Leon Battista Alberti’s Porcaria coniuratio

Abstract

The second chapter focuses on Leon Battista Alberti’s Porcaria coniuratio, the historical epistle on Stefano Porcari’s conspiracy against pope Nicholas V written immediately after the thwarted plot in 1453. The political perspective underlying Alberti’s text does not reflect a merely propagandistic view, but conversely is the expression of a complex and ambiguous political reading of the events. The analysis aims to shed light on Alberti’s unsettled political view, by examining not only the ideological standpoint that emerges in the epistle, but also the rhetorical and stylistic elements that permeate this work. In particular, specific attention is paid to both the choice of the epistolary genre, which is employed to produce a historiographical work and is combined with other literary forms, and the studied use of various classical models (Sallust, satirical authors, Cicero, etc.). The examination of this text, which is read in connection with other works by Alberti, reveals the humanist’s view on historiography, which occupies a pivotal position in the lively fifteenth-century debate on historical writing. Moreover, the analysis shows how the complex rhetorical and stylistic framework of the Porcaria coniuratio implicitly conveys Alberti’s uneasy political thought, which proves to be completely distant from any sympathy with the plotter. Although the epistle is informed by a questioning approach, it reveals the humanist’s disapproval of any attempt at overthrowing established governments. It also betrays Alberti’s problematizing attitude towards political power and his unresolved view on the intricate Roman political background.