Verbis phucare tyrannos? Selbstanspruch und Leistungsspektren von zeithistorischer Epik als panegyrischem Medium im 15. Jahrhundert
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Christian Peters
Abstract
An unusually successful aspect of Neo-Latin epic was the practice, increasingly common beginning in the mid-fifteenth century, of composing grand historical epics about contemporary political and military figures. On account of its content, this panegyric verse can be considered a special case of biographical or historical writing. The question then arises what historical circumstances brought forth this specific form of the literary portrayal of rulers and what was required of the authors. This article aims to shed light on these issues by means of a close reading of a few significant texts of the fifteenth century: epic poems as well as treatises and programmatic statements on poetics. In particular it will investigate just how binary the opposition between historia and poesis was thought to be in the period, and it will consider the possibility that contemporary politics was decisive for the genre and its discursive rules.
Abstract
An unusually successful aspect of Neo-Latin epic was the practice, increasingly common beginning in the mid-fifteenth century, of composing grand historical epics about contemporary political and military figures. On account of its content, this panegyric verse can be considered a special case of biographical or historical writing. The question then arises what historical circumstances brought forth this specific form of the literary portrayal of rulers and what was required of the authors. This article aims to shed light on these issues by means of a close reading of a few significant texts of the fifteenth century: epic poems as well as treatises and programmatic statements on poetics. In particular it will investigate just how binary the opposition between historia and poesis was thought to be in the period, and it will consider the possibility that contemporary politics was decisive for the genre and its discursive rules.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
-
I. Virtues
- Der Herrscher und die gute Ordnung. Das Bild Karls VII. in der französischen Historiographie am Übergang von der tradierten zur humanistisch geprägten Historiographie 17
- Charlemagne am Renaissancehof. Die Darstellung Karls des Großen in Paolo Emilios De rebus gestis Francorum 39
- Guter König, schlechter König? Die Darstellung Heinrichs V. und Heinrichs VI. von England in Polydor Vergils Anglica historia 65
- Alfonso ›the Magnanimous‹ of Naples as Portrayed by Facio and Panormita: Four Versions of Emulation, Representation, and Virtue 95
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II. Cultural and Political Pretensions
- Illyrian Trojans in a Turkish Storm: Croatian Renaissance Lords and the Politics of Dynastic Origin Myths 121
- Personelle Serialität und nationale Geschichte. Überlegungen zu den Herrschergestalten in Franciscus Irenicus’ Germaniae Exegesis 157
- Riccardo Bartolinis Austrias (1516) oder: Wie ein Herrscher zum Feldherrn gegen die Türken wird 193
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III. Models Ancient, Medieval, and Modern
- Der Herrscher als zweiter Salomo. Zum Bild König Roberts von Anjou in der Renaissance 217
- Pier Candido Decembrio and the Suetonian Path to Princely Biography 237
- Die Cosmias des Giovanni Mario Filelfo (1426–1480) 271
- Einhard reloaded. Francesco Tedeschini Piccolomini, Hilarion aus Verona, Donato Acciaiuoli und die Karlsbiographik im italienischen Renaissance-Humanismus 287
- Auf den Spuren Paolo Giovios? Herrscherdarstellung in Jacobus Sluperius’ Elogia virorum bellica laude illustrium 307
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IV. Method
- Princes between Lorenzo Valla and Bartolomeo Facio 337
- Juan Páez de Castro, Charles V, and a Method for Royal Historiography 363
- Picturing the Perfect Patron? Francesco Filelfo’s Image of Francesco Sforza 391
- Verbis phucare tyrannos? Selbstanspruch und Leistungsspektren von zeithistorischer Epik als panegyrischem Medium im 15. Jahrhundert 415
-
V. Critical Summary
- The Description Makes the Prince: Princely Portrayal from the Perspective of Transformation Theory 445
-
Indices
- Index of Names 463
- Index of Places 485
- List of Contributors 491
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
-
I. Virtues
- Der Herrscher und die gute Ordnung. Das Bild Karls VII. in der französischen Historiographie am Übergang von der tradierten zur humanistisch geprägten Historiographie 17
- Charlemagne am Renaissancehof. Die Darstellung Karls des Großen in Paolo Emilios De rebus gestis Francorum 39
- Guter König, schlechter König? Die Darstellung Heinrichs V. und Heinrichs VI. von England in Polydor Vergils Anglica historia 65
- Alfonso ›the Magnanimous‹ of Naples as Portrayed by Facio and Panormita: Four Versions of Emulation, Representation, and Virtue 95
-
II. Cultural and Political Pretensions
- Illyrian Trojans in a Turkish Storm: Croatian Renaissance Lords and the Politics of Dynastic Origin Myths 121
- Personelle Serialität und nationale Geschichte. Überlegungen zu den Herrschergestalten in Franciscus Irenicus’ Germaniae Exegesis 157
- Riccardo Bartolinis Austrias (1516) oder: Wie ein Herrscher zum Feldherrn gegen die Türken wird 193
-
III. Models Ancient, Medieval, and Modern
- Der Herrscher als zweiter Salomo. Zum Bild König Roberts von Anjou in der Renaissance 217
- Pier Candido Decembrio and the Suetonian Path to Princely Biography 237
- Die Cosmias des Giovanni Mario Filelfo (1426–1480) 271
- Einhard reloaded. Francesco Tedeschini Piccolomini, Hilarion aus Verona, Donato Acciaiuoli und die Karlsbiographik im italienischen Renaissance-Humanismus 287
- Auf den Spuren Paolo Giovios? Herrscherdarstellung in Jacobus Sluperius’ Elogia virorum bellica laude illustrium 307
-
IV. Method
- Princes between Lorenzo Valla and Bartolomeo Facio 337
- Juan Páez de Castro, Charles V, and a Method for Royal Historiography 363
- Picturing the Perfect Patron? Francesco Filelfo’s Image of Francesco Sforza 391
- Verbis phucare tyrannos? Selbstanspruch und Leistungsspektren von zeithistorischer Epik als panegyrischem Medium im 15. Jahrhundert 415
-
V. Critical Summary
- The Description Makes the Prince: Princely Portrayal from the Perspective of Transformation Theory 445
-
Indices
- Index of Names 463
- Index of Places 485
- List of Contributors 491