Books in the Court Cultures of the Middle Ages and Renaissance series

This collection offers a range of interdisciplinary viewpoints on the occupation of space and theories of place in Britain and Ireland in the medieval and early modern periods. The contributions consider space in both its physical and abstract sense, exploring literature, history, art, manuscript studies, religion, geography and archaeology.

The thirteen essays in this book, presented in honour of Dr A. V. C. (Carl) Schmidt, are designed to reflect the range of his interests, from his magisterial work on Piers Plowman to his major contribution to the study of Chaucer and the medieval English contemplatives.

This book is also available as a set, together with Volume II. Please visit www.peterlang.com/?431876. Patterns of Patronage in Renaissance Rome is the first full-length study of the life and works of Francesco Sperulo of Camerino (1463-1531). In a remarkable career during which the poet progressed from serving as a soldier of fortune in the service of Cesare Borgia to an Italian bishopric, Sperulo produced a significant body of Latin poetry, here presented in a critical edition for the first time. An impressive array of contemporary figures including Leonardo da Vinci, Isabella d'Este, Raphael and Baldassare Castiglione appear in his verse. By placing his work within the larger historical, literary, political and social context, this study, published in two volumes, sheds light on the role played by neo-Latin poetry at the papal court and documents the impact of classical culture in Rome during the period usually referred to as the High Renaissance Volume I reconstructs Sperulo's life and circle of contacts by placing the poet's works in chronological order and setting them within the political and social circumstances of their composition. Archival documents scattered across Italy, penitentiary records from the Vatican Archives and a voluminous correspondence with the Duke of Urbino and members of the Varano family of Camerino show that Sperulo was intimately involved in papal politics and intrigue; indeed, he was almost assassinated for his involvement. A selection of this correspondence is included here to supplement the poet's biography.

This book is also available as a set, together with Volume I. Please visit www.peterlang.com/?431876. Patterns of Patronage in Renaissance Rome is the first full-length study of the life and works of Francesco Sperulo of Camerino (1463-1531). In a remarkable career during which the poet progressed from serving as a soldier of fortune in the service of Cesare Borgia to an Italian bishopric, Sperulo produced a significant body of Latin poetry, here presented in a critical edition for the first time. An impressive array of contemporary figures including Leonardo da Vinci, Isabella d'Este, Raphael and Baldassare Castiglione appear in his verse. By placing his work within the larger historical, literary, political and social context, this study, published in two volumes, sheds light on the role played by neo-Latin poetry at the papal court and documents the impact of classical culture in Rome during the period usually referred to as the High Renaissance Volume II presents a complete critical edition of all Sperulo's surviving Latin works in poetry and prose, with translation and commentary. This remarkable A uvre documents Cesare Borgia's conquest of Faenza, suggests to Raphael a programme for the fresco decoration of the Villa Madama, records conversations on love with Isabella d'Este, describes the newly-discovered antiquities and reports a sensational murder. Two orations, delivered on the eve of the Sack of Rome, celebrate a treaty between Spain and France and a Polish victory in the Crimean steppes.

The Economics of Poetry takes an innovative approach to the genre of Neo-Latin poetry, encompassing the entire process of poetic production, from composition and physical realization to the formal presentation to the honorand. This process was not predicated upon post-Romantic ideas of inspiration and originality, but rather upon the need to produce literary works in a timely fashion, often (though not exclusively) dependent upon the realities and exigencies of the contemporary political situation. Applying this approach across more than three centuries of literary production, this volume analyses the techniques employed and developed by authors all around the world to reduce the effort of poetic composition, streamline its production and facilitate its presentation when time was a crucial factor in success. To reveal the efficient techniques which authors employed in order to meet their deadlines, each essay focuses on a variety of works by the same writer and examines the full context of their production. The re-use and recycling of previous texts and rhetorical templates ¿ and even the re-dedication of previously presented manuscripts ¿ emerges as a central and essential modus operandi in response to the strict dictates of fast production.