Memoriale delle cose occorse a me Franco Sivori dopo della mia partenza da Genova l’anno 1581 per andare in Vallachia

Abstract

This image of Bucharest as it appeared in September 1583 opens a long description of Wallachia contained in the Memoir by the Genoese Franco Sivori, secretary of Petru Cercel, prince of Wallachia, from 1581 to 1589. Conserved among the manuscripts of the Vatican Apostolic Library and written in ancient Italian, it has been recently edited by Alexandra Vrânceanu Pagliardini, recipient of a research fellowship from the Romanian Academy in Rome, Italy. The text, already edited in part by the Romanian historian Ştefan Pascu in 1944,2 is now re-proposed in an unabridged edition.As Vrânceanu Pagliardini points out in the introduction, the Memoir by Sivori is “a complex work, having points in common with both travel accounts of merchants and diplomatic reports of ambassadors.” It also shows “surprising similarities with a Bildungsroman.” Sivori selects the events to describe in order to contemplate “the relationship between ‘fortune’ and ‘prudence,’ which is pivotal in sixteenth-century Italian treatises, especially in The Prince by Machiavelli and the Ricordi by Guicciardini.”3From a strictly historical point of view, the Memoir is a first-hand source for the study of the Balkans and the Romanian lands in the years prior to the anti-Ottoman campaigns led by the Wallachian prince Michael the Brave (1593–1601).4 Noteworthy are the descriptions of Constantinople and the nearby Genoese colony at Pera, where Sivori stayed before reaching Bucharest. “Compared to those of Constantinople, the houses [of Pera] are very comfortable and [the city] has fountains with good waters [. . . ], gardens, and beautiful, well-kept vineyards. In addition to the Greek and Turkish languages, the inhabitants of Pera mainly speak an Italian tending towards the Genoese dialect, and so, in walking, talking and living, they imitate the Genoese very much,” writes the secretary.5The description of Wallachia is even richer, with details on the fertility of the soil; the production of excellent wines; the abundance of game; the presence of gold, iron, and salt mines; and the trading in hides and other commodities. In this regard, Sivori observes: “Wallachians are not involved in trading; this is conducted by Ragusans, Greeks, Jews, and a few Turks [. . . ]. Hides and wax are sent on muleback to Ragusa and [from there by sea to] Ancona, or shipped on the Danube to the ports of Varna and Constanţa on the Black Sea, and then loaded onto ships that sail first to Constantinople and then to Ragusa or Ancona.”6The excursus on Wallachia concludes with original thoughts on the language spoken in sixteenth-century Romania: “Their language, as that of Moldavia, a neighboring kingdom, is a mixture of Latin, Italian, Greek, and Slavonic. On the whole, it is a barbarian language. They write in Serbian, or rather Slavonic, characters, and the most important documents are drawn up in Serbian, just as we write them in Latin.”7By virtue of its references to economics and trading, society and settlements, language and culture, Sivori’s Memoir is essential for understanding the Balkans and, in particular, relations between the Romanian Principalities and Italy in the late sixteenth century.