Troianalexandrina

This paper studies the presence of the Trojan matter in the medieval exegesis of Dante Alighieri's Commedia. The result is a rather complex tradition which, beyond classical sources, was also enriched by the vernacular tradition, attesting the exceptional omnipresence of this matter in the Italian peninsule in the Middle Ages.

The present article aims at a presentation of the Old East and West Norse texts related to the Matter of Troy. As such, it introduces the most important East and West Norse litterary genres, allowing the possibility of placing Old Icelandic Trójumanna saga and Old Swedish Historia Trojana in its context (there is no Old Norwegian Trojan translation, and the only Danish one is postmedieval). The Old Icelandic tradition is twofold, and its textual sources vary. As usual with translations of historiographical texts into Old Icelandic, both traditions show an adaptation to the so-called Icelandic family saga style, briefly presented here. The Old Swedish text from the beginning of the 16^th century is based on Guido de Columnis' Historia destructionis Troiae and also underwent considerable changes in the process of translation, for which it may be possible to identify the author responsible. The changes concern both additions and, above all, omissions, expecially of passages showing the source author's personal interests and his misogyny. The scholarly reception of the two very differing Trojan traditions presented can be judged typical of the difference in interest between West and East Norse literature.

Even though the Irish did not claim to descend from the Trojans, they became so passionate about the Trojan War that Dares' De excidio Troiae was translated and adapted into Irish under the title Togail Troí probably as early as the eleventh century, long before the other vernacular translations. This translation-adaptation was so successful in Ireland that it was rewritten and amplified several times. Thus, at least three prose versions preserved in a total of eight manuscripts dating from the mid-twelfth to the sixteenth century and an adaptation in verse have survived. After a short presentation of the eight manuscripts containing the various versions of the Irish translation and adaptation of Dares' text and a recapitulation of the main results of previous work, the article analyzes which are the possible Latin sources of the initial genealogical and mythological presentation added by the Irish adapter in the Book of Leinster version, the oldest of the eight manuscripts.

The Italian medieval texts linked to the matter of Troy, in their variety and diversity, depend on the same French material that goes back to the Roman de Troie of Benoît de Sainte-Maure. However, the style and context of these works can be surprisingly different. This proves that the original material has gone through many filters, drawing tortuous and entangled paths. If Binduccio dello Scelto follows its source (Prose 2) extremely faithfully, the Istorietta troiana, which derives from another prose version of the Roman de Troie (Prose 3), treats its model with much more freedom. This text displays a brilliant and effective rhythm, as well as a lively language and an original narrative style, and tends to free itself from the French model. The young Boccaccio is particularly sensitive to the charm of the matter of Troy. In his Filostrato, he isolates for the first time the love story of Briseida, a personage invented by Benoît de Sainte-Maure. The starting point is the same, but this poem is an original reworking from the multiple suggestions offered by the author's vast readings. Boccaccio's personality allows him to develop this secondary episode, to deepen it on a psychological level and to enrich it with various cultural influences, from Ovide to the Dolce Stil Novo. The emphasis on elegiac and lyrical tones betrays the author's cultural background, testifying to his debt to the tradition of the Istorietta troiana and the Heroides of the ms. Gaddi 71.

Aventuroso ciciliano is a historical novel written in ancient Florentine and transmitted by the manuscript Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, plut. 89 inf. 60, which dates back to the late fourteenth century. The work tells the story of five Sicilian barons who fled the island after the 1282 Vespers. The novel presents a particularly remarkable reuse of some passages of the vernacular translation of the Historia destructionis Troiae by the Florentine notary Filippo Ceffi (1324). All the excerpts are inserted in a completely different context, making changes only to adapt them to the new destination. The paper aims to analyse how the Historia is reused by the Aventuroso ciciliano, examining the author's compositional method and giving some examples of his practice.

Among the Spanish texts devoted to the history of Troy, the Crónica Troyana printed by Juan de Burgos is the piece which has enjoyed the longest popularity throughout history. Between the first version, published in Burgos in 1490, and the last one, which appeared in Medina del Campo in 1587, more than a dozen editions were printed.

The purpose of this article is to study the first pages of these editions, paying particular attention to the engravings. These graphic materials, together with the information accompanying them, show the evolution of the book from the first years of the printing press to the end of the sixteeenth century and the connections of the Crónica to different literary genres and contemporary texts.

In his monumental middle-high German volume Konrad of Würzburg wants to renew and not simply reproduce the story of the Trojan War. The article demonstrates that he combines and transforms the sources and sub-plots in order to present an unprecedented synthesis of everything that was known about the fall of Troy in the Middle Ages. Expanding the subject matter enormously, the German author is convinced that he has written a version of the fall of Troy which is superior to all others. In order to provide an all-encompassing explanation of the catastrophe he goes back in history, takes the origins of the conflicts into account and portrays the various triggers for the devastating battles. Thus the narrator offers a wide range of reasons and motives for the fall of Troy, but often qualifies and even contradicts them by ambiguous statements. Focusing on Konrad's literary strategies it becomes obvious that he highlights the proliferation of possibilities. Thereby the article questions the opinion, which is still widespread among scholars, that Konrad's Trojanerkrieg merely shows the tragic chain of events leading up to the war.