A Roman History: The Ephemerides Historicae of Cornelius de Fine (ca.1494-1570)

The paper presents an analysis of Cornelius de Fine’s Ephemerides Historicae, an almost unknown source about Rome in the first half of the sixteenth century, also called Diarium Historicum. Written as an historical diary, De Fine describes the events in Rome and Italy in the period going from 1511 to 1548 and his experience of humanist Rome. During his stay in Rome he entered the service of Cardinal Francesco Conti, and after the Cardinal’s death in 1521, he worked for bishop Mario Maffei di Volterra and Jacopo Sadoleto. Thus, De Fine is not only important as an original source about Roman history in the early sixteenth century, but also as an example of successful integration into Roman society. Though we cannot define him as a humanist and his chronicle stands mostly in the medieval tradition, we can discover many humanist influences in his career and works. How can De Fine and his Ephemerides Historicae be situated in the context of humanist historiography? Which reminiscences of humanism can we find in them? These are some of the questions the author tries to answer.