Abstract

Against the background of a long standing tradition which sees the Hispano-Jewish culture of the late Middle Ages in terms of decline and isolationism, the article attempts to analyse – and argue for an echo of Catullus’ Carmina in – a Hebrew poem of the Catalano-Aragonese “guild of the poets”. It tries to contrast the unverified attributions of translations from the Latin or the putative existence of romance texts which have not been found with the close analogy of themes and motifs between the Hebrew and the Latin poem. It contextualises it in the frame of other cultural manifestations of close contacts between Jews and Christians as well as the rich evidence of the archival documents of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Highlights

  • It is generally agreed that the fortuna of Catullus in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is more than a detail in the history of reading ancient texts

  • The attention it commands confirms that it is viewed as an index or touchstone of the return to the sources

  • Around 1290-1310, it was used by various humanists, poets, mainly Paduan such as Benzo of Alessandria; Geremia of Montagnone; Albertino Mussato; Lovato Lovatis and Guglielmo da Pastrengo, a friend of Petrarch

Read more

Summary

Catullus in Fifteenth Century Spain

It is generally agreed that the fortuna of Catullus in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is more than a detail in the history of reading ancient texts. The attention it commands confirms that it is viewed as an index or touchstone of the return to the sources It is not an example of the abyss between ancient, medieval and Renaissance, as there was, in the fourteenth century, a manuscript of Catullus in the Cathedral Library of Verona. Around 1290-1310, it was used by various humanists, poets, mainly Paduan such as Benzo of Alessandria; Geremia of Montagnone; Albertino Mussato; Lovato Lovatis and Guglielmo da Pastrengo, a friend of Petrarch. This to such an extent that it is possible to speak of a resurrectio catulli in this area and period. 1 “An exile I come to my country from distant lands a fellow countryman was the cause of my return clearly France assigned him his name from the reeds, and the one who marks the journey of the passing crowd with all your ability celebrate your Catullus, whose light has been hidden under a bushel” (Haig Gaisser 1993, 18)

See Harrisson 1980
The Poets’ Guild and the Latin Question
The Echoes
The Guild and its Frame
Crossings
History and Context
In fine
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call