I; XVI). In the quarrel which occupies part of canto I, Charlemagne is described as ‘turbato’ and at one stage leaves his throne to enter the fray, displaying very inappropriate behaviour. He is quite evidently not in charge in Paris, since Brunello manages to effect a series of egregious thefts across the whole city.51 The principal scenes of war involving the Emperor concern the siege of Paris by Agramante, and here Charlemagne figures at times, but not consistently, both as general disposing the troops, and as combatant. In the battle recounted in cantos XIII–XIV, it is Orlando who directs the Christian army not Charlemagne, who figures merely as one of the troop commanders. Nevertheless, in Valcieco’s portrait, Charlemagne is capable of fighting as ‘degno re imperial corona’ [worthy king and imperial crown], very forcefully and vigorously: E chi vedesse Carlo imperatore come a pagain asetta i lor zuponi menando colpi de tanto valore che taglia or questo or quel sin su li arzoni. (XV, 58)52 [And anyone who saw the Emperor Charles as he sets about the pagans, dealing blows against their armour with such valour that he splices now this one and now that right down to the saddle bow.]

In spite of these vigorous blows, Charlemagne’s participation in battle is not very successful. He is knocked off his horse, suffers a great blow to the head and has to be rescued from danger by Danese. The emphasis that Valcieco conveys is above all of Charlemagne as old; he is ‘lo imperatore vechio Carlo’ [the old Emperor Charles] and ‘vechio Carlo Mano’ [old Charlemagne] (XV, 148), and for Valcieco no more than one among many in battle. The last scenes in which Charlemagne figures 51 Brunello steals all the bells from the city’s churches, together with the clappers and bell ropes, as well as a chalice and paten from a priest saying Mass. The theft is intended to prevent the bells summoning the people of Paris to prayers for victory; Valcieco, V, vi. 52 See also Valcieco V, xv, 134–5.

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present again the weak and gullible ruler, prey to Gano’s deceits: ‘Carlo fu in vita sua homo credibile / maximamente a chi sa ben zarlare’ [Charles was during his lifetime a credulous person, especially of those who know how to tell a convincing story] (XVI, 18). Though this is a traditional portrait and can be found repeatedly in the preceding tradition,53 it remains a demeaning, unflattering image, all the more so when set against the ideas of classical humanism and revived interest in the Roman Empire.

E

Classical culture and the Carolingian epic

lite scorn for the popular narratives of Charlemagne and the paladins had been a feature of the response of the educated almost from the start. It had, however, been reinforced from the mid-fifteenth century by the increasing dominance of classical literature and culture.54 The fashion for all things classical constituted a challenge to the Carolingian narrative tradition as great as that posed by the threats of war. To survive and flourish at the turn of the sixteenth century the narratives of the Carolingian tradition had to find ways to incorporate classical motifs, ideas, themes, aspects of characterisation and narrative lines, in short to provide for the elite audience of patrons and courts poems which appealed to their interests in the newly revived culture of the classical world.55 To achieve this goal, poets from Boiardo on looked to the classical epics, that of Virgil in particular. The most immediately striking distinction between Virgil’s epic and the Carolingian narratives is the presence in the Aeneid of a clear dynastic and foundation myth, centred on the principal hero. Such a narrative had an undoubted appeal for aristocratic patrons in late fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century Italy, since such narrative myths could be used as propaganda to reinforce their political standing and rule. For the Este in Ferrara in this period there was the additional benefit of proclaiming the legitimacy of Ercole against the rival claims of other family members.56 Boiardo had thus intro53 See the discussions on this topic in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature. 54 For a summary discussion of such attitudes, see J. E. Everson, ‘Read what I say and not what I read: Reading and the romance epic in fifteenth-century Ferrara’, Italian Studies, 58 (2003), 31–47. See also Introduction, pp. 20–2 above, and The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, ed. by William J. Purkis and Matthew Gabriele (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2016), Ch. 7 on Petrarch’s views. 55 For a full discussion of how Pulci, Boiardo and Cieco achieved this fusion or syncretism of medieval Carolingian material with classical themes, characters and structures, see Everson, The Italian Romance Epic. 56 For the complex internal rivalries within the Este family, and for the life, military career and cultural achievements of Ercole d’Este see T. Tuohy, Herculean Ferrara. Ercole d’Este (1471–1505) and the Invention of a Ducal Capital (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 4–20; and E. G. Gardner, Dukes and Poets in Ferrara (New York: Haskell House, 1968; 1st ed., 1904), pp. 122–64.

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duced the dynastic theme based on Ruggiero and Bradamante, and set out the main lines which Ariosto would eventually significantly develop. But other poets found the incorporation of a dynastic theme and foundation myth more problematic. Cieco in Mantua, where he began his poem, clearly adumbrates in the early cantos a patron-orientated theme in his characterisation of Bradamante, and the attraction felt for her by the pagan Sinodoro (Mamb. VI, 80–2; IX, 21–3). But in the course of the poem this narrative strand is modified significantly: Bradamante remains defiantly unmarried,57 while Sinodoro is married to Fulvia, ruler of Piraga and a Christian convert like him (Mamb. XXIX, 66, 69). In the final cantos of the poem, and after his transfer from Mantua to Ferrara, Cieco addressed a very different interest of his new patrons, namely their religious piety, and developed a narrative of pilgrimage by Orlando to the shrine at Compostela, fusing it with a liberation of that shrine from bandits and pagans: a narrative theme that matched Ercole’s unfulfilled desire to go on pilgrimage to Compostela, together with contemporary aspirations, similarly unrealised, to liberate the holy places in Palestine.58 It should nonetheless be noted that Cieco gives this religious and military expedition to Orlando and not to Charlemagne, in spite of the emperor’s role as defender of Christendom. In deliberately setting out to continue Boiardo’s story, Agostini is obliged, unlike Cieco, to address the dynastic theme of Ruggiero and Bradamante, adumbrated in the Innamorato. It is clear, however, that this theme holds little interest for him, since he rapidly effects Ruggiero’s conversion, and proceeds immediately to narrate the consummation of their union in a physical if not legal-ceremonial sense (IV, vii). That such behaviour in a progenitor of a noble house is highly inappropriate seems not to trouble Agostini. The marriage is formally celebrated at the beginning of Agostini’s Book V (canto I), and the fact that Ruggiero is now fighting for Charlemagne against Agramante allows Agostini to spark off narratives of combat and pitched battles which occupy much of Book V. In spite of Ruggiero’s participation alongside Charlemagne and the paladins in defence of France and Christendom, there is in effect no narrative development of his character or of the dynastic theme, and indeed once he accompanies Orlando to the sack of Biserta, Agostini effectively forgets about this character. Valcieco has even less real interest in the dynastic theme or understanding of its links to classical culture and elite preferences. He too narrates Ruggiero’s baptism and assumption into the army of Charlemagne and participation in battle, in particular against Agramante (Valcieco V, ii). From Boiardo he takes up the hint that Ruggiero will die as a result of Gano’s 57 In contrast to her character in the poems of Agostini and Valcieco. 58 See J. E. Everson, ‘Le pèlerinage à Compostelle: histoire et littérature à la cour de Ferrare à la fin du quinzième siècle’, in L’Épopée romane: Actes du XVe Congrès de la Société Internationale Rencesvals, 2 vols (Poitiers, CEMS University of Poitiers, 2002), I, 145–55; Gardner, Dukes and Poets, pp. 218–19.

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treachery. The narrative of his death is at once macabre, ridiculous and perhaps all too realistic in contemporary warfare (Valcieco, V, xiv). The only dynastic element that Valcieco ensures is the birth of Ruggiero’s son, Rugino (ibid., canto X). It is perhaps not surprising that neither Agostini nor Valcieco make anything of the dynastic theme. It is of no interest to their changing non-Este patrons, and neither displays any interest in raising the literary level of their poem through incorporation of this classical theme.59 Incorporating a patron-orientated strand always held potential difficulties. Patrons might change, or be replaced by rivals, or indeed die before the poem was completed.60 Easier to accommodate, in terms of borrowings from classical culture, were decorative and descriptive elements, together with reworkings of classical myths.61 So Cieco in Il Mambriano introduces in the very first canto a figure of Circe (or perhaps Nausicaa), in the person of Carandina, placing her on a fertile island, reached by shipwreck (Mambriano) but also by magic (Rinaldo) (Mamb. I, 28–30 and 73–9). Her palace is firmly modelled on contemporary palaces, with frescoes of classical heroes, together with Arthurian knights. And she herself, endowed with magic powers, seduces paladins, both Christian and pagan, and effectively imprisons them, though still in human form (Mamb. I, 41–56, 69–80). Later in the poem, Cieco turns to Ovid and the Metamorphoses to retell the story of Meleager, giving to it strange twists and linking it to other myths (Mamb. XXXVII–XXXVIII). Such myths reflected the decorative schemes of patrons’ palaces, and spoke to their aesthetic programmes.62 59 For Ariosto’s approach to the dynastic theme and role of Charlemagne in that, see Jossa’s chapter on Ariosto below. 60 See, for example, Tito Vespasiano Strozzi, Borsias, left unfinished after Borso d’Este’s death. 61 Neither Degli Agostini nor Valcieco shows any interest in inserting episodes based on classical literature into their poems. Both use passing references to standard heroes like Hercules, but these are entirely superficial. In Agostini, Alcina continues to appear, but not with her Circe-like behaviour and magic. The classical deities also figure in both as ephemeral presences, the rationale for whose appearance is not explained. There is perhaps a nod to classical myths in Valcieco’s narrative of the death of Angelica, struck by a thunderbolt hurled down not by Jupiter, in spite of his appearance a little earlier, but by the Christian God (Valcieco V, ix). 62 Interest in classical themes is especially evident in the fresco programmes of the Gonzaga and Este residences, and in the collections of decorated maiolica they commissioned; subjects taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Virgil’s Aeneid appear in both. See Splendours of the Gonzaga, ed. by David Chambers and Jane Martineau, Exhibition catalogue, Victoria and Albert Museum, November 1981–January 1982 (Milan: Amilcare Pizzi, 1981); Julia E. Poole, Italian Maiolica (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), p. 58 and notes; Gli Dei a Corte. Letteratura e immagini nella Ferrara estense, ed. by Gianni Venturi and Francesca

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The impact of classical literature broadened its reach from the 1490s on as a result of developments in printing, and the increasing availability of affordable texts. Poets like Cieco were thus able not only themselves to draw on a range of classical authors, but also to depend on recognition of adaptations and rewritings of classical authors by their readers. Boiardo had drawn significantly on Herodotus’ Histories, a text he himself translated and which as a result circulated in the court circles in Ferrara for whom he was particularly writing. The classical texts to which Cieco turned for incorporation into Il Mambriano included both works known throughout the medieval period, like Statius, Thebaid, and Sallust, Catiline Conspiracy, but also texts partly or wholly rediscovered from the time of Petrarch on, and especially those printed from the 1490s. So Cieco’s narrative of Orlando’s wars in Africa is clearly indebted to Livy’s histories.63 His account of the temple of Mars reflects its origins in Statius’ epic (via Boccaccio) and the narrative of Andropeo’s battle against Marsilio alludes openly to the rebellion of Catiline.64 Turning to classical epics and classical historiography to revitalise the Carolingian epic and fit it to contemporary classicising culture was, however, potentially a negative strategy. It highlighted the differences between the two genres, and raised questions about the nature and status of Carolingian narrative. Could it really be considered epic at all? The debates provoked by the comparison, and by the attempts at fusion, would continue until at least the end of the sixteenth century, as the heated arguments over the poems of Ariosto and Tasso demonstrate,65 but the fact that such debates could take place Cappelletti (Florence: Olschki, 2009). 63 For the theme of Orlando’s African campaigns, Cieco draws on, among other texts, Livy, Ab Urbe condita XXIX; Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum XVIII–XIX; Cicero, Somnium Scipionis VI; and Petrarch Africa IV–VIII. The 1493 edition of Livy, Le Deche di Tito Livio vulgare historiato (Venice: Giovanni Vercellese for Lucantonio Giunta, 1493), containing 420 woodcut illustrations was particularly influential, including on printings of chivalric narratives. See also J. E. Everson, ‘Il Mambriano di Francesco Cieco da Ferrara, fra tradizione cavalleresca e mondo estense’, in L’Uno e l’Altro Ariosto. In corte e nelle delizie, ed. by G. Venturi (Florence: Olschki, 2011), pp. 153–73 (pp. 161–7). 64 See Mamb. XI, 69–101, which draws on Statius, Thebaid VII, and Boccaccio, Teseida VII; Mamb. XLII, 17–30 drawing on Sallust, Catiline Conspiracy, and Livy, Ab Urbe condita, XXI. 65 The main point at issue was whether the Orlando furioso could properly be termed an epic. The debates were sparked off by increasing engagement with classical literary theory, and in particular by the vernacular commentaries on the Poetics of Aristotle which began to appear from the 1540s, not long after Ariosto’s death. Although the question had already been debated in mid-century by Giambattista Pigna and Giambattista Giraldi Cinzio, it was only with the appearance of Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata in 1583 that the polemics became fierce, dividing critics into opposing camps: those who argued that Ariosto’s poem could be seen as epic, or at least should not be judged by anachronistic criteria; and those who

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provides evidence that the narratives of Charlemagne and the paladins had successfully overcome the greatest of all challenges encountered at the beginning of the century: the Wars of Italy.

damned it, and the whole Carolingian tradition, as mere romance, medieval and in every sense vulgar and popular. For the full discussion, see Bernard Weinberg, A History of Literary Criticism in the Italian Renaissance, 2 vols (Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Midway reprint, 1974; orig. ed., 1961).

7 From Emperor to Pawn: Charlemagne in the Orlando Furioso Stefano Jossa

F

A Carolingian Poem

rom the outset, Orlando Furioso presents itself as a Carolingian poem, since the author announces that he will be singing of individual adventures and chivalrous deeds that occurred at a precise historical time, the eighth century AD: al tempo che passaro i Mori d’Africa il mare, e in Francia nocquer tanto, seguendo l’ire e i giovenil furori d’Agramante lor re, che si diè vanto di vendicar la morte di Troiano sopra re Carlo imperator romano. (Orlando Furioso, I 1, 3–8) [when the Moors crossed the sea from Africa and wrought havoc in France to follow the anger, the fiery rage of young Agramant their king, whose boast it was that he would avenge himself on Charles, Emperor of Rome, for King Trojan’s death.]1

According to one of the first interpreters of the poem, the sixteenth-century critic Simone Fornari from Reggio Calabria, the war between Agramante and Charlemagne’s armies frames the unity of the poem with a moral aim, that of demonstrating that reckless actions deserve punishment and prudence is the ultimate lesson Ariosto is aiming at: volendo il poeta dimostrare, et conchiudere, come l’imprese fatte temerariamente, come fu quella del giovane Agramante contra ’l vecchio Carlo, sogliono havere infelice fine: & come conseguentemente la cauta prudentia è quella, che si delibera dalla maligna sorte, & vinto l’avversario rimane in pace. 1 Quotations come from Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, ed. by Emilio Bigi (Milan: Rusconi, 1982). All translations come from Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, trans. by Guido Waldman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983). Roman numerals refer to cantos, Arabic numerals to stanza and verses. Hereafter Orlando Furioso will be OF.

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Stefano Jossa [the poet wishing to demonstrate and conclude that reckless deeds, like those of young Agramante against old Carlo, are wont to come to an unhappy ending; and subsequently that cautious prudence is that which liberates itself from a malign fate and having defeated the enemy, is left in peace.]2

Fornari’s allegorical focus might not be the most insightful way of looking at the historical and political background of the poem, and yet it highlights the relevance of Charlemagne to establish a frame to the poem in terms of both literary genre and a shared cultural context amongst Ariosto’s first readers. By beginning with the religious war between the Muslims of Agramante and the Christians of Charlemagne, Ariosto is reminding his readers of the background context to his own story: that of the Carolingian epic, going from the foundational Chanson de Roland to Ariosto’s most recent predecessor, Matteo Maria Boiardo’s Inamoramento de Orlando. Notably, as Jane Everson has aptly pointed out, ‘Ariosto privileges the campaign of Agramante, the most firmly Carolingian of Boiardo’s three war themes, making the invasions of Gradasso and Mandricardo subordinate to that, indeed incorporating these latter two into the forces of Agramante’.3 Charlemagne’s name works thus as a means to establish what Gian Biagio Conte has called ‘the allusive power of an “incipit”’: ‘The opening situates the poetic act and by situating it justifies it’.4 Rather than citing any particular poem, Ariosto integrated his own within a tradition that was already well-established under the iconic name of its main champion, Charlemagne, or Carlo Magno. In so doing, he stressed the epic element in his poem, given the traditional equivalence between the Emperor’s name and the genre it evoked. Furthermore, since Charlemagne was seen as the defender of Christendom par excellence in the collective memory of his readers, by setting its Carolingian, literary, context, Ariosto was also setting his Christian, cultural, belonging. There was no need at the time to give evidence for the poet’s support of the Christian faith against Muslim invaders and yet it has been maintained that Ariosto did not show an actual preference for the Christian world over the Islamic:5 perhaps mention of Charlemagne and the 2 Simon Fornari, La Spositione di m. Simon Fornari da Rheggio sopra l’Orlando Furioso di m. Ludouico Ariosto, 2 vols (Florence: Lorenzo Torrentino, 1549–50), I, 34 (my translation). 3 Jane E. Everson, ‘The epic tradition of Charlemagne in Italy’, Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes, 12 (2005), 45–81 (p. 60). 4 Gian Biagio Conte, The Rhetoric of Imitation: Genre and Poetic Memory in Virgil and Other Latin Poets, ed. by Charles Segal (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1986), p. 70. 5 See especially Italo Calvino, ‘Presentation’, in Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, ed. by L. Caretti (Turin: Einaudi, 1966), pp. xxv–xlvi (p. xliii); later in ‘Orlando furioso’ di Ludovico Ariosto raccontato da Italo Calvino (Turin: Einaudi, 1971); Maria Pavlova, ‘“Il fior de Pagania”. Saracens and their world in Boiardo and Ariosto’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, Oxford, 2015), and subsequent book:

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Carolingian location of his poem sufficed to make the Orlando Furioso fit within the world of Christendom? Needless to say, the figure of Charlemagne works also as a reminder of contemporary warfare, at a time when the modern French were continuously invading Italy.6 In addition, later on, another Charles, fifth of that name in line of succession from Charlemagne himself, would take the lead in the wars against the infidels.7 Nevertheless, the epic, Christian hero Charlemagne is defeated in the battle that opens the narrative in the poem, a clash – Everson has remarked – ‘which cannot help but evoke the defeat in the pass of Rencesvals’ (p. 63), the ‘dolorosa rotta’ in Dante’s definition (Inf., XXXI 16: ‘the woeful rout’),8 as if his destiny is alluded to from the beginning of the poem, thus paving the way to all sorts of more nuanced approaches to Charlemagne both as historical figure and fictional character. Apparently meant to be a figure who signified epic tradition and Christian identity, Charlemagne will prove much more problematic than expected, offering the chance for a discussion of the contradictory nature of Ariosto’s masterpiece, both in terms of genre (epic or romance?) and morals (educational or ironic?). Mentioned nearly 200 times in the poem, Carlo Magno, as both historical figure and a character in the narrative, might become a key for an interpretation of the Orlando Furioso as a whole. This chapter will therefore focus on Carlo Magno in the Orlando Furioso as both role-model and actor in the plot.

C

The Military Leader (between Machiavelli and Castiglione)

arlo Magno is first and foremost a character in Ariosto’s fiction. A study of his depiction in the Orlando Furioso should not disregard his presence in the fabric of the poem. First of all, then, it must be acknowledged that Carlo Magno is the one who sets Ariosto’s narrative machine in motion. He is indeed responsible for taking the unfortunate decision to give Angelica to the knight, either Orlando or Rinaldo, who would kill more enemies in the battle of the following day: Nata pochi dì inanzi era una gara tra il conte Orlando e il suo cugin Rinaldo, che entrambi avean per la bellezza rara d’amoroso disio l’animo caldo.

Saracens and their World in Boiardo and Ariosto (Cambridge: Legenda, 2020); Sergio Zatti, Leggere l’‘Orlando furioso’ (Bologna: il Mulino, 2018), p. 105. 6 See Chapter 6 above. 7 It should be noted, though, that almost all of Ariosto’s poem was conceived of and written before Charles V became Holy Roman Emperor. On Ariosto’s sensitivity to historical change see esp. Alberto Casadei, La strategia delle varianti. Le correzioni storiche del terzo ‘Furioso’ (Lucca: Pacini Fazzi, 1988). 8 Dante Alighieri, Inferno, trans. by Robert and Jean Hollander, introduction and notes by Robert Hollander (New York: Anchor Books, 2002).

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Stefano Jossa Carlo, che non avea tal lite cara, che gli rendea l’aiuto lor men saldo, questa donzella, che la causa n’era, tolse, e diè in mano al duca di Bavera; in premio promettendola a quel d’essi, ch’in quel conflitto, in quella gran giornata, degl’infideli più copia uccidessi, e di sua man prestasse opra più grata. (OF, I 8–9, 4) [Charles, who could not abide this conflict, which rendered them questionable allies, gave this damsel, the cause of the quarrel, into the keeping of Namo, Duke of Bavaria; / and promised her as a prize to whichever of the two slaughtered the greater number of Infidels and wrought him the worthiest assistance in the vital conflict of that day.]

Ariosto’s readers already knew how things developed.9 In Ariosto’s narrative machine, therefore, Carlo Magno works as the hand of the author and is a means for the predictable being overcome by the unexpected, reinforcing the views of those who see the epic and Christian side of the poem as less relevant than its problematised nature. Rather than being the powerful and reassuring chief of the Christian side, Carlo Magno is responsible for the decision that allows Angelica to escape. Surprisingly useless to the Christian war, but incredibly useful to Ariosto’s narrative machine, he engineers the first action in the poem’s intricate tapestry. Since the whole narrative stems from his mistaken forecast, the initial representation of Carlo Magno presents him as ‘rotto e mal condutto’ (OF, II 24, 7: ‘broken and disarrayed’): not exactly what we would expect from a king in an epic tale. ‘Rotto’ (‘broken’) is indeed a keyword to define Carlo Magno’s first appearance in the poem, with reference to his defeat at Bordeaux, since the same adjective is used later when Orlando recalls his loss of Angelica, cause of all his bitterness as well as of all the action in the poem: ‘né ritrovato poi vestigio d’ella / che Carlo rotto fu presso a Bordella’; ‘and now, with Charles’ defeat at Bordeaux, he had lost all trace of her’ (OF, VIII 72, 8). However, Carlo Magno’s reaction is not long coming. He is still the military leader who takes care of his army and plans the following move, in line with the Carolingian tradition of the Middle Ages: e perché dal re d’Africa battaglia ed assedio s’aspetta, usa gran cura a raccor buona gente e vettovaglia, far cavamenti e riparar le mura. 9 ‘Contrari ai voti poi furo i successi; / ch’in fuga andò la gente battezzata, / e con molti altri fu ’l duca prigione, / e restò abbandonato il padiglione’; [The outcome however was not in keeping with their prayers: the rank of the baptised were put to flight, and among the many captives was the duke, whose tent was abandoned] (OF, I 9, 5–8). Boiardo had already narrated this in cantos XXI–XXV of Book 2 of his Inamoramento. See Maria Pavlova’s chapter in this volume.

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Ciò ch’a difesa spera che gli vaglia, senza gran diferir, tutto procura: pensa mandare in Inghilterra, e trarne gente onde possa un novo campo farne. (OF, II 25) [Expecting to be attacked and blockaded by the King of Africa, he was taking every care to bring in supplies and fresh troops, to dig trenches and repair battlements. He gathered in without delay whatever might prove useful for defence, and he planned to send to England for men to draft into a new army.]

He does not feel defeated yet and immediately takes action: che vuole uscir di nuovo alla campagna, e ritentar la sorte de la guerra. Spaccia Rinaldo subito in Bretagna, Bretagna che fu poi detta Inghilterra. Ben de l’andata il paladin si lagna: non ch’abbia così in odio quella terra; ma perché Carlo il manda allora allora, né pur lo lascia un giorno far dimora. (OF, II 26) [For he meant to sally forth and try again his fortunes in battle. Straightway he dispatched Rinaldo to Britain – or England, as it was later called. The paladin resented having to make his journey, not that he held anything against the country, but inasmuch as Charlemagne chose that moment to send him, without conceding him even one day’s respite.]

The humorous remark about Rinaldo’s dissatisfaction reinforces the reader’s perception that Carlo Magno is the superior commander and therefore his leadership has not been undermined by the previous defeat. All is still in order and Christendom is not at risk of utter defeat: the epic and Christian side of the poem is safeguarded. After such a negative outcome of his former decision, it is a little surprising to find that the emperor is immediately rehabilitated as military leader of the Christian French. Of course, Ariosto drew on previous Carolingian materials that gave him the premises on which he grounded his Charlemagne as part of his cultural memory, independently of whether he had actually read any Carolingian poems.10 10 On Carolingian literature available to Ariosto, see the compendious review by Gloria Allaire, ‘Carolingian material in Italy’, in Medieval Italy: An Encyclopaedia, ed. by Christopher Kleinhenz (London: Routledge, 2004), pp. 183–5, as well as the various studies by Marco Villoresi, La letteratura cavalleresca. Dai cicli medievali all’Ariosto (Rome: Carocci, 2000); Id., La fabbrica dei cavalieri. Cantari, poemi, romanzi in prosa fra Medioevo e Rinascimento (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 2005); Paladini di carta. Il romanzo cavalleresco fiorentino, ed. by Marco Villoresi (Rome: Bulzoni, 2006); ‘Tre volte suona l’olifante…’: La tradizione rolandiana in Italia fra Medioevo e Rinascimento, ed. by Giovanni Palumbo, Antonia Tissoni

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From this moment onwards, Carlo Magno constantly proves a good and careful strategist, such as at the siege of Paris in cantos XIV–XVIII, when he is first and foremost the father-like caring commander-in-chief, able both to hold discipline and instil hope in his men: Quivi erano baroni e paladini, re, duci, cavallier, marchesi e conti, soldati forestieri e cittadini, per Cristo e pel suo onore a morir pronti; che per uscire adosso ai Saracini, pregan l’imperator ch’abbassi i ponti. Gode egli di veder l’animo audace, ma di lasciarli uscir non li compiace. E li dispone in oportuni lochi, per impedire ai barbari la via: là si contenta che ne vadan pochi, qua non basta una grossa compagnia; alcuni han cura maneggiare i fuochi, le machine altri, ove bisogno sia. Carlo di qua di là non sta mai fermo: va soccorrendo, e fa per tutto schermo. (OF, XIV 102–3) [There were barons here and paladins, kings, dukes, knights, marquises, and counts, soldiers from France and from other lands, all of them ready to die for the honour of Christ. They begged the emperor to lower the drawbridges so that they could sally forth against the Saracens; he was heartened by their spirit, but was not disposed to let them out. / He deployed them in suitable places to stop the barbarians breaking in; here a handful of men was deemed sufficient, while there an entire company was not too many. Some were assigned to the fire-raising equipment, others to the engines, as the need dictated. Charles was everywhere at once, never still for a moment, assuring help and acting as a shield over all.]

In depicting Carlo as the good military leader, Ariosto gives him intellectual prominence over his knights, who might be stronger than he is, as is the case with Orlando and Rinaldo, but are also incapable of having the strategic vision he possesses. At the moment of the siege of Paris, Carlo Magno is clearly opposed to his men as the wise vs. the brave;11 and indeed, he is more far-sighted than his short-sighted barons, Benvenuti, Marco Villoresi (Milan: Unicopli, 2007); Carlo Magno in Italia e la fortuna dei libri di cavalleria, ed. by Johannes Bartuschat and Franca Strologo (Ravenna: Longo, 2016). 11 The topos of ‘sapientia et fortitudo’ dates back to classical literature and is present in the Chanson de Roland: ‘Rollant est proz e Oliver est sage’ (ed. Short, l. 1093). See the relevant discussion by Marianne Ailes, The Song of Roland: On Absolutes and Relative Values, Studies in Medieval Literature, 20 (Lewiston, NY; Lampeter:

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who are ready to fight and die, while Carlo Magno is able to be both fearless and prudent. The caring emperor is therefore a political as well as military leader and under his guidance the common good is restored. Hence, the military and the political mingle here: Ariosto’s Carlo unites his careful strategic planning with his commitment to his people, in line with the medieval and Renaissance political tradition of unanimity of feeling between the leader and the people.12 Carlo Magno becomes a means to put together realism, epic, and politics, encompassing all of Ariosto’s participation in his contemporary world: observation, literature, and engagement. Carlo Magno’s martial bravery and bravura give Ariosto the opportunity to showcase his military expertise, as argued by Michael Murrin,13 and yet there is much more at stake here: thanks to these military excursuses in the poem, Ariosto is able to reinforce the epic status of the Orlando Furioso, on the one hand, and promote the role of the perfect captain, on the other. This is of particular relevance at a time when writers and thinkers were aiming to build the role model of the perfect leader, at court, in the army and politically, as the various contemporary treatises on the prince, the perfect courtier and the military commander show.14 Niccolò Machiavelli variously depicted the perfect captain in his oeuvre, from the third book of the Discorsi sopra la prima Deca di Tito Livio, where Chapters 10–23 are devoted to this figure, to the Vita di Castruccio Castracani da Lucca, which is in fact supposed to be read as the portrait of the perfect commander. In particular, in Chapter 33 of the third book of Discorsi, Machiavelli wrote that: Conviene che il capitano sia stimato di qualità che confidino nella prudenza sua: e sempre confideranno, quando lo vegghino ordinato, sollecito ed animoso, e che tenga bene e con riputazione la maestà del grado suo: e sempre la manterrà, quando gli punisca degli errori, e non gli affatichi invano; osservi loro le promesse; mostri facile la via del vincere; quelle cose che discosto potessino mostrare i pericoli, le nasconda o le alleggerisca. Le quali cose, osservate bene, sono cagione grande che lo esercito confida, e confidando vince. [It is necessary also that they should esteem their general, and have confidence in his ability; and this will not fail to be the case when they see him orderly, watchful, Edwin Mellen, 2002), pp. 41–3. 12 A sentence from Castiglione’s Libro del Cortegiano (Book of the Courtier) underlines this: ‘li sudditi sempre seguitano i costumi de’ superiori’ [subjects always follow the customs of their superiors], Baldassar Castiglione, Il Cortegiano, ed. by V. Cian (Florence: Sansoni, 1894) I, 93; on Charlemagne’s actual politics, see esp. Jennifer R. Davis, Charlemagne’s Practice of Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015). 13 Michael Murrin, ‘The Siege of Paris’, MLN, 103.1 (1988), 134–53. 14 On this, see especially Il perfetto capitano: immagini e realtà, secoli 15–17: Atti dei seminari di studi, Georgetown University a Villa Le Balze, Istituto di studi rinascimentali di Ferrara 1995–1997, ed. by Marcello Fantoni (Rome: Bulzoni, 2001).

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Stefano Jossa and courageous, and that he maintains the dignity of his rank by a proper reputation. All this he will do by punishing faults, by not fatiguing his troops unnecessarily, by strictly fulfilling his promises, by showing them that victory is easy, and by concealing or making light of the dangers which he discerns from afar. These maxims well observed are the best means of inspiring the troops with that confidence which is the surest pledge of victory.]15

Rather than suggest here yet another source to the already lengthy list of Ariosto’s sources, I would like to address his cultural participation in a courtly community that was collectively reflecting on issues of captaincy, leadership and power.16 As I have demonstrated elsewhere,17 Ariosto carefully gathers and warily re-elaborates contemporary debates. Charlemagne offers him the chance of entering such debates from a lateral, but possibly more incisive, point of view. Literature, in Ariosto’s hands, is often the means of creating contacts between fictional and real, historical and contemporary, and past and present. All throughout the siege of Paris, Carlo Magno proves capable of both predicting and preventing (OF, XIV 106–7, 4): Dovunque intorno il gran muro circonda, gran munizioni avea già Carlo fatte, fortificando d’argine ogni sponda

15 Niccolò Machiavelli, Discorsi sopra la prima Deca di Tito Livio; seguiti dalle Considerazioni intorno ai discorsi del Machiavelli, di Francesco Guicciardini, ed. by Corrado Vivanti (Turin: Einaudi, 1983), p. 357. The English translation comes from The Historical, Political, and Diplomatic Writings of Niccolo Machiavelli, trans. by Christian E. Detmold, 4 vols (Boston: J. R. Osgood and Company, 1882), II, 404. 16 Ariosto’s sharing of common political language with Machiavelli is confirmed by his mention of the fox and lion among the features of the allegorical beast of heresy in canto XXVI 21. On Ariosto and Machiavelli, see especially Giambattista Salinari, ‘L’Ariosto fra Machiavelli ed Erasmo’, Rassegna di Cultura e Vita Scolastica, 21 (1957), 10, 1–3, and 11–12, 3–5; later in Id., Dante e altri saggi, ed. by A. Tartaro (Rome: Editori Riuniti, 1985), pp. 185–201; Charles Klopp, ‘The Centaur and the Magpie: Ariosto and Machiavelli’s Prince’, in Ariosto 1974 in America, ed. by Aldo Scaglione (Ravenna: Longo, 1976), pp. 69–84; Giuseppe Mazzotta, ‘Power and Play in the Orlando furioso’, in The Play of the Self, ed. by Ronald Bogue and M. Spariosou (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994), pp. 183–202; and Albert R. Ascoli, ‘Faith as Cover-Up: Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, Canto 21 and Machiavellian Ethics’, I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance, 8 (1999), 135–170. 17 See Stefano Jossa, ‘“A difesa di sua santa fede”: il poema cristiano dell’Ariosto (Orlando furioso, XXXIV 54–67)’, in Chivalry, Academy and Cultural Dialogues: The Italian Contribution to European Culture: Essays in Honour of Jane E. Everson, ed. by Stefano Jossa and Giuliana Pieri, Italian Perspectives, 37 (Oxford: Legenda, 2016), pp. 32–42; and on a more general level Stefano Jossa, Ariosto (Bologna: il Mulino, 2009). See also Peter V. Marinelli, Ariosto and Boiardo. The Origins of ‘Orlando Furioso’ (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1987).

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con scannafossi dentro e case matte; onde entra ne la terra, onde esce l’onda, grossissime catene aveva tratte; ma fece, più ch’altrove, provedere là dove avea più causa di temere. Con occhi d’Argo il figlio di Pipino previde ove assalir dovea Agramante; e non fece disegno il Saracino, a cui non fosse riparato inante. [Charlemagne has thrown up powerful fortifications all along the line of the walls, strengthening every embankment and building into them tunnels and arrow-slits. He threw colossal chains across the river at its point of entry into and exit from the city. But he made the most concentrated provisions for those points where the danger was greatest. He had eyes like Argus’ to foresee where Agramant would attack; indeed, the Saracen made no plan which had not already been forestalled.]

As generous as he is clever, Carlo Magno becomes il perfetto condottiero, who is both militarily valiant and emotionally sympathetic. It would not be inappropriate to highlight that Ariosto’s Carlo Magno is in line with medieval hagiography of the historical Charlemagne, who was usually depicted as an extraordinary political and military leader.18 However, Ariosto was surely more interested in contemporary political debates than historical sources when depicting his Charlemagne. Cautious, prudent, technically prepared and military aware, Carlo Magno is therefore the one who unites the perfetto condottiero with the ideal political leader, as theorised especially by Machiavelli in his depiction of both Cesare Borgia and Castruccio Castracani. When faced with violence, danger and cruelty, Carlo is always ready to react and give encouragement as leaders should do with their subjects. Canto XVI ends with Carlo being the first to realise the danger and gathering his knights (OF, XVI 88–9): Quale è colui che prima oda il tumulto, e de le sacre squille il batter spesso, che vegga il fuoco a nessun altro occulto, ch’a sé, che più gli tocca, e gli è più presso; tal è il re Carlo, udendo il nuovo insulto, e conoscendol poi con l’occhio istesso: onde lo sforzo di sua miglior gente al grido drizza e al gran rumor che sente. 18 See especially Roland and Charlemagne in Europe: Essays on the Reception and Transformation of a Legend, ed. by Karen Pratt (London: King’s College, 1996); The Legend of Charlemagne in the Middle Ages: Power, Faith, and Crusade, ed. by Matthew Gabriele and Jace Stuckey (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008); The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts, ed. by William J. Purkis and Matthew Gabriele (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2016).

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Stefano Jossa Dei paladini e dei guerrier più degni Carlo si chiama dietro una gran parte, e vêr la piazza fa drizzare i segni; che ’l pagan s’era tratto in quella parte. Ode il rumor, vede gli orribil segni di crudeltà, l’umane membra sparte. Ora non più: ritorni un’altra volta chi voluntier la bella istoria ascolta. [Imagine a man who hears a tumult and the frenzied clanging of church bells before he sees the fire which is no secret to any but himself, though he is the one most directly affected. Thus was Charlemagne when he heard of this remarkable incursion and then discovered it with his own eyes. At once he directed the efforts of his best troops in the direction of the cries and uproar he could hear. / He summoned to his side a majority of his paladins and his champions, and had the standards borne towards the main square, for that was where the intruder had reached.]

Later on, when Rodomonte is defeating and killing a host of Christians, Carlo Magno unites il perfetto condottiero with il perfetto oratore too. In two brief, but powerful speeches (OF, XVII 7–8 and 14–16), Carlo displays his rhetorical ability, in what is surely the zone of highest density of his military presence in the poem: inspired by wrath (‘d’ira acceso’) before the shame of such a defeat from one man alone, he rebukes his men, ‘Dove fuggite, turba spaventata?’ [‘Whither are you fleeing in such a panic, all you people?’], evokes the past triumphs, ‘Non sète quelli voi, che meco fuste / contra Agolante (disse) in Aspramonte?’ [‘Are you not the men who were with me in Aspromont’, he asked, ‘to combat Agolant?’], attacks Rodomonte’s religious difference, by calling him ‘cane’, dog, as Christians used to do with Turks at the time,19 calls for unity in a rather flattering mood, ‘Ma dubitar non posso ove voi sète, / che fatto sempre vincitor m’avete’ [‘But while you stand by me, I rely upon you, for you have ever brought me victory’], and spurs them to react by virtue of example, ‘Al fin de le parole urta il destriero, / con l’asta bassa, al Saracino adosso’ [This said, he lowered his lance, spurred his steed and charged at the Saracen]. The union between military prowess and oratorical skills would be theorised among the qualities of the perfect courtier by Baldassar Castiglione in Il Cortegiano in the same years as Ariosto was writing his poem. By the example of Carlo, therefore, Ariosto is promoting the humanist union of arms and letters that was one of the most debated issues in courtly education at the time.20 19 On this point, see Timothy Hampton, ‘“Turkish Dogs”: Rabelais, Erasmus, and the Rhetoric of Alterity’, Representations, 41 (1993), 58–82. 20 On this much discussed topic during the early modern period, see esp. James J. Supple, Arms Versus Letters. The Military and Literary Ideals in the ‘Essais’ of Montaigne (Oxford: Clarendon, 1984).

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Carlo Magno has now clearly become a role-model, as one would customarily expect in a Carolingian poem,21 to the extent that he works for his men as the lioness for her cubs (OF, XVIII 13–15): Furo tutti i ripar, fu la cittade D’intorno intorno abandonata tutta; che la gente alla piazza, dove accade maggior bisogno, Carlo avea ridutta. Corre alla piazza da tutte le strade la turba, a chi il fuggir sì poco frutta. La persona del re sì i cori accende, ch’ognun prend’arme, ognuno animo prende. Come se dentro a ben rinchiusa gabbia d’antiqua leonessa usata in guerra, perch’averne piacere il popul abbia, talvolta il tauro indomito si serra; i leoncin che veggion per la sabbia come altiero e mugliando animoso erra, e veder sì gran corna non son usi, stanno da parte timidi e confusi: ma se la fiera madre a quel si lancia, e ne l’orecchio attacca il crudel dente, vogliono anch’essi insanguinar la guancia, e vengono in soccorso arditamente; chi morde al tauro il dosso e chi la pancia: così contra il pagan fa quella gente. Da tetti e da finestre e più d’appresso sopra gli piove un nembo d’arme e spesso. [The battlements were abandoned, the entire city was deserted, for Charles had assembled the whole populace in the square, where they were most needed. The crowds, who had fled to so little purpose, now ran to the square from every street: the king’s presence so enkindled them that each man took heart and set hands to his weapons. / Sometimes folk will amuse themselves by shutting an untamed bull into the sturdy cage of an ageing battle-scarred lioness; her cubs, seeing the way the spirited beast bellows as he proudly paces the sand, and beholding horns such as they’ve never seen, back away, timid and abashed; / but if their mother leaps at the bull and fastens her cruel fangs into his ear, then they fly boldly to her assistance, for they too must steep their chops in blood; one sinks his teeth into the bull’s back, the next into 21 Not in all of them, though, whether in Franco-Italian or Old French; in rebellious barons’ poems and even in some poems from the Cycle du Roi he is far from being a model ruler or commander. See The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature, ed. by Marianne J. Ailes and Philip E. Bennett (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming).

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Stefano Jossa his belly. Thus it was with the pagan and the men of Paris: a dense shower of missiles rained down upon him from the roofs, windows, and closer vantage-points.]

It is unlikely that the simile with a lioness rather than a lion is meant to emasculate Carlo Magno’s leadership, as some feminist and queer readings of Ariosto’s poem would have it.22 Instead, it valorises Carlo Magno as a pastoral figure, under whose guidance order, harmony and emulation are achieved. As a matter of fact, Carlo Magno immediately proves an excellent strategist and charismatic leader again (OF, XVIII, 38–9 and 41): Poi ch’al partir del Saracin si estinse Carlo d’intorno il periglioso fuoco, tutte le genti all’ordine ristrinse. Lascionne parte in qualche debol loco: adosso il resto ai Saracini spinse, per dar lor scacco, e guadagnarsi il giuoco; e gli mandò per ogni porta fuore, da San Germano infin a San Vittore. E commandò ch’a porta San Marcello, dov’era gran spianata di campagna, aspettasse l’un l’altro, e in un drappello si ragunasse tutta la compagna. Quindi animando ognuno a far macello tal, che sempre ricordo ne rimagna, ai lor ordini andar fe’ le bandiere, e di battaglia dar segno alle schiere. […] Essendo la battaglia in questo stato, l’imperatore assalse il retroguardo dal canto ove Marsilio avea fermato il fior di Spagna intorno al suo stendardo. Con fanti in mezzo e cavallieri allato, 22 On the challenge to gender boundaries in Ariosto’s poem, however, see especially: Margaret Tomalin, The Fortunes of the Warrior Heroine in Italian Literature: An Index of Emancipation (Ravenna: Longo, 1982); Pamela Benson, The Invention of Renaissance Woman (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992); Valeria Finucci, The Lady Vanishes: Subjectivity and Representation in Castiglione and Ariosto (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992); Deanna Shemek, Ladies Errant: Wayward Women and Social Order in Early Modern Italy (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1998); Ita Mac Carthy, Women and the Making of Poetry in Ariosto’s ‘Orlando Furioso’ (Leicester: Troubadour Publishing, 2007); and the most recent, compendious review by Elissa Weaver, ‘Filoginia e misoginia’, in Lessico critico dell’‘Orlando furioso’, ed. by Annalisa Izzo (Rome: Carocci, 2017), pp. 81–97.

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re Carlo spinse il suo popul gagliardo con tal rumor di timpani e di trombe, che tutto ’l mondo par che ne rimbombe. [With Rodomont’s departure, the perilous fires lit round the emperor burnt out, and he mustered his followers afresh. A few he left to man weak points; the rest he flung against the Saracens to check their impetus and win the day: he sent them out through every gate, from St. Germain’s right round to St. Victor’s. / He bade them assemble outside St. Marcel’s gate, where there was a good stretch of level ground. Here they were to mass into a single host. Then, exhorting each one to wreak such slaughter that it would never be forgotten, he had the ensigns mustered in order of battle and signalled the troops to fall to. // […] // With the battle thus advanced, the emperor attacked the enemy’s rearguard: Marsilius and the flower of the Spanish troops gathered round his standard. Charlemagne, grouping his cavalry outside his infantry, urged his brave people forward to such a din of trumpet and drum that the whole world seemed to shake with it.]

Finally, everything can be summarised with the very synthetic conclusion that ‘Charles does his duty’ (‘fa il suo dover’), as we read at the end of the canto: ‘Carlo fa il suo dover, lo fa Oliviero, / Turpino e Guido e Salamone e Ugiero’ (OF, XVIII 155, 7–8: ‘Charles and Oliver, Turpin and Guido, Solomon and Ogier all did their duty’). Faithful to his duty, Carlo Magno is thus extolled as the idea of the perfect prince, which is something that Ariosto was possibly developing in his poem with the aim of educating the Este rulers in Ferrara, as suggested by Angelo Bartlett Giamatti and Albert R. Ascoli.23 Carlo Magno is now ready to be an alter-ego to the Duke of Este, Ariosto’s patron, who was both a political and military leader himself. The last act of Carlo Magno as both military and political leader in the poem will be that of welcoming back and honouring the winners at the battle of Lipadusa, including the newly Christianised Ruggiero (OF, XLIV 27–31), in a sequence where he displays the pomp and authority of his power, in rather Renaissance than medieval fashion, but also surrounded by beautiful women, in line with Ariosto’s tendency to both respect historical setting and adapt it to courtly fashion (28, 5–8): Egli uscì poi col suo drappel più degno di re e di duci, e con la propria donna, fuor de le mura, in compagnia di belle e ben ornate e nobili donzelle.

23 Angelo Bartlett Giamatti, ‘Headlong Horses, Headless Horsemen: An Essay on the Chivalric Epics of Pulci, Boiardo, and Ariosto’, in Italian Literature Roots and Branches: Essays in Honour of Thomas Goddard Bergin, ed. by Giose Rimanelli and Kenneth John Atchnity (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1976), pp. 265–307; Albert R. Ascoli, Ariosto’s Bitter Harmony: Crisis and Evasion in the Italian Renaissance (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987).

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Stefano Jossa [Then he himself issued forth from the walls with the flower of his household guard of kings and dukes, with his empress and her train of beautiful, noble damsels in all their finery.]

From being responsible for the disruption of his army Carlo Magno has now gone through his ‘coming of age’ process, in line with the more general development of the poem towards closure, with what has been generally acknowledged as a movement from romance to epic.24 He has almost become a ‘democratic’ leader, a primus inter pares, honouring his knights, to the point of paying tribute to Orlando and making Ruggiero proceed ‘beside him on a footing of equality’, possibly more in tune with the Arthurian tradition of the Round Table than with Carolingian epic. By welcoming his paladins in the court, whilst remaining the historical Charlemagne, Carlo Magno also becomes a sixteenth-century Signore.25 If we accept the suggestion that in Carlo Ariosto is mirroring his ideal prince and educating Alfonso of Este to be a better ruler, the incorporation of gratitude and humility in his attitude paves the way to that ideal court to which Ariosto was always aspiring.26

I

The Christian Leader

t has been said that Ariosto is indifferent to the religious side of the epic war narrated in his poem. Yet his Carlo Magno seems to prove this belief wrong. Twice he is the one who prays before the battle in order to invite the Christian God to intervene in favour of the Christian army. 24 On this, see especially David Marsh, ‘Ruggiero e Leone: Revision and Resolution in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso’, MLN, 96 (1981), 144–51; Sergio Zatti, ‘Il Furioso fra epos e romanzo’, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 163 (1986), 483–514, then in Id., Il Furioso fra epos e romanzo (Lucca: Pacini Fazzi, 1996); English translation, ‘The Furioso between Epos and Romance’, in The Quest for Epic: From Ariosto to Tasso, intro. by Albert R. Ascoli, ed. by Dennis Looney, trans. by Sally Hill with Dennis Looney (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006), pp. 13–37; Michael Schachter, ‘Leone, Bradamante and Ruggiero in the 1532 Orlando Furioso’, MLN, 115 (2000), 64–79; Albert R. Ascoli, ‘Fede e riscrittura: il Furioso del 1532’, Rinascimento, 43 (2003), 93–130. For a counter-argument, though, see Daniel Javitch, ‘Reconsidering the Last Part of Orlando Furioso: Romance to the Bitter End’, Modern Language Quarterly, 71.4 (2010), 385–405. 25 This would be very much in line with Boiardo’s Charlemagne in Book 2, where, as Donnarumma has suggested, he works as ‘an example of a fifteenth-century lord, in which one recognises the likes of the Duke of Ferrara’; Raffaele Donnarumma, Storia dell’‘Orlando inamorato’. Poetiche e modelli letterari in Boiardo (Lucca: Pacini-Fazzi, 1996), p. 164. 26 On Ariosto’s aspirations for an ideal community see esp. Stefano Jossa, ‘La fondazione della comunità letteraria nelle Satire ariostesche’, in ‘Però convien ch’io canti per disdegno’. La satira in versi tra Italia e Spagna dal Medioevo al Seicento, ed. by Antonio Gargano (Napoli: Liguori, 2012), pp. 55–71.

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Alongside Carlo’s military and political leadership, Ariosto also promotes his religious leadership. In so doing, he is certainly in line once again with medieval hagiography of Charlemagne, since he had often been associated with a saintly figure.27 There is no separation, indeed, between military, political and religious in both medieval legends and Ariosto’s world. In the poem, Carlo Magno prays twice before the most decisive battles, the siege of Paris (cantos 14–17) and the battle at Lipadusa (canto 40). Before the siege of Paris, Carlo confirms his political leadership by the act of praying on behalf of the whole Christian community (OF, XIV 68–72): L’imperatore il dì che ’l dì precesse de la battaglia, fe’ dentro a Parigi per tutto celebrare uffici e messe a preti, a frati bianchi, neri e bigi; e le gente che dianzi eran confesse, e di man tolte agl’inimici stigi, tutti communicar, non altramente ch’avessino a morir il dì seguente. Ed egli tra baroni e paladini, principi ed oratori, al maggior tempio con molta religione a quei divini atti intervenne, e ne diè agli altri esempio. Con le man giunte e gli occhi al ciel supini, disse: – Signor, ben ch’io sia iniquo ed empio, non voglia tua bontà, pel mio fallire, che ’l tuo popul fedele abbia a patire. E se gli è tuo voler ch’egli patisca, e ch’abbia il nostro error degni supplici, almeno la punizion si differisca 27 See in particular Stephen G. Nichols, Jr., Romanesque Signs: Early Medieval Narrative and Iconography (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1983), pp. 66–94. Charles was actually canonised as a saint in 1165, a canonisation accepted by the Antipope Paschal III, but rejected by Pope Alexander III: since 1176, his designation as blessed has been tolerated, but he was never incorporated in the list of the Roman Church’s saints. On this, see Jace Stuckey, Charlemagne: The Making of an Image, 1100–1300 (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2006); Ann Austin Latowsky, The Emperor of the World: Charlemagne and the Construction of Imperial Authority, 800–1229 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013), pp. 183–214. For the religious dimension of Charlemagne’s imperial function in Old French poems, and the ways in which some poets problematise this part of his role, see also Philip E. Bennett, ‘Charlemagne the Ruler’, in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming) and, for the German tradition, Albrecht Classen, Charlemagne in German and Dutch Literature (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2021).

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The military, the political and the religious are intertwined. Charles gives orders, sets an example and prays himself: in so doing, he becomes an all-round leader, encompassing authority, civic lessons and spiritual mediation. As a result, his prayer reaches God and is heard (OF, XIV, 73–4): Così dicea l’imperator devoto, con umiltade e contrizion di core. Giunse altri prieghi e convenevol voto al gran bisogno e all’alto suo splendore. Non fu il caldo pregar d’effetto voto; però che ’l genio suo, l’angel migliore, i prieghi tolse e spiegò al ciel le penne, ed a narrare al Salvator li venne. E furo altri infiniti in quello instante da tali messagger portati a Dio; che come gli ascoltar l’anime sante, dipinte di pietade il viso pio, tutte miraro il sempiterno Amante, e gli mostraro il commun lor disio, che la giusta orazion fosse esaudita del populo cristian che chiede aita. [Thus prayed the pious emperor, humble and contrite of heart; other prayers, too, he added, and a vow suitable to the magnitude of the need and the lofty splendour of his office. His urgent entreaties were not without effect, for his tutelary spirit, his angel, took his prayers and, shaping his flight heavenwards, bore them up to the Saviour. / At that moment countless prayers were being borne up to God by other such messengers, for the saints, hearing his words, all turned their faces, suffused with compassion, to look at the Love eternal and show Him their common desire – that the just entreaty of the Christian people calling for help should be granted.]

Being pious, humble and contrite of heart is a prelude to being prudent and wise in the following battle. Carlo Magno is therefore the perfect commander-in-chief because he is able to persuade God thanks to his extraordinary rhetorical skills: by challenging God to demonstrate his power, he gains respect in heaven and obtains protection for his people. Gregory has remarked that ‘Charles’ accents are those of a client addressing a prince’ and Cavallo has recalled Iarbus’ challenge to Zeus in Virgil’s Aeneid, Book 4.28 Yet when the emperor asks God to help the Christians in order to demonstrate his power, he is also acting as a feudal vassal before his lord, 28 Tobias Gregory, From Many Gods to One: Divine Action in Renaissance Epic (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), p. 117; Jo Ann Cavallo, The World beyond Europe in the Romance Epics of Boiardo and Ariosto (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013), p. 198.

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reinstating a hierarchy which gives the vassal-minister a mediating function between the lord and the people. Ariosto is thus raising the issue of gratitude, which is key to the interpretation of his poem and establishing a clear equivalence between God’s gratitude to his faithful and the prince’s gratitude to his subjects.29 Before another decisive battle, that at Lipadusa in the second half of the poem, Carlo prays again (OF XXXVIII 79, 1–4 and 81, 7–84): Da l’altra parte fuor dei gran ripari re Carlo uscì con la sua gente d’arme, con gli ordini medesmi e modi pari che terria se venisse al fatto d’arme. […] Con quel de l’Evangelio si fe’ inante L’imperator, con l’altro il re Agramante. Giunto Carlo all’altar che statuito i suoi gli aveano, al ciel levò le palme, e disse: – O Dio, c’hai di morir patito per redimer da morte le nostr’alme; o Donna, il cui valor fu sì gradito, che Dio prese da te l’umane salme, e nove mesi fu nel tuo santo alvo, sempre serbando il fior virgineo salvo: siatemi testimoni, ch’io prometto per me e per ogni mia successione al re Agramante, ed a chi dopo eletto sarà al governo di sua regione, dar venti some ogni anno d’oro schietto, s’oggi qui riman vinto il mio campione; e ch’io prometto subito la triegua incominciar, che poi perpetua segua: e se ‘n ciò manco, subito s’accenda la formidabil ira d’ambidui, la qual me solo e i miei figliuoli offenda, non alcun altro che sia qui con nui; sì che in brevissima ora si comprenda che sia il mancar de la promessa a vui. –

29 On the issue of gratitude and ingratitude in the Orlando Furioso, see especially Giorgio Masi, ‘I segni dell’ingratitudine: ascendenze classiche e medievali delle imprese ariostesche nel Furioso’, Albertiana, 5 (2002), 141–64; Matteo Residori, ‘Punitions exemplaires et rétributions perverses dans le Roland furieux de l’Arioste’, in Scénographies de la punition dans la culture italienne moderne et contemporaine, ed. by Philippe Audégean and Valéria Giannetti-Karsenti (Paris: Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2014), pp. 23–41; Zatti, Leggere l’‘Orlando furioso’, pp. 126–8.

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Così dicendo, Carlo sul Vangelo tenea la mano, e gli occhi fissi al cielo. [On the other side, Charlemagne issued from the great ramparts with his soldiery; he proceeded in the same fashion as if he were setting out to give battle. […] With the priest of the Gospel stepped forward the emperor; with the other, King Agramant. / Reaching the altar that had been erected for him, Charles raised his palms to heaven and prayed: ‘O God, who suffered death to redeem our souls from death! O Lady, so highly favoured that God took from you his human body and spent nine months in your holy womb while still preserving your virginal flower! / Be my witnesses that I bind myself and all my successors to give to King Agramant, and to whomever shall be chosen to succeed him in the governance of his realm, twenty measures of pure gold each year if today my champion is defeated. And I promise an immediate truce which will endure forever. / And if I default in this, may your dreadful wrath blaze up at once to strike me alone and my children, but no one else who is with us here, so that in the shortest time men may realise what it means to break a pledge to you’. As he spoke, Charles kept his hand on the Gospel and his eyes raised heavenwards.]

The status of Carlo Magno as both military, political and religious leader is thus confirmed and reinforced. In the meantime, he had already become the priestly minister of the sacraments, taking care of and assisting Marfisa’s baptism (OF, XXXVIII 10–11, 7 and 22–3, 4):30 A Carlo riverenti appresentarsi. Questo fu il primo dì (scrive Turpino) che fu vista Marfisa inginocchiarsi; che sol le parve il figlio di Pipino degno, a cui tanto onor dovesse farsi, tra quanti, o mai nel popul saracino o nel cristiano, imperatori e regi per virtù vide o per ricchezza egregi. Carlo benignamente la raccolse, e le uscì incontra fuor dei padiglioni; e che sedesse a lato suo poi volse sopra tutti re, principi e baroni. Si diè licenza a chi non se la tolse; sì che tosto restaro in pochi e buoni: restaro i paladini e i gran signori; […]

30 For this aspect, fundamental to the ruler’s function as seen from the Chanson de Roland onwards, see Phillipa Hardman and Marianne Ailes, The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England: The Matter of France in Middle-English and Anglo-Norman Literature (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2017), pp. 232–4; and Marianne J. Ailes’s chapter in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming).

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Apparecchiar per lo seguente giorno, ed ebbe cura Carlo egli medesmo, che fosse un luogo riccamente adorno, ove prendesse Marfisa battesmo. I vescovi e gran chierici d’intorno, che le leggi sapean del cristianesmo, fece raccorre, acciò da lor in tutta la santa fé fosse Marfisa istrutta. Venne in pontificale abito sacro L’arcivesco Turpino, e battizzolla: Carlo dal salutifero lavacro con cerimonie debite levolla. [Reverently they came into the emperor’s presence. This was the first occasion (writes Turpin) that Marfisa was ever seen to kneel; of all the emperors and kings she had ever seen, Saracen and Christian, who were distinguished for valour or wealth, only Charlemagne seemed to her worthy of this honour. / Charlemagne came out from his pavilion to meet her and welcomed her cordially. He had her sit next to him, elevated above every king, prince, and baron. Those who did not take their leave were dismissed, so that soon there remained only the pick of the gathering – the paladins and the foremost lords – while the despised rabble was excluded. […] Charlemagne personally saw to preparing a place sumptuously adorned for Marfisa’s baptism on the following day. He sent for the bishops and higher clergy, well versed in the laws of Christianity, in order to instruct Marfisa fully about the holy faith. Archbishop Turpin arrived in his sacred pontifical attire and baptised her; then Charlemagne, with suitable ceremony, helped her out of the sanctifying font.]

In the poem, Carlo Magno unites political leadership and spiritual care to the extent that he is the one who supervises religious ceremonies. His last appearance is in fact in the guise of officiating minister at Ruggiero and Bradamante’s marriage (OF, XLVI 73–4): Fansi le nozze splendide e reali, convenienti a chi cura ne piglia: Carlo ne piglia cura, e le fa quali farebbe, maritando una sua figlia. I merti de la donna erano tali, oltre a quelli di tutta sua famiglia, ch’a quel signor non parria uscir del segno, se spendesse per lei mezzo il suo regno. Libera corte fa bandire intorno, ove sicuro ognun possa venire; e campo franco sin al nono giorno concede a chi contese ha da partire. Fe’ alla campagna l’apparato adorno di rami intesti e di bei fiori ordire,

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d’oro e di seta poi, tanto giocondo, che ’l più bel luogo mai non fu nel mondo. [The wedding was of suitable regal splendour, because it was the emperor himself who took charge of the preparations – for all the world as if he were marrying off his own daughter. The merits of the damsel (to say nothing of her family’s) were such that if he had spent half his kingdom upon her it would not have seemed to him excessive. / He proclaimed open court, where all were welcome in safety; and he conceded the freedom of the lists for nine days to anyone who had a quarrel to settle. He had the fields decked with wreaths and gay flowers, and so brightened them with silks and gold that the world never knew a happier spot.]

Carlo is here reconstructing the Garden of Eden, or the mythical golden age when women and men were happy and nature worked spontaneously for them. Ariosto’s utopian dream of a court mirroring the pristine era when the world was the place created by God for the enjoyment of humans is being realised and is reflected in how Carlo rules his court. The time is ripe to link the past to the present, making explicit what was already implicit in his narrative. Melissa the sorceress had prepared the nuptial chamber in a pavilion decorated with a prophecy of Ruggiero and Bradamante’s descendants, leading to the birth of the Este House ruling in Ferrara (OF, XLVI 99): Ruggiero, ancor ch’a par di Bradamante non ne sia dotto, pur gli torna a mente che fra i nipoti suoi gli solea Atlante commendar questo Ippolito sovente. Chi potria in versi a pieno dir le tante cortesie che fa Carlo ad ogni gente? Di vari giochi è sempre festa grande, e la mensa ognor piena di vivande. [Although Ruggiero was not as well-versed as Bradamant, he still recalled how frequently Atlas had commended this Hippolytus among his descendants. Who could recite in full the many courtesies bestowed by Charlemagne upon everyone? There was a constant variety of festive games, and the table was always laden with food.]

The connection is highlighted by the mention of Hippolytus and Carlo Magno in two verses that rhyme with each other (4 and 6 in the original Italian). The allegorical status of Carlo as role-model for the Este is thus reinstated and reinforced. Before marrying her to Ruggiero, Carlo Magno had already demonstrated a father-like relationship with Bradamante, accepting her request not to give her as bride to anyone less valorous in arms than herself. In his reply, Carlo Magno showed little hesitation in granting her what she had requested: ‘Disse l’imperator con viso lieto, / che la domanda era di lei ben degna; / e che stesse con l’animo quieto, / che farà a punto quanto ella disegna’ (OF, XLIV 71) [The emperor cheerfully observed that the request did her credit; she was not to worry: he would do exactly as she asked]. Carlo Magno therefore becomes the guarantor that Bradamante will be given in marriage to someone who is worthy of her. However, Ruggiero had fought

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on behalf of Leone, due to his prior obligation towards his friend, and so Bradamante seemed destined to marry the latter rather than the former. Marfisa’s intervention, to recall Bradamante’s promise to Ruggiero, makes Carlo finds himself in a very difficult position, which he deals with very wisely: i.e. listening and not taking sides: ‘L’imperator né qua né là si piega; / ma la causa rimette alla ragione, / ed al suo parlamento la delega’ (OF, XLV 113, 4–6) [The emperor inclined neither way but encouraged debate and referred the question to his parliament]. Marfisa will then come to sort things out and help him get out of trouble. Once more, though, Carlo Magno proves the good ruler, wise and careful, who does not take rushed decisions and listens to his people. The final cantos therefore show Carlo as a caring leader, who is generous and protective to his subjects. From the military leader at the outset he has moved to being the good prince at the conclusion, mirroring the shift of the poem from traditional warfare to marriage. So far, so good: this is the Charlemagne we would expect in an Italian chivalric poem at the opening of the sixteenth century – the perfect commander-in-chief, the Christian king, the defender of Christendom, role-model to his people, in line with medieval legends and widespread hagiography at the time. However, when it comes to Ariosto’s play with his characters and the various historical references in his poem, things prove far more complicated, as always with the Orlando Furioso.

B

The Two Charles

efore being a character in the poem’s plot, Carlo Magno was of course the historical Charlemagne, the eldest son of Pepin the Short, King of the Lombards and Franks and the first Holy Roman Emperor, crowned by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day 800 AD. On this level, both external and internal to Ariosto’s story, Carlo works as both the historical Emperor and a reference to his homonymous successor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor from 1519. Since the Orlando Furioso was written and published in the first instance well before the accession of Charles V, the comparison between the historical figure and the contemporary Charles became possible only during the re-elaboration of the poem for the second (1521) and third (1532) editions. In line with what Dorigatti has suggested about Ariosto’s political orientation, acknowledging three strata in the textual development of the first Orlando Furioso (the poem for Hippolytus; the poem for Alfonso; and the poem for Francis I) and later a fourth at the height of the third and final edition,31 it is very likely that Ariosto shifted his focus from a firstly municipal and then national 31 Marco Dorigatti, ‘Il manoscritto dell’Orlando furioso (1505–1516)’, in L’uno e l’altro Ariosto. In corte e nelle delizie, ed. by Gianni Venturi (Florence: Olschki, 2011), pp. 1–44; Id., ‘Ludovico Ariosto, il poema e la storia’, in Orlando Furioso 500 anni. Cosa vedeva Ariosto quando chiudeva gli occhi, ed. by Guido Beltramini and Adolfo Tura (Ferrara: Fondazione Ferrara Arte, 2016), pp. 332–9; Id., ‘Ludovico Ariosto e il suo tempo, da Alfonso I a Carlo V’, in I voli dell’Ariosto. L’‘Orlando furioso’ e le arti, ed. by Marina Cogotti, Vincenzo Farinella, Monica Preti (Milan: Officina Libraria, 2016), pp. 17–25.

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leadership, where Carlo Magno was meant to act as role-model for the Este, at first, and for Francis I, later, to an imperial one, where Carlo Magno was supposed to signify, all too readily indeed, Charles V. The historical Charlemagne is referred to at least twice in the poem – although the character in the poem is supposed to embody this role throughout. However, two references in particular, that to the murals created by Merlin in canto XXXIII, and that contained in Ruggiero’s explanation to Marfisa of their common ancestry in canto XXXVI, highlight his historical mission in uniting the Christian world and defending the Papacy. In canto XXXIII Charlemagne is presented as the legitimate and just defender of Christendom against the barbarian invaders, in a historical excursus meant to demonstrate that the French can achieve honour by invading Italy only if they come to defend it against foreign aggression (OF, XXXIII 16): Mostra Pipino, e mostra Carlo appresso, come in Italia un dopo l’altro scenda, e v’abbia questo e quel lieto successo, che venuto non v’è perché l’offenda; ma l’uno, acciò il pastor Stefano oppresso, l’altro Adriano, e poi Leon difenda: l’un doma Aistulfo, e l’altro vince e prende il successore, e al papa il suo onor rende. [He showed Pepin, then Charlemagne descending on Italy, one after the other. For both the outcome was happy, for they had not come to harm her: Pepin had come to defend persecuted Pope Stephen; Charlemagne to defend first Adrian and then Leo. Pepin subdued Astolfo the Lombard, Charles defeated and captured his successor and restored the Pope’s honour.]

The opposition between good and evil Frenchmen is mirrored in Charles’ descendants. On the one hand, another Charles (‘un altro Carlo’), Charles of Anjou, who helped the Papacy against the Ghibelline Kings of Sicily, Manfred and Conradin (XXXIII 20); on the other hand, Charles VIII, King of France, who, while summoned to Italy to imitate his ancestor, brought war and destruction (XXXIII 31). By locating Charlemagne on the side of the good French as opposed to the evil ones, Ariosto is clearly drawing a line to distinguish between defenders and invaders of Italy and remind his readers of the gap between fictional past and historical present. In line with this, and with Boiardo’s model, in canto XXXVI Charlemagne is presented, as the final and legitimate descendant of the Roman Emperors (OF, XXXVI 71): – I descendenti suoi di qua dal Faro signoreggiar de la Calabria parte; e dopo più successioni andaro ad abitar ne la città di Marte. Più d’uno imperatore e re preclaro

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fu di quel sangue in Roma e in altra parte, cominciando a Costante e a Costantino, sino a re Carlo figlio de Pipino. [His [Hector’s] descendants, leaving Messina’s lighthouse beyond the Straits, ruled over parts of Calabria, but after many successions they moved to Rome. From their blood was sprung more than one illustrious emperor and king, in Rome and elsewhere, starting with Constantius and Constantine up till Charlemagne, son of Pepin.]

Charlemagne is thus a descendant of Hector and a progenitor of Ruggiero: via Ruggiero, he will also be a progenitor of the Este. The historical Charlemagne is hence connected to the poem’s dynastic thread, reinforcing all sorts of allegorical and pedagogical interpretations. Charged with defending Italy and the Papacy, and heir of the Trojans and the Romans, he cannot help but be the bearer of Ariosto’s utopian project for the court of Ferrara.32 When a new Charles is raised to power, the identification between the old Charles and the new Charles becomes an easy one. Ariosto mentions Charles V only in the 1532 third and final edition of the poem, and yet these mentions lead to the idea that he is the one who would accomplish the mission of his predecessor in uniting Christianity.33 Charles V is mentioned in canto XV 23 as the one who would unify the world and later in canto XXVI 34 as a fighter against heresy. No explicit connection with Charlemagne is made and yet their common belonging to the Christian faith, their mission of defending Italy and the Papacy against foreign oppressors and religious enemies, their fight against the infidels and their projection towards a golden-age state are all signs of continuity that cannot be overlooked.

From Emperor to Pawn: Charlemagne in Ariosto’s Narrative Game

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ven though Carlo Magno is given a peculiar symbolical relevance in the poem, he is also a character among the various characters. As such, he is frequently involved in Ariosto’s game with his narrative, as when he interrupts the 32 Whether Charlemagne’s Trojan heritage was meant to free Ferrara from its current status as a papal vicariate, as suggested by Dorigatti and Cavallo for Boiardo, is doubtful in the case of Ariosto; and yet it supports the suggestion that Charlemagne works as role-model for Ariosto’s Este patrons. See Marco Dorigatti, ‘Rugiero and the Dynastic Theme from Boiardo to Ariosto’, in Italy in Crisis: 1494, ed. by Jane E. Everson and Diego Zancani (Oxford: Legenda, 2000), pp. 92–129 (p. 101); Id., ‘La favola e la corte: intrecci narrativi e genealogie estensi dal Boiardo all’Ariosto’, in Gli dei a corte. Letteratura e immagini nella Ferrara estense, ed. by Gianni Venturi and Francesca Cappelletti (Florence: Olschki, 2009), pp. 31–54 (pp. 43–4); Cavallo, The World beyond Europe, pp. 103–4. 33 Giuseppe Sangirardi, ‘L’Arioste et l’Empire: Réflexions sur les rédactions du Roland furieux’, e-Spania [En ligne], 13 June 2012, [accessed 5 April 2022].

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narrative at the end of canto XVI and then goes back to Carlo at the opening of the following canto (OF, XVI 89): Dei paladini e dei guerrier più degni Carlo si chiama dietro una gran parte, e vêr la piazza fa drizzare i segni; che ’l pagan s’era tratto in quella parte. Ode il rumor, vede gli orribil segni di crudeltà, l’umane membra sparte. Ora non più: ritorni un’altra volta chi voluntier la bella istoria ascolta. [He [Charlemagne] summoned to his side a majority of his paladins and his champions, and had the standards borne towards the main square, for that was where the intruder had reached. He heard the tumult, and saw the grisly signs of the pagan’s cruelty – human limbs scattered all over the place. No more for now: he who wishes to hear my pleasant tale, let him return another time.]

This narrative feature, which Daniel Javitch has intelligently and provocatively labelled ‘cantus interruptus’,34 recurs throughout the whole poem, but also serves to highlight the separateness of fiction from fact, be it history or reality. In so doing, Ariosto would be advertising the fictionality of his text, to cite another brilliant title of Javitch’s: ‘the poet almost always chooses to interrupt the action at a dramatic moment when the reader’s engagement has been fully secured, yet before the action reaches any satisfying conclusion’.35 The reader is thus invited to interrupt the narrative pact, with its voluntary suspension of disbelief, and understand ‘the fictional, constructed, and literary nature of his poem’ (119). As a consequence, Carlo Magno’s status as moral example and allegory of the perfect condottiero is undermined by the awareness that things are manipulated by their writer and might not be as described. Rather than being just the monarchic authority, then, he is also a pawn in the hands of his master, the omniscient and omnipotent poet narrator – as Durling and Zatti have explained.36 In doing this, Ariosto might be seeming to undermine Carlo’s authority. Yet it must be acknowledged that Ariosto’s literary play works on two different levels: on the one hand, the literal content; on the other hand, the literary game. Ariosto is showing the power of fiction without denying the existence of reality, but presenting, through fiction, that reality can be far more complex than expected. When 34 Daniel Javitch, ‘Cantus Interruptus in Orlando Furioso’, MLN, 95.1 (1980), 66–80. 35 Daniel Javitch, ‘The Advertising of Fictionality in Orlando furioso’, in Ariosto Today: Contemporary perspectives, ed. by Donald Beecher, Massimo Ciavolella, and Roberto Fedi (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003), pp. 106–25 (p. 113). 36 Robert M. Durling, The Figure of the Poet in Renaissance Epic (Cambridge, MS: Harvard University Press, 1965); Sergio Zatti, Il ‘Furioso’ fra epos e romanzo.

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using Carlo Magno as a pawn on his chessboard, therefore, he is simply exhibiting the fictional nature of his work, which does not destroy the seriousness of its content, but just invites the reader to further interpretative challenges. Tradition can be manipulated, but is still there; Turpin can lie, but is still there; Ariosto can be making up his story and yet the story is offered to his readers firstly as such. In playing with Carlo Magno as a character, then, Ariosto would not be denying the content of his story, but just complicating it in the light of the power of fiction. Reduced to a pawn amongst other pawns, Carlo Magno can be addressed by the author as elsewhere he addresses Astolfo or Rinaldo. The most striking example is in canto XXVII, when the narrator speaks directly to Carlo (OF, XXVII 7): Guardati, Carlo, che ’l ti viene addosso tanto furor, ch’io non ti veggo scampo: né questi pur, ma ’l re Gradasso è mosso con Sacripante a danno del tuo campo. Fortuna, per toccarti fin all’osso, ti tolle a un tempo l’uno e l’altro lampo di forza e di saper, che vivea teco; e tu rimaso in tenebre sei cieco. [Watch out, Charles, for such savagery is to fall upon you that I can see no escape for you: not only this pair, but King Gradasso too, and Sacripant have moved against your camp. And Fate, to gnaw you on the bone, has deprived you at one time of both the lights you had beside you – radiant with strength and wisdom – and you, left in darkness, are blind.]

These appeals of Ariosto to his characters are part of his fictional game and pave the way to a deeper consideration of the fictional nature of literature. It is not easy to determine whether Ariosto is stressing the emotional or intellectual element here, whether he is inviting the reader to be sympathetic to the character or to disclose literary fiction; however, he is certainly insisting on the manipulative power the poet possesses. As a consequence, sympathy towards the character and manipulation of the character go hand in hand, making Carlo Magno lose his aura and become like the others in the poet’s narrative game. Manipulated by the author, the characters are also at the mercy of supernatural forces that determine their destiny. In this respect, the author’s game with his characters is not dissimilar to that of either evil forces or Fortune with human beings. Carlo is once more an exemplary figure, but in a completely different way (OF, XXVII 13–14): Ma l’antiquo aversario, il qual fece Eva all’interdetto pome alzar la mano, a Carlo un giorno i lividi occhi leva, che ’l buon Rinaldo era da lui lontano; e vedendo la rotta che poteva darsi in quel punto al populo cristiano,

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quanta eccellenza d’arme al mondo fusse fra tutti i Saracini, ivi condusse. Al re Gradasso e al buon re Sacripante, ch’eran fatti compagni all’uscir fuore de la piena d’error casa d’Atlante, di venire in soccorso messe in core alle genti assediate d’Agramante, e a distruzion di Carlo imperatore: ed egli per l’incognite contrade fe’ lor la scorta e agevolò le strade. [But the old adversary, who made Eve lift her hand to the forbidden apple, cast his baleful eye upon Charlemagne one day when good Rinaldo was far away. And, seeing the rout which could now be inflicted upon the Christian host, he assembled here the very pick of the Saracen champions. / He influenced King Gradasso and King Sacripant, companions ever since leaving Atlas’ palace of illusions, to go to the help of Agramant and his besieged host, and to the destruction of the Emperor Charles. He guided them through the unfamiliar country and smoothed their path.]

No longer a role-model, but just an example of how human beings are made, Carlo feels lost and blinded, as he mirando va il crudel macello, maraviglioso, e pien d’ira e di sdegno, come alcun, in cui danno il fulgur venne, cerca per casa ogni sentier che tenne. (OF, XXVII 22, 5–8) [Carlo gazed upon the cruel slaughter, dumbfounded and seized with rage and indignation, like a man whose house has been struck by lightning and who traces the path of its destruction.]

As a consequence, we find him in trouble once more, as if he has gone back to the opening situation of the poem, when he appeared as ‘broken’ (OF, XXVII 33): E se, come Rinaldo e come Orlando, lasciato Brandimarte avesse il giuoco, Carlo n’andava di Parigi in bando, se potea vivo uscir di sì gran fuoco. Ciò che poté, fe’ Brandimarte, e quando non poté più, diede alla furia loco. Così Fortuna ad Agramante arrise, ch’un’altra volta a Carlo assedio mise. [And had Brandimart abandoned the game as Rinaldo and Orlando had done, Charles would have been driven from Paris, if he escaped alive from such a conflagration. Brandimart did what he could, after which he gave way to the onslaught. So Fortune smiled on Agramant, who once more laid siege to Charlemagne.]

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Carlo Magno’s frailty is exhibited once more: rather than being just the personification of the perfect captain and prince, a saint-like figure who is able to lead his subjects to victory and subsequent happiness, he is a more nuanced character, where Ariosto encompasses both his aspirations to a better world and his awareness of human bitterness. As both an idealised figure and a character subjected to all sort of games, either by the author or by Fortune, Carlo Magno becomes the embodiment of a world governed by chaos and full of contradictions.

I

Charlemagne Ridiculed: the Cinque Canti (Five Cantos)

n such a world governed by chaos, contradictions and fortune, the ideal prince who has become a pawn in the hands of his author can easily be reduced to an even lower status at a later stage. We do not know whether Ariosto was planning to include his additional five cantos in the poem or not,37 but the Cinque Canti are there to further document Ariosto’s relationship with Charlemagne. Definitely written after the first edition of the poem and almost certainly before the final edition, they testify to a development of Carlo Magno in Ariosto’s representation that moves in the direction of parody rather than allegory. In fact, the Cinque Canti put Carlo Magno centre-stage, in a sort of move back to earlier chivalric romances. Far different in mood, narrative and style from the Orlando Furioso, they illustrate the dissolution of the chivalric world of Charlemagne and his paladins and give poetic voice to a sense of cultural, political, and religious crisis felt in early sixteenth-century Italy. In the Cinque Canti Carlo Magno is no longer the perfect leader, as was the case in greater part of the Orlando Furioso, but he is definitely the protagonist. Growing old, he will be at the mercy of Gano, the traitor in the Carolingian tradition, whom Ariosto defines from the outset ‘d’ogni inganno capace e d’ogni frode’ [capable of any treachery / and any deception, I 49].38 In giving Gano a prominent role, Ariosto is 37 On the ongoing issue of the writing and collocation of the Five Cantos see especially Carlo Dionisotti, ‘Per la data dei Cinque Canti’, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 137 (1960), 1–40; Id., ‘Appunti sui Cinque Canti e sugli studi ariosteschi’, in Studi e problemi di critica testuale. Convegno di studi di filologia italiana nel Centenario della Commissione per i Testi di Lingua (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1961), pp. 369–82 (both now in Id., Scritti di storia della letteratura italiana I 1955–1962, ed. by Tania Basile, Vincenzo Fera and Susanna Villari (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2008), pp. 379–408 and 409–22); Alberto Casadei, ‘Alcune considerazioni sui Cinque canti’, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 165 (1988), 161–79; Ida Campeggiani, ‘Una nuova datazione per i Cinque canti’, Storie e Linguaggi, 2.1 (2016), 71–94. 38 Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso e Cinque Canti, ed. by Remo Ceserani and Sergio Zatti (Turin: Utet, 1997). The English translation comes from L. Ariosto, Cinque Canti/Five Cantos, trans. by Alexander Sheers and David Quint, intro. by

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surely going back to the Quattrocento tradition of Carolingian narratives, especially Luigi Pulci’s Morgante, which is replete with issues of treachery and deception, and Boiardo’s Inamoramento, where in Book 1 Charlemagne is presented as extremely fickle and naive.39 This also leads to a more political focus, as the second canto opens with a comparison between the just and good lord, ‘che curi et ame i populi, secondo / che da’ lor padri amati i figli sono’ (CC, II 1, 5–6: who cares for his people and loves them as fathers love their children, p. 115), and unjust and cruel tyrants, who live with suspicion, and the fifth canto begins with an invitation to prudence addressed to ‘Un capitan che d’inclito e di saggio / e di magno e d’invitto il nome merta’ (V 1, 1–2: the captain who deserves to be called / illustrious, wise, great, and invincible, p. 291). At his first appearance, Charles is still ‘magnanimous’, a great warrior and a pious leader (II 38–40), a generous king and excellent strategist (II 49–51), ‘a lover of the Church’ and ‘protector of it and its possessions’, so much so that he got the title of ‘Most Christian’ and ‘was deservedly consecrated Emperor of the West by the Holy pastor’ (II 53). His strength is such that he can fell a tree and lead his army to the demolition of the enchanted forest (II 119): Carlo, fatta cantar una solenne messa da l’arcivescovo Turpino, entra nel bosco, et alza una bipenne, e ne percuote un olmo più vicino: l’arbor, che tanta forza non sostenne, ché Carlo un colpo fe’ da paladino, cadde in duo tronchi, come fu percosso; e sette palmi era d’intorno grosso! [Charles, having had a solemn mass sung by Archbishop Turpin, goes into the forest, lifts a double-edged axe, and strikes the nearest elm with it: the tree, which could not resist so much force, because Charles struck a blow worthy of a D. Quint (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996). 39 On this, see especially Alberto Casadei, ‘I Cinque Canti o l’ultima eredità di Boiardo’, Italianistica, 21 (1992), 739–48; Sergio Zatti, ‘I Cinque Canti: la crisi dell’autorità’, Studi italiani, 8 (1992), 23–40; then, ‘La frantumazione del mondo cavalleresco: i Cinque Canti dell’Ariosto’, in L’ombra del Tasso. Epica e romanzo nel Cinquecento, ed. by Sergio Zatti (Milan: Bruno Mondadori, 1996), pp. 28–58; English translation: ‘The Shattering of the Chivalric World: Ariosto’s Cinque canti’, in The Quest for Epic, pp. 114–24; Jo Ann Cavallo, Boiardo, Ariosto, and Tasso: From Public Duty to Private Pleasure (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004), pp. 126–33; Riccardo Bruscagli, ‘I Cinque Canti dell’Ariosto’, in Carlo Magno in Italia, ed. by Bartuschat and Strologo, pp. 19–52. See also Chapters 4 and 5 above.

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Carlo is still a faithful servant of the Christian God, an extraordinarily skilled fighter and a charismatic leader. However, he is superficial enough to be inclined to trust Gano, who makes a fool of him (II 134): Era inclinato di natura molto a Gano Carlo, e ne facea gran stima, e poche cose fatte avria, che tolto il suo consiglio non avesse prima; com’ogni signor quasi in questo è stolto, che lascia il buono et il piggior sublima; né se non fuor del stato, o dato in preda degli ninimici, par che ’l suo error veda. [Charles was by nature well disposed toward Ganelon and esteemed him highly, and there were not many things that he would do without first asking Ganelon’s advice; Charles acted like a fool in this regard, as do almost all lords: they neglect the good man and exalt the worst; nor does it appear that they will ever perceive their mistake unless they are banished from their states or given into the hands of their enemies.]

Almost abruptly, Carlo is transformed from a good to a bad lord, proving easy to flatter and deceive. He acts as a paradigm, and admonishment too, to ‘all lords’ who are blind before their mistakes. The key word to interpret Carlo’s role in the Cinque Canti has finally come up: errore [mistake], which is no longer the error of romances, but a political error of being incapable to judge and appreciate the situation. Prudence, the political virtue that Machiavelli had celebrated in the Discorsi and that Ariosto was continuously addressing in the first Furioso, has been replaced by misjudgement. Carlo’s subsequent behaviour will therefore be child-like, naïve, and unsuspicious (‘senza sospetto’, III 5, 2), the contrary of what we should expect from an experienced and judicious leader. Such a depiction of the Emperor, however, was not new to Ariosto’s readers, since Carlo Magno, as mentioned, had already appeared as a capricious and gullible ruler in Book 1 of Boiardo’s Inamoramento de Orlando, where he is shown as too sensitive to Angelica’s charm and easily deceived by Gano, vexes his knights, and imprisons Astolfo unjustly.40 What is new with Ariosto’s Cinque Canti is the process of transformation Carlo undergoes in order to highlight the discrepancy between the just and the despotic ruler. In so doing, Ariosto might be mirroring, as Quint

40 See Maria Pavlova’s chapter in this volume.

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has suggested, the transformation of Este power from aristocratic to despotic; and may have later wanted to rule the Cinque Canti out of the poem because he had once again found the just ruler, now in the person of Charles V.41 Having lost authority and dignity, Carlo Magno proves constantly wrong in dealing with warfare, up to the point that the narrator concludes by acknowledging his error (V 3, 1–4): Io ’l dirò pur, se bene audace parlo, che quivi errò quel sì lodato ingegno col qual paruto era più volte Carlo saggio e prudente e più d’ogn’altro degno. [Though I speak boldly, I will still say that here erred the much-praised discernment which many times had made Charles seem wise and prudent and more worthy than all other men.]

At the opening of the final canto, the transformation has come true. No longer wise and prudent, Charles provides an opportunity to reflect on the wrongdoing of political leaders, too confident in themselves and unable to see more in depth. Whether this was an admonishment to Alfonso or a more general political disillusionment, we cannot know. What we know is that Charles is left alone, with nobody helping him, when he falls from the bridge during the last battle in the Cinque Canti (V 92): Carlo ne l’acqua giù dal ponte cade, e non è chi si fermi a darli aiuto; che sì a ciascun per sé da fare accade, cher poco conto d’altri ivi è tenuto: quivi la cortesia, la cartitade, amor, rispetto, beneficio avuto, o s’altro sui può dire, è tutto messo da parte, e sol ciascun pensa a se stesso. [Charles falls into the water below the bridge, and there is no one who stops to give him help, for each man has so much to do to take care of himself that there is little concern for others there: there courtesy, charity, love, respect, gratitude for favors received in the past, or anything else one can say is put aside, and each one thinks only about himself.]

An entire world is collapsing here: the world of Charlemagne himself, that of those medieval values of courtesy and valour that Ariosto had aimed to celebrate in the 41 Quint, Cinque Canti, ‘Introduction’, pp. 1–44 (pp. 25–36).

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opening of Orlando Furioso. Yet Carlo does not sink and his white horse (‘except for some spots of black which looked like flies and which he had about his neck and flanks right up to the tail’, the narrator humorously remarks) leads him to safety: an extreme irony on how chance is more important than anything or a reinstatement of chivalric values through their chief symbol? Quint has suggested that Ariosto would still be inclined to promote chivalry here, but I wonder whether Charlemagne’s representation throughout the poem should lead us to a more nuanced interpretation, valorising contradiction rather than faith. Much later in time, the Italian Nobel prize winner playwright Luigi Pirandello still used Charlemagne’s name as metonymic of the whole chivalric tradition, alluding in particular to Pulci’s Morgante and Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, when asking, during World War I, why one should read chivalric poems at a time of such ferocious warfare: Oggi, mentre in terra di Francia è tuttavia sospesa la gigantesca battaglia che dovrà decidere dei nuovi destini del mondo, rileggere ad esempio, in ottava rima, la parodia di un’altra guerra di Francia: quella strepitosa di Carlo Magno e dei suoi paladini. [Today, while in France the gigantic battle that shall decide the world’s new destiny is suspended, let’s re-read, for example, the parody of another war in France, in rhymed ottava rima stanzas: that of Charlemagne and his paladins.]42

The answer lay in the potential for alternative values of past literature, making Pulci’s and Ariosto’s parody of Charlemagne champion the antithesis to war, in tune with ironic and humoristic, rather than epic, readings of Italian chivalric poems.

T

Conclusion

he sixteenth-century Italian critic Simon Fornari proclaimed that Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso was essentially a single-action epic poem dealing with the war between the Saracens of Agramante and the Christians of Charlemagne. Two centuries later, his judgment was echoed by another Italian critic, Giacinto Casella, who asserted the epic seriousness of Charlemagne and his paladins.43 Carolingian in its subject matter, Ariosto’s poem could not help but deal with Charlemagne and his epic status. Successfully merging war and love, the matter of Charlemagne and the matter of Britain, in the footsteps of his predecessor Boiardo, who had emphatically interlaced Carolingian characters with

42 Luigi Pirandello, ‘Margutte’, in Saggi, poesie, scritti varii, ed. by M. Lo Vecchio Musti, 3 vols (Milan: Mondadori, 1973), III, 1075–9 (p. 1075): my translation; see also Veronica Copello, ‘Ariosto e Tasso in due poesie di Pirandello con alcune postille inedite alla Gerusalemme Liberata’, Aevum, 85.3 (2011), 937–63. 43 L’Orlando Furioso di Lodovico Ariosto, con Note e Discorso proemiale di Giacinto Casella (Florence: Barbera, 1877), pp. xvi–xvii.

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magical and erotic elements from the twelfth-century French Arthurian cycles, Ariosto has often been regarded as a champion of the fusion between epic and romance. Yet, overtaken by the stories of Orlando’s madness and Ruggiero and Bradamante’s love, particularly in times when the romantic aspect of the poem has prevailed over the epic, Charlemagne’s place in the plot has generally been overlooked by critics, especially when it comes to the figure of Carlo Magno himself: ‘The Paladins are more important than the Emperor himself ’, E. W. Edwards famously stated in 1924, referring to the whole Carolingian cycle in Boiardo’s reception, with a judgement that can be easily extended to the Orlando Furioso.44 This chapter has tried to fill this vacuum in Ariosto criticism, demonstrating that Charlemagne is a key figure in Ariosto’s poem. As it happens, Charlemagne could still be considered the true protagonist of the poem in English culture at the end of the sixteenth century insofar as it was perceived as an epic, as demonstrated by a statement by Spenser’s close friend and correspondent Gabriel Harvey (c. 1552/3–1631) in a letter to the London printer John Wolffe (1593), where he listed all the epic protagonists in western literature: ‘as Orpheus glorified Iason; Homer, Achilles; Virgill, Æneas; Ariosto, Charlemaine; Tasso, Godfry of Bollen; and so forth’.45 Rather than being just a narrative function or providing a background to the main themes, Carlo Magno as a character in the poem raises questions of politics, power and investiture that are easily relatable, in the first instance, to Este power in Ferrara and, on a broader level, to the emergence of the King of France, Francis I, and, later, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. In Carlo Magno, Ariosto is certainly mirroring the leaders and patrons of his contemporary world, bringing to the fore issues of patronage, reliability, courtesy and gratitude. On the other hand, Carlo Magno is fully involved in Ariosto’s game with narrative and parody, up to the point that, moving from the subject matter to the narrative structure, he is no longer the Emperor, but just a character among the other characters. Taken in the web of Ariosto’s twofold poem, Carlo Magno is the symptom of a deeper tension between epic and romance, pedagogical aims and ironic stances, ethics and aesthetics. If Ariosto’s name leads to both indeterminacy (by means of anagram: aorist) and perfection (by means of lipogram: aristos), as the Greek poet Yiannis Ritsos (1909–90), one of the twentieth century’s most original and experimental poets, put it,46 Charlemagne surely mirrors the double nature of 44 E. W. Edwards, The ‘Orlando Furioso’ and its Predecessor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1924), p. 10. 45 Gabriel Harvey, The Works of Gabriel Harvey in III volumes, ed. by Alexander B. Grosart (London: Hazell, Watson & Viney Ltd., 1884), I, 266. 46 Yiannis Ritsos, Iconostasis of Anonymous Saints, trans. by Amy Mims (Athens: Kedros, 1996). Two poems in the collection are titled ‘Ariosto’: Ariostos the observant recounts moments of his life and Ariostos refuses to become a saint. Obviously, Ritsos does not refer to the historical Ariosto, but just to a name in the Greek

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Ariosto’s masterpiece, which Tasso labelled ‘animal d’incerta natura’ and Voltaire ‘monstre admirable’.47

language (Αρίοστος), and yet his suggestion is easily translatable and is powerful enough to be taken as a drive for an interpretation of Ariosto’s poem too. 47 Torquato Tasso, Apologia in difesa della ‘Gerusalemme Liberata’, in Tutte le opere, ed. by Amedeo Quondam (Rome: Lexis, 1997), [accessed 16 October 2018]; Voltaire, Poétique de M. de Voltaire, ou Observations recueillies de ses ouvrages, concernant la versification française, les différens genres de poésie et de stile poétique, le poëme épique, l’art dramatique, la tragédie, la comédie, l’opéra, les petits poèmes et les poètes les plus célèbres anciens et modernes (Geneva: Lacombe, 1766), p. 88.

8 An Undying Tradition: the Afterlife of Charlemagne in Italy Luca Degl’Innocenti

I

n the wake of the overwhelming success of Orlando furioso, which spread from the 1520s onwards, dozens of poems were published in Italy in the middle and late sixteenth century which featured the same Carolingian cast that starred in Ariosto’s tale, and which in most cases were expressly conceived and publicised as a continuation of Ariosto’s story. The size of these texts is varied, ranging from two or three cantos, that last a few dozen stanzas, to half a hundred cantos, each one hundreds of stanzas long; equally varied is their inventive, stylistic and ideological quality, depending not only on the talent of the authors, but also on their socio-cultural profile, the geographical area of production, their chosen audience, and their ambitions.1 In many cases such author-figures are rather difficult to delineate, so much so that although there is no shortage of famous writers among them, there are also quite a few bare names, individuals of whom nothing else is known except that they appear on the pages of a book about Carolingian knights. In these texts, therefore, attitudes towards chivalric matter and values in general, and in particular the treatment of Carolingian characters, are also varied. A rough distinction of convenience can be made between the ‘popular’ and fantastic works on the one hand, in which Carlo Magno and his knights are portrayed according to the paradigms of the late medieval and fifteenth-century romance tradition (which in Italy allowed both the serious register and the playful, and often mixed them together), and on the other hand the ‘learned’ and heroic works, which aim to redefine the chivalric tradition in forms elaborated in a more literary style and 1 The most systematic attempt so far to investigate and classify the chivalric authors of the mid-sixteenth century is Guido Sacchi, Fra Ariosto e Tasso: vicende del poema narrativo (Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2006). Many of these works are also included in the two-volume anthology edited by Giancarlo Bettin, Per un repertorio dei temi e delle convenzioni del poema epico e cavalleresco: 1520–1580 (Venezia: Istituto veneto di scienze, lettere ed arti, 2006).

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modelled on the epic paradigms of antiquity, in line with the classicism which became hegemonic in the mature and late Renaissance.2

I

Quarrels at the Royal Palace: A Connotative Commonplace

n the Italian romance tradition before the Furioso, the Emperor and his court were subject not only to serious and celebratory treatments but also to ironic and critical, or frankly comical and mocking ones.3 A litmus test that is quite useful to assess the attitude of the various works towards the figure of Charlemagne is offered by the different interpretations of the cliché of the palace quarrel, which recurs in numerous texts of the mid-sixteenth century. What put the romance epic figure of Carlo Magno in a bad light was above all the trust that he would tragically misplace in Gano in the events leading up to the massacre of Roncevaux; this error retroactively undermined the credibility and exemplariness of the character and was refracted in infinite variations on the theme of the violent clash at the royal palace between members of the houses of Maganza and of Chiaramonte, to which, according to the Italian tradition, Orlando, Rinaldo and Astolfo belonged,4 with a gullible Carlo Magno who usually takes sides with the former and, outraged, condemns to banishment and/or to death the most outrageous exponent of the latter, who usually is Rinaldo. The archetype of this topos in Italy is precisely to be found in the Storie di Rinaldo, as well as in that of Orlando’s parents, Berta e Milone.5 Since it involves the two most beloved characters of the Carolingian epic in Italy, Rinaldo 2 On the presence of elements of classical culture in this literary genre see Jane E. Everson, The Italian Romance Epic in the Age of Humanism: The Matter of Italy and the World of Rome (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). On the classical models used by commentaries and texts after Ariosto, see Francesco Sberlati, Il genere e la disputa. La poetica tra Ariosto e Tasso (Rome: Bulzoni, 2001) and Stefano Jossa, La fondazione di un genere. Il poema eroico tra Ariosto e Tasso (Rome: Carocci, 2002). 3 Such is particularly the case with Pulci and Boiardo and other minor examples of the fifteenth century, like the Cantari di Rinaldo and the Innamoramento di Carlo; see also above, Chapters 2 and 4. 4 It is worth noting that the geste of Chiaramonte is unknown to the French sources, and may have been an Italian innovation, designed to polarise the two rival sides; see Pio Rajna, Ricerche intorno ai ‘Reali di Francia’, in Andrea da Barberino, I Reali di Francia, ed. by Giuseppe Vandelli (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1872), pp. 267–8. The key figure is Bernardo di Chiaramonte, grandfather of Orlando according to both Reali di Francia VI lxxi, where Chiaramonte is both the brother of Bernardo and a castle in his possession, and the Entrée d’Espagne, l. 7855, where Roland is ‘niés’ of Bernard de Clermont; see L’Entrée d’Espagne, Chanson de geste franco-italienne, publiée d’après le manuscrit unique de Venise, ed. by Antoine Thomas, 2 vols (Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1913; anastatic repr. with preface by M. Infurna, Florence: Olschki, 2007), I, 286 and 310. 5 See also above, Chapter 1.

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and Orlando, who are unjustly mistreated by their uncle the Emperor, each new variation tends to be accompanied by expressions of blame against the sovereign. If this is a very common cliché, it is certainly also highly efficient as a motivator of narrative, triggering countless adventures, since the condemnation is typically followed by the departure and dispersal abroad of the persons concerned and of other paladins, their friends and cousins, who set off on an adventure, usually eastbound. The popularity of this scheme in the Renaissance, however, is further enhanced by the special reasons of interest and renewed topicality that the themes of rivalry between courtiers and of errors of judgment on the part of the lord, too ready to listen to fraudulent counsellors and flatterers, had acquired in the court society of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The episode of the palace quarrel, therefore, offers the authors the opportunity to suggest – at least potentially, in the form of actions and images – a reflection on power, and on the authority and responsibility of the sovereign. Sometimes the discourse is presented in a comic key, but much more often it is carried out in a serious key, both in the learned texts and in the popular ones. The topical episode of the court brawl can even act as a trigger for the entire narrative machinery, as happens in one of the most successful and best-made poems of the time, the Rinaldo appassionato by the Florentine Ettore Baldovinetti, a compact poem printed at least a dozen times in the sixteenth century, the first in 1525, and regularly reprinted in the following centuries right up to the early twentieth century.6 The first sequence of the work, in fact, features Carlo Magno outraged by the behaviour of Rinaldo, who kidnaps the Maganzese Leonida, Gano’s niece, with whom he is wildly in love. Rinaldo flees to Montalbano and Carlo wages war against him. The Emperor, lined up with Gano, is openly opposed by Astolfo, Ulivieri and above all Ricciardetto, who slaps Gano in the face and threatens to stab him to death (I 55, 3–6). The result is an armed brawl at the palace, with the ‘saggio’ [wise] Orlando trying to make peace and to appease Carlo Magno (I 58–60). The emperor, though, proves unreasonable: ‘Carlo adirato non stava ad udire’ [Charles, in anger, was not going to listen] (I 61, 1), so that Ricciardetto, Astolfo and Ulivieri flee. Meanwhile, Orlando, who tries to prevent them from being chased by the Maganzesi, finds himself physically threatened by his uncle, who ‘con voce orrenda e cor turbato | prese il pugnale e crida al conte Orlando’ [with a horrible voice and troubled heart, took the dagger and shouted at Count Orlando] (I 63, 1–2). All the other paladins do their best to hold back Charlemagne so that ‘non si lassi vincere al furore’ [he doesn’t let himself be overcome by fury] (I 63, 7) and only with great 6 Ettore Baldovinetti, Rinaldo appassionato in cui si contiene battaglie d’armi e d’amore (Venezia: per Niccolò Zoppino, 1525). The last edition I am aware of is the one printed in 1913 in Florence by Salani, whose catalogue included the poem, with numerous reprints, since 1875. On this text, see Elio Melli, ‘Nella selva dei “Rinaldi”: poemetti su Rinaldo da Mont’Albano in antiche edizioni a stampa’, Studi e problemi di critica testuale, 16 (1978), 193–215 (pp. 205–15).

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difficulty do they succeed; Orlando, however, is by now full of anger and disdain (I 64, 7) and he too leaves the palace blaming his lord’s ingratitude: ‘per Carlo e Gano a morire io mi messi | e ’l merto è questo che porto da essi’ [for Charles and Gano I exposed myself to death, and this is the reward that I receive from them] (I 65, 7–8). The narrative dynamism sparked off by the court’s quarrels, which project the paladins into the adventurous and magical space of the Orient, is then managed by Baldovinetti with uncommon mastery, as he handles with remarkable shrewdness the typical mechanisms of the Boiardesque and Ariostesque entrelacement: the paths of the various cousins are in fact first followed in parallel and then brought back together by means of a well-conceived structural device that makes each of the three groups meet one of three sister princesses who roam the world separately in search of a champion capable of freeing their kingdom from a formidable dragon. Once the wandering paladins have gathered together and the spectacular feat has been accomplished, they can head back to Paris. However, since Rinaldo is still passionately in love and planning serious military retaliation against Carlo, whose court is in the meantime in the grip of major quarrels (IV 1, 3) confirming that the credulity and ingratitude of princes do damage, it is necessary for Malagigi to intervene and to erase by magic the love for Leonida from his cousin’s memory.7 Faithful to its title, the Rinaldo appassionato emphasizes above all the impassioned nature of its characters, but also observes them with an understanding and amused gaze. For this reason, although he is criticised by some characters, Charlemagne is never completely condemned. It is true, nonetheless, that Orlando complains of his ingratitude (I 65), that Astolfo blames him for Rinaldo’s misfortunes (II 77, 5), and that Rinaldo condemns him jointly with the Maganzesi: ‘or sia contento il traditor di Gano | e con sua setta insieme Carlo Mano’ [now that traitor Gano is happy, and Charlemagne together with his sect] (III 41, 7–8). It is equally true, however, that in the presence of strangers the paladins continue to define him as a ‘Re magno e decoro’ [great and honourable King] (II 18, 4), almost as if they wanted to protect his public image while keeping their private disagreements confidential. After all, in order for the story to result in the happy ending that everyone wishes, even the passions of the protagonist Rinaldo, which are at the origin of the break with Carlo, must finally be appeased and removed. Similarly, in various other interpretations of the palace brawl, although not always characterised by the light touch of Baldovinetti, Charlemagne is presented not only as an emblem of the ungrateful and gullible prince, seduced by the flatter7 In the fifth and last canto added from 1538, Charlemagne’s forgiveness is procured by Malagigi with a special ploy: the magician makes the emperor believe that the paladins are all dead, swallowed up by a huge monster that then attacks Paris. The news is so moving for Charlemagne that he ‘piange e sospira’ [cries and sighs] (V 31, 1). The greater his ‘gaudio’ [joy] is therefore when the paladins come out alive from the beast (V 42, 4): feeling such emotions, he embraces the paladins and is reconciled with them in a moment.

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ing courtiers, but also as a human being in the grip of overbearing passions and as a great sovereign, rightly proud and intolerant of insubordination. This last aspect is highlighted for example in the Oronte by Antonio Lenio,8 which is opened by a duel at court between Orlando and Rinaldo that makes Carlo Magno angry for the lack of respect towards him. The fearless emperor is the only one present who has the courage to stand between the two terrible contenders, reproaching them ‘con un parlar prudente, alquanto altiero’ [with a thoughtful, somewhat elevated speech] (I i 16, 8) that stigmatizes their dishonourable behaviour (I i 17, 5–8): Quest’è l’onor, el qual doveti dare al vostro re? Quest’è la riverenza? Poneti l’armi (in voce irata suona) sotto l’oltraggio di la mia corona! [‘Is this the honour, which you must give to your king? Is this the respect? Put down your weapons (he says in a loud voice), on pain of grave offence to my crown!’]

A different Charlemagne, who is much less able to control his own aggressiveness, is portrayed in the sixth canto of Astolfo innamorato by Antonio dal Legname,9 where the paladin who quarrels with his uncle this time is Astolfo, and Charlemagne is so angry with his rebellious nephew that he wants to far squartare, ma prima strassinarlo per la terra e tanagliato vivo e in pezzi fatto e ad ogni porta un pezzo sia mostrato! (VI 55, 5–8) [have him quartered, but first dragged on the ground and tortured alive with pincers and torn to pieces and at each door a piece be displayed!]

with a rage that foreshadows none other than the execution of Gano after Roncevaux. Since Gano is destined to be proved a traitor in the emperor’s eyes only after Roncevaux and not before, it is natural that until then – that is, for as long as the action takes place in that suspended and dilated timeframe between the wars of Aspromonte and those of Spain in which almost all the Italian Carolingian stories are set – Carlo Magno should consider him a trustworthy counsellor. This triggers processes of enthralling frustration for the public, both external and internal. Carlo’s paladins know well that his trust in the Maganzese is misplaced, and they oppose the decisions of the sovereign steered by Gano sometimes with vehemence, sometimes with restrained wisdom. In the third canto of the Anteo gigante by Lodovici,10 for example, the idea of leaving the government of France to Gano 8 Antonio Lenio, Oronte gigante (Venezia: Aurelio Pinzi per Cristoforo Stampone, 1531) and Antonio Lenio, Oronte gigante, ed. by Mario Marti (Lecce: Milella, 1985). 9 Antonio dal Legname, Astolfo Innamorato (Venezia: Bernardino Viani, 1532). 10 Francesco de Lodovici, L’Antheo gigante (Venice: Francesco Bindoni and Maffeo Pasini, 1524).

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while the emperor and the other paladins wage war against Anteo causes not only the violent reaction of Astolfo, who even puts his hand on his sword to prevent him from leaving the government to traitors (III 37, 8), but also a general disapproval of the court, murmured quietly in verses of well-balanced repetitiveness, which assume the rhythm, the timbre and the moralising function of a choir: ognun tacitamente mormorava dicendo: – Carlo, Carlo, tu fai male! – Ognun ’st’elezion molto biasimava dicendo: – Carlo, Carlo, hai poco sale! – Ognun il suo consiglio assai dannava dicendo: – Carlo, Carlo, poco vale commetter al fier lupo l’agnellino! (III 36, 1–7) [Everyone silently murmured, saying: ‘Charles, Charles, you are wrong!’ Each one blamed very much this election, saying: ‘Charles, Charles, you have no common sense!’ Each one very much condemned his advice, saying: ‘Charles, Charles, it is unprofitable to commit the little lamb to the fierce wolf!’]

No one, however, can make him think again. The emperor shows that he has little common sense also in Gabriel’s Nova Spagna,11 where Gano convinces him treacherously not to wage war immediately against Marsilio but to send an ambassador first: the dissent of the paladins is unanimous here too, but Carlo is once again too gullible (I xxiii, 22–55). On other occasions, however, although he takes sides against Rinaldo (or Astolfo), Carlo Magno is not a puppet of the evil counsellor, but on the contrary he judges in an autonomous and balanced way. In the Trionfi di Carlo by Lodovici,12 for example, to quell a violent quarrel between Orlando and Rinaldo, which has degenerated here into a collective brawl (cantos I x–xi), Rinaldo is not hanged as Gano proposes as usual, but simply banished (I xvii, 64–90). In some cases, indeed, far from highlighting the emperor’s weaknesses, the scene of the court quarrel is designed instead to emphasise his virtues. In the first canto of the Agrippina of Franco,13 the figure of the ‘magno Carlo’ is the solemn one of an even-tempered and wise sovereign, who first receives everyone with honour and praise and then, with the simple act of getting up from the royal throne (I 28) he imposes silence on the whole room, where ‘ognun di subito firmosse | e l’aure intente 11 Leonardo Gabrielli, Nova Spagna, d’amor et morte dei paladini (Venice: Pietro and Giovanni Maria Nicolini da Sabbio, 1550). 12 Francesco de Lodovici, Triomphi di Carlo (Venice: Francesco Bindoni and Maffeo Pasini, 1535). The edition was reissued the following year, 1536, with a completely different title-page; cf. Luca Degl’Innocenti, I ‘Reali’ dell’Altissimo. Un ciclo di cantari fra oralità e scrittura (Florence: SEF, 2008), p. 63. On Lodovici’s poems see Alberto Casadei, La fine degli incanti. Vicende del poema epico-cavalleresco nel Rinascimento (Milan: Franco Angeli, 1997), pp. 35–40. 13 Pietro Maria Franco, Agrippina (Venice: Aurelio Pinzi, 1533).

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Fig. 8.1  Charlemagne and his court, woodcut illustration from a 1492 Venetian Trabisonda.

per udir tenia’ [everyone immediately stopped and kept their ears alert to hear] (I 29, 5–6). The speech that follows is a proposal, hinted at by Orlando, to organise a tournament to prevent the relaxation of morale among the paladins in times of peace: the wise Namo endorses it, but the vile Gano raises objections (I 39–42). When Astolfo impulsively rebukes Gano, the usual scuffle breaks out, during which Carlo remains impartial and restrained, appeases emotions and reaffirms his decision (I 67–70).

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Royal images, in court and on the battlefield

his solemn image of Charlemagne, capable of keeping his varied and animated court in harmony, brings to mind other images, really visual this time, in which the emperor, crowned and bearded, is surrounded by his paladins, neatly arranged on both sides. This is a type of composition, an emblem of good governance, which it is not uncommon to find in printed editions of Renaissance chivalric works, which were usually richly illustrated. In Italy, Carolingian matter has given shape not only to texts but also to pictures, and especially to book illustrations that depict the exploits of the emperor and his paladins, assisting and influencing the imagination of the readership of these texts, throughout the broad spectrum of its socio-cultural levels.14 The supreme example in the sixteenth century is Orlando fu14 See in the first instance Jane E. Everson, ‘Every picture tells a story: illustrations for the Orlando Furioso after 1542’, in Sguardi sull’Italia. Miscellanea dedicata a

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Fig. 8.2  Charlemagne defending Paris from the pagan Rodomonte, woodcut illustration from canto 16 of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso (Zoppino, 1530 and 1536).

Fig. 8.3  Charlemagne on the battlefield, woodcut illustration from canto 38 of Ariosto’s Orlando furioso (Giolito, 1542).

rioso, for which in the course of the century at least ten complete sets of illustrations were produced (not counting their copies and imitations), each one usually composed of 46 woodcuts (one per canto) and some of them reproduced in dozens of editions, that is, in tens of thousands of copies. Many of the texts published after the Furioso were also frequently illustrated.15 Sometimes they are decorated with their Francesco Villari dalla Society for Italian Studies, ed. by Gino Bedani et al. (Exeter: The Society for Italian Studies, 1997), pp. 117–33. 15 On the illustrations of some of the texts discussed here, see also Luca Degl’Innocenti, ‘Testo e immagini nei continuatori dell’Ariosto: il caso uno e trino della Marfisa di Pietro Aretino illustrata coi legni del Furioso Zoppino’, Schifanoia, 34–5 (2008), 193–203 and Id., ‘“Ex pictura poesis”: invenzione narrativa e

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own images: this is the case, for example, of the Astolfo borioso or of the Anteo gigante, each of which uses a large opening vignette specially devised for these works, and this is the case most of all of the Innamoramento di Ruggieretto, which boasts 46 specifically designed images. At other times, in order to save on production costs without renouncing an iconographic apparatus, the vignettes that enrich the ‘minor’ texts are taken from sets that were originally designed for other works, above all the Furioso. Sometimes characters and scenes are easily recognizable, but also adaptable – albeit with a little forcing – to the new text, on other occasions the subjects are already generic from the beginning and it is therefore easier to associate them with more than one text: this is the case especially with the scenes of duels, battles or sieges that are as recurrent in the chivalric texts as they are common in their sets of illustrations. In these images it is not uncommon to discern the crowned head of Charlemagne (or of some other king who, if necessary, when reused, can act as Charlemagne), because in addition to the contexts of the palace and the council, the landscapes in which we most often see the emperor in action are those of the battlefields and of the sieges, where he shows his virtues, rather than his limits.

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Charlemagne, a warrior and a ruler

he remarkable virtues of Charlemagne in war emerge even when the war is the one that Gano succeeds, in more than one text, in stirring up against Rinaldo. In fact, while open to criticism in itself, such conflicts nevertheless offer the emperor the opportunity to show his own martial worth and that of his army, that successfully besieges the castle of Montalbano,16 which is conquered and razed to the ground in texts of wide and long-lasting popularity such as the Trabisonda (IV, 132–49).17 In a positive light, one of the episodes in which, in the medieval tradition, tradizione figurativa ariostesca nelle Prime imprese del conte Orlando di Lodovico Dolce’, in ‘Tra mille carte vive ancora’. Ricezione del ‘Furioso’ tra immagini e parole, ed. by Lina Bolzoni, Serena Pezzini and Giovanna Rizzarelli (Lucca: Pacini Fazzi, 2010), pp. 299–316. 16 The question is already crucial in the French tradition, as discussed in the chapters by Philip Bennett, ‘Charlemagne the Warrior’ and ‘Charlemagne the Ruler’, in The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Francophone and Occitan Literature, ed. by Marianne J. Ailes and Philip E. Bennett (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, forthcoming). 17 La Trabisonda (Bologna: Ugo Ruggeri, 1483), fol. d4r/v. It should be noted that this portion of the Trabisonda incorporates and modifies a part of the Cantari di Rinaldo; see Marco Villoresi, La fabbrica dei cavalieri. Cantari, poemi, romanzi in prosa fra Medioevo e Rinascimento (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 2005), pp. 71–2; in the corresponding episode of the Cantari, however, the fortress of Montalbano is conquered by Charlemagne (XLVI, 2–6), but not destroyed. The siege of Montalbano is a module resumed, in the Ariosto era, also by Cassio da Narni, La morte del Danese (Ferrara: Lorenzo Rossi, 1521), canto I iii. On the Morte del

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the prowess of Charlemagne at war is most evident is also the sack of a city: that of Saragossa, which is the culmination of the retaliation against the Moors of Spain after the massacre of Roncevaux. Other successful sieges of Carlo are narrated by many of the poems we are examining. The author who perhaps more than anyone else is fond of portraying him victorious is the Venetian Francesco de Lodovici: not only – as is evident from the title – in the tercets of the Trionfi di Carlo (1535), but also already before that in the octaves of the Anteo gigante (1524). In the first one, in fact, in order to exalt the political and religious importance of his exploits, on his return trip to Italy after the eponymous triumphs in the Holy Land, Carlo Magno is escorted by a solemn entourage of sea gods, led by no less than Neptune (Trionfi di Carlo, II xciii), whose presence does not, however, prevent an attack by pirate ships, which are finally defeated and torched by the emperor, who is unbeatable even on the high seas (II, xcv–xcvii). The somewhat incongruous presence of pagan gods alongside the champions of Christianity, which is a notable example of Renaissance syncretism, is also to be found in the other poem, in which Mars himself witnesses the great battle between the armies of Carlo and Anteo before the city of Crassitone (Anteo gigante, XVII–XXVI) and finally even descends to earth, embracing ‘benignamente Carlo | con gran dimostrazion di molto amarlo’ [Carlo benignly, with great demonstration of much loving him] (XXVI 80, 7–8), in order to knight him, together with Orlando and Rinaldo. In earthly terms, not only have the three warriors already been knighted,18 but the emperor is the very authority on which the order of knighthood depends; yet, this investiture by Mars is clearly meant to solemnly endorse Carlo’s power on a divine level, although this does not imply any particular Christian meaning, but rather a purely (and literally) martial one. After the victory in the open field, the emperor is also the protagonist of a successful Danese see Marina Beer, Romanzi di cavalleria. Il ‘Furioso’ e il romanzo italiano del primo Cinquecento (Rome: Bulzoni, 1987), pp. 149–60 and Alberto Casadei, Il percorso del ‘Furioso’. Ricerche intorno alle redazioni del 1516 e del 1521 (Bologna: il Mulino, 1993), pp. 129–48. 18 According to the Italian medieval tradition, the emperor was knighted in his youth by Galeana, sister of Marsilio, so that Carlo (known then by the name of Mainetto) could fight against king Polinoro and defend Saragossa; Orlandino was knighted by Charlemagne after defeating Almonte; the emperor also knighted Rinaldo and his three brothers, immediately before banishing them for killing Ghinamo di Maganza, in both the prose and rhymed version of Rinaldo’s stories; see respectively Andrea da Barberino, I Reali di Francia, VI, p. xxx; Andrea da Barberino, L’Aspramonte. Romanzo cavalleresco inedito, ed. by Marco Boni (Bologna: Antiquaria Palmaverde, 1951), III lvi–lx, pp. 172–6; Pio Rajna, ‘Rinaldo da Montalbano’ (1880) in his Scritti di filologia e linguistica romanza, ed. by G. Lucchini, 3 vols (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 1998), I, 101–89 (p. 115), and I Cantari di Rinaldo da Montalbano, Edizione critica con introduzione e glossario, ed. by Elio Melli (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1973), II 32–3 and III 22–3 (pp. 23 and 31).

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siege, in which the city of Spartana suffers the same fate as Saragossa. Guilty of having closed its gates to the victor over Anteo, and of refusing to acclaim him as its new lord and to convert to Christianity, the city is condemned by Carlo to burn without mercy (Anteo gigante, XXVIII, 17, 5–8): Ordinò a molta e molta di sua gente che quella terra fessino abbrugiare e che senza pietà d’alcuna cosa la metti a fuoco ed a fiamma focosa [He ordered very many of his people to set the city on fire, and without mercy towards anything, to burn it up in a fierce and fiery blaze.]

In such circumstances, the Italian authors of the Renaissance seem to remember well that the real Charlemagne had been a conquering warrior, and as such he could also be, if necessary, merciless. This Carlo Magno, however, is not only portrayed as a great commander of armies, but also as a valiant fighter in his own person, to the extent of being associated with his strongest paladins, Orlando and Rinaldo. If Mars dubs him a knight together with them it is because Charles had decided the fate of the battle of Crassitone by personally defeating the giant Anteo in a duel (Anteo gigante, XXVI 55–71). In the traditional Carolingian epic, Charles was no stranger to these feats, beginning with his duel against Baligant in the Chanson de Roland; yet he was not often represented as a warrior in the Italian texts before Ariosto, not to mention in the Furioso itself.19 Among later authors, however, Lodovici is also joined by Dolce, who, while narrating the Prime imprese del conte Orlando (1572), rewrites, in canto XV, the famous duel in Aspromonte between Charlemagne and the terrible Almonte;20 and by Clemente Pucciarini, in whose Brandigi the emperor slaughters so many enemies that he is compared to a wild bull, considering that ‘ognun lo fugge, ognun l’aborre e grida’ [everyone flees from him, everyone dreads him and cries out] (XVI 44, 7).21 In the Italian tradition of the stories of Aspromonte, Carlo’s duel with Almonte is resolved by the intervention of Orlandino, who kills the killer of his father Milone; that episode, however, is treated by Dolce in such a way as to emphasize, even more than the martial skills, the moral virtues of Charlemagne, 19 Among the fifteenth-century texts in which Charlemagne fights like a great warrior, it is worth mentioning at least the Cantari di Rinaldo, circulating in print since 1494, also under the guise of Inamoramento de Rinaldo; see I cantari di Rinaldo da Monte Albano, ed. by Elio Melli, ‘Introduzione’, pp. xxiv–xxxii. They display battle sequences in which the emperor slaughters his foes with his trustworthy sword Gioiosa (XXIII, 34–5) and is even able to stand up to Rinaldo in a duel, so much so that his nephew ‘teme, vedendo sua arte’ [fears him, seeing his mastery] (XL 5, 8). 20 Lodovico Dolce, Le prime imprese del conte Orlando (Venice: Gabriele Giolito De Ferrari, 1572). 21 Clemente Pucciarini, Brandigi (Venice: Giovanni Antonio Rampazetto, 1596).

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who acts as a perfect example of a magnanimous and noble knight when, upon encountering Almonte asleep, he does not kill him treacherously but wakes him up and even helps him to arm himself.22 Almonte, here characterised as a proper villain, teases him for being a ‘fool’, but the emperor cannot help but follow ‘il consueto stile | che il guidò ognor per onorata strada’ [the usual style that guided him all the time along the path of honour] (Prime imprese del conte Orlando, XV 30–4). The poem of Dolce, a sort of prequel to Orlando furioso composed in the second half of the century and published posthumously, narrates once again the birth and childhood of Orlando and his deeds and those of Carlo in Aspromonte in heroic style, clothing the emperor in solemn robes and severe shades. While the works of Dolce both as an author and as an editor had generally enjoyed great success in the previous decades, the Prime imprese del conte Orlando, although embellished by the Ariostesque woodcuts that from 1542 illustrated the many reprints of the Furioso published by Giolito and edited by Dolce himself, had no other editions after the princeps of 1572. Targeted at a selected readership, the work does not seem to have attracted a wide audience.23 22 I am grateful to Philip Bennett and Marianne Ailes for bringing to my attention the fact that the Italian versions of the death of Almonte are far removed from the Chanson d’Aspremont and other French sources, and that Dolce’s own reworking seems reminiscent of the beginning of the duel between Olivier and Fierabras in Fierabras, and of that between Roland and Fernagut in the Pseudo-Turpin. On the likelihood that the latter may lie behind the depiction of Fierabras in the late twelfth-century chanson de geste see Marianne J. Ailes, ‘From Epic to Chronicle and Back: The Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle and the Chanson de geste Fierabras’, in Thirty Years of Medieval Studies at the University of Reading, 1965–95: A Celebration, ed. by Anne Curry (Reading, 1995), pp. 17–24. In Italy, the detail about Feragu falling asleep is retained by the Entrée d’Espagne (lines 3520–78), for which see also Claudia Boscolo, L’Entrée d’Espagne. Context and Authorship at the Origins of the Italian Chivalric Epic (Oxford: Medium Aevum, 2017), pp. 191–206, and by the prose versions of the Spagna: La Spagna in prosa (Firenze, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Mediceo Palatino 1013), ed. by F. Moretti (Pisa: ETS, 2013), p. 119, but does not appear in the rhymed ones. However, though absent from Andrea da Barberino’s Aspramonte, where the African warrior simply takes off his weapons (III xxxii–xxxiii), Almonte’s sleep is already present in the widespread fifteenth-century poem Aspramonte (Florence: Iacopo di Carlo and Piero di Nofri Buonaccorsi [c. 1490]), XVIII 90–XIX 9, fols o3r–v, which was the main source of Dolce’s version, according to Marco Boni, ‘Le prime imprese del conte Orlando di Ludovico Dolce e l’Aspramonte quattrocentesco in ottave’, in Studi di varia umanità in onore di Francesco Flora (Milan: Mondadori, 1963), pp. 67–87. Interestingly, Almonte acts courteously in all Italian versions before Dolce, whose idea of turning him into a scornful villain can be read as a sign of Counter-Reformation rigour. 23 See Degl’Innocenti, ‘“Ex pictura poesis”’ and Ronnie H. Terpening, Lodovico Dolce, Renaissance Man of Letters (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997).

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However, there is no shortage of other texts, including those of widespread consumption, in which Charlemagne is proposed as a model not only of military valour, but also of ethical, political and civic values. Once again, it is the battle and siege scenes that best catalyse these formulas, especially when rather than a heroic attacker, Charlemagne is a heroic defender. In the Orlando furioso, after all, the emperor does not play any part in the decisive conquest of Biserta, capital of Agramante (canto XL), but he does play a leading role in the defence of besieged Paris (canto XIV). Paris is the operative and symbolic centre of Charlemagne’s reign, the heart of his Christian empire: it is inevitable, therefore, that all the adversaries of that world will move against the city, and that the siege of Paris will be one of the most recurrent episodes in the entire corpus of Italian Carolingian texts. Sixteenth-century poems are no exception. The Mantuan soldier poet Marco Guazzo, for example, narrates a siege of Paris in his Belisardo (1525, II xiv) and one in his Astolfo borioso (1531, canto IV);24 the capital is also besieged by Astolfo in Astolfo innamorato, by Antonio dal Legname (1532, canto VIII); while in Pier Maria Franco’s Agrippina (1533, cantos VI–VII and XI–XII) the city is attacked by a giant who is in reality Malagigi, determined to take revenge against Carlo and Gano for the umpteenth siege of Montalbano. Other sieges are suffered by Paris in the Inamoramento di Ruggeretto by Panfilo de’ Renaldini (1554, canto XLV)25 and in the Vendetta di Ruggiero by Giovan Battista Pescatore (1556, canto VII),26 and the list could easily be extended. As in the fourteenth canto of the Furioso, the moment of grave danger for the fate of Christianity is also a moment of truth for its defender Carlo Magno, who proves to be a good sovereign and provident captain, ready to organise the defences and to encourage his subjects. In Guazzo’s Astolfo, for example, the emperor not only actively takes part in the fighting alongside the other paladins, but also takes care to spur on ‘con parole […] i suoi a la difesa’ [with words […] his men to defending the city] (Astolfo borioso, IV 63, 6–7), in Franco’s poem, among other things, ‘Carlo provede a i rotti muri’ [Carlo makes provision for the broken walls] (Astolfo innamorato, VIII 70, 1); in the Vendetta di Ruggiero the sovereign plans with the advice of Amone a great nocturnal sortie against the besiegers, organising the army in three formations and manoeuvring them as a shrewd strategist: ‘Fatte le schiere, Carlo ordine diede | d’assalir il nemico da tre lati | ne l’or che la cicala al grillo cede’ [once the formations had been made, Charles gave the order to attack the enemy from three sides in the hour that the cicada gives way to the cricket] (VII 81, 1–3). On the contrary, the risk of Paris capitulating becomes really threatening, and 24 Marco Guazzo, Belisardo fratello del conte Orlando (Venice: Niccolò Zoppino, 1525); Marco Guazzo, Astolfo borioso (Venice: Niccolò Zoppino, 1531) and Marco Guazzo, Di Astolfo borioso la seconda parte (Venice: Niccolò Zoppino, 1533). 25 Panfilo de’ Renaldini, Innamoramento di Ruggeretto figliuolo di Ruggero (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1554). 26 Giovanni Battista Pescatore, Vendetta di Ruggiero (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1556).

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often turns into reality, whenever Carlo falls into the hands of the enemy, depriving the capital of its wise guardian. This is the case, for example, of the Astolfo borioso and, above all, of the poem by Renaldini, where the circumstance of the emperor’s ‘crudel e inoppinata presa’ [cruel and unforeseen capture] causes dismay among the ranks of the defenders, which the enemy thus manages to overcome (Inamoramento di Ruggeretto, XLIV 74, 2). The serious and solemn spirit of these portraits of Charlemagne from the middle of the century is condensed and distilled in some scenes of the short chivalric masterpiece of the young Torquato Tasso, the Rinaldo.27 Published in 1562, about twenty years before the Gerusalemme liberata, its twelve cantos rework some of the most typical elements of the Italian Carolingian tradition, including the palace clash between the eponymous hero and the Maganzesi, followed by the usual condemnation of the former by the emperor. Unlike many other texts, however, in the version of the eighteen-year-old Tasso, Charlemagne’s endorsement of Gano’s evil counsel and the consequent perpetual banishment imposed on Rinaldo are not the object of blame, much less of mockery, as we have seen and will see elsewhere, since the harshness of the sovereign is fully justified by the outrageous excesses, the ‘troppo […] alta arroganza’, of the young unrestrained Rinaldo, who in front of the whole court has killed the Maganzese Anselmo and stirred up a bloody brawl (XI 36): Poté salvo ed illeso a la sua stanza da i nemici ritrarsi il giovinetto, ma ’l suo soverchio ardire e la baldanza lascia di sdegno a Carlo acceso il petto: troppo, troppo gli pare alta arroganza ch’abbia tanto oltre usato al suo cospetto, sì ch’a la fin, di Gano al rio consiglio, da la Francia gli diè perpetuo essiglio. [The young man could retreat safe and sound to his room, but his overwhelming audacity and boldness leave Carlo’s breast burning with indignation: it seems to him that Rinaldo was much too arrogant, much more than usual in his presence, so that in the end, following Gano’s wicked advice, from France he gave him perpetual exile.]

Since his first appearance in the octaves at the beginning of the poem, in fact, Charlemagne is clearly presented as a wise and brave warrior-sovereign, who ‘in più battaglie avea | domo e represso l’impeto affricano’ [in many battles had tamed and repressed the attack of the Africans] (I 6, 1–2) whose camp he is now encircling on several fronts so much so that with his ‘audace e generoso core | era a’ nemici 27 Torquato Tasso, Il Rinaldo (Venice: Francesco de Franceschi, 1562), recently ed. by Matteo Navone (Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 2012). See also Casadei, La fine degli incanti, pp. 45–60 and Riccardo Bruscagli, ‘La materia del Rinaldo di Torquato Tasso’, in Boiardo, Ariosto e i libri di battaglia, ed. by Andrea Canova and Paola Vecchi Galli (Novara: Interlinea Edizioni, 2007), pp. 511–28.

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suoi d’alto terrore’ [bold and generous heart he caused great terror to his enemies] (I 7, 7–8). That he is wise is repeated several times already in the course of the first canto (see especially I 62, 7 and 64, 1); that he is also a model sovereign, revered by the young Rinaldo who aspires to conquer his approval and admiration and then gain his forgiveness with his own deeds, emerges clearly on several occasions in the poem, as when Rinaldo and Florindo head towards the battlefield because ‘ivi di fare eccelse prove han speme | dinanzi al gran figliuol del buon Pipino’ [there they hope to do excellent feats before the great son of the good Pepin] (VI 1, 5–6).28 Behind these fictional interactions between the paladin and the emperor, one can glimpse the pattern of the relations between the courtier and the royal prince, interwoven with displays of skill on the part of the former and concessions of protection from the latter.

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A mirror for the prince: dedicatory letters and allegories

he case of Rinaldo confirms that the figure of Charlemagne often tends to assume a central function in defining the system of values of a chivalric work. In more than one of the poems considered, moreover, the emperor and his court are openly proposed as a mirror of virtue not only to the common reader, but also and especially to the lords to whom the text was dedicated. For authors who were integrated, or aspired to be integrated, into the court society of the time, dedicating their literary labours to a powerful patron was becoming a universal and necessary custom.29 In our case it involves several Italian lords, such as Guidobaldo della Rovere for Marco Guazzo’s Astolfo borioso, Francesco de’ Medici for the Ruggeretto by Panfilo de’ Renaldini, Alfonso d’Este for Cesare Galluzzi’s Ruggiero,30 Francesco Maria della Rovere for Ludovico Dolce’s Prime imprese, and Ferdinando de’ Medici for Clemente Pucciarini’s Brandigi. The encomiastic model, which dates back to antiquity, is of course influenced by the examples of Boiardo and Ariosto, who celebrated the Este dynasty by singing the feats and adventures of its founders. In the present works, however, that model is often interpreted in a new way, expressly didactic and pedagogical, which presents the adventures of chivalry as a speculum principis, especially suitable ad usum Delphini, that is, to form the morality of the young princes, offspring of powerful houses. Such projects hinged on the success of chivalrous stories among young people, but they certainly sound a bit paradoxical when compared to the many condemnations that over the centuries had branded the chivalric literary genre as a corrupter of the customs and souls of everyone, and especially of young people.31 The moralisation of Carolingian stories, on the other 28 See also, for example, I, 27–8 and VIII, 39. 29 See Sacchi, Fra Ariosto e Tasso, pp. 44–52. 30 Cesare Galluzzi, Ruggiero. Il primo libro di Ruggiero primo marchese d’Ateste (Ferrara: Giovanni Buglhat and Antonio Hucher, 1550). 31 See Marina Roggiero, Le carte piene di sogni. Testi e lettori in età moderna (Bologna: il Mulino, 2006), pp. 55–89.

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hand, is in line with some of the more general cultural processes of the time, such as the growing moral control that characterizes Italian society of the sixteenth century in general, especially in the era of the Council of Trent (1542–63), and the growing prevalence, in the particular field of literature, of theoretical reflections inspired by classicist norms. For the chivalric genre, classicism mostly resulted in an increasingly marked tendency to recover the forms of ancient epic, both through direct imitation of Homer and of Latin authors, Virgil above all, and through the programmatic implementation of Aristotle’s precepts. This aspiration to epic is sometimes in a dialectical relationship, but most of the time in open conflict with the traditional late-medieval morphology of the chivalric romance. Some texts, and especially the most popular ones, continue to handle a multitude of characters and adventures that intertwine in myriad and superimposed spatio-temporal structures; others, on the other hand, and especially the most cultured ones, strive to create more univocal diegetic organisms by conforming their narratives to the Aristotelian unities of place, time and action, or at least by focusing attention on a single exemplary protagonist, according to the formula that has been termed the ‘hero’s life’.32 In this regard, the link that some texts establish between Carolingian matter and imperial ideology is meaningful. By reading the dedications of such poems as the Ruggero by Bartolomeo Oriolo (1544)33 or the Amor di Marfisa by Danese Cataneo (1562),34 despite the very different spirit of the two works (the first is parodic, the second is encomiastic), we derive the same fundamental idea: that Charles V, as Guido Sacchi has noted, is on the one hand ‘the perfect dedicatee for a poem of arms and knights’ since he is ‘the natural leader of the Christian armies’ and ‘heir to Charlemagne’s anti-Saracen mission’, and on the other hand he is himself an exemplary ‘modern hero, he who embodies and realises the perfect model of the epic prince’.35 As a confirmation of the Carolingian-imperial connection, it is interesting, conversely, that poems intended for the French court, such as Luigi Alamanni’s Girone, are instead on an Arthurian subject. Both the encomiastic and the exemplary-didactic project, and the rather close links that bind them together, are often highlighted in the paratext. In the opening pages of the book, dedicatory letters and forewords exalt the dedicatees and their lineages, and promise to show their virtuous origins through the narration of the exploits of their ancestors, whose characters and actions are therefore proposed as 32 See Riccardo Bruscagli, ‘Vita d’eroe: l’Ercole del Giraldi’ in his Studi cavallereschi (Florence: SEF, 2003), pp. 145–66 and Jossa, La fondazione, pp. 157–77. 33 Bartolomeo Oriolo, Di Ruggero, canti quattro (Venice: Giovanni Andrea and Florio Valvassori, 1544). 34 Danese Cattaneo, Dell’amor di Marfisa tredici canti (Venice: Francesco de Franceschi, 1562). On this poem, see Massimiliano Rossi, La poesia scolpita. Danese Cataneo nella Venezia del Cinquecento (Lucca: Pacini Fazzi, 1995). 35 See Sacchi, Fra Ariosto e Tasso, pp. 45–6. On Charles V and Ariosto, see above, Chapter 7.

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models to be imitated, endowed with exemplary ethical values. At the beginning of each canto, moreover, thanks also to the fashion launched by the mid-century editions of the Furioso, it is increasingly common to find some ‘allegories’, that is, short paragraphs that provide the reader with the keys to deciphering the true or presumed moral content of the story he is about to read. One can find them, for example, in the texts of Pescatore, Renaldini, Dolce, Brusantini, Bossi and Pucciarini and they are often frankly forced: rather than revealing the edifying medulla hidden under the amusing superficial bark, one would say that they serve above all to camouflage that surface, which expresses the substantial hedonism of the work, so that it may pass with impunity before the eyes of moralists and censors. The case of Ruggeretto provides clear evidence of this strategy, among other things.

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Homogeneous appearances and multifarious reality: the case of Ruggeretto

egardless of appearances, reality is usually more ambiguous, complex and richer than what is suggested by the programmatic declarations of that time and the historiographic simplifications of today. An emblematic case in this sense is the protean Innamoramento di Ruggeretto by Panfilo de’ Renaldini, printed in 1554 in Venice by Comin da Trino and sold by several publishers and booksellers, whose names cause variant states of the title page, though the edition is one and the same.36 The long poem, in 46 cantos like the Furioso, is dedicated to Francesco de’ Medici, just fourteen years old at that time, by the author from Ancona, who was once linked by a ‘divotione affettuosissima’ [very affectionate devotion] to the condottiere Giovanni delle Bande Nere, father of Duke Cosimo and grandfather of Francesco.37 The author’s dedication to the future lord of Florence promises a plentiful offering, ‘sotto il velame di queste rime’ [under the veil of these rhymes], of very useful moral, ethical, civil and political precepts, including come disturbi molte volte la Fortuna i nostri disegni; quanto facci al stabilimento de’ regni l’amore e benivolenza di populi; come si deveno reggere e Principi così nella prospera come nell’avversa fortuna […] e, sopra ogn’altra cosa, come debba esser grande la religione del Principe verso Iddio’. [how Fortune often disturbs our plans; how much the love and benevolence of the people benefit the stability of kingdoms; how Princes should behave in prosperous as well as in adverse fortune, and most of all how great the religious devotion of the Prince towards God must be.]38

36 On the author, see Alberto Canaletti Gaudenti, M. Panfilo Renaldini poeta romanzesco del Cinquecento (Modena: Società tipografica editrice modenese, 1939). 37 Panfilo de’ Renaldini, Innamoramento di Ruggeretto figliuolo di Ruggero (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1554), fol. *2v. 38 Renaldini, Innamoramento di Ruggeretto, fol. *2v.

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Fig. 8.4  Charlemagne and his twelve paladins at Paris, woodcut illustration and allegorical interpretation from the first canto of Panfilo de’ Renaldini’s Innamoramento di Ruggeretto (1554).

At the beginning of each canto, the Ruggeretto is adorned not only with woodcut illustrations of fine quality, specifically designed for it, an expensive paratext, reflecting a substantial investment (the possible involvement of a Medicean sponsorship might be worth investigating), but also with lengthy allegories that take great care to explain what praiseworthy teachings have been hidden under the delightful ‘velame’ [veil] of the adventures told in the canto that is about to begin. Unfortunately, when put to the test, the keys to interpretation that they propose are all too general or too specious, and it soon becomes clear to the reader that these allegories, although authorised by Renaldini himself in the dedication, are only an artificial superstructure: suffice it to say that the twelve paladins that surround Charlemagne in the first canto are supposed to symbolise the twelve months of the year, each one with its own set of seasonal pleasures,39 whereas the text does not even manage to present all of the twelve paladins, let alone to characterise them in any recognizable way.40 Much more sincere than the pedagogical indications, in the dedication, is the note struck by the excusatio that confesses ‘così lo stile, come l’inventione essere assai umile e bassa’ [so the style as the invention will be very humble and low].41 Indeed, the stylistic resources of Renaldini appear barely mediocre, even compared to the not very lofty average of the time, and it is hardly possible to assign him any 39 Renaldini, Innamoramento di Ruggeretto, fol. A1r. 40 The allegorical interpretation holds up much better, of course, in the exceptional case of episodes which are in fact deliberately allegorical, such as the one investigated by Francesco Lucioli, ‘Amore alla forca. Una giostra nell’Innamoramento di Ruggeretto di Panfilo de’ Renaldini’, Rivista di letteratura italiana, 30 (2012), 9–27. 41 Renaldini, Innamoramento di Ruggeretto, fol. *3r.

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Fig. 8.5  A long-nosed fairy woman fighting against knights, woodcut illustration from canto 13 of Renaldini’s Innamoramento di Ruggeretto (1554).

inventive talent. His many duels, for example, are tedious sequences of stereotypical blows as hyperbolic as they are ineffective, concluded without any progression by a blow identical to the others but inexplicably lethal; his characters enter, act, and leave the scene, fall in love, get angry, or die without apparent logic, sent to wander in digressive dimensions and chaotic times and places, generating narrative sequences that are randomly alternated using the formulae ‘lascio’/‘torno’ [I leave/I return] that would seem to suggest some form of entrelacement and instead only mark the passage between parallel and unrelated threads, which almost never intersect or interweave in an organic plot. The Innamoramento di Ruggeretto is, in short, a monstrum container of multiple stories assembled haphazardly, in which it is difficult to recognise a narrative project, not to mention a pedagogical programme. This exuberant abundance of stories, nevertheless, is precisely the most interesting aspect of this work, which is a multifarious patchwork of diverse parts, whose content and style disjointedly switch from allegory to romance, from satire to contemporary history, from novella to ethics, and from theology to fairy tales, scarcely holding things together by using characters that mostly belong to the traditional Carolingian cast. The content of the Ruggeretto seems to come from a variety of sources, some of which are quite original: the marvellous elements, for example, not only take the form of monsters, spells and wonders that abound in the paladins’ adventures, but also that of fairy-tale features, which are here much more abundant than in other texts of this genre, and sometimes are new and rare, like the horror story of the demonic novice in canto XIII, who not only shows off a Pinocchio nose three centuries in advance, duly portrayed by the corresponding illustration,42 but even appears on stage one piece at a time, recomposing herself 42 Renaldini, Innamoramento di Ruggeretto, fol. I1v.

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with a ritual that, to my knowledge, is the first attestation in writing of the motif later made famous by the fairy tale of Giovannin senza paura, which is part of a folklore heritage mostly transmitted orally.43 This magical and fabulous dimension also embraces Charlemagne, whose figure takes on very different aspects in different parts of the work. In fact, he is the protagonist not only of warlike sequences such as those mentioned earlier, or of the court scene that opens the book, but also of a love affair in which he becomes infatuated with the beautiful Erifille. In the grip of a ‘strana frenesia’ [strange frenzy] (XXII 36, 8), whereby he declares himself ‘da me stesso diviso’ [separated from myself] (XXII 45, 5), the emperor tries to seduce her, but Erifille refuses him and warns him that with his behaviour he is staining his own honour (54, 5). His wife Galerana soon notices Carlo’s extra-marital desires and she turns for help to a witch (‘Maga’, 69, 3) who gives her a magic filter against love (79, 2). Galerana manages to administer it to her husband, verifying the effectiveness of the remedy: an effectiveness that is in fact excessive, since Carlo not only stops loving Erifille, but also his wife, so that he locks up both of them, along with all the ladies of the court, in a tower (XXII 86, 7 and XXXI 98). In these same cantos, on the other hand, as if to counterbalance the emperor’s undignified infatuation, his name appears several times in a series of much more serious sequences, of a warlike and political nature, which lead him to face a very dangerous attack of a new and different ‘Sultan’ on the territories of the Empire: the emperor ‘Carlo’ mentioned in those sequences, however, is not in reality the medieval king of the Franks, but the contemporary Charles V, attacked by the Turks of Suleiman the Magnificent who in 1529 besieged Vienna and returned to the attack in 1532. As proof of the fact that the Innamoramento di Ruggeretto is a kaleidoscopic text, the author feels free to alternate these long blocks of octaves of much more burning topicality with the chivalric, novelistic and fairy-tale sequences of Carolingian setting, without justifying their presence in any way, except by suggesting that his audience will find them interesting. The detailed historical account and expert political remarks of these passages, moreover, are by no means an original creation by Renaldini. A check among the historical accounts of the time, in fact, reveals that his verses derive verbatim, with the minimum adjustments required by metre and rhyme from the Discorso sopra l’impresa dell’Austria fatta dal Gran Turco written by the obscure Giovanni Luigi di Parma in the same year 1532 and printed no later than 1543.44 The techniques for ver43 For a version of Giovannino and information about its circulation, see Fiabe italiane, ed. by Italo Calvino (Turin: Einaudi, 1956), pp. 3–4 and 827 respectively. 44 Giovanni Luigi di Parma, Discorso sopra l’impresa dell’Austria fatta dal Gran Turco, nel MDXXXII (Bologna: Bartolomeo Bonardo and Marcantonio Grossi, 1543); on the author, see Angelo Pezzana, Memorie degli scrittori e letterati parmigiani. Tomo sesto, 3 vols (Parma: Ducale tipografia, 1825–7; repr. Bologna: Forni, 1973), III, 478–84. The work must have been composed in 1532, soon after the historical events narrated in it, as the Marquis Luigi Gonzaga, to whom the Discorso is dedicated, died on 3 December of that year.

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sifying prose here used by Renaldini are the same as those traditionally used by the cantimpanca, the oral poets who since at least the late fourteenth century, usually embellishing a subject already narrated in prose, had been reciting in public both chivalric tales and contemporary wars and public affairs, in addition to a varied repertoire of novellas, fairy tales, love poems, and moral and religious ones.45 It is precisely the traditional repertoire of the cantimpanca that the eclectic and exuberant repertoire of the Ruggeretto recalls, as if the book was conceived as a repository and sampler of all the poetic materials available to a narrator-entertainer.

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Orality and print and the popularity of chivalric narratives

oo little is known about Renaldini to establish whether he could ever have been a cantimpanca, but his case nevertheless effectively reminds us that throughout the course of the sixteenth century and far beyond Carolingian stories were circulated in Italy not only by printed books, but also by oral street performances, which for some sections of the population were the main medium for information and entertainment, and whose creators also worked precociously in the production and sale of their printed versions. Orality and writing intertwine and cooperate in the early modern age in keeping Charlemagne’s legends popular, spreading those stories through the spoken word and in print in a rich range of old and new possibilities. They include, on the one hand, the reprints of many traditional Carolingian plots, dating back to the fifteenth century and regularly reprinted during the sixteenth, increasingly characterised as cheap products, aimed at strata of the population among whom the tastes and mindset of the late Middle Ages still persisted. On the other hand, the best crafted and most successful of the new narratives take hold, and some of them are capable of recasting a genre and even an entire literary system, like the Orlando furioso, which was widespread not only in print, with editions for all budgets, but also orally, in the mouths both of the street singers and of the many admirers who learned it by heart. In the middle, the range also includes the many works of the epigones, of the continuators, and of the eccentrics, those who are called ‘minors’ because they certainly do not reach the artistic heights of the greatest authors, but who in some cases nevertheless produced quite well-made works, and were thereby rewarded by a vast success with their audience, judging by the many reprints. Among the texts already mentioned, there are examples such as the Sacripante of Dolce46 and the Rinaldo appassionato of Baldovinetti, for which there are no fewer than 11 and 14 editions in the sixteenth century, respectively. 45 See The Cantastorie in Renaissance Italy. Street singers between oral and literate cultures, ed. by Luca Degl’Innocenti, Massimo Rospocher and Rosa Salzberg, special issue of Italian Studies, 71.2 (2016), with further bibliography. 46 Lodovico Dolce, Cinque primi canti di Sacripante (Venice: Maffeo Pasini, 1535), then, in ten cantos, Il primo libro di Sacripante (Venice: Francesco Bindoni and Maffeo Pasini, 1536).

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Deriding the mighty: Charlemagne according to Folengo and Aretino

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mong those that are still to be examined, some works deserve special attention, both for the calibre of their authors and for their stylistic and ideological interest. These authors, far from taking it too seriously, treat the chivalric narrative material as a source of amusement and as a subject to expose to comedy and ridicule, and so also capable of offering opportunities for social and cultural criticism and satire. It is a strand that would struggle to survive in the severe climate of the second half of the century, but that in the early sixteenth century feeds freely on the comedy of Pulci (and Boiardo), the irony of Ariosto and the spirits and personal talents of the authors. Among them, alongside obscure names still waiting to be rediscovered, such as the aforementioned Bartolomeo Oriolo and Secondo Tarentino who created the Bradamante gelosa (1552),47 there stand out the names of two of the most interesting men of letters of the century: Teofilo Folengo and Pietro Aretino.48 The best-known work of Folengo in the field of chivalric literature is undoubtedly the Baldus, a masterpiece of a mostly comic and parodic production of texts written in a language that mixes Latin with the vernacular and dialect, which is called ‘macaronic’ precisely by virtue of the title of the collection of works by Folengo that contains the Baldus, called Liber Macaronices (1517, then Opus Macaronicum, 1521, and finally Macaronicorum poema). The comic and grotesque adventures of the young and brave farmer Baldus emulate those of Aeneas and Orlando but overturn their epic and chivalric patterns; however, neither Charlemagne nor his paladins feature in this work. The case of the eight cantos (or ‘capitoli’, ‘chapters’) of the Orlandino, a chivalric poem in octaves published by Folengo in Venice in 1526, is quite different. It recounts – also in a playful way, at least in part, but this time in the vernacular – the misfortunes of Orlando’s parents, Berta and Milone, and the birth and childhood of the paladin.49 The story was one of the most widely known in the saga, and a few decades later it will also provide a heroic subject for Dolce’s 47 Secondo Tarentino, Della Bradamante gelosa i cinque primi canti (Venice: Giovanni Andrea Valvassori, 1552); the text is also published as an appendix to Lenio, Oronte (1985). 48 For an introduction to these two authors, see the entries ‘Aretino, Pietro’ by Giuliano Innamorati and ‘Folengo, Teofilo’, by Angela Piscini, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, respectively 4 (1962), pp. 89–104 and 48 (1997), pp. 546–52. Also available online: and [accessed 9 September 2020]. 49 Orlandino, per Limerno Pitocco da Mantoa composto (Venice: Gregorio de Gregori, 1526); see Teofilo Folengo, Orlandino, ed. by Mario Chiesa (Padova: Antenore, 1991), Maria Cristina Cabani, ‘L’Orlandino di Folengo e il genere cavalleresco’, Rivista di letteratura italiana, 9 (1991), 591–610 and Andrea Canova, ‘Teofilo Folengo e l’Orlandino a Venezia’, Quaderni folenghiani, 9 (2014–17), 167–95. See also Chapters 1 and 3 above.

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Prime imprese, but Folengo recounts it in his own manner, infusing it with satirical and burlesque elements, and anticlerical and trivial ones, making fun not only of the Catholic religious authorities, so much so as to arouse suspicions of Lutheran sympathies, but also of the Emperor Charlemagne and his court, that is, of political and military authorities. A telling example in this sense is, once again, the playful treatment of the commonplace of the palace quarrel, which here becomes a hyperbolic brawl reminiscent of Pulci, in which Milone slaughters the Maganzesi, killing più di mille […], e gli altri caccia, e taglia e tronca e crudelmente svena; volano gli elmi con le teste e braccia mentre punte, fendenti e scarsi mena. (Orlandino, V 32, 1–4) [more than a thousand, […] and hunting the others, he cuts and hacks and cruelly makes blood flow; helmets are flying with heads and arms while he strikes with straight thrusts, and descending, and light ones.]

This provokes the wrath of Charles which will force him to flee with Berta, sister of the emperor, who will give birth to Orlando in exile. In this scene in which he is clearly on the wrong side, opposing the love between the parents of the future paladin, Carlo Magno is seen portrayed in the grotesque guise already tailored by Boiardo50 of a brutish bully who, ‘di gridar già fatto roco | bandendo e minacciando or questo or quello’ [already made hoarse by shouting, and yet banning and threatening hither and thither], gets so angry as to brandish a club with which he goes on ‘rompendo qua e là più d’un cervello’ [breaking here and there more than one head], and nevertheless achieves little or nothing, and above all does not obtain any respect (V 29): Milone, indeed, shows that he values the threats of his sovereign ‘men d’un fico’ [less than a fig] (V 33, 5), until Charlemagne, who was already banishing people in abundance (V 29, 2), eventually imposes on him banishment on pain of death (V 34, 7). Akin to this but even more openly iconoclastic moods are conveyed by Pietro Aretino in two of his four short but intense chivalric experiments. While brilliant, the first two Carolingian poems composed by him, dedicated to Marfisa and Angelica and both designed as sequels of the Furioso,51 actually maintain tones and modes sufficiently restrained to protect the dignity of Charlemagne. The emperor is repeatedly presented and defined as wise in the Marfisa,52 which portrays him as a magnificent Renaissance lord during the celebrations for Ruggiero’s victory over 50 See Orlando innamorato, I iii, 23, 8–24, 2. 51 The first two cantos of the Marfisa were published in 1532, and a third was added in 1535. The Angelica, in two cantos, was printed for the first time shortly after 1536. See Pietro Aretino, Poemi cavallereschi, ed. by Danilo Romei (Rome: Salerno editrice, 1995), Riccardo Bruscagli, ‘L’Aretino e la tradizione cavalleresca’, in his Studi cavallereschi, pp. 119–44, and Maria Cristina Cabani, ‘L’Aretino continuatore dell’Ariosto: quattro abbozzi in ottava rima’, Nuova rivista di letteratura italiana, 21 (2018), 11–46. 52 See Marfisa, I 15, 17, 36, 41–3 and III 48.

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Rodomonte; his only flaw is his senile infatuation for Angelica, for which however ‘il vecchio Carlo’ [old Charles] is in good company (even Namo is a victim of the princess’ charm) and can invoke the mitigating factor that ‘il foco d’amor più arde a forza | l’arida e secca che la verde scorza’ [the fire of love burns more powerfully the barren and dry bark than the green one] (Marfisa, III 22, 7–8). In the Angelica, moreover, Carlo Magno’s self-restraint seems to have improved also in this aspect, since he smiles as an understanding and expert man, ‘per lunga esperienzia dotto’ [made expert by a long experience] in the face of other people’s love afflictions, all the better if they are those of the ladies of the court who fall in love with the portrait of Medoro (Angelica, II 20); when he sits on the throne, then, his image is as solemn as that of a genitor mundi: ‘che in terra il padre par d’ogni emispero’ [so that on earth he seems to be the father of both hemispheres] (II 12, 4). A completely different thing, on the other hand, is the ‘panciuto et agiato re Carlone’ [podgy and laidback king Charles], no less greedy, and even more so than the paladins that Aretino stages and ridicules in his later Orlandino (I 22, 5), a poem from the 1540s consisting of a first canto plus a fragment of the second, for a total of 56 octaves, which promises to sing ‘di Carlo e d’ogni paladino | le gran coglionarie di cremisino’ [of Charles and of every paladin, the great crimson screw-ups] (I 1, 7–8).53 Here the parodic overturning of the chivalric world, which mirrors the ignoble realities hidden behind the false glories of the mighty, gives life to a farcical fresco in which the court of Paris reveals itself to be a den of greedy drunkards and cowards, each one mocked in a grotesque cameo: Charlemagne is not only portrayed as ‘un bel cacca-pensieri’ [a great thought-pooper] (I 7, 1), who talks nonsense (‘farnaticando’, I 33, 5), but, in confirmation of the exemplary value that the chivalric works of this period attach to his figure as a model or antimodel of a prince, he is also blamed as an example of the rule whereby ‘ogni principe elegga a’ sommi onori | i più poltroni, i più goff ’, i peggiori’ [every prince raises to the highest ranks the most sluggard, the most awkward, the worst ones] (Orlandino, II 3, 7–8), since the emperor ha scielti in dozzina certi squassa-penacchi, squarta-poggi a tavola e in bordello e in cucina, e pare che ognun col brando sfoggi. (II 4, 1–4) [has chosen by the dozen certain crest-shakers, hill-slaughterers, at the table and in the brothel and in the kitchen, and it seems to him that everyone works wonders with the sword.]54

53 The colour ‘cremisino’ might hint at the imperial purple, as well as to the purpura of cardinals, thus making fun of any hierarchy and authority, both secular and religious. 54 The Italian words ‘squassa-pennacchi’ and ‘squarta-poggi’ are pure inventions of Aretino, and do not exist, apart from here; similarly for the English equivalent, I have used invented words in literal translation.

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Unable to assess how much his men are really worth, Carlo Magno, like any short-sighted and unfair lord rightly so called, chooses the worst and deems them excellent. From this point of view, the three cantos of the Astolfeida do not offer such explicit stances, even though they depict a very similar picture of cowardly guzzling paladins: of Carlo, indeed, Aretino even points out certain virtues, by recalling, for example, that he was ‘d’amor, di fé, di cuor, di lingua schietto’ [of sincere love, faith, heart, and speech] or rather, that he was celebrated as such, but he also condemns him again as credulous and gullible, a too easy prey to Gano’s deceptions, and makes fun of this defect by playing on the double meaning of the expression ‘da ben’ (i.e. ‘good’, but also ‘naive, gullible’): ‘del resto fu da ben più del bisogno | tanto da ben che a dirlo mi vergogno’ [after all, he was da ben much more than needed, so much da ben that I am ashamed to say] (Astolfeida, I 25). So, the praise is semi-serious and the derision more nuanced and subtle than in the Orlandino. Nevertheless, the willingness to attack the mighty with a caustic laugh soon overwhelms even the sovereign, when his own cowardice and that of his paladins prove unable to protect them from the threats of the Arcifanfan of Baldacca: Charlemagne, then, ‘empie le brache e ‘nsanguina le chiappe | d’altro che d’acqua lanfa e belzuino’ [fills his pants and soils his butt cheeks with other than orange blossom perfume or benzoin balm] (I 37, 6–7), that is, he literally shits in fear. Indecorous and degrading as it may be, this carnivalesque image of an inept, incapable, and soiled Carlo Magno confirms nevertheless the emblematic value that his figure retained in Italian chivalric novels, where the emperor was commonly designated to embody, for better or for worse, the political and military power. Of that power Charlemagne could reflect the most ridiculous and despicable vices, as in this case, or more or less humanly comprehensible defects, as in many of the texts considered in this chapter, and even, and perhaps more often, he could act as an idealised model of power, showing the Renaissance lords and their subjects how a virtuous prince should act in the courts and on the battlefields. No matter how remote in time, the undying tradition of Carolingian stories continued throughout the sixteenth century, and beyond, to convey messages that were relevant to the present.

Afterword Charlemagne in Italy: a Never-Ending Story Jane E. Everson

T

he literary tradition of Charlemagne narratives in Italy is conventionally and justifiably seen as concluding in the sixteenth century with the works of Ariosto and his immediate successors. But it would be wrong to assume from the absence of a literary tradition that the narratives about Charlemagne and his paladins had lost their attraction and interest for large swathes of the Italian public. How that tradition continued, in oral retellings, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is very difficult, if not impossible, to discern. Nevertheless it is clear, from what subsequently emerged in the mid-nineteenth century, that in southern Italy, in both Sicily and Naples, popular reciters known as ‘contastorie’ continued to narrate epic and chivalric tales for the delectation of a largely popular audience. These reciters continued thus to work in the centuries-old tradition of retelling the stories of Charlemagne already known, both from major and minor sources, and weaving in new characters and episodes. By the first half of the nineteenth century these versions of the chivalric epics began to find their way into the hands of the Sicilian puppet masters and to pass from pure narration to a form of theatrical representation. On its own this would not justify this afterword. But what lay behind the burgeoning tradition of puppet theatre in the south of Italy was the written compilation of these stories into a single, coherent narrative, a nineteenth-century version, in many respects, of the compilation of Andrea da Barberino at the end of the fourteenth. The interaction between written compilations of the Charlemagne narratives and the Sicilian puppet theatres has recently been studied by Anna Carocci in a major monograph devoted to the origins, development, modifications and survival of the puppet theatre tradition.1 Between 1858 and 1860 there was published, firstly in instalments and then in four volumes, the Storia dei paladini di Francia, cominciando da Milone conte d’Ang1

Anna Carocci, Il Poema che cammina. La letteratura cavalleresca nell’opera dei pupi (Palermo: Museo Pasqualino, 2019). The information contained in this short epilogue is drawn from her publication which I gratefully acknowledge.

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lante sino alla morte di Rinaldo, by Giusto Lodico.2 This would rapidly become, for the puppeteers ‘performing’ these narratives, ‘the’ source text, their equivalent of the medieval writers ‘auctor’ or ‘libro’ or, less seriously, of Cieco and Ariosto’s Turpin.3 Against the infinite and unauthorised variations of the contastorie, Lodico aims to provide a stable, approved text and one which has a coherent development and a logical sequence of episodes. Like his fourteenth-century predecessor, Lodico aims to tell the story of Charlemagne and his paladins from the childhood of Orlando to the defeat at Roncevaux. As he expresses it in his Preambolo, quoted in full by Carocci,4 which I summarise, he aims to narrate all that France underwent during the reign of Charlemagne and the individual exploits and adventures of the paladins against pagans or for love; the endless treachery of Gano against Charlemagne and his court; the magic and trickery of Malagigi on behalf of Charlemagne and for the houses of Clermont/Chiarmonte and Montauban/Montalbano: a summary that covers almost all the subject matter of the various texts studied in this volume. At the heart of his compendium is the story told by Boiardo and Ariosto, of Orlando ‘innamorato e poi furioso’ but into this story he weaves many others, some of which relate closely to the poems of Boiardo and Ariosto, others, which unlike them but like Pulci, actually narrate the defeat of Roncevaux, and others which, like Cieco’s Mambriano tell an alternative tale of an Orlando chaste and untempted by love, of Gano faithful not treacherous. Clearly weaving in disparate stories into a single whole requires, as Carocci puts it, a complex process of selection and discernment, not only to achieve a linear progression towards the conclusion, but also to smooth over the joins between one work and the next.5 Lodico’s work did not command the approval of the literary critics and romance philologists of his day, who condemned the compilation both for its popular appeal and for its fusion of tales, which ran counter to the recovery of individual texts; Rajna even criticised it for obscuring the oral tradition of chivalric tales. Yet in spite of the popular appeal and readership of the Storia, Lodico’s compendium is in fact 2 Giusto Lodico, Storia dei paladini di Francia, cominciando da Milone conte d’Anglante sino alla morte di Rinaldo, 4 vols (Palermo: stamperia di Giov. Batt. Guadiano, 1858–60). 3 By the later fifteenth century the mention of Turpin in Italian Carolingian narratives no longer refers to the Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle of earlier Charlemagne traditions, but to a completely fictitious figure used, most often ironically, to assert the veracity of a tall story or exaggerated claim, as for example in Mambriano XXXVI, 73, on Baiardo’s leap over the walls of Paris with Ivonetto on his back: ‘Creder si vuol, poi che Turpin l’ha scritto / Autor che non suol mai scriver bugia’ [One must believe it, since Turpin wrote it down / an author whose habit is never to write lies]. 4 Carocci, Il Poema che cammina, p. 32. 5 For the full discussion of Lodico’s process of research, compilation, amendments and manipulations see Carocci, Il Poema che cammina, pp. 37–56.

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based on the written and literary tradition, as Carocci’s list of identifiable sources shows.6 Selected chiefly from poems composed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, including both poems successful in their own day and those which had little success among sixteenth century readers, Lodico read widely and must have had access to a peculiarly well-stocked library of chivalric narratives. By fusing together major and minor exponents, manipulating and selecting to achieve his aims, Lodico produced for his times a prose compilation of the whole Charlemagne tradition to match both the earlier compilations and the individual literary compositions studied here. Alongside the Innamoramento de Orlando of Boiardo, the Mambriano of Francesco Cieco, and the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto, all of which Lodico includes virtually entire, Pulci’s Morgante (for the defeat at Roncevaux), the anonymous fifteenth-century Innamoramento de Carlo Magno, the sequel of the Furioso of Vincenzo Brusantino, the Angelica innamorata, the Aiolfo da Barbicone, and Lodovico Dolce’s Palemerino de Oliva among others all appear. Lodico’s compilation enjoyed an immediate and huge success, so much so that only three copies of the first edition survive, and none at all of the first reprinting. As with many of the chivalric narratives of the first era of printing, which survive in few copies, even for the most famous, so this almost complete loss of copies is testament to the popularity of the work and the frequency with which it was, quite literally, consumed by its public. In this sense, Lodico is a worthy heir of the writers and compilers studied here. Moreover, the initiative of his reproposing, in written form, the age-old tales of Charlemagne, also sparked off another return to practices frequently seen in the earlier tradition, especially in the era of printing. His Storia was republished in a pirated and apparently extended edition in 1886, by Pietro Manzanares, who entitled his work Storia dei paladini di Francia da Pipino re sino alla battaglia di Roncisvalle facendo seguito la morte di Carlo magno. Lavoro di P. Manzanares.7 This extends the narrative at both ends, reflecting the more extensive narrative arc of both the Geste Francor and Andrea da Barberino, but also simplifies and abbreviates Lodico’s work. In its turn Manzanares’ work was then reused by a more worthy successor, Giuseppe Leggio, whose title did acknowledge Lodico’s work, but in the formula ‘compilata e corretta’ [compiled and corrected] reflected techniques of the early printers who advertised their editions as ‘nuovamente corretta e rivista’ [newly corrected and revised]. The Storia dei paladini di Francia cominciando dal re Pipino sino alla morte di Rinaldo. Lavoro di Giusto Lodico con l’aggiunta di altri famosi autori (1895–6) was reprinted ten years later as Storia dei paladini di Francia cominciando dal re Pipino sino alla morte di Rinaldo, vera ed unica 6 Carocci, Il Poema che cammina, p. 50. 7 Storia dei paladini di Francia da Pipino re sino alla battaglia di Roncisvalle facendo seguito la morte di Carlo magno. Lavoro di P. Manzanares, 2 vols (Palermo: P. Manzanares and Fratelli Vena editori, 1886). For Manzanares and his role in the pirating and development of the Storia of Lodico, see Carocci, Il Poema che cammina, pp. 72–8.

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edizione di Giusto Lodico compilata e corretta di Giuseppe Leggio.8 With this title the Charlemagne tradition in Italy comes full circle, back to the Geste Francor and in the still continuing tradition of Sicilian puppet theatre underlines that the tradition of narratives of Charlemagne which began in Italy in the late Middle Ages continues to flourish in the twenty-first century: truly a never-ending story.9

8 Storia dei paladini di Francia cominciando dal re Pipino sino alla morte di Rinaldo. Lavoro di Giusto Lodico con l’aggiunta di altri famosi autori, 3 vols (Palermo: Giuseppe Leggio editore, 1895–6); Storia dei paladini di Francia cominciando dal re Pipino sino alla morte di Rinaldo, vera ed unica edizione di Giusto Lodico compilata e corretta di Giuseppe Leggio, 3 vols (Palermo: Giuseppe Leggio editore, 1906–7). For Leggio and his work on the chivalric tradition, see Carocci, Il Poema che cammina, pp. 78–86. 9 In addition to Carocci’s monograph and bibliography there, for the contemporary Sicilian puppet theatre of Charlemagne narratives, see Jo Ann Cavallo, ‘Boiardo and Ariosto in contemporary Sicilian puppet theater and the Tuscan-Emilian epic Maggio’, Modern Language Notes, 133.1 (2018), 48–63; and Marcella Croce, The Chivalric Folk Tradition in Sicily. A History of Storytelling, Puppetry, Painted Carts and Other Arts ( Jefferson, North Carolina: Macfarland and Co, 2014). On the Tosco-Emilian tradition of the ‘maggio drammatico’ (epic maggio) and its preservation of elements of the Carolingian narrative tradition, see, for example, Tullia Magrini (ed.), Il maggio drammatico: una tradizione di teatro in musica, Montagna reggiana, 2 (Bologna: Edizioni Analisi, 1992), the DVD created by Jo Ann Cavallo, Il maggio emiliano: ricordi, riflessioni, brani (2003), reviewed by Luisa Del Giudice in Journal of American Folklore, 119, no. 473 (Summer 2006), 370–3 and Cavallo’s later blog: [accessed 8 May 2022].

Bibliography Manuscripts and Early Printed Editions Items are listed under the title or author and give the principal holdings for that text. Manuscripts Acquisto di Ponente Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS C 35 sup. (also contains the Seconda Spagna) Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Pluteo LXXXIX, inf. 63 Aspramonte in prosa London, British Library, MS Additional 10808 Cantari d’Aspramonte Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, MS Magliabechiano VII, 682 Cantari del Danese Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Mediceo Palatino 95 Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, MS MA 563 Cantare del padiglione Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 1771 Florence, Biblioteca Marucelliana, MS C 256 Cantari di Fierabraccia e Ulivieri Reggio Emilia, Archivio di Stato, Archivio del Comune, Appendice, Miscellanea Storica e Letteraria, MS b1 Cantari di Rinaldo Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, MS Palatino 364 Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 683 (formerly M, IV, 33) Carlo Mainetto/Carletto Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS Magliabechiano Cl VII, 951

313

314

Bibliography

Chanson d’Aspremont [Italian/Franco-Italian only] Chantilly, Musée Condé, MS 470 Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS Magliabechiano Cl VII, 932 Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS français 1598 Trento, Biblioteca San Bernardino, MS Archivio 320 Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS latini cl. X; codex 200 (fragment) Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS francese IV (= 225), fols 1r–68r (Z. 4) Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS francese VI (= 226) (Z. 6) Chanson de Roland [Franco-Italian only] Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS francese VII (= 251) (= V7) (Z. 7) Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS francese IV (= 225) fols 69r–98v (= V4) (Z. 4) Châteauroux, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 1 (= C) Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Digby 23 (= O) Entrée d’Espagne Châtillon, Archivio dell’Académie Saint-Anselme d’Aoste, Gressan (Valle d’Aosta), no shelf-mark (fragments; approximately 123 verses) Reggio Emilia, Biblioteca Panizzi, Vari E 181 (fragments; 405 verses) Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS francese XXI (= 252) (Z. 21) Geste Francor Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS francese XIII (= 256) (V 13) Mort Charlemagne Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Canonici 54, fols 32r–53r Prise de Pampelune/Continuazione dell’Entrée d’Espagne Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS francese V (= 250) (Z. 5) La Seconda Spagna Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. I. 15 (see also Acquisto di Ponente) Spagna in prosa Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Mediceo Palatino 1013 Spagna in rima Rome, Biblioteca Corsiniana, MS 44. D. 16 (= C) Ferrara, Biblioteca Comunale Ariostea, MS Cl II, 132 (= F) Como, Biblioteca della Società Storica Comense, no shelf mark (= G)

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Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Pluteo XC, inf. 39 (= L) Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS italien 567 (= P) Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS italien 395 (= P’) Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 2829 (= R) Storie di Rinaldo Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Mediceo Palatino 1011 Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Mediceo Palatino 1014 Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Pluteo XLII, 37 Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Pluteo LXXXIX, inf. 64 Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Pluteo LXI, 40 Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 1904 Andrea de’ Magnabotti da Barberino Reali di Francia Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Canonici Italian 129 Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. I. 14. Aspramonte Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 2308 (olim R. II. 27) Florence, Biblioteca Moreniana, MS Frullani 12 Rome, Biblioteca Angelica, MS 2313, 5 (fol. 123 of Frullani 12) Rome, Biblioteca Angelica, MS 78 (olim A. 7. 17) Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. I. 14 (olim Magliabechiano Cl VI, 6) Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 2309 (olim R. II. 26) Rome, Biblioteca Angelica, MS 2263 Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. II. 56 Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 2410 Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS Pal. 677 (116; E. 5. 8. 38) Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS Pal. 583 (440; E. 5. 5. 24) Rome, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele II, MS 232 (MS 232; copy of BNCF II. 1. 14, above) Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, MS Ital. cl. XI, codex 38 Extant, but current location unknown: Rome, Biblioteca Albani, MS dated 1508–9 Milan, Biblioteca Melziana Storie Nerbonesi Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. I. 15 Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. I. 16 Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 2481 Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 2327 (Book VIII) Rome, Biblioteca Corsiniana, MS Rossi 62 (olim 43 C 22) Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS Panciat. 35 (fragment)

316

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Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. IV. 35 (2nd part); (= MS Magliabechiano Pal IV, 34) Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, MS Asb. 530 (Bks IV–VII) Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS Ricc. 2933 Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, MS Pluteo XLIII, 18 Parma, Biblioteca Palatina, MS 32 Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Barb. lat. 4101 Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. IV. 679 Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, MS Red 177 Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. VII. 3 Rome, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele II, MS 231 (copy of Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, MS II. IV. 35) Early Printed Editions Listed here: • for texts first printed in the fifteenth century: all incunabula and the first complete sixteenth-century edition. • for texts/authors first printed in the sixteenth century: the first edition and later editions with significant changes to the text. For a complete panorama of the sixteenth-century editions of a text/author, please see the bibliographies and catalogues listed in section 3. Andrea da Barberino, Reali di Franza (Florence: n.d. [1496 (?)]) Andrea da Barberino, Reali di Franza (Modena: Petrus Maufer*, 1491) Andrea da Barberino, Reali di Franza (Venice: Cristoforo de Pensis, 1499) Andrea da Barberino, Reali di Franza (Venice: n. pub. [Pinzi?], 1511) Andrea da Barberino, Reali di Franza (Venice: n. pub., 1515) Aretino, Pietro, Angelica (Venice: Bernardino Vitali, [1536–8]) Aretino, Pietro, Astolfeida ([Venice: n. pub., after 1547]) Aretino, Pietro, Dui primi canti di Marphisa ([Venice: Bernardino Vitali, 1532]) Aretino, Pietro, Li dui primi canti di Orlandino (Stampato ne la stampa, pel mastro de la stampa, dentro da la Citta, in casa e non di fuora, nel mille uallo cerca [Venice: Agostino Bindoni (?), after 1540]) Aretino, Pietro, Tre primi canti di Marfisa (Venice: Niccolò Zoppino, 1535) Ariosto, Ludovico, Orlando furioso (Ferrara: Francesco Rosso da Valenza, 1532) (= C, 46 canti) Ariosto, Ludovico, Orlando furioso (Ferrara: Giovanni Mazocco dal Bondeno, 1516) (= A, 40 canti) Ariosto, Ludovico, Orlando furioso… ristampato et con molta diligentia da lui corretto et quasi tutto formato di nuovo et ampliato (Ferrara: Giovanni Battista dalla Pigna milanese, 1521) (= B, 40 canti) Aspramonte in octaves (Florence: Iacopo di Carlo and Piero di Nofri Buonaccorsi [c. 1490])

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Baldovinetti, Ettore, Rinaldo appassionato in cui si contiene battaglie d’armi e d’amore (Venice: per Niccolò Zoppino, 1525) Boiardo, Matteo Maria, El Fin del Inamoramento dOrlando (Venice: Simone Bevilacqua da Pavia, 1495) [first extant edition of Book III] Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Orlando innamorato ([Reggio Emilia or Modena or Scandiano(?): Pietro Giovanni del fu Filippo da San Lorenzo(?), 1482/3]) [lost editio princeps of Books I and II] Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Orlando innamorato (Scandiano: Pellegrino de Pasquali, 1495) [first complete edition in three books, now lost] Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Orlando innamorato (Venice: Piero de’ Piasi, 1487) [first extant edition of Books I and II] Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Tutti li Libri del Orlando Innamorato del Conte de Scandiano Mattheo Maria Boiardo (Venice: Giorgio Rusconi, 1506) Bossi, Girolamo, I primi cinque canti d’Heliodoro (Milan: Giovanni Antonio Borgo, 1557) Bossi, Girolamo, La genealogia della gloriosissima casa d’Austria (Venice: Giovanni Battista and Mechiorre Sessa, 1560) Brusantini, Vincenzo, Angelica innamorata (Venice: Francesco Marcolini, 1550) Cassio da Narni, La morte del Danese (Ferrara: Lorenzo Rossi, 1521) Cattaneo, Danese, Dell’amor di Marfisa tredici canti (Venice: Francesco de Franceschi, 1562) Cieco da Ferrara, Francesco, Libro d’arme e d’amore nomato Mambriano (Ferrara: Giovanni Mazzocco, 1509) Cristoforo Fiorentino, detto l’Altissimo, Il primo libro dei Reali (Venice: Giovanni Antonio Nicolini, 1534) dal Legname, Antonio, Astolfo innamorato (Venezia: Bernardino Viani, 1532) de Lodovici, Francesco, L’Antheo gigante (Venice: Francesco Bindoni and Maffeo Pasini, 1524) de Lodovici, Francesco, Triomphi di Carlo (Venice: Francesco Bindoni and Maffeo Pasini, 1535) de’ Renaldini, Panfilo, Innamoramento di Ruggeretto figliuolo di Ruggero (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1554) degli Agostini, Niccolò, Il Quinto Libro dello inamoramento de Orlando (Venice: Giorgio Rusconi, 1514) Di Carlo imperatore e dei baroni (Falconetto) (Milan: Leonardo Pachel e Ulderico di Alemagna, 1483) Dolce, Lodovico, Cinque primi canti di Sacripante (Venice: Maffeo Pasini, 1535) Dolce, Lodovico, Il primo libro di Sacripante (Venice: Francesco Bindoni and Maffeo Pasini, 1536) Dolce, Lodovico, Le prime imprese del conte Orlando (Venice: Gabriele Giolito De Ferrari, 1572) Esortazione ai cristiani contro il Turco ([ Jesi]: [Federico de’ Conti], [c. 1474])

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Modern Editions and Translations Italian Charlemagne texts Andrea da Barberino, L’Aspramonte. Romanzo cavalleresco inedito, ed. by Marco Boni (Bologna: Antiquaria Palmaverde, 1951) Andrea da Barberino, L’Aspramonte, ed. by L. Cavalli (Naples: Rossi, 1972) Andrea da Barberino, Il Guerrin meschino, ed. by Mauro Cursietti (Rome-Padua: Antenore, 2005) Andrea da Barberino, I Reali di Francia, ed. by Giuseppe Vandelli, 2 vols (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1892) Andrea da Barberino, I Reali di Francia, ed. by Giuseppe Vandelli and Giovanni Gambarin (Bari: G. Laterza, 1947)

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Andrea da Barberino, I Reali di Francia, ed. by Aurelio Roncaglia, notes by Fabrizio Beggiato (Rome: Casini, 1967; repr. Milan: Fratelli Meuta, 1987) Andrea da Barberino, The Royal House of France (I Reali di Francia) and Related Medieval Romances (Selections), trans. by Max Wickert, [accessed 3 September 2018] Andrea da Barberino, La Storia di Ajolfo del Barbicone e di altri valorosi cavalieri, ed. by Leone del Prete, 2 vols (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1863–4) Andrea da Barberino, La Storia d’Ugone d’Alvernia volgarizzata nel sec. XIV, ed. by F. Zambrini and A. Bacchi della Lega, 2 vols (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1882; repr. Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1968) Andrea da Barberino, Le Storie Nerbonesi, ed. by Ippolito Gaetano Isola, 2 vols (Bologna: Romagnoli, 1887) Andrea da Barberino, Le Storie di Rinaldo da Montalbano, ed. by P. Orvieto (Rome: Aracne, 2020) Aretino, Pietro, Poemi cavallereschi, ed. by Danilo Romei (Rome: Salerno editrice, 1995) Ariosto, Ludovico, ‘Cinque Canti’/Five Cantos, trans. by Alexander Sheers and David Quint, intro. by David Quint (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996) Ariosto, Ludovico, ‘Orlando furioso’ secondo l’edizione del 1532 con le varianti delle edizioni del 1516 e del 1521, ed. by Santorre Debendetti and Cesare Segre (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1960) Ariosto, Ludovico, ‘Orlando furioso’ e ‘Cinque Canti’, ed. by Remo Ceserani and Sergio Zatti (Turin: UTET, 1997) Ariosto, Ludovico, Orlando furioso secondo la princeps del 1516, ed. by Marco Dorigatti, in collaboration with Gerarda Stimato (Florence: Olschki, 2006) Ariosto, Ludovico, Orlando Furioso, trans. by Guido Waldman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983) ‘Berta de li gran pié’, ed. by Adolfo Mussafia, Romania, 3 (1874), 339–64; 4 (1875), 91–107 Berta e Milon, Rolandin: Codice Marciano XIII, ed. by Carla Cremonesi (Milan: La Goliardica, 1973) ‘Berta and Milone’ and ‘Rolandin’, trans. by Leslie Zarker Morgan, ORB (On–Line Reference Book for Medieval Studies), [accessed 25 April 2019] Boiardo, Matteo Maria, L’Inamoramento de Orlando, ed. by Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti and Cristina Montagnani with an introduction and comments by Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti, 2 vols (Milan-Naples: Ricciardi, 1999) Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Orlando innamorato, ed. by Riccardo Bruscagli, 2 vols (Turin: Einaudi, 1995) Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Orlando Innamorato, trans. with an introduction and notes by Charles Stanley Ross (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989) ‘Cantari d’Aspramonte’ inediti (Magl. VII 682), ed. by A. Fassò (Bologna: Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, 1981)

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Other primary texts Adenet le Roi, Les Œuvres d’Adenet, ed. by Albert Henry, 5 vols (Brussels: Presses Universitaires de Bruxelles; Bruges: De Tempel, 1951–71), I, Biographie d’Adenet; La tradition manuscrite (Bruges: De Tempel, 1951); III, Les Enfances Ogier (Bruges: De Tempel, 1956); IV, Berte aus grans piés (Brussels: Presses Universitaires de Bruxelles, 1963) Adenet le Roi, Berte as grans piés, ed. by Albert Henry, TLF, 305 (Geneva: Droz, 1982) Alighieri, Dante, The Divine Comedy, ed. and trans. by Robin Kirkpatrick, 3 vols (London: Penguin Classics, 2006) Alighieri, Dante, Inferno, ed. and trans. by Robert M. Durling, introduction and notes by Ronald L. Martinez and Robert M. Durling (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996) Alighieri, Dante, Inferno, trans. by Robert and Jean Hollander, introduction and notes by Robert Hollander (New York: Anchor Books, 2002) Aspremont (La Chanson de), [accessed 23 August 2018] Aspremont (La Chanson de), Chanson de geste du XIIe siècle, Texte du manuscrit de Wollaton Hall, ed. by Louis Brandin, 2e éd. revue, 2 vols, CFMA, 19, 25 (Paris: Champion, 1923–4) Aspremont: Chanson de geste du XIIe siècle, présentation, édition et traduction par François Suard d’après le manuscrit 25529 de la BNF, ed. by François Suard, Champion Classiques Moyen Âge, 23 (Paris: Champion, 2008) Aymeri de Narbonne, chanson de geste publiée d’après les manuscrits de Londres et de Paris, ed. by Louis Demaison, 2 vols, SATF (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1887) Bernard of Clairvaux, Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae, intro. and trans. by Cosimo Damiano Fonseca, in Opere, ed. by Ferruccio Gastaldelli, 6 vols (Milan: Fondazione di studi cistercensi, 1984), I, 425–83. Boccaccio, Giovanni, Comedia delle ninfe fiorentine (Ameto), ed. by Antonio Enzo Quaglio (Florence: Sansoni, 1963) Boccaccio, Giovanni, Il Filocolo, ed. by Antonio Enzo Quaglio (Milan: Mondadori, 1998) Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Istoria Imperiale di Ricobaldo Ferrarese nella quale si contiene la divisione dell’Imperio, e la successione de gl’Imperatori dopo Carlo Magno, che primo ottenne l’Imperio Occidentale, in Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, ed. by Ludovico Muratori, 25 vols (Milan: Società Palatina, 1723–51), IX, books III–IV, pp. 289–342 Boiardo, Matteo Maria, La pedìa de Cyro, ed. by Valentina Gritti (Novara: Interlinea, 2014) Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Pastoralia. Carmina. Epigrammata, ed. by Stefano Carrai and Francesco Tissoni (Novara: Interlinea, 2010)

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Wickham, Chris, ‘Obituary: Philip Jones’, The Guardian, 12 May 2006, [accessed 7 April 2022] Wilkins, Ernest Hatch, ‘On the dates of composition of the Morgante of Luigi Pulci’, Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, 66 (1951), 244–50 [repr. in The Invention of the Sonnet and Other Studies in Italian Literature (Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1959), pp. 244–50] Williams, Ella, ‘Francophone Literature in Angevin Italy’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University College London, 2020) Wolfzettel, Friedrich, ‘Zur Stellung und Bedeutung der Enfances in der altfranzösischen Epik I’, Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur, 83 (1972), 317–48 Wolfzettel, Friedrich, ‘Zur Stellung und Bedeutung der Enfances in der altfranzösischen Epik II’, Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur, 84 (1974), 1–32 Woods-Marsden, Joanna, The Gonzaga of Mantua and Pisanello’s Arthurian frescoes (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988) Wunderli, Peter, ‘Das Karlsbild in der altfranzösischen Epik’, in Karl der Grosse in den europäischen Literaturen des Mittelalters: Konstruktion eines Mythos, ed. by Berndt Bastert (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2004), pp. 17–37 Wunderli, Peter, ‘De Berte as grans piés à Berta da li pe grandi: Textes et contextes’, in Réécritures: Regards nouveaux sur la reprise et le remaniement de textes, dans la littérature française et au-delà, du Moyen Âge à la Renaissance, ed. by Dorothea Kullmann and Shaun Lalonde (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2015), pp. 229–53 Wunderli, Peter, ‘Zwischen Ideal und Anti-Ideal: Variationen des Karlsbildes in der altfranzösischen Epik’, in Der Herrscher, Leitbild und Abbild im Mittlealter und Renaissance, ed. by Hans Hecker, Studia Humaniora, 13 (Düsseldorf: Droste, 1990), pp. 59–79 Wunderli, Peter, Die franko-italienische Literatur: Literarische Memoria und sozio-kultureller Kontext, Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste – Vorträge: Geisteswissenschaften, Vorträge, G 399; Sitzung am 26. Januar 2005 in Düsseldorf (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2005) Zampese, Cristina, Or si fa rossa or pallida la luna: la cultura classica nell’‘Orlando Innamorato’ (Lucca: Maria Pacini Fazzi, 1994) Zanato, Tiziano, Boiardo (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 2015) Zatti, Sergio, ‘I Cinque Canti: la crisi dell’autorità’, Studi italiani, 8 (1992), 23–40 [repr. as ‘La frantumazione del mondo cavalleresco: i Cinque Canti dell’Ariosto’, in L’ombra del Tasso. Epica e romanzo nel Cinquecento (Milan: Bruno Mondadori, 1996), pp. 28–58] Zatti, Sergio, ‘Il Furioso fra epos e romanzo’, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, 163 (1986), 483–514 [repr. in Il Furioso fra epos e romanzo (Lucca: Pacini Fazzi, 1996)] Zatti, Sergio, Leggere l’‘Orlando furioso’ (Bologna: il Mulino, 2018)

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Index References to illustrations are indicated in italics. The name ‘Charlemagne’ is used throughout the index even when other forms – such as, for example, Carlo or Carlo Mano – have been used to refer to Charlemagne the character (as opposed to the historical person) in the text. Fictional characters are not indexed but their names may appear in the titles of works indexed and in sub-headings. Acciaiuoli, Donato  113, 167, 187 Vita Caroli Magni  165n54, 174, 177, 177n80, 186 Accolti, Francesco  192 Adenet le Roi Berthe aux grands pieds  56, 118n44 Ogier le Danois 56 Ageno, Franca  163n49, 172n69 Agostini, Niccolò degli continuation of Boiardo’s Innamorato  20, 227, 229, 233–4, 242–3, 245, 246n61 romances on Tristan and on Lancelot 229n15 see also under Italian Carolingian narrative tradition and Wars of Italy Ailes, Marianne J.  xiv, xv Aimeri of Narbonne  31, 32–3, 34 Aiolfo (Andrea da Barberino)  109, 110, 132 Aiolfo da Barbicone 310 Alamanni, Luigi, Girone 298 Albert I, Duke of Austria and King of Germany 5 Alcuin  173, 178, 179, 185, 186–7 Alexander III, Pope  263n27 Alexander the Great  217, 218n71 Alexandre-Gras, Denise  189n3, 194n17, 208n49, 212n55 Aliscans  12, 45n67, 67n129, 70n136 Allaire, Gloria  109–10, 121, 127, 127n75, 131n92, 134

allegories  299, 300 Altobello  20, 105, 143, 144, 146–7, 149–51, 152, 154 Ancroia  105, 143 Andrea da Barberino about Andrea and Florence Andrea’s biographical details 108–9 Charlemagne legend and refoundation of Florence 111–13 Florentine politics and house of Anjou  107–8, 109, 114–15, 136–7, 138, 139–40 about Andrea’s prose compilations Charlemagne as Florence’s ideal ruler 140 Charlemagne as largely positive  107, 137, 140 Charlemagne as renovatio of Constantine  136, 137, 139 Charlemagne as stand-in for Anjou leaders  107, 135–6, 137 dating of Carolingian cantari in relation to  104 dating of Spagna in prosa in relation to 90n34 epics as account of Florentine history 107–8 in first phase of Italian Carolingian narratives 24 French chansons de geste and 361

362

Index

Florentine culture  109, 135 inclusion of Arthurian and historical elements  111 life cycle (from enfances to moniage) 111 narrative chronology of romances  110 overall technique and paratext 134–5 overview of works  109–11 popularity of works  17, 18, 107 Roncevaux, no account of  127n76 works with focus on Charlemagne 110 Aiolfo one of six attributed works  109 place in chronology of romances 110 theme and plot  132 Ansoigi or Seconda Spagna extant but unattributed  110, 134 place in chronology of romances 110 theme and plot  133–4 Aspramonte ‘baron révolté’ theme (Gherardo da Fratta) 124–7 Charlemagne as defender of Christian faith  127 Charlemagne as positive figure  124–6, 127, 128 coming of age of Orlando  111, 123–4, 125 France-Saracens war, summary of three books  124–5 manuscripts and printed editions 127 one of six attributed works  109 place in chronology of romances 110 popularity of story  127–8 previous versions of story  36n35, 38, 98–9 vassalic obedience question  127 Guerrino il meschino one of six attributed works  109 place in chronology of romances 110

theme and plot  133 Prima Spagna, lost and unattributed 110 Reali di Francia based on Geste Francor  115–16, 122 and Boiardo’s Innamorato 199, 199n35, 219 and Cantari di Rinaldo 103–4 Charlemagne as defender of Christian faith  121 Charlemagne as positive figure 120–3 Constantine salvation story and link to Christianity  116–17, 136 genealogies  117, 139 humour 120–1 life cycle (from enfances to moniage)  111, 115 linking of Florence to France’s might and right  122 manuscripts and printed editions 123 no court barons’ intrigues  122 one of six attributed works  109 place in chronology of romances  110, 115 popularity of story  123 reference to Ormanno and Turpino 176n78 story: Berta da li pe grant 115, 117–18, 120–1 story: Berta e Milone  115, 116, 119, 120–1 story: Bovo d’Antona  115, 122 story: Karleto (or Mainetto) 115, 118–19, 120–1 story: Macario  115, 122 story: Orlandino  115, 116, 119, 120–1, 123 story: Uggieri il Danese  115, 122 Storie di Rinaldo Charlemagne as negative figure  134 extant but unattributed  100n70, 110, 134 structure and themes  134 Storie Nerbonesi (I Nerbonesi) Charlemagne as defender of Christian faith  132

Index Charlemagne as more negative figure 128 Charlemagne’s burial in Arles 130–1 Charlemagne’s choice of regent 131 Charlemagne’s old age and death  111, 128 humour 132 Macario’s story  122 one of six attributed works  109 place in chronology of romances 110 story’s lack of popularity  132 structure of volume and plot 128–30 Ugone d’Alvernia one of six attributed works  109 place in chronology of romances 110 poor reputation of Carlo Martello 139 theme and plot  133 Angevin archival studies  55n93 Anjou, house of in Andrea’s works  114–15, 117, 119n46, 128, 131, 136–7, 139 genealogical table (12th to 14th centuries)  138 Angevin rule Kingdom of Naples  5, 6–7, 54, 55, 59n105, 114, 225n2 Kingdom of Sicily  55, 128 and Cycle du Roi (Cycle of the King) 28 see also Charles I of Anjou; Charles II, King of Naples and Count of Anjou; Robert of Anjou, King of Naples anonymous poems in ottava rima characteristics collaboration between printers and canterini 145 manuscript samples and surviving printed books  142–4 monastic presses  146 popular literature  142 popularity of genre  145–6

363

second phase of Italian Carolingian narratives 24 main themes Christians vs. pagans/ Saracens 145 danger of Turkish invasion  146–7, 148, 160 legitimisation of power  146 representations of Charlemagne as authoritative and paternal  147, 154, 155–6 as capable of arousing fear in enemies 148–52 as tyrannical and weak  147, 154, 156–60 text analysis from Altobello  143, 144, 146–7, 149–51, 152, 154 Esortazione ai Cristiani contro il Turco  148, 159–60 Falconetto  143, 144, 152–4 Lamento di Costantinopoli 148–9 Persiano  144, 155–6 Trabisonda  143, 155, 156–9, 160 Anseis narrative  12 Ansoigi or Seconda Spagna (Andrea da Barberino)  110, 133–4 Antiphor de Barosia 202n41 Apuleius, Golden Ass 196 Aretino, Pietro  23, 304 Angelica 305–6 Astolfeida 307 Marfisa 305 Orlandino 306–7 Ariosto, Ludovico Cinque Canti campaigns against Lombards  8 Charlemagne from great leader to ridiculous figure  277–80 Chiaramontesi/Maganzesi hostility 19 dating of the cantos 276 dissolution of chivalric world  276, 279–80 Pulci’s Morgante, similarities with 277 Este family, relationship with  228, 261, 297

364

Index

Alfonso of Este  262 Orlando furioso allegories 299 book illustrations  289–90, 290, 291, 294 Carolingian poem  249–51 celebration of courtesy and valour 279–80 Charlemagne and contemporary Charles (V, VIII, of Anjou)  8, 270–2 Charlemagne as ‘broken’  252, 275–6 Charlemagne as Christian leader  250–1, 262–70 Charlemagne as military/political leader  23, 251–62, 270, 293, 295 Charlemagne as pawn of poet narrator 272–6 Charlemagne as perfetto condottiero  257, 258, 273 Charlemagne as perfetto oratore 258 Charlemagne as reflection of Charles V  8, 23, 251, 270–1, 272, 279, 281 Charlemagne as role-model for Este rulers  271, 272, 281 Charlemagne as sixteenth-century Signore 262 Christian poem  207n48 contemporary history, engagement with 222 dynastic genre  115, 245 ‘educational or ironic’ debate  251, 281 ‘epic or romance’ debate  247n65, 251, 262, 280–2 feminist and queer interpretations 260 first edition  21, 22 Fortuna notion  202 ‘gratitude’ theme  266 ideal court, aspirations for  262, 269, 272 irony  18n54, 22, 280, 304

Isabella d’Este’s interest in  229 and Lodico’s Storia dei paladini di Francia  309, 310 loom / tapestry metaphor  25 ottava rima, use of  18n54 Pirandello’s reference to  280 and poems produced in 1494–1516 years  227, 230–1 popularity of  283, 303 prudence as moral lesson  249–50, 278 Roncevaux battle, no narration of  16n47, 251 sources 17 weaponry, references to  234n33 Satire 196 see also Italian Carolingian narrative tradition post-Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso Aristotle 298 Arthurian material and Agostini  229 and Alamanni’s Girone 298 and Andrea’s works  111 and Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso 262 and Boiardo’s Innamorato 194–5, 207–8, 221, 222, 231, 280–1 and Cieco’s Il Mambriano 246 and Este family  191, 192 and French/langue d’oïl 14 fusion of into Carolingian narratives 19–20 names derived from  11 and ottava rima 18 Ascoli, Albert R.  261 Aspramonte see Aspramonte (Andrea da Barberino); Cantari d’Aspramonte; Chanson d’Aspremont; Chanson d’Aspremont (Franco-Italian) Aspramonte (Andrea da Barberino)  36n35, 38, 98–9, 109, 110, 111, 123–8 see also under Andrea da Barberino Avignon, transfer of Papacy to  5, 6, 128 Aymeri de Narbonne 71

Index Baldovinetti, Ettore, Rinaldo appassionato  285–6, 303 Bande Nere, Giovanni delle  299 Barbarossa see Frederick I Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor ‘baron révolté’ theme Cycle des Barons révoltés 27n4, 259n21 in Entrée d’Espagne  40, 61–5 in Geste Francor 122 in Uggieri il Danese 50–1 Girart de Fraite in Andrea’s Aspramonte (Gherardo da Fratta)  124–7 in Chanson d’Aspremont (FrancoItalian)  27, 37, 38, 39, 40, 72 not in Andrea’s Reali di Francia 122 Basinio da Parma  192 Beer, Marina  20, 128 Benci, Leonardo di Francesco, Storia del marchese Ulivieri da Vienna 224 Bender, Karl-Heinz  35, 36, 50n79, 53, 135, 148 Benevento, duchy of  1, 2n2 Bennett, Philip E.  xiv, xv Bernard de Clairvaux  38 Berni, Francesco  189, 194n16 Berta da li pe grant (Geste Francor) 30, 42, 43–4, 53, 67 Berta da li pe grant (Reali di Francia, Andrea da Barberino)  115, 117–18, 120–1 Berta e Milone (Geste Francor)  10, 30, 42, 47–8 Berta e Milone (Reali di Francia, Andrea da Barberino)  115, 116, 119, 120–1 Berta e Milone (tradition of tales)  284 Berte aus grands pieds  42, 43 Beuve de Hantone  42, 43 Beuves d’Aigremont 83 Black Death (1348)  139 Boccaccio, Giovanni and Carolingian cantari, dating of 75 and Carolingian narratives, linguistic influence on  15, 18

365

ottava rima, use of  15n46, 18, 68, 93 works Comedia delle ninfe fiorentine 113 Decameron  18, 19 Filocolo 112–13 Filostrato  15n46, 18, 68 Ninfale fiesolano 68 Teseida  15n46, 18, 68, 193 Boiardo, Feltrino  195 Boiardo, Matteo Maria attendance at Borso d’Este’s ducal coronation 192 close ties with Este family and Ercole  189, 195–7, 297 French invasion of Italy (1494) regarded as calamity  194, 223–4, 225 Inamoramento de Orlando (Orlando Innamorato) Ariosto’s Cinque Canti, similarities with 277 ‘Arthurian’ themes and motifs  207–8, 221, 222, 231, 280–1 cantos and books, number of  189 Carolingian epic genre, innovations brought to  231–2 Charlemagne as authoritative 200–1 Charlemagne as comic figure  206, 278, 304, 305 Charlemagne as fifteenth-century lord 262n25 Charlemagne as pragmatic  201–2, 209 Charlemagne as related to ruler  218–21, 223 Charlemagne as tolerant  199–200 Charlemagne in tears and weak 204–6 Charlemagne influenced by chivalric tradition  223 chivalric code, secular  207–8, 210 chivalric genre, disillusionment with  194, 231 chivalry, idealised portrayal of  222

366

Index

chronology of composition  193–4 contemporary history, engagement with 222 cortesia  214, 215, 222 didacticism vs. entertainment  215 differing readings of the work 194–5 dynastic theme  195, 196n24, 216–22, 223, 244–5 encomiastic thread  195, 214n58 Este Ferrara court context  189, 190, 191–3 Este ruler, ideal prototype of 221–2 first printed editions  20, 21, 196n25 Fortuna notion  202, 206, 210 French invasion of Italy (in very last stanza) 223–4 Gano’s betrayals as minor theme  202–4, 218 irony  198, 203, 222, 223 Lodico’s Storia dei paladini di Francia, similarities with  309, 310 ‘love’ theme  207–10 metanarrative reflection  142 plotlines 197–8 popularity of work  189 prudentia embodied by Saracen knight and Cyrus  211–12, 214 Pulci’s Morgante, similarities with 161 religious war as most firmly Carolingian war theme  250 rewriting of existing material  142 Roncevaux battle, no narration of 16n47 Saracen monarchs as irresponsible 212–16 second phase of Italian Carolingian narratives 24 source material  17, 141, 189 Trojan ancestry theme  217–22 wars as adventures  215, 232–3 other works in praise of Este rulers Carmina de laudibus

Estensium  195n22, 220, 221 Epigrammata 195n22 Pastoralia 195n22 volgarizzamenti (translations) Golden Ass (Apuleius)  196 Histories (Herodotus)  196, 211n53, 247 Istoria imperiale (Riccobaldo Gervasio da Ferrara)  196, 198–9, 199n34 La pedìa di Cyro (Xenophon)  196, 211, 214n59 Lives of Eminent Commanders (Nepos) 196 see also under Italian Carolingian narrative tradition and Wars of Italy Boni, Marco  99, 105, 127 Boniface VIII, Pope  114 Bontempi, Candido (Candido da Perugia) 220n77 book illustrations, royal images (in court and on battlefield)  289–91, 289, 290, 294 book market Carolingian narratives as best selling genre 20–1 first printed editions  20, 21 literacy levels and communal reading 21–3 monastic presses  146 printed anonymously in different formats 141 Borgia, Cesare  235n35, 257 Borgo San Donnino Cathedral (Fidenza) 10 Boscolo, Claudia  10, 24, 26 Bossi, Girolamo  299 Bovo d’Antona (Geste Francor)  30, 42, 43, 44–5, 49n76, 105 Bovo d’Antona (Reali di Francia, Andrea da Barberino)  115, 122 Bradiamonte sorella di Rinaldo  21, 105 Braghirolli, Willelmo  30n14, 321n19 Brindisi Cathedral  10 Brucker, Gene  107, 113, 114n31

Index Bruni, Leonardo  113, 174–5, 176, 177, 185 Brusantini(o), Vincenzo  299 Angelica innamorata 310 Bruscagli, Riccardo  217n68, 230n23 Bucchi, Gabriele  177n79 Buovo d’Antona  16, 20, 21, 143 Burland, Margaret Jewett  31n16 Busby, Keith  128 Cabani, Maria Cristina  94 Caleffini, Ugo  220n77 Canal, Martin da  14 Cangrande della Scala  50n79 cantambanco (cantimbanco/ cantimpanca)  xviii, 108–9, 141, 185, 303 Cantar d’Orlando 93–4 Cantare del padiglione 77n9 cantari dating and chronology issues  24, 84–6, 104–5 definition and historical background  xviii, 74–5 different types great cantari (middle of 15th century) 18 long cantari  74n2, 86, 92, 98, 101, 104, 105–6 short cantari  86, 92 and early printings of Carolingian narratives 17 literature for overview of subject 105n86 multifaceted representations of Charlemagne  82–3, 84–5 popularity of  105–6 Cantari d’Aspramonte Carolingian cantari  38, 74n2, 75 Charlemagne’s war against Agolante 77 Charlemagne as ideal monarch  77 pavilion scene  77–9 dating of narrative  85, 98–9, 105 first printed editions  20 Cantari del Danese Carolingian cantari  74n2, 75

367

Charlemagne’s war against Massimione 79 Charlemagne as defender of Christian faith  79–80 dating of narrative  85, 100–1, 105 parallels with Orlando laurenziano 85n19 first printed editions  20 transfer of mortal by magic  77n8 Cantari di Fierabraccia e Ulivieri 105, 105n86, 204n44 Cantari di Rinaldo Carolingian cantari  74n2, 75 Charlemagne as object of ridicule/ pity 81 ‘taking of emperor’s crown’ episode 80–1 Charlemagne as tyrannical and weak  83, 147, 154, 156 Charlemagne as warrior  293n19 dating of narrative  85, 99–100, 105 relationship with French poems (e.g. Renaut de Montauban) 83–4 relationship with Storie di Rinaldo 100 relationship with Carlo Mainetto (or Carletto) 103 Rinaldo’s death in Cantari and Pulci’s Morgante 182 cantastorie  xviii, 9n22, 14, 17, 19, 20, 22, 161, 228 canterini  xviii, 74, 103, 141, 142, 145 cantimbanco (cantimpanca) see cantambanco (cantimbanco/ cantimpanca) Capetians  55, 115, 135, 135n108 Capua, sack of (1501)  235n35 Carletto (or Carlo Mainetto) Carolingian cantare 75 pre-Charlemagne narrative  82, 102–3 Charlemagne as ideal monarch  82 dating of narrative  103–4, 105 description of remaining fragment 102

368

Index

‘long’ cantare  101, 104, 105 relationship with Cantari di Rinaldo 102–3 Carocci, Anna  230, 308, 309, 310 Carrai, Stefano  94 Carrara, Enrico  87–8 Carraresi court (Padua)  60 Casella, Giacinto  280 Casola, Nicola da, Guerra d’Attila 195n21 Castellani, Francesco  165n56 Castiglione, Baldassar, Libro del Cortegiano  255n12, 258 Castracani, Castruccio  257 Catalano, Michele  85n19, 87, 88, 89, 90n37 Cataneo, Danese, Amor di Marfisa 298 Cavalcabò (family)  61 Cavalcabò, Guglielmo  61 Cavallo, Jo Ann  194n18, 199n36, 215n61, 265, 272n32 Celtic narratives  xiii Chanson d’Aspremont Aspremont (French or Franco-Italian poem) 36n35 Charlemagne’s problematic personality  73, 125–6 number of manuscripts and fragments 37 popularity of in Francophone world  29 in Italy  12, 13, 16, 17 of names from narrative in Italy  11 ‘Saracens vs. Christians’ theme  3n5, 8 see also Chanson d’Aspremont (Franco-Italian) Chanson d’Aspremont (Franco-Italian) MSS V4, V6 and Cha  37–8 representation of Charlemagne as Christian champion  39 as generous and wise  38–9, 40 as hero of international scene  27, 57n99 themes Charlemagne’s campaign in Calabria 29–30

crusades and united Christian front  36–7, 38–40 Muslims/Saracens’ invasion of Italy  38, 39–40 revolt of baron Girart de Fraite  27, 37, 38, 39, 40, 72 Roland’s youth/first deeds of arms  29–30, 37, 38, 39 Chanson de Guillaume 45n67 Chanson de Roland Andrea’s works derived from  109 Charlemagne’s Spanish campaign  17, 29 earliest chanson de geste 29 Gano, portrayal of  204n44 king’s relationship with baronial court 62–3 reference to in Mort Charlemagne 71 representation of Charlemagne as defined by Bender  135 as majestic figure  85 as warrior  293 Roland’s desmesure 65 ‘sapientia et fortitudo’ topos 254n11 six versions plus fragments  31n16 Oxford manuscript (MS O)  xiv, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 59 spreading of in Italy  9–10, 11, 12, 13 see also Chanson de Roland (FrancoItalian) Chanson de Roland (Franco-Italian) MS C date (late 13th century)  29, 31, 33n23 ‘death of Aude’ story  33, 34–5, 36 ‘miracles for Charlemagne’ story 33–4 MS V4 date (early 14th century)  29, 31 ‘siege of Narbonne’ story  32–3 MS V7 date (late 13th century)  29, 31, 33n23, 57n99 ‘death of Aude’ story  33, 34–5, 36 Ganelon’s trial  35–6

Index ‘miracles for Charlemagne’ story 33–4 representation of Charlemagne as deceptive character  31, 34–5 as God’s chosen (merveilleux chrétien)  31, 34, 72 chansons de geste Berte aus grands pieds  42, 43 Beuve de Hantone  42, 43 Enfances Charlemagne (Mainet) 42, 43 Macaire  42, 43 Ogier le Danois  42, 43 Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans canonisation 263n27 coronation as Emperor  1, 2–3, 270 Frankish king  xiii, 7 French-centred perception of  3, 7–8 Harun al-Rashid, diplomatic relations with  198–9 impact of in Italy  2–3 military campaigns in Italy against Desiderius, King of the Lombards  1–2, 8 against duchy of Benevento  1, 2n2 myth of Charlemagne  xiii–xiv, 1 names of fictional character  xviii, 27n3 ‘sin of Charlemagne’  48n74, 238n39 territories of his Empire  3, 7 see also Charlemagne, representations of Charlemagne, representations of as defender of Christian faith in Andrea’s works  121, 127, 132 in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso  250–1, 262–70 in Cantari del Danese 79–80 in Chanson d’Aspremont (FrancoItalian version)  39 in Cieco’s Il Mambriano 238–9, 245 in Karleto (Geste Francor) 45–6 in Pulci’s Morgante  164, 169, 181, 183–5 as God’s chosen  31, 34, 72

369 as leader authoritative 200–1 authoritative and paternal  147, 154, 155–6 authoritative but with limited power 147 autocratic/despotic  62–5, 67, 72 capable of arousing fear in enemies 148–52 hero of international scene  27, 57n99 ideal monarch  75–7, 82, 151–2 majestic 85 military and political leader  23, 251–62, 270, 293, 295 pragmatic ruler  201–2, 209 proud and intolerant of insubordination 287 ruler and emperor  239–41 tolerant ruler  199–200 ungrateful and gullible prince 286–8 warrior 293 warrior and military leader  235–8 warrior and ruler  291–7 wise and even-tempered sovereign 288–9 as negative figure  39, 53–4, 58, 72, 73, 128, 134, 148 deceptive character  31, 34–5 petulant child’s behaviour  71–2 as positive figure  107, 120–3, 124–6, 127, 128, 137, 140 generous and wise  38–9, 40 as young king  46–7, 73 as restorer of Florence  174–7 as ridiculous figure  23, 81, 206, 241–2, 277–80, 304–7 as weak figure  163–4, 169, 176, 238, 239, 241–2 ‘broken’  252, 275–6 ridiculous and weak old man 242–3 in tears  84 in tears and weak  204–6 tyrannical and weak  83, 147, 154, 156–60

370

Index

see also under individual authors and texts Charlemagne: A European Icon project  xiii–xiv, xv ‘Charlemagne in England’ project  xiii Charlemagne in Medieval Francophonia xiii Charles, Count of Valois  7–8, 114 Charles, Duke of Calabria  111n19, 112, 114, 137 Charles I of Anjou in Ariosto’s Orlando furioso 271 in Boccaccio’s Filocolo 112–13 and Florence  114, 137 and Geste Francor  54–9, 72 named for Charlemagne  7–8, 135n108 sovereignty over kingdoms of Naples and Sicily  5, 6, 128n83 use of French at his court  58–9 Charles II, King of Naples and Count of Anjou  7–8, 117 Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor  5n9 Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor and Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso  8, 23, 251, 270–1, 272, 279, 281 continuation of conflicts in Italy  7 dedications of poems to  298 Ippolito d’Este’s support for  191n6 perception of himself as Charlemagne’s successor  8 in Renaldini’s Innamoramento di Ruggeretto 302 Charles VII, King of France  191 Charles VIII, King of France and Boiardo’s Innamorato  223, 224, 225 invasion of Italy (1494)  6, 7, 198, 224, 225, 226, 234n33, 271 as reincarnation of Charlemagne  8 Charles Martel, Duke and Prince of the Franks 139 Charles the Bald, Emperor of the Romans 83

chevalerie  40, 42, 43, 111, 115 Le Chevalier errant 191n5 chivalric genre and classicism  298 as corrupter of customs/souls  297 period of crisis  194, 230–1 Christianity Charlemagne as defender of the faith/God’s chosen see under Charlemagne, representations of Charlemagne as exemplum of Christian unity  xiv Charlemagne’s sanctity  67n130 Christian vs. Saracen theme  3n5, 8, 145–7, 148, 160, 166, 199–201, 234 Constantine’s salvation story  116– 17, 136 and Holy Roman Empire  1, 26–7 see also crusades; Papacy Christine de Pizan  126n74 Chronicle of Pseudo-Turpin 34, 294n22, 309n3 Chronique de Frédégaire 220n76 Ciarambino, Gerardo C. A.  121, 125 Cieco da Ferrara, Francesco Il Mambriano  20, 227, 228–9, 233–4, 235–42, 245, 246, 247, 309, 310 see also under Italian Carolingian narrative tradition and Wars of Italy Cieco da Firenze, Francesco  145n14 Persiano  20, 105, 144, 155–6 Cingolani, Stefano Maria  58, 73, 134n100 Ciriffo Calvaneo 187 classical literature, and Carolingian Italian tradition  20, 228–9, 231, 244–8, 284, 297–8 Clement IV, Pope  54n92 Clement V, Pope  5 Clement VI, Pope  128, 131 comedy in Aretino’s works  304 in Folengo’s works  304 growing preference for among elite 231

Index in Pulci’s Morgante  19, 304, 305 see also humour; irony Congress of Mantua (1459)  160 Constance, Queen of Sicily and Holy Roman Empress  4 Constance, Treaty of (1183)  4 Constantine the Great  16, 116–17, 137, 139 Donation of Constantine  2n3, 136 Constantinidis, Anna  37n40 Constantinople, fall of (1453)  160 contastorie (reciters)  308, 309 Conte, Gian Biagio  250 Cornazzano, Antonio  220n77 cortesia  194, 211n54, 214, 215, 222 Council of Trent (1542–63)  298 Couronnement de Louis  68, 69n135, 70n136, 71, 130 Cremonesi, Carla  42, 56n95 crusades  28, 36–7, 38–40, 160 Eighth Crusade  56, 57n99 First Crusade  38n45 Third Crusade  36–7, 39 Cycle des Barons révoltés  27n4, 259n21 Cycle du Roi (Cycle of the King)  27–8, 29, 31, 259n21 Dalens-Marekovic, Delphine  56n95 Dama del Verzù 86 Dama Rovenza 105 Dampierre, Guy of, Count of Flanders 56 Dante Alighieri citations of in Geste Francor 42 De Vulgari Eloquentia, use of French/ langue d’oïl (I, x, 2)  14 Divina Commedia on Carletto manuscript (Purgatorio verses from canto VI)  102 Carolingian narratives, linguistic influence on  15 Charlemagne, references to  11–12, 185n91 Charlemagne and Orlando as martyrs of the faith (Paradiso, XVIII 43–45)  185n91 Christ rhyming with itself (Paradiso, XXXII 83–87)  183n89

371

denunciation of Albert I of Austria (Purgatorio, VI 97–105)  5 ‘dolorosa rotta’ (Inferno, XXXI 16) 251 ‘Donna è gentil nel ciel’ (Inferno, II 94) 173 Ezzelino III da Romano (Inferno XII 109–10)  50, 51n80 Ulysses character (Inferno, XXV 97–98) 182n87 Italy as ‘garden of Empire’  5 and Pulci’s Morgante  94n54, 173, 183n89, 184–5 Davie, Mark  95, 171n67, 183n88 De Robertis, Domenico  86, 92, 97–8, 142, 145n16, 163n49 De Sanctis, Francesco  194n16 De Vincentiis, Amedeo  135n108 Decaria, Alessio  165n56, 185n93 dedicatory letters  297–8 Degl’Innocenti, Luca  24, 283 Desiderius, King of the Lombards  2, 66–7 Dionisotti, Carlo Boiardo’s disillusionment with chivalric genre  194, 231 cantare in ottava rima 104 crisis of Carolingian epic genre (1482–1516) 230–1 Orlando laurenziano 92 poems between Boiardo and Ariosto 227n6 Spagna in rima  85–6, 87, 88, 89 Dolce, Lodovico Palemerino de Oliva 310 Prime imprese del conte Orlando  293–4, 297, 299, 304–5 Sacripante 303 Domenichi, Ludovico  189 Donnarumma, Raffaele  262n25 Dorigatti, Marco  221n79, 222, 270, 272n32 Drusiano del Leone 105 Duggan, Joseph J.  34, 116n36 Durling, Robert M.  273 dynastic theme in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso  115, 245

372

Index

in Boiardo’s Innamorato 195, 196n24, 216–22, 223, 244–5 in Pulci’s Morgante 115 Valcieco’s and Agostini’s little interest in 245–6 Edwards, E. W.  281 Eighth Crusade  56, 57n99 Einhard 187 Vita Caroli Magni  186, 198n29 enfances  17, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45n66, 111, 115, 120, 132 Enfances Charlemagne (Mainet) 42, 43 Enfances Renier  13n36, 56n95 England, ‘Charlemagne in England’ project xiii Entrée d’Espagne Arthurian romance material, inclusion of  19–20 assonanced or rhymed laisses  17–18 Charlemagne as despot  62–5, 72 as negative figure  39, 73 as ridiculous figure  23 Charlemagne’s pre-Chanson de Roland years  30 Christian vs. Saracen theme  201n38 early 14th century poem  59 episode referring to Charlemagne’s youth 103n78 episodes preceding Roncevaux campaign  17, 51 from French to Franco-Italian  15, 20 humourous moments  73 length, structure and only edition 59 narrative original to Italy  24 northern Italy’s socio-political context  59–60, 65 pro-Guelph/anti-Ghibelline atmosphere  65, 67 Roland as baron révolté  40, 61–5 Roland’s importance overtaking king’s 73 theological dispute episode  38

see also Prise de Pampelune (Continuation de l’Entrée) entrelacement  231, 285, 301 Esortazione ai Cristiani contro il Turco  148, 159–60 Este (family) Este library  15n43, 192 frescoes with classical themes 246n62 genealogical table (13th–16th century)  190 legend of descent from French kings 220–1 legend of Ganelon  204 legend of Rugiero  195, 204n43, 216–17, 269, 272 relationship with Ariosto  261, 262, 281, 297 relationship with Boiardo  195–6, 297 relationship with Holy Roman Emperors 191n6 Este, Alberto V d’, Marquis  192n7 Este, Alfonso I d’, Duke of Ferrara  224, 262, 279, 297 Este, Borso d’, Duke of Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio Alexander the Great, admiration for 217 Arthurian character, named after 191 and Boiardo’s Innamorato  214, 217 Boiardo’s works in praise of  195n22, 217 cult of chivalry, promotion of 194–5 elevation to Duke of Ferrara  192, 217n68 elevation to Duke of Modena and Reggio  4n8, 191n6 and Este family’s Ganelon legend 204 and Este family’s Rugiero legend  204n43, 216–17 French sympathies  223 jousts and tournaments  215

Index Nicolò III’s illegitimate child  218 reign (1450–71)  189 Strozzi’s Borsias dedicated to 217n67 succession of Ercole  156, 192–3 Este, Ercole I d’, Duke of Ferrara Boiardo’s close relationship with  189, 195–7 and Boiardo’s Innamorato  214, 218 in Boiardo’s La pedìa di Cyro 211 Boiardo’s works in praise of  195n22 French sympathies  194, 223, 224 hereditary legitimacy of  218, 244 jousts and tournaments  215 letter to Antonio Gondi  162 reign (1471–1505)  189 Rizzarda da Saluzzo, mother of  191 succession to Borso d’Este  156, 193 unfulfilled desire to go on Compostela pilgrimage  245 Este, Ippolito d’, Cardinal  191n6, 196, 228 Este, Isabella d’, Marchioness  189n1, 228, 229 Este, Leonello d’, Marquis  191, 192, 193, 195, 214, 218, 218n72 Este, Meliaduse d’  191 Este, Nicolò d’ (son of Leonello)  193, 195n22, 218 Este, Nicolò III d’, Marquis  191, 193, 195, 218 Everson, Jane E. afterword 308 Ariosto’s Orlando furioso  250, 251 Boiardo’s Innamorato 196n24, 212n55, 221n80 cantari dating  104 crisis years poems (chapter 6)  24, 225 introduction 1 Ezzelino III da Romano  50–1 Falconetto  143, 144, 152–4 Fassanelli, Rachele  11 Fassò, Andrea  98, 99, 105 Ferrante, Don  224 Ferrara court of  161, 189, 228, 272

373

Este rulers  189, 190, 191–2 Ferrarese Renaissance  189, 191, 192 and France, alliance with  191, 194, 198, 223, 224, 226 jousts and tournaments  215 Palazzo Schifanoia  192 quasi-independent rulers of  4 war with Venice (1482–4)  193 Ferrara, University of  192 Ferrero, Giuseppe Guido  88 feudalism  19, 53, 54, 61, 62 Filelfo, Francesco  211n53 First Crusade  38n45 Florence in Andrea’s works Florentine politics and house of Anjou  107–8, 109, 114–15, 137–8, 139–40 myth of refoundation of city by Charlemagne  111n19, 112–13 and Charles, Duke of Calabria  137 and Charles I d’Anjou  114, 137 Ciompi workers’ revolt (1378)  111 and France  165, 168, 174, 178 Guelf foreign policy  127, 132 Medici rule  142, 161, 164–5, 167, 168, 174, 188 and Milan, conflict with  111, 113, 114 oligarchy  137, 161, 165, 174 Pazzi conspiracy (1478)  162, 168, 180, 181, 186n93, 188 and Villanis’ Nuova Cronica 111–12, 113, 136, 136n1 Florio e Biancifiore 86 Folengo, Teofilo  23, 304 Baldus  143, 304 Orlandino  143, 304–5 folk dramas (maggi) 25 Fornari, Simone  249–50, 280 Fornovo, battle of ( July 1495)  224, 225, 241 Fortuna  202, 206, 210, 274, 276 France and Charlemagne, French-centred perception of  3, 7–8 and Ferrara/Este family  191, 194, 198, 223, 224, 226

374

Index

feudal society  19, 53, 54, 61, 62 and Florence/Medici family  165, 168, 174, 178 and Holy Roman Empire  3, 4 Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453)  6, 111 Matter of France  xiv, 142 and Papacy  5, 6, 136 see also French language; Guelfs (Guelphs); Wars of Italy Franceschetti, Antonio  189n3, 194n17, 208n49, 215n62 Francis I, King of France  7, 226, 271, 281 Franco, Pietro Mario, Agrippina  288–9, 295 Franco-Italian texts development from French narratives  13, 14–16, 27, 28–9 overview humour and didacticism  72–3 representations of Charlemagne  72, 73 see also Chanson d’Aspremont (Franco-Italian); Chanson de Roland (Franco-Italian); Entrée d’Espagne; Geste Francor; Mort Charlemagne (or Testament de Charlemagne); Prise de Pampelune (Continuation de l’Entrée) Franks Charlemagne, king of the Franks  xiii, 7 conflation of Franks (effectively Germans) and French  7 custom of dividing realm between sons 3 legend of Trojan origin of  220–1, 223 and Papacy  2 Frederick I Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor  3–4, 10 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor  4–5, 6, 10, 26, 50, 51, 54n92, 55n93 Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor 191n6

French language language of Charles I of Anjou’s court 58–9 langue d’oc 14 langue d’oïl  13, 14–15, 57n100 as medium for Charlemagne legend xiii Old French  26n1, 29, 30 frescoes and Chanson de Roland 9–10 in Gonzaga and Este residences 246n62 and Italian Carolingian narratives 23 Palazzo Schifanoia astrological cycle of frescoes  192 Furlati, Sara  100–1, 105 Gabrielli, Leonardo, Nova Spagna 288 Galbiati, Roberto  193n13, 194n15, 194n18 Galluzzi, Cesare, Ruggiero 297 Genette, Gérard  135 Gentile, Luigi  101 Geste Francor analysis - current consensus Charlemagne as negative reflection of current German ruler  54, 134 sociomarxist perspective  53–4 another approach - reference to Charles I of Anjou Charles as semi-imperial figure  54–5, 72 Charles as sponsor of writers/ artists  56, 57n100 Geste as publicity tool for Charles 57–8 Geste as tool for criticism of Charles 58 humour and mocking of Charles 58–9 similarities between Geste and Adenet le Roi’s work  56–7 background and overview anti-Guelph sentiment  139 assonanced or rhymed laisses 17–18

Index ‘baron révolté’ theme  50–1, 122 basis for Andrea’s Reali di Francia  115–16, 122 Charlemagne as negative figure  39, 53–4, 58, 72, 148 combination of nine plot segments  40–1, 43 from enfances to chevalerie biographies 40 from French to Franco-Italian  15, 29, 40, 41 humour and didacticism  58–9 irony 72 MS V13, extent and date of  41–2 narratives original to Italy  24, 30, 47, 73 parody and irony  72–3 Roncevaux, no reference to  51 Berta da li pe grant Charlemagne’s conception and birth 30 King Pepin (Pipino), Charlemagne’s father  43–4, 67 Old French Berte aus grands pieds  42, 43 positive view of Hungary and Constantinople 53 Berta e Milone blood-line issues  47–8 Borgo San Donnino cathedral sculpted frieze  10 narrative original to Italy  30, 47 Orlando/Roland’s parents and his conception 42 Bovo d’Antona based on Old French classic  30 enfances and chevalerie 42 King Pepin (Pipino) and Charlemagne’s conception  43 King Pepin (Pipino), negative portrait of  44–5 Old French Beuve de Hantone  42, 43 popularity of  105 raising of army to retake Antona 49n76 Karleto (or Mainetto) Charlemagne’s childhood  30

375

conflict with half-brothers and rise to power  45–6 flight to Rome, crowning and power over papacy  42, 46–7 Old French Mainet, or Enfances Charlemagne  42, 43 positive portrait of young king  46–7, 73 positive view of Hungary and Constantinople 53 Macario Charlemagne, negative representation of  73 Charlemagne’s old age  30, 51, 67 Old French Macaire (version of Reine Sibile)  42, 43 plot 51–3 positive view of Hungary and Constantinople 53 Orlandino (or Rolandin) comic situations  19 enfances  30, 42 legitimizing of child Orlandino 48–9 narrative original to Italy  47 Uggieri il Danese ‘baron révolté’ theme  50–1 based on Old French classic  30 Charlemagne’s imprisonment of Uggieri 203n41 enfances and chevalerie 42 Old French Ogier le Danois 42, 43, 48 Part One  48 Part Two (Marmora and similarity with Ezzelino III)  42, 49–51 Ghibellines and Charlemagne, negative depiction of 28 and Charles I’s descent into Italy  58 and Enfances Renier 56n95 and Entrée d’Espagne  65, 67 expulsion of from Cremona (1312) 61 and Florence, anti-Ghibelline  132 and Prise de Pampelune 67 supporters of the Emperor  5

376

Index

Cangrande della Scala, leader of 50n79 Kings of Sicily  271 Visconti family  61, 111 and Wars of Italy  7 see also Guelfs (Guelphs) Giamatti, Angelo Bartlett  261 Giannini, Gabriele  130 Gilli, Patrick  126n74 Giovanni di Nono, Liber de generatione aliquorum civium urbis Paduae 204n43 Giovannin senza paura 302 Gisberto di Moscona 105 Gondi, Antonio  162 Gonzaga (family) frescoes with classical themes 246n62 Mantua court  60, 228, 229n15 Gonzaga, Francesco I  30n14 Gonzaga, Francesco II, Marquis of Mantua  226, 228, 229 Gonzaga, Guido  33n23 Gonzaga, Luigi I  33n23 Gonzaga, Rodolfo  162 Gonzaga inventory (Braghirolli) see ‘Inventaire des manuscrits en langue française’ (1407) Great Schism (1378–1417)  111 Gregory, Tobias  265 Gregory VII, Pope  4 Gregory IX, Pope  114 Gritti, Valentina  211n53 Guarino da Verona  192 Guazzo, Marco Astolfo borioso  291, 295, 296 Belisardo  295 Guelfs (Guelphs) and Charlemagne, positive depiction of 28 and Charles I’s descent into Italy  58 and Enfances Renier 56n95 and Entrée d’Espagne  65, 67 and Geste Francor 139 Guelph writings  50n78 and Prise de Pampelune 67

supporters of Pope and the French 5 Florentine rulers  127, 132 house of Anjou  114 Lombard families  61 Milan families  65 and Wars of Italy  7 see also Ghibellines Guerrino il meschino (Andrea da Barberino)  109, 110, 133 Guicciardini, Francesco  225 Guillaume d’Orange cycle  16, 45n67, 68, 201n38 Aliscans  12, 45n67, 67n129, 70n136 Anseis  12 Aymeri de Narbonne 71 Couronnement de Louis  68, 69n135, 70n136, 71, 130 Enfances Renier  13n36, 56n95 Prise d’Orange 71 Hadrian I, Pope  2 Harris, Neil  21n62, 141n2, 143, 162n46, 230 Hartung, Stefan  34, 35, 122, 125 Harun al-Rashid, Caliph  198–9 Harvey, Gabriel  281 Hempfer, Klaus W.  135n107 Henry, Albert  56n95 Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor  4 Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor  4 Herodotus 20 Histories Boiardo’s translations of  196, 211n53, 247 Xerxes  214, 216n64 Hiestand, Rudolf  59 Hohenstaufen dynasty  4, 54n92, 55 Holtus, Günter  46, 53–4, 71, 120, 121n55, 125, 134 Holy Roman Empire and Charlemagne’s coronation  1 and Christendom  1, 26–7 and Este family/Ferrara  191n6 and France  3, 4 and Italy  3–4, 5–7 and Papacy  4, 5–7

Index see also Ghibellines Homer 298 Hübscher, Johannes  92, 163n49 humour in Andrea’s Reali di Francia 120–1 in Andrea’s Storie Nerbonesi 132 in Cieco’s Il Mambriano 234 in Entrée d’Espagne 73 in Franco-Italian narratives  72–3 in Geste Francor 58–9 see also irony Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453)  6, 111 Huon d’Auvergne  38, 42n58 in-folio volumes  141 Infurna, Marco  58 Innamoramento de Carlo Magno 310 in-quarto volumes  141 ‘Inventaire des manuscrits en langue française’ (1407)  30, 32n19 irony in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso 18n54, 22, 280, 304 in Boiardo’s Innamorato  198, 203, 222, 223 in Geste Francor 72 see also comedy; humour Islam in Altobello 147 in Chanson d’Aspremont (FrancoItalian) 39 see also Saracens Italian Carolingian narrative tradition chivalric narratives (13th–16th centuries) 1 figure of Charlemagne as perceived in Italy  7–8, 25 French narratives in Italy Chanson de Roland  9–10, 11, 12, 13 oral narrative tradition  9, 11–13 popularity of names from narratives 10–11 references to Charlemagne in Dante’s Divine Comedy 11–12, 185n91 visual representations of narratives (e.g. frescoes)  9–10, 23–4

377

Italian native tradition end of 13th to early 15th century  5, 14, 26 from French to Franco-Italian and Italian  13, 14–16, 27, 28–9, 30–1 from mere transcription to innovation 13–14 narrative choices  16–17 style, metre and form  17–19 tone and emphasis  19–20, 29 printing and book market best-selling genre  20–1 first printed editions  20, 21 literacy levels and communal reading 21–3 mid-16th century as high-water mark of tradition  23 operas and dramas  23 tradition in 19th century contastorie (reciters) in southern Italy  308, 309 Sicilian puppet theatre  308, 311 Storia dei paladini di Francia (Lodico) 308–10 Storia dei paladini di Francia (reused by Manzanares and Leggio) 310–11 see also Italian Carolingian narrative tradition and Wars of Italy; Italian Carolingian narrative tradition post-Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso Italian Carolingian narrative tradition and Wars of Italy background brief overview of French campaigns 225 diversity of Italian states’ allegiances  225, 226 impact on representation of Charlemagne (1494–1516)  226 cultural context and poets’ responses Carolingian epic under threat 230–1 classical culture, elite’s taste for 231

378

Index

classical literature and Carolingian epic 244–8 innovations brought by Boiardo and Pulci  231–2 narrating the war in poems of crisis 232–5 patron-oriented strands in poems of crisis 244–6 representations of Charlemagne in poems of crisis  235–44 reworkings of classical myths in poems of crisis  246 Francesco Cieco’s Il Mambriano Charlemagne as defender of Christian faith  238–9, 245 Charlemagne as figure of fun 241–2 Charlemagne as ruler/ emperor 239–41 Charlemagne as warrior/military leader 235–8 Charlemagne as weak  238, 239, 241–2 classical culture, incorporation of  228–9, 247 classical myths, reworkings of  246 composition/structure/publication of poem  228 first printed editions  20 high literary standing  227 humour 234 Lodico’s Storia dei paladini di Francia, similarities with  309, 310 Louis XII as the new Charles  8n18 patron-oriented strands  245 patrons’ influence and external realities 228 Roncevaux battle, no narration of 16n47 source materials  17 strategies to narrate the war  233–4, 235 view on wars reflecting changing situation 228–9 Niccolò degli Agostini’s continuation of Boiardo’s Innamorato

Books IV and V  229, 233 Charlemagne from warrior to weak/ridiculous old man  242–3 classical myths, no interest in 246n61 dynastic theme, little interest in 245 first printed editions  20 little literary merit  227 patrons and peripatetic life  229 strategies to narrate the war  233–4 wars as adventures  233n28 Raffaele Valcieco’s continuation of Boiardo’s Innamorato Book V (continuing Agostini’s Book 4)  230, 233 Charlemagne as ridiculous and weak old man  243 classical myths, no interest in 246n61 dynastic theme, little interest in 245–6 first printed editions  20 little literary merit  227 Rovere, possible association with 230 strategies to narrate the war  233–5 Italian Carolingian narrative tradition post-Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso background mid-16th century  283 poems of diverse length and quality 283 popular/fantastic works vs. learned/heroic works  283–4 print, oral tradition and popularity 303 Charlemagne as warrior and ruler Dolce’s Prime imprese del conte Orlando  293–4 Franco’s Agrippina 295 Guazzo’s Astolfo borioso  295, 296 Guazzo’s Belisardo 295 Legname’s Astolfo innamorato 295 Lodovici’s Anteo gigante 292–3 Lodovici’s Trionfi di Carlo 292

Index Pescatore’s Vendetta di Ruggiero 295 Pucciarini’s Brandigi  293 Renaldini’s Innamoramento di Ruggieretto  295, 296 Tasso’s Rinaldo 296–7 Trabisonda  291 Charlemagne derided Aretino’s Orlandino and Astolfeida 305–7 Folengo’s Orlandino 304–5 dedicatory letters and allegories chivalric genre and classicism  298 encomiastic model and didacticism 297–9 epic vs. romance  298 examples of patrons  297 examples of works dedicated to Charles V  298 use of allegories  299 Innamoramento di Ruggeretto (Panfilo de’ Renaldini) allegories 300 date and length  299 dedication  297, 299, 300 illustrations 300, 300, 301 lack of inventive talent  300–1 multifarious patchwork of stories and styles  301–3 sieges and battle scenes  295, 296 various representations of Charlemagne 302 palace quarrels Charlemagne as proud and intolerant of insubordination 287 Charlemagne as ungrateful and gullible prince  286–8 Charlemagne as wise and eventempered 288–9 Ettore Baldovinetti ‘s Rinaldo appassionato 285–6 Franco’s Agrippina 288–9 Gabrielli’s Nova Spagna 288 Legname’s Astolfo innamorato 287 Lenio’s Oronte 287

379

Lodovici’s Anteo gigante 287–8 Lodovici’s Trionfi di Carlo 288 as reflection on sovereign’s authority 284–5 royal images in book illustrations Ariosto’s Orlando furioso 289–90, 290, 291, 294 Guazzo’s Astolfo borioso 291 Lodovici’s Anteo gigante 291 Renaldini’s Innamoramento di Ruggieretto 291 Trabisonda  289, 291 Italy as ‘garden of Empire’  5 and Holy Roman Empire  3–4, 5–7 literacy levels  21–2 Moorish/Saracen incursions  3, 8, 38, 39–40 power void after Frederick II’s death 26 printing, introduction of (1465)  20 urban society  19, 53 see also Wars of Italy James, Saint  34 Javitch, Daniel  273 Joanna I, Queen of Naples  117, 128, 131 Jones, Catherine M.  27n6, 43n59 Jordan, Constance  181 Jossa, Stefano  23, 24, 207n48, 249 Karleto (or Mainetto, Geste Francor)  30, 42, 43, 45–7, 53, 73 Karleto (or Mainetto, Reali di Francia, Andrea da Barberino)  115, 118–19, 120–1 Keen, Maurice  3, 4 Kent, Dale  165n56 Krauss, Henning  14, 19, 44, 45–6, 50, 53, 112, 131n92 Lactantius, Lucius Caecilius Firmianus (Cecilio Firmiano Lattanzio) 185n92 laisses  18, 26n1, 59, 66, 68 Lamento di Costantinopoli 148–9 Lampugnani (Lampognano), Andrea  180, 181

380

Index

languages used as vehicles for Charlemagne legend xiii see also Franco-Italian texts; French language langue d’oc 14 langue d’oïl  13, 14–15, 57n100 Laradji, Aline  13, 14 Larner, John  6 Latin, as medium for Charlemagne legend xiii Latowsky, Anne A.  122 Lattanzio see Lactantius, Lucius Caecilius Firmianus (Cecilio Firmiano Lattanzio) Leggio, Giuseppe, Storia dei paladini di Francia 310–11 Legname, Antonio dal, Astolfo innamorato  287, 295 Legnano, battle of (1176)  4 Lenio, Antonio, Oronte 287, 304n47 Leo III, Pope  2, 270 Lepanto, battle of (1571)  8n19 Liber Sancti Jacobi (Codex Calixtinus) 34 Libro delle battaglie del Danese 20 Livy  20, 247 Lodico, Giusto Storia dei paladini di Francia 308–10 list of identifiable sources  310 Lodovici, Francesco de Anteo gigante  287–8, 291, 292–3 Trionfi di Carlo  288, 292 Lombardy Lombard kingdom  2, 2n2, 2n3, 8 Lombard League  3–4 politics of and Entrée d’Espagne 59–61 Louis the Pious, Emperor of the Romans  3, 83, 187 Louis VIII, King of France  7n17, 55n93, 135n108 Louis IX, King of France  5, 54 Louis XI, King of France  6, 168, 187n96, 198, 223

Louis XII, King of France  7, 8n18, 225, 226, 241 Lovati, Lovato de  14, 15 Lucan 20 Lucioli, Francesco  300n40 Ludwig, Walter  219, 219n75 lyric poetry  231 Macaire  42, 43 Macario (Geste Francor)  30, 42, 43, 51–3, 67, 73 Macario (Reali di Francia, Andrea da Barberino)  115, 122 Machiavelli, Niccolò  23, 256n16, 257 Discorsi sopra la prima Deca di Tito Livio  255–6, 278 Vita di Castruccio Castracani da Lucca 255 McKitterick, Rosamund  2n1, 2n2, 3 maggi (folk dramas)  25 Mainet (Enfances Charlemagne) 42, 43 Mainetto (or Karleto, Geste Francor)  30, 42, 43, 45–7, 53, 73 Mainetto (or Karleto, Reali di Francia, Andrea da Barberino)  115, 118–19, 120–1 maiolica  23, 246n62 Maissen, Thomas  111n19, 112n22 Mandach, André de  33n23 Mantua Congress of (1459)  160 and French invasion of Italy  226, 228–9 Gonzaga court  60, 228, 229n15 quasi-independent rulers of  4 Manzanares, Pietro, Storia dei paladini di Francia 310 Margolis, Oren  174 Martelli, Mario  92, 93, 94, 98, 165n56 Martin, Saint  33 Marxism, sociomarxist perspective 53–4 Mascitelli, Cesare  42, 50n79, 57n100, 58 Mattaini, Adelaide  139 Maugis d’Aigremont 83

Index Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor 7 Mazzoni, Maurizio  100n71 Medici (family), and Pulci  142, 161, 164–5, 167, 168–9, 174, 187n96, 188 Medici, Ferdinando de’  297 Medici, Francesco de’  297, 299 Medici, Giuliano de’  168, 186n93 Medici, Lorenzo de’  163, 164, 165n55, 168 Medici, Piero de’  164, 165n54, 174, 223n83 Melli, Elio  88, 99, 100, 105, 105n86 Ménard, Phillipe  120, 132 Meneghetti, Maria Luisa  12, 68, 71n139 metric forms laisses  18, 26n1, 59, 66, 68 ottava rima  15n46, 18, 24, 38, 68, 74, 93, 104 see also anonymous poems in ottava rima Milan and Florence, conflict with  111, 113, 114 Guelph families  65 Louis XII’s claim to  225n2 quasi-independent rulers of  4 and Visconti family  60–1 miracles (for Charlemagne)  33–4, 36, 68–9, 71, 77, 134 Modena Cathedral  10 Moffat, Marjorie  33n23 Mohammed, Prophet  146, 147 Mohammed II, Sultan of Ottoman Empire 159 Mombello, Gianni  54n90 monastic presses  146 moniage (becoming a monk)  67, 111, 132 Montagnani, Cristina  88, 189n1, 201n39 Moors 8 Morando, Neri  5n9 Morgan, Leslie Zarker  24, 26, 58, 107 Morlino, Luca  42n58, 51n80, 67n128, 69n134

381

Mort Charlemagne (or Testament de Charlemagne) date, length, metric form and manuscript 68 Franco-Italian narrative  29 knightly son Louis, a coward  67 new Italian creation  30 no Charlemagne’s death in Old French tradition  71 Old French Couronnement de Louis  68, 69n135, 70n136, 71 parallels with Andrea’s Storie Nerbonesi 130 plot death announced by God’s messengers 68–9 division of lands and succession 69–70 dying sitting and miracles  70–1, 131 references to Guillaume cycle poems and Chanson de Roland 71 representation of Charlemagne as autocrat  67 as petulant child  71–2 Murrin, Michael  214, 255 Muslims see Islam; Saracens Najemy, John M.  111 names, relating to popular Carolingian narratives 10–11 Naples, Kingdom of Angevin rule  5, 6–7, 54, 55, 59n105, 114, 225n2 Hohenstaufen dynasty  4, 54n92, 55 Nepi inscription (Nr. Rome)  9 Nepos, Cornelius, Lives of Eminent Commanders 196 Niccolò da Verona  65, 66, 67 Nichols, Stephen G.  136n110, 136n111 Nigro, Salvatore  164n52 Norman kings, of Sicily  4 novelle 231 Ogier le Danois  42, 43 opera dei pupi (Sicilian puppet theatre)  24–5, 308, 311

382

Index

operas, with Italian Carolingian themes 23 oral narrative tradition, and Chanson de Roland  9, 11–13 Oriolo, Bartolomeo  304 Ruggero 298 Orlandino (or Rolandin, Geste Francor)  19, 30, 42, 47, 48–9 Orlandino (Reali di Francia, Andrea da Barberino)  115, 116, 119, 120–1, 123 Orlando (or Orlando laurenziano) Carolingian cantare  74n2, 75 Charlemagne as object of ridicule/ pity 81 Rinaldo taking power from Charlemagne 81–2 dating of narrative established view  85, 92 established view revisited  92–5, 105 parallels with Cantari del Danese 85n19 possibly composed after Spagna in rima 85n19 relationship with Pulci’s Morgante  92–8, 105, 163 Strologo’s theory  95–8, 104 Ormanno  175, 176, 185 Orvieto, Paolo  92–3, 94, 95n56, 98, 163n49, 176n78, 185n92, 186 Otinel frescoes  10 Otranto, siege of (1480)  8n19 ottava rima  15n46, 18, 24, 38, 68, 74, 93, 104 see also anonymous poems in ottava rima Ovid, Metamorphoses  20, 246, 246n62 palace quarrels  284–9, 305 Palazzo Schifanoia (Ferrara), astrological cycle of frescoes  192 Palumbo, Giovanni Chanson d’Aspremont research project 37n40 Chanson de Roland, dating of  33n23 Gano figure as embodiment of evil 154n32

Roland material in Italy  142n7, 146n18 Roncevaux, no account of in Andrea’s works  127n76 Roncevaux, no account of in FrancoItalian compilations  51 Spagna in rima 88 Storie Nerbonesi 130 Pamplona, siege of  63, 65, 66–7, 76, 185 Panizzi 230 Papacy and Anjou family  128 and Charlemagne  1–3 encyclical (31 December 1471)  147 and France  5, 6, 136 and Frankish monarchy  2 Great Schism (1378–1417)  111 and Holy Roman Empire  4, 5–7 and Italy  5–7 Papal States  2, 4 and Pepin III  2n3, 136 transferred to Avignon  5, 6, 128 see also Christianity; Guelfs (Guelphs) paratexts  135, 146, 147, 298, 300 Paris, Gaston  75, 139n117 Parma, Giovanni Luigi di, Discorso sopra l’impresa dell’Austria fatta dal Gran Turco 302 Paschal III, Antipope  263n27 Paul II, Pope  192 Pavia, battle of (1525)  226 Pavia, siege of (773–774)  2 Pavlova, Maria  24, 189, 207n48 Pazzi conspiracy (1478)  162, 168, 180, 181, 186n93, 188 Pellegrini, Bonaccorso  102 Pepin III (the Short), King of the Franks in Andrea da Barberino’s works  110, 117–18, 132 in Carletto (or Carlo Mainetto) 82, 102–3 donation of lands to Papacy  2n3, 136

Index in Geste Francor  43–5, 46–7, 67 Perrotta, Annalisa  24, 140 Persiano see under Cieco da Firenze, Francesco Pescatore, Giovan Battista, Vendetta di Ruggiero  295, 299 Petrarch, Francesco  5, 5n9, 8n18, 94n54, 209n51 Rime Sparse (XXVII, XXVIII)  62 Petrucci, Armando  145 Philip II (Philip Augustus), King of France 36 Philip IV, King of France  5, 62 Philip VI, King of France  8n18 Pilgrimage of Charlemagne 122 Piramo e Tisbe 86 Pirandello, Luigi  280 Pisano, Maffeo, Lamento di Costantinopoli 148–9 Pius II, Pope  159–60 Plantagenets 40 poemi bellici 148–9 Poggio Bracciolini, Gian Francesco 211n53 Polcri, Alessandro  165n56 Poliziano, Angelo  167, 176n77, 182, 183, 185, 186n93 Praloran, Marco  231–2 Prima Spagna (Andrea da Barberino) 110 Prisciani, Pellegrino, Historiae Ferrariae 221n79 Prise de Pampelune (Continuation de l’Entrée) author, date, length and manuscripts 65–6 Charlemagne as arrogant  67 Charlemagne’s pre-Chanson de Roland years 30 from French to Franco-Italian  15, 29 pro-Guelph/anti-Ghibelline atmosphere 67 Roland’s return to fight at Pamplona  65, 66–7 Roncevaux, no reference to  51

383

Prise d’Orange 71 Prophécies de Merlin 51n80 prudentia  194, 211–12, 211n54, 214 Pucci, Antonio cantari in ottava rima  18, 68, 75, 104 Apollonio di Tiro 74 Brito di Brettagna 74 Cantari della Guerra di Pisa 74 Gismirante 74 Madonna Lionessa 74 Reina d’Oriente 74 Pucciarini, Clemente, Brandigi 293, 297, 299 Puccini, Davide  176n78 Puce, Emanuela  94 Pulci, Luigi and Carolingian cantari, dating of  75, 85, 86, 104 and Carolingian epic genre, innovations brought to  231, 232 and Lorenzo de’ Medici, letter to re. mazzocchio 165n55 and Medici family  142, 161, 164–5, 167, 168–9, 174, 187n96, 188 Morgante/Morgante maggiore Acciaiuoli, ‘hidden’ references to 187 Ariosto’s Cinque Canti, similarities with 277 Boiardo’s Innamorato, similarities with 161 Bruni, references to  174–5, 176, 177, 185 canto and cantare  74n2, 161 Charlemagne as defender of Christian faith  164, 169, 181, 183–5 Charlemagne as restorer of Florence 174–7 Charlemagne as weak  163–4, 169, 176 Charlemagne’s court  166–7 Chiaramontesi vs. Maganzesi theme 19 Christian vs. Saracen theme  166 comedy  19, 304, 305

384

Index commissioning and publication 161–3 Dante, influenced by  94n54, 183n89 Dante, references to  173, 184–5 dynastic paean genre  115 first editions  20, 21, 188 Gano’s betrayals  163–4, 169, 178–80, 181 intellectuals and power  179 juxtaposition method  169, 172–3, 176, 178 Lattanzio-Alcuin couple  185–7 Lodico’s Storia dei paladini di Francia, similarities with  309, 310 Lucrezia Tornabuoni’s commissioning of poem  161, 164, 165n54, 168 Lucrezia Tornabuoni’s portrayal of in poem  171, 172, 173–4, 178, 187–8 metanarrative reflection  142 nautical metaphor  170–4, 178 Orlando laurenziano, relationship with  92–8, 105, 163 pavilion, description of  77n9 Pazzi conspiracy and interruption of poem  168–9 Pirandello’s reference to  280 Poliziano, references to (under ‘Arnaldo’ name)  182–3, 185, 186n93 popular episodes (e.g. giants and half-giants) 164 Queen Antea’s attack on Paris  163 rewriting of existing material  142 rewriting with Medici in mind  164–5, 167 Roncevaux battle  16n47, 163, 168–9, 178, 181, 182, 185, 188 Roncevaux battle, episodes preceding 17 second phase of Italian Carolingian narratives 24 source materials  17, 141, 163

structure of poem  167–9, 188 transfer of mortal by magic  77n8 puppet theatre see Sicilian puppet theatre (opera dei pupi) Quint, David  278–9, 280 Raffaele da Verona, Aquilon de Bavière 217n67 Rajna, Pio Cantari del Danese 85n19 Cantari di Rinaldo  83, 100n71 Charlemagne as ambivalent figure in cantari 82–3 Lodico’s Storia dei paladini di Francia 309 names relating to Carolingian narratives 11 Old French, use of by Italian authors 29 Orlando (or Orlando laurenziano)  85n19, 92, 93, 94, 98, 163 Reali di Francia  119n48, 132n93 Spagna in rima  87, 88, 89 Ravenna, battle of (1512)  225 Reali di Francia see under Andrea da Barberino redactors (scribes)  29 Regina Ancroia 20 Renaldini, Panfilo de’, Innamoramento di Ruggieretto  291, 295, 296, 297, 299–303, 300, 301 Renaut de Montauban 83 Rencesvals see Roncevaux (Roncesvalles) Pass, battle of (778) Renouard, Yves  127 Renzi, Lorenzo  14, 15 Residori, Matteo  165n56 Riccobaldo Gervasio da Ferrara  196, 198 Richard I (the Lionheart), King of England 36 Richardson, Brian  22n65 rifacimenti  189, 194n16, 195, 207 rifacitore  xviii, 142, 154 Rinaldino di Montalbano 105

Index Ritsos, Yiannis  281 Robert, Count of Clermont  56 Robert of Anjou, King of Naples  112, 113, 114, 131 Robertson-Mellor, Geoffrey  32 Rolandin (or Orlandino, Geste Francor)  19, 30, 42, 47, 48–9 Rome Matter of Rome  14 sack of (1527)  235 Saracen raid (846)  3 Roncevaux (Roncesvalles) Pass, battle of (778) accounts of different meanings in French and Italian texts  146n18 and Gano figure as embodiment of evil 154n32 in Lodico’s Storia dei paladini di Francia  309, 310 not in all Italian texts  16–17 in Pulci’s Morgante  16n47, 163, 168–9, 178, 181, 182, 185, 188 in Riccobaldo’s history  198 in Rotta di Roncisvalle 84 in Spagna in rima  16–17, 75, 77, 88 no accounts of in Andrea’s works  127n76 in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso  16n47, 251 in Boiardo’s Innamorato 16n47 in Cieco’s Il Mambriano 16n47 in Franco-Italian compilations  51 in Geste Francor 51 in poems after Boiardo’s Innamorato 233 in Prise de Pampelune 51 Rotta di Roncisvalle 84 Rovere, Francesco Maria della, Duke of Urbino  230, 297 Rovere, Guidobaldo della  297 Ruggieri, Ruggero  29 Sabatini, Francesco  57n100 Sacchi, Guido  298 Sallust, Catiline Conspiracy 247 Saluzzo, Rizzarda da  191

385

Saluzzo, Tommaso III di, Marquis, Le Chevalier errant 191n5 San Zeno, church of (Verona)  10 Sanseverino, Roberto  165n56 Santa Maria, church of (in Cosmedin) 10n24 Santi Apostoli, church of (Florence) 9n21 Sanvisenti, Bernardo  85n19, 101n74 Saracens Christian vs. Saracen theme  3n5, 8, 145–7, 148, 160, 166, 199–201, 234 danger of Turkish invasion  146–7, 148, 160 incursions into southern Italy  3, 38, 39–40 Saracen kingdom  3 see also Islam scribes (redactors)  29 sculpted reliefs, and Chanson de Roland 9–10 Seconda Spagna or Ansoigi (Andrea da Barberino)  110, 133–4 Sforza, Galeazzo Maria  180, 181 Short, Ian  31 Sicilian puppet theatre (opera dei pupi)  24–5, 308, 311 Sicily Angevin rule  55, 128 Aragonese rule  5 Ghibelline Kings  271 Hohenstaufen rule  4 Norman kings  4 Saracen incursions  3 Simon, Eva  57–8 Sixtus IV, Pope  147 Spagna in prosa  90, 163 Spagna in rima Carolingian cantare  74n2, 75 Charlemagne’s campaign against Marsilio 75 dating of narrative established view  85 established view revisited  85–8 ‘major’ redaction  87–9, 91 ‘minor’ redaction  87–9

386

Index

‘mixed’ redactions  87 number of manuscripts, incunabula and printed editions  86 possibly composed before Orlando 85n19 Strologo’s theory  89–92, 104, 105 first printed editions  20 Folengo’s view on  143 Pulci’s use of for Morgante 163 representations of Charlemagne as authoritative but with limited power 147 as ideal monarch  75–7, 82, 151–2 in tears (in Rotta di Roncisvalle) 84 Roncevaux battle  16–17, 75, 77, 88 specific texts Combattimento di Orlando 87 Rotta di Roncisvalle  84, 87 Spagna ‘comense’ 89 Spagna ‘corsiniana’ 89 Spagna ‘ferrarese’  88, 89 Spagna ‘laurenziana’ 89 Spagna ‘parigina’ 89 transfer of mortal by magic  76–7 Spagna magliabechiana 90 speculum principis tradition  23, 297 Spoleto, duchy of  2n2 Statius 20 Thebaid 247 Stephen II, Pope  2n3 Storia di Milone e Berta 105 Storie di Rinaldo (Andrea da Barberino)  100n70, 110, 134 Storie di Rinaldo (tradition of tales) 284 Storie Nerbonesi (I Nerbonesi, Andrea da Barberino)  109, 110, 111, 122, 128–32 see also under Andrea da Barberino Strologo, Franca  24, 74 Strozzi, Tito Vespasiano, Borsias 216– 17, 219–20, 221, 246n60 Suard, François  37 Subrenat, Jean  71 Suleiman the Magnificent  302 Sunderland, Luke  127, 135

Tarentino, Secondo, Bradamante gelosa 304 Tasso, Torquato on Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso 282 Gerusalemme liberata 208n50, 247n65, 296 Rinaldo  23, 296–7 Teodoro Gaza  192 Testament de Charlemagne see Mort Charlemagne (or Testament de Charlemagne) Third Crusade  36–7, 39 Thomas, Antoine  60 Tissoni Benvenuti, Antonia  88, 95, 189n1, 193, 201n39, 219 Tornabuoni, Lucrezia commissioning of Pulci’s Morgante  161, 164, 165n54, 168 portrayal of in Pulci’s Morgante 171, 172, 173–4, 178, 187–8 Trabisonda  105, 143, 155, 156–9, 160 book illustration  289, 291 Treaty of Constance (1183)  298 Trent, Council of (1542–63)  298 Turpin  40, 175, 176, 185, 309 Chronicle of Pseudo-Turpin 34, 294n22, 309n3 Uggieri il Danese (Geste Francor) 30, 42, 43, 48, 49–51, 203n41 Uggieri il Danese (Reali di Francia, Andrea da Barberino)  115, 122 Ugone d’Alvernia (Andrea da Barberino)  109, 110, 133, 139 Urban IV, Pope  54n92 Vaglienti, Francesca  180n83 Valcieco, Raffaele continuation of Boiardo’s Innamorato  20, 227, 230, 233–5, 243, 245–6 La conceptione della Madonna 230 see also under Italian Carolingian narrative tradition and Wars of Italy Valla, Lorenzo  211n53 Valois, house of  56–7

Index Vandelli, Giuseppe  117, 123n63 Vergil see Virgil Verino, Ugolino  113 Verona Cathedral  10 Vienna, siege of (1529)  302 Villani (Giovanni, Matteo and Filippo), Nuova Cronica  111–12, 113, 136, 136n11 Villoresi, Marco  13, 14, 94, 145n15, 165n56 Virgil 298 Aeneid  20, 222, 244, 246n62, 265 Visconti (family)  111, 114 Visconti, Bernabò  61 Visconti, Galeazzo  61 Visconti, Matteo  60, 61 Visconti, Valentina  225n2 visual narrative tradition and Chanson de Roland 9–10 and Italian Carolingian narratives 23–4 Voltaire 282 Walter VI, Count of Brienne  114 War of the Eight Saints (1375–8)  114 Wars of Italy 1494 invasion of Italy by Charles VIII  6, 7, 198, 224, 225, 226, 234n33, 271 and Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso 251 and Boiardo’s Innamorato 194, 223–4, 225 and Cieco’s Il Mambriano 228–9 and Este family  191n6

387

and second major phase of Italian Carolingian narratives  24 see also Italian Carolingian narrative tradition and Wars of Italy William Capet  110 William of Orange cycle see Guillaume d’Orange cycle Wunderli, Peter Andrea’s Aspramonte  125, 126 Charlemagne figure depending on authors/readers’ ideological position  139 no place for ideal sovereign in northern Italy  120 Geste Francor Adenet’s Berte compared to Geste version 118n44 Charlemagne as unfair and irrational 134 Karleto  46–7, 121n55 Macario 52 Mort Charlemagne 71 socio-economic/linguistic approach  53n86, 54 Xenophon, Cyropaedia  196, 211, 214n59 Xerxes I (the Great), King of Persia  214, 216 Zanobi, Sostegno di  87, 88, 89, 90–2 Zatti, Sergio  273 Zinelli, Fabio  59n105 Zoppino, Niccolò  230

Bristol Studies in Medieval Cultures previously published The Madonna of Humility: Development, Dissemination and Reception, c.1340–1400 Beth Williamson The Medieval Art, Architecture and History of Bristol Cathedral: An Enigma Explored Edited by Jon Cannon and Beth Williamson Chaucer and the Cultures of Love and Marriage Cathy Hume Translators and Their Prologues in Medieval England Elizabeth Dearnley Cross and Culture in Anglo-Norman England: Theology, Imagery, Devotion

John Munns

charlemagne: a european icon Charlemagne and His Legend in Early Spanish Literature and Historiography Edited by Matthew Bailey and Ryan D. Giles The Charlemagne Legend in Medieval Latin Texts Edited by William J. Purkis and Matthew Gabriele The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval England: The Matter of France in Middle English and Anglo-Norman Literature Phillipa Hardman and Marianne Ailes Charlemagne in Medieval German and Dutch Literature Albrecht Classen Charlemagne in the Norse and Celtic Worlds Edited by Helen Fulton and Sif Rikhardsdottir