Paolo Lanfranchi da Pistoia

Paolo Lanfranchi da Pistoia

Paolo Lanfranchi da Pistoia or Pistoja ( _oc. Paulo Ianfranchi de Pistoia; fl. 1282–1295) was a noted Italian poet who wrote in both the Italian and Occitan languages. He is thus sometimes described as a troubadour. A native of Pistoia, he was a cultural figure of that city's "Duecento" and his sonnets have been praised for their originality.

Biography

Paolo is first encountered in the records in Bologna in 1282.Bertoni, 118.] He was present for an act granted in favour of Pistoia on 1 February that year. He also testified alongside Forisio di Jacopo in a document of 13 October, and was still at Bologna on 21 January 1283, when he witnessed a mutuum contracted between two men of Pistoia, Gerardino Bruno and Pucino Pepi. In 1291 he was back in Pistoia, where he was sentenced as guilty for the crime of striking "cum una spada malvagia vetita pro forma statutorum" ("with a sword in malice") a certain Orellio Megliori on the head, "ex dicta percussione multus sanguis extivit" ("from which wound exited much blood"). He was sent into exile and was in Bologna again in 1295. It is therefore certain that if, as some historians have believed, Paolo spent some time at the court of Aragon in Spain, it must have been spent between 1283 and 1291, most probably 1283–1285 if at all.Bertoni, 119.]

Italian poetry

Paolo wrote seven surviving sonnets in Italian. The first four are seen as an interrupted dream, while the last three are a contemplative response.Kleinhenz, 192.] The basic theme of Paolo's work is the question "How can man reconclie love of woman with love of God?" or, more generally, love of earthly with love of heavenly things.Kleinhenz, 194.] Paolo's solution tends towards complete division of Earth and Heaven, no reconciliation. As a lover, he ignores Reason and pursues his subconscious desires, but his "daydreaming" is interrupted the bells of Matins and thus he finds he cannot escape religious demands even in his mind. This tempts him to become a Patarine, that is, a heretic. Paolo finally ascribes his wretched condition to a war between God and Nature which occurred at his birth. His final two works employ the analogy of the wheel of fortune ("rota fortunae") and may have been accompanied by visual aids in performance, much as has been suspected of jongleur performances elsewhere.Kleinhenz, 196.]

Paolo has usually been placed either within the school of Guittone d'Arezzo, the "guittoniani", or in a transitional place between them and the "Dolce Stil Novo".Kleinhenz, 197.] His style and language, however, are distinctly un-Guittonian. They have more in common with the Sicilian School, especially in their expression of raw emotion. Paolo's seven Italian sonnets are listed below by first line:
#"L'altr'er, dormendo, a mi se venne Amore
#"Dime, Amore, vorestù tornare
#"L'altr'er, pensando, mi emaçinay
#"Un nobel e çentil ymaçinare
#"Ogni meo fatto per contrario façço
#"De la rota son posti exempli asay
#"Quatro homi sum dipincti ne la rota

Occitan poetry

Paolo's lone Occitan work is a sonnet of no artistic worth but some historical interest. It is confidently dated to 1284 and is conserved only in troubadour manuscript "P", an Italian chansonnier of 1310, now XLI.42 in the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence. It begins "Valenz Senher, rei dels Aragones" and is addressed to Peter III of Aragon. Paolo probably left no other Occitan works, but his poem is historically interesting for its information on north Italian perspectives concerning the War of the Sicilian Vespers, the conflict between the Angevins and Aragonese for Sicily. Peter III and the Aragonese cause was popular in northern Italy at the time and Paolo's sonnet is a celebration of his victory over the Angevins and Capetians in the Aragonese Crusade: Several anonymous "coblas" that appear towards the end of MS "P" have been attributed to Paolo by nineteenth-century authors. One "cobla", "Mand qe iur e non periur" was addressed "al iuge de Galur", that is, the Judge of Gallura, then Nino Visconti.Bertoni, 120.] The "cobla" after it in the chansonnier is also addressed to Nino, but has not been assigned by any scholar to Paolo. The other anonymous "cobla" sometimes ascribed to Paolo was addressed to the "Count of Montfort". The anonymous author of both these "coblas" calls himself a jongleur.

Notes

ources

*cite book|last=Bertoni|first=Giulio|title=I Trovatori d'Italia: Biografie, testi, tradizioni, note|location=Rome|publisher=Società Multigrafica Editrice Somu|year=1915
*Kleinhenz, Christopher. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-3020%28197222%2949%3A2%3C187%3ATIDOPL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J "The Interrupted Dream of Paolo Lanfranchi da Pistoia."] "Italica", 49:2 (Summer, 1972), pp. 187–201.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Italian literature — is literature written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian. Early… …   Wikipedia

  • Sonnet — The sonnet is one of the poetic forms that can be found in lyric poetry from Europe. The term sonnet derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto , both meaning little song. By the thirteenth century, it had come to signify a… …   Wikipedia

  • Nino Visconti — Ugolino Visconti (died 1298), better known as Nino, was the Giudice of Gallura from 1275 or 1276 to his death. He was a son of Giovanni Visconti and nephew of Ugolino della Gherardesca. He was the first husband of Beatrice, daughter of Obizzo II… …   Wikipedia

  • 1284 in poetry — yearbox2 in?=in poetry in2?=in literature cp=12th century c=13th century cf=14th century yp1=1281 yp2=1282 yp3=1283 year=1284 ya1=1285 ya2=1286 ya3=1287 dp3=1250s dp2=1260s dp1=1270s d=1280s da=0 dn1=1290s dn2=1300s dn3=1310s|BirthsDeaths* Sturla …   Wikipedia

  • Liste De Poètes De Langue Occitane — Sommaire : Haut A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Guilhem Adhemar (av.1195 ap.1217) Arnaut Peire d Aganges Lant …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Liste de poetes de langue occitane — Liste de poètes de langue occitane Sommaire : Haut A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Guilhem Adhemar (av.1195 ap.1217) Arnaut Peire d Aganges Lant …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Giro d'Italia 2000 — Der 83. Giro d’Italia wurde in 21 Etappen vom 13. Mai bis zum 4. Juni 2000 ausgetragen und vom Vareser Stefano Garzelli gewonnen. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Verlauf 2 Endstand 2.1 Gesamtwertung 2.2 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • List of film directors from Italy — The following is a complete list of film directors from Italy. For a complete list of actors and actress, see: List of Italian actors and List of Italian actresses.*Alberto Abruzzese *Alessandro Pacciani *Franco Abussi *Giuseppe Accattino *Fulvio …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”