The Tale of Two Lovers (Latin: Historia de duobus amantibus) (1444) is a novel by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, the future Pope Pius II. It is one of the earliest examples of an epistolary novel, full of erotic imagery. The first printed edition was published by Ulrich Zell in Cologne between 1467 and 1470.
The novel is set in Siena, Italy, and centres on the love story of Lucretia, a married woman, and Euryalus, one of the men waiting on the Duke of Austria. After an uncertain beginning, in which each is in love but unaware that it is reciprocated, they begin a correspondence, which takes up much of the rest of the novel. Before writing his first love letter, Euryalus quotes Virgil in defence of his position: Amor vincit omnia et nos cedamus amori (translated: "Love conquers all; let us all yield to love!").[1]
Morrall, E. J. (1996). "Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (Pius II), Historia de duobus amantibus". Library. s6-XVIII, 3: 216–29. doi:10.1093/library/s6-XVIII.3.216.
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas a second cousin to Priam's children. He is a minor character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homer's Iliad. Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgil's Aeneid, where he is cast as an ancestor of Romulus and Remus. He became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse god Víðarr of the Æsir.
Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death.
Pope Pius III, born Francesco Todeschini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 September 1503 to his death. At just twenty-six days, he had one of the shortest pontificates in papal history.
George of Trebizond was a Byzantine Greek philosopher, scholar, and humanist.
This article is a list of the literary events and publications in the 15th century.
Renaissance Latin is a name given to the distinctive form of Literary Latin style developed during the European Renaissance of the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries, particularly by the Renaissance humanism movement. This style of Latin is regarded as the first phase of the standardised and grammatically "Classical" Neo-Latin which continued through the 16th–19th centuries, and was used as the language of choice for authors discussing subjects considered sufficiently important to merit an international audience.
Pienza is a town and comune in the province of Siena, Tuscany, in the historical region of Val d'Orcia. Situated between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino, it is considered the "touchstone of Renaissance urbanism".
The Archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Tuscany. The seat of the archbishop is the Cathedral of the Assumption in Siena. Until 1459, the diocese was immediately subject to the Holy See (Papacy), and its bishops attended the Roman synods. In 1459, Pope Pius II made Siena a metropolitan archbishopric.
Juan Carvajal (Carvagial) was a Spanish Cardinal. Though he began his career as a lawyer and judge in the papal administration, he spent most of his active life travelling as a diplomat in Germany and eastern Europe, attempting to arrange a crusade against the Ottoman Turks. He was particularly active in Bohemia and Hungary, where he also employed his powers to fight the Hussites. He was a mainstay in trying to preserve the institution of the Papacy from the Conciliarism of the Council of Basel.
Dirk Martens was a printer and editor in the County of Flanders. He published over fifty books by Erasmus and the very first edition of Thomas More's Utopia. He was the first to print Greek and Hebrew characters in the Netherlands. In 1856 a statue of Martens was erected on the main square of the town of his birth, Aalst.
Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester, was an English bishop, lawyer, royal administrator and diplomat. During the minority of Henry VI of England, he was clerk of the ruling council of the Regent.
The Amidei family was an ancient Italian noble family from Florence, Italy. The family was of Roman descent but lived in Florence since its foundation. They have been described by Niccolò Machiavelli as being one of the most powerful families of its time, and were featured in Dante's poems on the political struggles of the Guelphs and Ghibellines in medieval Italy. Ancestors of the House of Piccolomini, Patricians of Siena, they married into the Medici family during the 20th century. The Amidei also claimed a Julia gens ancestry, through the Cottius family, Patricians of Rome.
Giovanni Antonio Campani called Campanus, a protégé of Cardinal Bessarion, was a Neapolitan-born humanist at the court of Pope Pius II, whose funeral oration he wrote, followed by a biography, flattering but filled with personal reminiscence, written ca 1470-77. Campanus was famous for his Latin orations, poems and letters. In addition to Bessarion's Academy, Campanus was a member of the Roman circle of Pomponius Leto. After the death of the Pope in 1464, Campani taught at the Florentine Academy.
Kenneth R. Bartlett is a Renaissance historian, author, and professor at the University of Toronto, where he earned his Ph.D. degree in 1978. He was editor of Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme from 1985 until 1990 and President of the Canadian Society for Renaissance Studies from 1982 until 1984. Prof. Bartlett was the Founding Director of the University of Toronto Art Centre, and sat on the Board of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art from 2001-2015. He was the Director of Faculty Programs in Arts and Science for 13 years, and in 2002 he was named the first Director of the Office of Teaching Advancement for the University of Toronto, a position he enjoyed until 2009.
The Samson Press was a small letterpress printing business or private press run by Joan Mary Shelmerdine (1899–1994) and Flora Margaret Grierson (1899–1966). In its early years it was known for producing small editions of literary works with high quality artwork, and later for the production of greetings cards and ephemera to the same high standards.
Mechthild of the Palatinate (1418–1482) was a princess and major patroness of the literary arts in the 15th century.
The Diocese of Montalcino was a Roman Catholic diocese located in the town of Montalcino to the west of Pienza, close to the Crete Senesi in Val d'Orcia in Tuscany, Italy. In 1986, it was suppressed and united with the Diocese of Colle di Val d'Elsa and the Archdiocese of Siena to form the Archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino.
The Diocese of Pienza was a Roman Catholic diocese located in the town of Pienza in the province of Siena, in the Val d'Orcia in Tuscany between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino. Until 1462, the town was known as Corsignano. It took the name Pienza from its most famous native son, Pope Pius II, who elevated the town to the status of a city (civitas), and established the new diocese. The diocese existed as an independent entity from 1462 to 1772, directly subject to the Holy See (Papacy).
Agostino Patrizi Piccolomini was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Pienza (1484–1495) and Bishop of Montalcino (1484–1495).
Alessandro Braccesi was an Italian humanist, writer and diplomat. He was born in Florence and died in Rome. Perugino's Portrait of a Boy was long identified as him, but this identification has now been refuted.
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