EPIC, ITALIAN

EPIC, ITALIAN
Epic narratives in the Italian vernacular began in the
thirteenth century and continued well past the end of
the fifteenth. Three forms characterized epic material:
the Old French chanson de geste, ottava rima, and
prose. During this period, the matières of Britain
(Arthurian), Rome (classical), and France (Charlemagne and his men) united in Italy to create epics
new in language, metrics, and content. Women appear in various roles, from Amazon to falsely accused
queen, from enchantress to warrior maiden.
The French chanson de geste, written in laisses,
arrived in Italy through oral transmission along
252
pilgrimage routes in the late twelfth century (based
on evidence in art and onomastics) and in manuscripts popular in northern Italian courts (as inventories indicate). Texts in Franco-Italian, a linguistic
hybrid, date from the end of the thirteenth century
through the first half of the fifteenth. Some chansons
merely copy French models, but others are Italianized
based upon pre-existing characters and plots. There
are three Franco-Italian versions of the Chanson de
Roland; one, of the late twelfth century, gives Aude,
Roland's betrothed, an important role. This role not
only appeals to the female audience, but also her
visions emphasize genealogical considerations in the
French line. The Geste Francor (first half of the fourteenth century) reinforces the importance of women
in royal genealogy: it narrates the history of Carolingians from Pepin through Louis, and is built around a
series of persecuted women. Bovo d'Antona's wife
must raise twins alone in exile. Pepin's wife, Berta
dai piedi grandi, is betrayed by a look-alike friend.
She bears Charlemagne while the guest of a widower
woodsman, and repays his hospitality by teaching his
daughters needlepoint. Similarly, Charlemagne's halfsister bears Roland in the Italian woods. Charlemagne's wife, Blançiflor, is accused of adultery and
flees to Hungary, where she gives birth to his heir,
Louis. Parallels to biblical history compare Roland's
mother and father to Mary and Joseph fleeing to
Egypt. These women accept responsibility for their
(mis)deeds, suffer to regain their position, and extricate themselves from difficulties within the social
structure, like their menfolk.
Not all Franco-Italian epics allot important roles
to women; L'Entrée d'Espagne, the best-known
Franco-Italian epic, only narrates three offers of marriage to Roland in the East, and a Sultan's daughter
pines for him. Some think Franco-Italian chansons de
geste, specifically the Geste Francor, reflect northern
Italian bourgeois interests: Pepin's representatives
must inspect Berta naked to make sure the "merchandise" is sound. The importance of Mediterranean
trade for Italian city-states means that attitudes toward non-Christians, men and women, differ from
those of early Crusade-era chansons. In Franco-Italian epics, conversions to Christianity are important,
but non-Christian women are primarily sources of
wealth, like Christians.
Contemporary with Franco-Italian are literary
epics. Vernacular tradition as well as classical epic
influenced Dante and Boccaccio. Dante includes
no Carolingian-cycle women in his Commedia, but
Dido and Helen inhabit Hell. Boccaccio possibly
invented ottava rima (eight-verse stanzas of hendecasyllables rhymed ABABABCC), in which he wrote
his Filostrato (1330s) and Teseida delle nozze d'Emilia
EPIC, ITALIAN
(1339-1341), epics of classical subject, ensuring the
form's popularity.
Following Boccaccio's lead, through the fifteenth
century and afterwards, anonymous poems written
in ottava rima-cantari narrate stories from mythology, history, and hagiography, Arthurian and
Carolingian tradition. Cantari, Tuscan in origin,
can be short, narrating a single event (Cantare di
Pirramo e di Tisbe) or long, like Spagna in Rima that
recounts Charlemagne's seven years in Spain before
Roncevaux. Prose rewrites of Italian epic subjects
coexist with cantari. The best-known authors are
Florentine: Antonio Pucci (c. 1310-1388) produced
numerous cantari on all subjects; Andrea da Barberino (c. 1370-c. 1431) wrote prose versions of the Reali
di Francia, Aspramonte, Re Ansuigi, Le Storie di
Rinaldo, Nerbonesi, Ugone d'Alvernia, Aiolfo del Barbicone, and Guerrin Meschino, that utilize French
conventions. The women in both forms vary according to the traditions from which they derive. Andrea
elaborates upon the Berta e Milone story from the
Geste Francor: Berta demonstrates more initiative,
arranging for Milone to disguise himself as a woman
to see her. The anonymous Innamoramento di Berta
e Melone further elaborates the original. Certain new
character types appear: Pucci wrote three cantari centered on women: Gismirante, Madonna Lionessa, and
Historia della Reina d'Oriente. The latter exemplifies
sex change stories: the heiress of an eastern kingdom
passes as a boy, but when faced with a trial bath,
a prayer changes her sex. A new development not
in French texts is Galiziella, a warrior woman who
appears in Italian Aspramonte versions.
From anonymous cantari derive the more famous
epics of Florence and northern Italy. Lorenzo de' Medici's mother, Lucrezia Tornabuoni, asked Luigi Pulci
(1432-1484) to rehabilitate the literary Charlemagne's
reputation. The resulting Morgante (1478-1483) is a
rewritten amalgam of two long cantari, the Orlando
and Spagna in rima. He gives women a wide variety of
roles, from the usual wives and mothers of paladins to
non-Christian ladies—princesses in need of assistance,
who love Rinaldo, Ulivieri, or Orlando. Short-lived
love affairs provide paladins wandering in the East
emotional support and occasional physical assistance
(e.g., Chiariella helps Orlando escape from prison).
An affair can end badly: Forisena kills herself when
Ulivieri leaves. Women frequently aid Pulci's verbal
humor: Arcalida, an Amazon troop leader, creates
a series of double entendres when conquered by
Rinaldo and his men; Florinetta provides comic relief
during Morgante and Margutte's trip through the
woods. The beautiful Antea, endowed with magic
weapons and armor, defeats all comers, and she
and Rinaldo fall mutually in love in spite of being
enemies. At the head of an army she travels through
Europe, seeking Rinaldo, and finally returns unharmed to Bambillonia. Meridiana remains undefeated when Orlando disdains combat with her. Creonta,
an ugly giantess, is killed like male giants.
In Ferrara, Maria Matteo Boiardo (1440/14411494) wrote his Orlando Innamorato ([Roland in
Love], 1478-1482/1483, 1485) at the court of Ercole
d'Este and Eleonora of Aragon, where it was read
aloud to Eleonora and her daughter Isabella. Roland
and all paladins are smitten by Angelica, and pursue
her. Women in general get the better of Orlando, who
is depicted as not savvy in love. Boiardo's women are
Christian wives, oriental princesses who need saving,
and, as in Morgante, two beautiful warrior women.
Bradamante, the valiant Christian, falls in love with
Rugiero; she also plays with gender roles: Fiordespina
falls in love with her thinking she is a man. The hardfighting pagan Marfisa, who seems to be Boiardo's
invention, contrasts with the delicate but conniving
pagan Angelica, an enchanter's daughter. Boiardo
furthermore develops enchantresses, maleficent and
beneficent: Alcina, Dragontina, Falerina, and Febosilla create obstacles for heroes as well as learning
experiences. Critics suggest that they not only function in the plot but also embody Boiardo's pedagogical strategies that advocate careful reading.
However, even Fiordelisa, a courtly Christian, can
be seen as critiquing literary tradition. Bradamante
and enchantresses also appear in Mambriano, by
Cieco da Ferrara, begun in 1490 and published in
1502.
At the end of the fifteenth century, Italian epic
tradition flourished in written and printed form, and
would soon be exported through Ariosto, Tasso, and
works they inspired. The "woman warrior," the Amazon, and the scheming enchantress join the persecuted ruler's daughter of the French repertoire as part
of western European literary tradition, the results of a
unique fusion of medieval Breton, classical, and
French literary sources, popular at all social levels in
the Italian peninsula.
LESLIE ZARKER MORGAN
References and Further Reading
Allaire, Gloria. "The Warrior Women in Late Medieval
Prose Epics." Italian Culture 12 (1994): 33-43.
———. Andrea da Barberino and the Language of Chivalry.
Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Florida, 1997.
Anceschi, Giuseppe, ed. Orlando Innamorato. Mario
Matteo Boiardo. Milan: Garzanti, 1978.
Andrea da Barberino. L 'Aspramonte. Romanzo cavalleresco
inedito, edited by Marco Boni. Collezione di opere
inedite o rare. Nuova serie. Bologna: Antiquaria Palmaverde, 1951.
253
EPIC, ITALIAN
———. I Reali di Francia, edited by Aurelio Roncaglia and
Fabrizio Beggiato. Brugherio-Milan: Gherardo Casini
Editore, 1987.
Balduino, Armando, ed. Cantari del Trecento. Scrittori italiani. Sezione letteraria. Milan: Marzorati, 1970.
Barini, Giorgio, ed. Cantàri cavallereschi dei secoi XV e XVI.
Collezione di opere inedite o rare dei primi tre secoli della
lingua. Commissione pe' testi di lingua nelle provincie
dell'Emilia. Bologna: Romagnoli dall'Acqua, 1905.
Bendinelli Predelli, Maria. "La Donna guerriera nell'immaginario italiano del tardo medioevo." Italian Culture
12 (1994): 13-34.
Boccassini, Daniela. "Love, Magic, and Storytelling in
Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato: The Dragontina Episode." In Studi filologici e letterari in memoria di Danilo
Aguzzi-Barbagli, edited by Daniela Boccassini. Filibrary
Series, 13. Stony Brook, N.Y.: Forum Italicum, 1997,
pp. 35-58.
Bonucci, Anicio, ed. Historia della Reina d'Oriente di Anton
Pucci, Florentino. Poema cavaleresco del XIII° secolo.
Scelta di curiosità letterarie inedite o rare dal secolo
XIII al XIX, 41. Bologna: Romagnoli, 1862.
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I Cantari, struttura e tradizione. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Montreal: 19-20 marzo 1981, edited by M.
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1984.
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secolo XIV. 3 vols. Collezione di opere inedite o rare,
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Innamorato." Carte Italiane 8 (1986-87): 31-36.
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rime de la Chanson de Roland." In Charlemagne in the
North: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference of the Société Rencesvals. Edinburgh 4th to 11th
August 1991, edited by Philip E. Bennett, Anne Elizabeth Cobby, and Graham A. Runnalls. Edinburgh: Socété Rencesvals Branch, 1993, pp. 273-279.
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North. Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference of the Société Rencesvals. Edinburgh 4th to 11th
August 1991, edited by Philip E. Bennett, Anne Elizabeth Cobby, and Graham A. Runnalls. Edinburgh: Société Rencesvals Branch, 1993, pp. 281-290.
Fatini, Giuseppe, ed. Il Morgante di Luigi Pulci. 1948.
Classici italiani UTET. Turin: Unione tipograficoeditrice torinese, 1984.
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Holtus, Günter. "Plan- und Kunstsprachen auf romanischer Basis IV. Franko-Italienisch/Langues artificielles
à base romane IV. Le franco-italien." Lexikon der romanistichen Linguistik. Vol. 7, edited by Günter Holtus et
al. Tübingen: M. Niemeyer, 1998, pp. 705-756.
Krauss, Henning. Epica feudale e pubblico borghese. Per
la storia poetica di Carlomagno in Italia. translated by
F. Brugnolo and A. Fassò. Padua: La Garangola, 1980.
254
Lejeune, Rita, and Jacques Stiennon. La Légende de Roland
dans l'art du Moyen Age. 2 vols. Brussels: Arcade, 1967.
Limentani, Alberto. "Struttura e storia dell'ottava rima."
Lettere italiane 13 (1961): 20-77.
Luzio, Alessandro. "Isabella d'Este e l'Orlando Innamorato." In his Studi su Matteo Maria Boiardo. Bologna:
Zanichelli, 1894, pp. 147-154.
Morgan, Leslie Zarker. "Female enfances: At the Intersection of Romance and Epic." In The Court Reconvenes:
Courtly Literature Across the Disciplines. Selected Papers
from the Ninth Triennial Congress of the International
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Rosellini, Aldo, ed. La Geste Francor di Venezia. Edizione
integrale del Codice XIII del Fondo francese della Marciana. Saggi e monografie, 6. Pubblicazioni del Centro di
Linguistica dell'Università Cattolica. Brescia: La Scuola,
1986.
Ross, Charles S. "Angelica and the Fata Morgana: Boiardo's Allegory of Love." MLN 96 (1981): 12-22.
Ross, Charles Stanley, trans. Orlando Innamorato.With an
Introduction and Notes by Charles Stanley Ross. Foreward by Allen Mandelbaum. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1989.
Thomas, Antoine, ed. L Entrée d’Espagne. Chanson de geste
franco-italienne. Soci été des anciens textes français.
Paris: Firmin Didot et Cie, 1913.
Tomalin, Margaret. The Fortunes of the Warrior Heroine in
Italian Literature. L'Interprete, 33. Ravenna: Longo,
1982.
Tusiani, Joseph, trans. Morgante. The Epic Adventures of
Orlando and His Giant Friend Morgante. Introduction
and notes by Edoardo A. Lebano. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1998.
Vitullo, Juliann Marie. "Contained Conflict: Wild Men and
Warrior Women in the Early Italian Epic." Annali d'ltalianistica 12 (1994): 39-59.
———. Constructing an Urban Mythology: The Chivalric
Epic in Medieval Italy. Gainesville, Fla.: University
Press of Florida, 2000.
See also Amazons; Boccaccio, Giovanni; Dante Alighieri; Epic: Old French; Literature, Italian; Tornabuoni
de' Medici, Lucrezia