Writing Southern Italy Before the Renaissance : Trecento Historians of the Mezzogiorno / Ronald G. Musto.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Musto, Ronald G., author.

Series:

Studies in Art and History Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Italy, Southern--Historiography.

Italy, Southern.

Italy, Southern--History--1268-1735.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (380 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, [2019]

Summary:

Writing Southern Italy before the Renaissance is the first comprehensive book in English to examine the works of trecento historians of the Mezzogiorno. It introduces these writers, their lives, works, sources, language choices, narrative communities and strategies, and their styles and forms. Ronald G. Musto brings to bear current methodological and theoretical frameworks to develop this analysis. Central to his examination are the role of trecento visual language and the impact of fictional forms on this historiography. He traces the fine line between historia and fabula and the ability of trecento writers to absorb and utilize the symbolic forms deployed by such artists as Giotto, Lorenzetti and Francesco da Barberino and such romances as Meliadus, the Contesse d'Anjou and Constance. To illustrate and test these analyses, Musto offers case studies examining rituals of punishment and prison dialogues. He traces the development of a grand narrative - the black legend of the Angevins - through Petrarch, Villani, Boccaccio and Gravina. A final chapter compares trecento historiography to that of the southern humanists.

Contents:

Front Matter(pp. I-VIII)

Table of Contents(pp. IX-XI)

List of Figures and Tables(pp. XII-XIII)

List of Abbreviations(pp. XIV-XXV)

PREFACE(pp. XXVI-XXXI)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS(pp. XXXII-XXXVI)

1. INTRODUCTION(pp. 1-13)

2. THE HISTORIANS: THEIR LIVES AND WORKS(pp. 14-42)

3. SOURCES(pp. 43-79)

4. NARRATIVE COMMUNITIES AND STRATEGIES(pp. 80-121)

5. THE IMPACT OF ROMANCE(pp. 122-151)

6. VISUAL EVIDENCE(pp. 152-198)

7. CASE STUDIES(pp. 199-228)

8. CONSTRUCTING GRAND NARRATIVES: THE BLACK LEGEND OF THE ANGEVINS(pp. 229-257)

9. MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE: THE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL QUESTION(pp. 258-288)

10. CONCLUSIONS(pp. 289-292)

CHRONOLOGY(pp. 293-296)

BIBLIOGRAPHY(pp. 297-334)

INDEX(pp. 335-343)

Back Matter(pp. 344-344).

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Includes bibliography and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Musto, Ronald G. Writing Southern Italy Before the Renaissance

ISBN:

9781599104638

1599104636

OCLC:

1420630104