Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EuroCult (Cultural exchanges, network and community in early humanist Europe. The case of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini)
Période du rapport: 2022-09-01 au 2024-08-31
EuroCult intends to illuminate the figure of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (1405-1464), who at the end of his life became Pope Pius II. Initially a humble lay secretary to a cardinal during the Council of Basel (1431-1439), he became secretary to the Emperor, bishop, cardinal and pope (1458-1464). Before being elected pope Piccolomini travelled throughout Europe (in Italy, but also to the Council of Basel, to England, and to Vienna), visiting numerous important personalities of his age, including popes and emperors, and engaging in correspondence with major figures, as well as minor personalities such as notaries, teachers, and copyists. By researching the intellectual communities and networks with which he interacted and in which his works were read in the 15th and 16th centuries, this research will also re-evaluate three broader phenomena that have shaped our current understanding of the first half of 15th century: the wide spread of literary models and of religious and political ideas thanks to humanism throughout northern Europe (esp. Germany, Poland, Bohemia and Hungary); the importance of institutional contexts (such as religious centres, universities and courts connected with religious men as well as the laity) not usually associated with humanism; and the importance of socio-political and religious aims for contemporary humanist writers. From these innovative perspectives the project will make a relevant contribution to understanding of the cultural foundations of modern Europe.
The project aims 1) to define Piccolomini’s role within European Renaissance humanism as a literary model in his use of Latin and rhetoric, and to reconsider the network created by Piccolomini’s letter exchanges, and his religious and political engagement; 2) to demonstrate that the spread of a cultural model in the first part of the 15th century was promoted by people who were also engaged in religious and political debate and activities; 3) to demonstrate that Piccolomini’s correspondence with chancellors, university professors, and prominent political and religious figures is an essential key for understanding the cultural exchanges taking place throughout Europe in that period.
The project aims 1) to define Piccolomini’s role within European Renaissance humanism as a literary model in his use of Latin and rhetoric, and to reconsider the network created by Piccolomini’s letter exchanges, and his religious and political engagement; 2) to demonstrate that the spread of a cultural model in the first part of the 15th century was promoted by people who were also engaged in religious and political debate and activities; 3) to demonstrate that Piccolomini’s correspondence with chancellors, university professors, and prominent political and religious figures is an essential key for understanding the cultural exchanges taking place throughout Europe in that period.
The work developed during the two years outgoing phase concerns both research activity with publications, as well as conferences and dissemination.
To achieve its research objectives the project includes two short objectives: a) to produce a complete census of Piccolomini’s letters with special attention paid to previously unedited manuscripts and early printed editions (15th-16th century) of his works and translations into European languages; b) to have a detailed understanding of the content of his letters, paying special attention to cultural, religious, and political questions and their interactions.
The first point has involved over 1,000 manuscripts from about 250 libraries around the world; to realize this census I benefited from the resources available in the University of Toronto’s libraries. Thanks to manuscripts’ catalogue I collected significant information for the project as Piccolmini’s work, dating, ownership, miniatures, paratexts, and accompanying works by other authors. I identified different groups of manuscripts with collections of Piccolomini’s letters, some of these hitherto not considered, and miscellaneous manuscripts with works by many authors. To examine some manuscripts, relevant to the project, it was necessary to visit libraries and archives to collect the material; in other cases, I used the online reproduction available on libraries websites.
The second point made me aware of which letters were most widely circulated in relation to their content. To analyze all this material I uses an interdisciplinary methodology that includes textual criticism, book history, codicology, and history of literature. The result has allowed me to understand in more depth the circulation of Piccolomini’s works in the second half of the 15th century and in the first half of the 16th both in reference to literary and religious interests. In particular I could define: 1) which letters or groups of letters and which works were not only widely read, but became models in the use of the Latin language and in the cultural formation of the second half of the 15th century; 2) which works spread widely discussed religious and political ideas between the 15th and 16th centuries and 3) which included devotional texts. A particularly significant aspect, 4), which opened a parallel branch of research, emerged from the examination of some collections of letters and some manuscripts that connect Piccolomini to Ambrogio Traversari, another key figure of Italian Humanism and religious history of the first half of the 15th century, in the context of the Council of Basel, when Piccolomini, still a humble secretary to prelates, began to grow in prominence.
In the period covered by the report I presented my project through the University of Turin’s online magazine Frida (October 2022) and at the ‘Goggio Lecture’, Department of Italian Studies (March 2023). I also organized an exhibition at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library (https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/fisher-events/humanistic-culture-petrarch-piccolomini-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books ). During this event, which took place in the form of an open house, the public had the opportunity to enter a library generally reserved for specialists, to not only be able to look at the manuscripts and books on display, but also to touch and leaf through the material. Also aimed at the public was the project’s website where it is possible to see images of manuscripts with examples chosen from various works by Piccolomini. Finally, during these two years I organized one or more panels and I had a paper in the following conference: the Renaissance Society of America Virtual (December 2022); the Society for Renaissance Studies in Liverpool (July 2023); the Renaissance Society of America in Chicago (March 2024); the Society for Italian Studies conference at the Royal Holloway, Egham (June 2024).
To achieve its research objectives the project includes two short objectives: a) to produce a complete census of Piccolomini’s letters with special attention paid to previously unedited manuscripts and early printed editions (15th-16th century) of his works and translations into European languages; b) to have a detailed understanding of the content of his letters, paying special attention to cultural, religious, and political questions and their interactions.
The first point has involved over 1,000 manuscripts from about 250 libraries around the world; to realize this census I benefited from the resources available in the University of Toronto’s libraries. Thanks to manuscripts’ catalogue I collected significant information for the project as Piccolmini’s work, dating, ownership, miniatures, paratexts, and accompanying works by other authors. I identified different groups of manuscripts with collections of Piccolomini’s letters, some of these hitherto not considered, and miscellaneous manuscripts with works by many authors. To examine some manuscripts, relevant to the project, it was necessary to visit libraries and archives to collect the material; in other cases, I used the online reproduction available on libraries websites.
The second point made me aware of which letters were most widely circulated in relation to their content. To analyze all this material I uses an interdisciplinary methodology that includes textual criticism, book history, codicology, and history of literature. The result has allowed me to understand in more depth the circulation of Piccolomini’s works in the second half of the 15th century and in the first half of the 16th both in reference to literary and religious interests. In particular I could define: 1) which letters or groups of letters and which works were not only widely read, but became models in the use of the Latin language and in the cultural formation of the second half of the 15th century; 2) which works spread widely discussed religious and political ideas between the 15th and 16th centuries and 3) which included devotional texts. A particularly significant aspect, 4), which opened a parallel branch of research, emerged from the examination of some collections of letters and some manuscripts that connect Piccolomini to Ambrogio Traversari, another key figure of Italian Humanism and religious history of the first half of the 15th century, in the context of the Council of Basel, when Piccolomini, still a humble secretary to prelates, began to grow in prominence.
In the period covered by the report I presented my project through the University of Turin’s online magazine Frida (October 2022) and at the ‘Goggio Lecture’, Department of Italian Studies (March 2023). I also organized an exhibition at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library (https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/fisher-events/humanistic-culture-petrarch-piccolomini-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books ). During this event, which took place in the form of an open house, the public had the opportunity to enter a library generally reserved for specialists, to not only be able to look at the manuscripts and books on display, but also to touch and leaf through the material. Also aimed at the public was the project’s website where it is possible to see images of manuscripts with examples chosen from various works by Piccolomini. Finally, during these two years I organized one or more panels and I had a paper in the following conference: the Renaissance Society of America Virtual (December 2022); the Society for Renaissance Studies in Liverpool (July 2023); the Renaissance Society of America in Chicago (March 2024); the Society for Italian Studies conference at the Royal Holloway, Egham (June 2024).
Through the research of these two years, it was thus possible for me to identify the texts which circulated most widely, Piccolomini’s significant connection to Ambrogio Traversari and the importance of poetic coronation in the circulation of Piccolomini’s letters. By examining the connection between Piccolomini and Ambrogio Traversari, I explored in the writing of both Traversari and Piccolomini the importance of reading and quoting the Bible, as a point of reference for one’s religious thought and as a source of support for one’s argument(s), and I was able to better understand the importance Piccolomini had in mediating Dante’s political thought in the 15th century in a more in-depth way. The results of this research are partly exposed in articles currently in press accepted by important journals in the sector or in volume.
During the outgoing phase I developed new skills, improved existing and learned new research methodologies in the fields of Italian linguistics, medieval and Renaissance studies (as well as in the fields of gender studies and the Black Renaissance studies), and learned new teaching methodologies. I improved my administrative and management skills by organizing panels for conferences and an international conference in Turin and I met scholars with whom I was able to discuss my research.
During the outgoing phase I developed new skills, improved existing and learned new research methodologies in the fields of Italian linguistics, medieval and Renaissance studies (as well as in the fields of gender studies and the Black Renaissance studies), and learned new teaching methodologies. I improved my administrative and management skills by organizing panels for conferences and an international conference in Turin and I met scholars with whom I was able to discuss my research.