Home Classical, Ancient Near Eastern & Egyptian Studies Einhard reloaded. Francesco Tedeschini Piccolomini, Hilarion aus Verona, Donato Acciaiuoli und die Karlsbiographik im italienischen Renaissance-Humanismus
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Einhard reloaded. Francesco Tedeschini Piccolomini, Hilarion aus Verona, Donato Acciaiuoli und die Karlsbiographik im italienischen Renaissance-Humanismus

  • Wolfgang Strobl
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Explore this Subject How to publish with us
Portraying the Prince in the Renaissance
This chapter is in the book Portraying the Prince in the Renaissance

Abstract

When Italian Renaissance humanists came to portray the life of Charlemagne in the fifteenth century, their central reference point remained the ›classic‹ Vita Karoli Magni, written by Einhard in the ninth century. The Florentine humanist Donato Acciaiuoli (1428/29?-1478) modeled the structure of his own biography of Charlemagne (1460/61) largely on Einhard. Cardinal Francesco Tedeschini-Piccolomini (1437/39-1503), however, contemned the style and structure of the medieval vita, and thus he commissioned a stylistic revision and improvement from the Roman humanist and monk Hilarion of Verona (ca. 1444-ca. 1494?). The resulting work was a blend of Einhard’s and Acciaiuoli’s biographies, although Hilarion very much gave his own shape to it. By depicting Charlemagne not as a Frankish king, as Einhard had, but as a French one (rex Gallus), Hilarion’s vita reflects late-fifteenth-century Italy’s interest in the Carolingian ruler as well as the political relationships and configurations of the time. Charlemagne, the universal emperor of the Middle Ages, the ideal protector of the Papal States, and the benevolent friend of Italy, acted as a foil to the French king then threatening the Italian principalities: the rebellious and at times unpredictable Louis XI (1461- 1483).

Abstract

When Italian Renaissance humanists came to portray the life of Charlemagne in the fifteenth century, their central reference point remained the ›classic‹ Vita Karoli Magni, written by Einhard in the ninth century. The Florentine humanist Donato Acciaiuoli (1428/29?-1478) modeled the structure of his own biography of Charlemagne (1460/61) largely on Einhard. Cardinal Francesco Tedeschini-Piccolomini (1437/39-1503), however, contemned the style and structure of the medieval vita, and thus he commissioned a stylistic revision and improvement from the Roman humanist and monk Hilarion of Verona (ca. 1444-ca. 1494?). The resulting work was a blend of Einhard’s and Acciaiuoli’s biographies, although Hilarion very much gave his own shape to it. By depicting Charlemagne not as a Frankish king, as Einhard had, but as a French one (rex Gallus), Hilarion’s vita reflects late-fifteenth-century Italy’s interest in the Carolingian ruler as well as the political relationships and configurations of the time. Charlemagne, the universal emperor of the Middle Ages, the ideal protector of the Papal States, and the benevolent friend of Italy, acted as a foil to the French king then threatening the Italian principalities: the rebellious and at times unpredictable Louis XI (1461- 1483).

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents VII
  3. Introduction 1
  4. I. Virtues
  5. Der Herrscher und die gute Ordnung. Das Bild Karls VII. in der französischen Historiographie am Übergang von der tradierten zur humanistisch geprägten Historiographie 17
  6. Charlemagne am Renaissancehof. Die Darstellung Karls des Großen in Paolo Emilios De rebus gestis Francorum 39
  7. Guter König, schlechter König? Die Darstellung Heinrichs V. und Heinrichs VI. von England in Polydor Vergils Anglica historia 65
  8. Alfonso ›the Magnanimous‹ of Naples as Portrayed by Facio and Panormita: Four Versions of Emulation, Representation, and Virtue 95
  9. II. Cultural and Political Pretensions
  10. Illyrian Trojans in a Turkish Storm: Croatian Renaissance Lords and the Politics of Dynastic Origin Myths 121
  11. Personelle Serialität und nationale Geschichte. Überlegungen zu den Herrschergestalten in Franciscus Irenicus’ Germaniae Exegesis 157
  12. Riccardo Bartolinis Austrias (1516) oder: Wie ein Herrscher zum Feldherrn gegen die Türken wird 193
  13. III. Models Ancient, Medieval, and Modern
  14. Der Herrscher als zweiter Salomo. Zum Bild König Roberts von Anjou in der Renaissance 217
  15. Pier Candido Decembrio and the Suetonian Path to Princely Biography 237
  16. Die Cosmias des Giovanni Mario Filelfo (1426–1480) 271
  17. Einhard reloaded. Francesco Tedeschini Piccolomini, Hilarion aus Verona, Donato Acciaiuoli und die Karlsbiographik im italienischen Renaissance-Humanismus 287
  18. Auf den Spuren Paolo Giovios? Herrscherdarstellung in Jacobus Sluperius’ Elogia virorum bellica laude illustrium 307
  19. IV. Method
  20. Princes between Lorenzo Valla and Bartolomeo Facio 337
  21. Juan Páez de Castro, Charles V, and a Method for Royal Historiography 363
  22. Picturing the Perfect Patron? Francesco Filelfo’s Image of Francesco Sforza 391
  23. Verbis phucare tyrannos? Selbstanspruch und Leistungsspektren von zeithistorischer Epik als panegyrischem Medium im 15. Jahrhundert 415
  24. V. Critical Summary
  25. The Description Makes the Prince: Princely Portrayal from the Perspective of Transformation Theory 445
  26. Indices
  27. Index of Names 463
  28. Index of Places 485
  29. List of Contributors 491
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110473377-012

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents VII
  3. Introduction 1
  4. I. Virtues
  5. Der Herrscher und die gute Ordnung. Das Bild Karls VII. in der französischen Historiographie am Übergang von der tradierten zur humanistisch geprägten Historiographie 17
  6. Charlemagne am Renaissancehof. Die Darstellung Karls des Großen in Paolo Emilios De rebus gestis Francorum 39
  7. Guter König, schlechter König? Die Darstellung Heinrichs V. und Heinrichs VI. von England in Polydor Vergils Anglica historia 65
  8. Alfonso ›the Magnanimous‹ of Naples as Portrayed by Facio and Panormita: Four Versions of Emulation, Representation, and Virtue 95
  9. II. Cultural and Political Pretensions
  10. Illyrian Trojans in a Turkish Storm: Croatian Renaissance Lords and the Politics of Dynastic Origin Myths 121
  11. Personelle Serialität und nationale Geschichte. Überlegungen zu den Herrschergestalten in Franciscus Irenicus’ Germaniae Exegesis 157
  12. Riccardo Bartolinis Austrias (1516) oder: Wie ein Herrscher zum Feldherrn gegen die Türken wird 193
  13. III. Models Ancient, Medieval, and Modern
  14. Der Herrscher als zweiter Salomo. Zum Bild König Roberts von Anjou in der Renaissance 217
  15. Pier Candido Decembrio and the Suetonian Path to Princely Biography 237
  16. Die Cosmias des Giovanni Mario Filelfo (1426–1480) 271
  17. Einhard reloaded. Francesco Tedeschini Piccolomini, Hilarion aus Verona, Donato Acciaiuoli und die Karlsbiographik im italienischen Renaissance-Humanismus 287
  18. Auf den Spuren Paolo Giovios? Herrscherdarstellung in Jacobus Sluperius’ Elogia virorum bellica laude illustrium 307
  19. IV. Method
  20. Princes between Lorenzo Valla and Bartolomeo Facio 337
  21. Juan Páez de Castro, Charles V, and a Method for Royal Historiography 363
  22. Picturing the Perfect Patron? Francesco Filelfo’s Image of Francesco Sforza 391
  23. Verbis phucare tyrannos? Selbstanspruch und Leistungsspektren von zeithistorischer Epik als panegyrischem Medium im 15. Jahrhundert 415
  24. V. Critical Summary
  25. The Description Makes the Prince: Princely Portrayal from the Perspective of Transformation Theory 445
  26. Indices
  27. Index of Names 463
  28. Index of Places 485
  29. List of Contributors 491
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2026 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 17.1.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110473377-012/html
Scroll to top button