Andrea Mangiabotti, [1] called Andrea da Barberino ( c. 1370–1431 [2]), was an Italian writer and cantastorie ("storyteller") [3] of the Quattrocento Renaissance. He was born in Barberino Val d'Elsa, near Florence, and lived in Florence. [1] He is principally known for his prose romance epic Il Guerrin Meschino, his I Reali di Francia ("The Royal House of France" [3]), a prose compilation (in the form of a chronicle [3]) of the Matter of France epic material concerning Charlemagne and Roland (Orlandino) from various legends and chansons de geste, and for his Aspramonte, a reworking of the chanson de geste Aspremont, which also features the hero Ruggiero. [2] Many of his writings probably derive from Franco-Italian works, such as the Geste Francor, that includes versions of the stories of Reali di Francia and dates to the first half of the fourteenth century. [4] His works, which circulated at first in manuscript, were extremely successful and popular, [1] and were a key source of material for later Italian romance writers, such as Luigi Pulci ( Morgante), Matteo Maria Boiardo ( Orlando Innamorato) and Ludovico Ariosto ( Orlando Furioso).
Works
Andrea da Barberino wrote the following works: [1]
- I Reali di Francia ("The Royal House of France")
- Il Guerrin Meschino
- Ajolfo del Barbicone (reworking of the French Aiol)
- Ugone d'Alvernia (adaptation of the Franco-Italian chanson de geste Huon d'Auvergne, with the first chapter of the final book alternating terza rima and prose in the published edition)
- Storie Nerbonesi (prose adaptation on the Old French chanson de geste Narbonnais and eight other chansons concerning Aymeri de Narbonne and Guillaume d'Orange)
- [Le Storie d']Aspramonte (adaptation of the Old French chanson de geste Aspremont
- Ansuigi (possibly also by Andrea) [5]
References
- ^ a b c d Geneviève Hasenohr and Michel Zink, eds. Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le Moyen Âge. Collection: La Pochothèque (Paris: Fayard, 1992. ISBN 2-253-05662-6), pp. 62–63.
- ^ a b The Cambridge History of Italian Literature, Peter Brand and Lino Pertile, eds. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 168.
- ^ a b c Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, translated with an introduction by Barbara Reynolds (London: Penguin Books, 1975), Part I, Introduction, p. 58.
- ^ Pio Rajna, Ricerche intorno ai Reali di Francia (Bologna, Romagnoli, 1872)
- ^ Gloria Allaire, Andrea da Barberino and the Language of Chivalry (Gainesville, FL: UP of Florida, 1997).
External links
- Further Bibliography on ARLIMA
- The Royal House of France An abridged translation of Andrea's cycle by Max Wickert
Media related to
Andrea da Barberino at Wikimedia Commons
