«De le cose piú degne li piú importanti capi, da molti illustri scrittori estratti». On the sources of the Compendio di Pandolfo Collenuccio for the Aragonese age
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Abstract
The "Compendio de le Istorie del Regno" di Napoli by Pandolfo Collenuccio (published posthumously in 1539) is the first complete historical reconstruction of the Kingdom. It is an ideologically compact text dictated by the conviction that the "Mezzogiorno" has always been characterized by an inherent political instability. Despite its importance, there are few studies on its sources: these can help us understand the working method and the author's ideas. This paper investigates the sources relating to the life of Alfonso the Magnanimous: the main ones are "De Europa" by Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) and "De dictis et factis Alphonsi regis" by Antonio Beccadelli (Panormita), probably in a version with comments by Piccolomini himself. Surprisingly absent is the work by Bartolomeo Facio, who authored the most extensive historiographical work on the Aragonese king.
Keywords
- Humanistic Historiography
- Pandolfo Collenuccio
- Alfonso the Magnanimous
- Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pope Pius II)
