Itinerarium Ad Sepulchrum Domini Nostri Yehsu ChristiIn the early spring of 1358, Francis Petrarch was invited by his friend Giovanni Mandelli, a leading military and political figure of Visconti Milan, to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Pleased at the invitation, Petrarch nevertheless declined to undertake the journey. Fear of the sea, of shipwreck, and of "slow death and nausea worse than death" held him back. While Petrarch would not make the literal journey he offered Mandelli a pilgrimage guide instead of his companionship: "nevertheless, I shall be with you in spirit, and since you have requested it, I will accompany you with this writing, which will be for you like a brief itinerary." Composed over three days between March and April of 1358, the Itinerarium ad sepulchrum domini nostri takes the characteristic Petrarchan form of an epistle to a friend. Delivered to his correspondent in the form of an elegant booklet, the work presents a literary self-portrait that was meant to stand as "the more stable effigy of my soul and intellect" as well as "a description of places." Although the Holy Land is the ostensible destination of the pilgrimage, more than half of this charming guidebook is devoted to Petrarch's leisurely and loving descriptions of Italy's physical and cultural landscape. Upon reaching the Holy Land, Petrarch transforms himself into one of the greatest ten-cities-in-four-days Baedekers of all time, as Mandelli and the reader race through sacred landmarks and sites and end up, not at the sepulchrum domini nostri, but at the tomb of Alexander. Theodore Cachey has prepared the first English-language translation of the Itinerarium. Based on an authoritative 14th-century manuscript in the Biblioteca Statale of Cremona, which is, according to the explicit declaration of the scribe, a copy of Petrarch's 1358 autograph, the translation is accompanied by the manuscript reproduced in facsimile and by a transcription of the Latin text. Cachey's extensive introduction and notes discuss Petrarch's text within the multiple contexts of travel in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and contemporary political and cultural issues, including Petrarch's relation to emergent forms of "cartographic writing" and Renaissance "self-fashioning." Petrarch's little book reveals him to be a man of his time, but one whose voice speaks clearly to us across centuries. The Itinerarium is a jewel rediscovered for the modern reader. |
From inside the book
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Page 113
... atque Acheron Tartarea nomina , ibi Ditis hostia , limen irremeabile , et ille “ facilis descensus Averni , " de quo loquitur poeta , quem patentem diebus dixit ac noctibus , sed laboriosi atque operosi reditus ; de qua re quia quod ...
... atque Acheron Tartarea nomina , ibi Ditis hostia , limen irremeabile , et ille “ facilis descensus Averni , " de quo loquitur poeta , quem patentem diebus dixit ac noctibus , sed laboriosi atque operosi reditus ; de qua re quia quod ...
Page 116
... atque equor indignans , quorum et poeta recordatus est dum ' Georgica ' scriberet ; opus a lulio extructum , ab Augusto Cesare immutatum et , aut me memoria frustratur , aut Mare Mortuum appellant , sic maris ferociam atque impetum ...
... atque equor indignans , quorum et poeta recordatus est dum ' Georgica ' scriberet ; opus a lulio extructum , ab Augusto Cesare immutatum et , aut me memoria frustratur , aut Mare Mortuum appellant , sic maris ferociam atque impetum ...
Page 132
... atque adolescentie prima sedes , unde , Ulixeo and coast the Achaean shore past cities like Modon ,. est videndumque littus Achaicum atque urbes in littore : Motana , Corona et quicquid terrarum mare illud [ aluit : alluit ] , usque ad ...
... atque adolescentie prima sedes , unde , Ulixeo and coast the Achaean shore past cities like Modon ,. est videndumque littus Achaicum atque urbes in littore : Motana , Corona et quicquid terrarum mare illud [ aluit : alluit ] , usque ad ...
Common terms and phrases
Aeneid Africa animo atque autem Baiae Biblioteca Billanovich Boccaccio Canzoniere coast Cremona cuius Dante death enim Epyst erat exile Falernus Familiar Matters famous Firenze Francesco Petrarca Francis Petrarch Franco Cardini funt Genoa geographical Giovanni Mandelli hinc Holy Land illa illic illud ILLUSTRATION insula island Italian Italy Itin Itinerarium itinerary journey King letteratura Letters on Familiar literary magis manuscript mare maris medieval medio Milan Misenum montis multa Naples Naturalis historia Neapolitan Niccolò nichil nomen nunc olim omnes opus orbis passage Petrarch Petrarch's Africa Petrarch's Itinerarium Petrarchan pilgrim pilgrimage Pisa Pliny Naturalis historia poet poet's Pompey Pomponius Mela Portolan chart Pozzuoli procul quam quid quidem quod rerum Roma Roman Rome Storia sunt Terra Santa tibi tomb trans translation Ulysses urbis vero Videbis Virgil Visconti Vita writing