Istituto Italiano di Cultura Chicago

ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI CULTURA
500 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1450
For Further Information:
Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Please call Tina Cervone
Tel. +1 312-822-9545
312-822-9545
Fax +1 312-822-9622
email:
[email protected]
www.iicchicago.esteri.it
PRESS RELEASE
Chicago, November 4th at 6 pm
Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri will present his book L’uomo che si credeva
re di Francia: una storia medievale (Laterza, 2005), now available in English from the
University of Chicago Press, The Man Who Believed He Was King of France: A True
Medieval Tale (trans. William McCuaig). The book tells the story of how in 1354 Cola di
Rienzo summoned the rich merchant Giannino di Guccio to the Campidoglio, threw
himself at the merchant’s feet, and exclaimed: “You are the proper and rightful king of
France, exchanged for another a few days after your birth.” Right in the thick of the
Hundred Years War, Giannino decides to set off at once and claim his right to the
Angevin throne. Traveling across Europe, he manages to pick up false documents, a
crown, a sword, and armor as he leads a band of mercenaries on a quest to take back “his
kingdom.”
Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri has reconstructed Giannino’s story through
painstaking research from a manuscript in the Vatican Library—a story so incredible that
it has long been considered a Renaissance literary invention. The result is a fascinating
account somewhere between fiction and reality, Boccaccio and Umberto Eco, which
portrays a naive yet enterprising hero unafraid to confront his dreams and ambitions.
Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri is the author of history books for adults and children’s
stories. He teaches Historical Methods and Medieval Antiquities at the University of
Urbino. His research targets social groups and institutions with particular focus on the
clergy and the aristocracy.