Books published by Italica Press

"Elye of Saint-Gilles" tells the story of Elye - the son of Count Julien of Saint-Gilles, a vassal of William of Orange - and of his exploits during his youth and early knighthood. It is part of the William of Orange cycle, whose historical kernel is linked to events of the First and Fourth Crusades and the Reconquest of Spain.As Elye is dubbed a knight, he endures an insult from his father, so he undertakes a self-imposed exile from the court. It is not long, however, before he encounters and battles Saracens. Despite his prowess, they capture and transport him across the sea and attempt to convert him to Islam.After escaping and killing many more Saracens, he himself is mortally wounded but rescued by his own vassal Galopin - the famous character who was the prototype of Shakespeare's Oberon and who makes his literary debut in this work. Galopin delivers Elye to the healing hands of an emir's daughter, Rosamonde, who saves his life. In return, he saves her from an unsuitable marriage with a Saracen elder. For this Elye is again attacked by Saracens, but he is finally rescued by his father Julien, William of Orange, and King Louis.In the end the Saracen lands are converted, Rosamonde and Galopin are married, all make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and Elye is married at Paris to Avisse, the sister of King Louis, and he becomes the king's seneschal.Elye of Saint-Gilles is the first English translation of the Old French chanson de geste and includes a new critical edition, facing the English text. This work encapsulates many of the standard elements of the French chanson de geste and provides an excellent example of the virtues of this literary form for entertainment and instruction.The sole manuscript containing "Elye," and its companion piece "Aiol," is found in the 1405 inventory of the library of Margaret of Flanders, duchess of Valois, whose family had been key figures in the First and Fourth Crusades and the Reconquest of Spain. In the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the court of Flanders was also a dynamic center of literary activity unrivalled in production by either Champagne or Paris.Dual-language edition.First English translation.Introduction, bibliography, notes, index.

The contributions include Arnold Victor Coonin, Preface and Acknowledgments; Debra Pincus, "Like a Good Shepherd": A Tribute to Sarah Blake McHam; Amy R. Bloch, Perspective and Narrative in the Jacob and Esau Panel of Lorenzo Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise"; David Boffa, Sculptors' Signatures and the Construction of Identity in the Italian Renaissance; Meghan Callahan, Bronzino, Giambologna & Adriaen de Vries: Influence, Innovation and the "Paragone"; Arnold Victor Coonin, "The Spirit of Water": Reconsidering the "Putto Mictans" Sculpture in Renaissance Florence; Kelley Helmstutler Di Dio, From Medalist to Sculptor: Leone Leoni's Bronze Bust of Charles V; Phillip Earenfight, "Civitas Florenti[a]e": The New Jerusalem and the "Allegory of Divine Misericordia"; Gabriela Jasin, God's Oddities and Man's Marvels: Two Sculptures of Medici Dwarfs; Linda A. Koch, Medici Continuity, Imperial Tradition and Florentine History: Piero de' Medici's "Tabernacle of the Crucifix" at S. Miniato al Monte; Heather R. Nolin, A New Interpretation of Paolo Veronese's "Saint Barnabas Healing the Sick"; Katherine Poole, Medici Power and Tuscan Unity: The Cavalieri di Santo Stefano and Public Sculpture in Pisa and Livorno under Ferdinando I; Lilian H. Zirpolo, Embellishing the Queen's Residence: Queen Christina of Sweden's Patronage of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Members of His Circle of Sculptors; Sarah Blake McHam's List of Publications. 1st printing. 338 pages. 117 illustrations. Preface, bibliography, index.

"Aymeri of Narbonne" tells the story of Aymeri, son of one of Charlemagne's paladins, who alone accepts the great emperor's challenge to reconquer Narbonne in Languedoc from the Saracens. Epic siege and battle, betrayal, and acts of individual heroism evoke all the elements of the great age of French chanson de geste epitomized in the Song of Roland. Unlike Roland and many of its imitators - tales that breathe the air of military culture and the crusade - Aymeri of Narbonne takes a step forward, toward the age of the Romance, with a second plot that is no less important than great battles and Christian-Moslem conflict. Aymeri is advised by his court that he must seek and marry a noble princess. His quest eventually takes him across the Alps to Pavia, there to meet and woo Hermenjart, princess of Lombardy. On the way, the heroic epic takes a detour into the realm of self-discovery and social satire: of Italian merchants and German knights, and French obtuseness to the rules of courtly behavior and of civil life. But the real focus of the tale soon turns to the lovely - and courageous - Hermenjart. No passive object of desire or chivalric quest, the princess of Pavia becomes a character every bit as dynamic as her male suitor and his companions. Forthright about the status and prospects of a woman in "chivalrous" France, she long refuses many suitors and only welcomes Aymeri's advances when she is convinced of his sincere respect and love - and her own status. The couple goes on to high adventure and a long, triumphant life. This first English translation, by Michael A.H. Newth, employs a strict but natural verse. His introduction gives the tale its historical context and offers a solid review of its antecedents, authorship, genre and poetics. Newth also addresses the Crusade and Christian-Moslem relations, the problem of the "other" in medieval literature, gender roles and the continuing relevance of the chansons. Includes introduction, notes, bibliography.