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Articles by Gianluca Caccialupi

Italian Studies, 2024

Beginning with Innocent III’s pontificate, participation in the crusades became increasingly inte... more Beginning with Innocent III’s pontificate, participation in the crusades
became increasingly interpreted as 'imitatio Christi patientis'. Innocent III’s
crusade theology was revived by later pontiffs and became ingrained in
the collective imagination through preaching. This article shows how
Dante draws on thirteenth-century crusade theology in his depiction of
the cross of Mars, with special attention paid to 'imitatio Christi'. Dante’s
rendering of his inner sacrifice (Par. XIV, 88–93) foreshadows the
apparition of the cross and appears to have been influenced by the
imagery of the crusader’s vow as found in contemporary ecclesiastical
documents. In these texts, crusaders are frequently depicted as
participating in an inner sacrifice prompted by the fire of caritas that
recalls Christ’s own sacrifice. Reading Paradiso XIV-XV in light of this
context – and with an awareness of the significance of Cacciaguida’s
placement in the same heaven – allows us to explore Dante’s
self-representation as a 'miles Christi'.

L'Alighieri. Rassegna dantesca, 2022

Questo studio intende mostrare come Dante rifletta sull’idea di crociata alla luce della teorizza... more Questo studio intende mostrare come Dante rifletta sull’idea di crociata alla luce della teorizzazione di cui essa era stata oggetto nel corso del XIII secolo, quando l’indulgenza originariamente associata al passagium ultramarinum, dopo essere stata estesa alla lotta antiereticale, finì per essere concessa a quanti si opponevano ai nemici politici del Papato. Dopo aver ipotizzato che Dante possa aver maturato le proprie idee sulla crociata nel corso dei pontificati di Niccolò IV e Bonifacio VIII, si mostrerà come egli contrapponga alla crociata politica contro i Colonna, dettata esclusivamente dalla brama di potere del pontefice, una crociata legittima e necessaria, volta alla liberazione dei luoghi della vita di Cristo (crux transmarina). Questo non significa che la Commedia condanni ogni tipo di crociata interna alla cristianità (crux cismarina): come testimonia l’incontro con Maometto in Inferno XXVIII, la crociata antiereticale è assolutamente equiparabile a quella contro i musulmani.

Book Reviews by Gianluca Caccialupi

Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift, 2023

Conference Presentations by Gianluca Caccialupi

The widespread circulation of the Tristan en prose in Dante's time is attested to by some fifteen... more The widespread circulation of the Tristan en prose in Dante's time is attested to by some fifteen French manuscripts produced in Italy, several translations or rewritings in the Tuscan vernacular, and numerous references in the lyric tradition. Above all, the Italian reception of the Tristan matter was exemplary: Tristan was presented as a model of chivalric ethics, and his relationship with Iseult became a symbol of amorous intensity and devotion. In contrast, the ethical implications of this relationship received almost no attention. The aim of this paper is to show how Dante's reception of the Tristan matter is profoundly original in relation to earlier tradition. With the exception of Il Fiore, Dante mentions Tristan only in Inferno V, where he is included among the souls that Virgil points out to the Pilgrim in the circle of the lustful. However, a comparative study of Inferno V and the Tristan en prose shows that this romance is one of the fundamental sources of the canto. This is evidenced by the description of the contrapasso, by various lexical choices, and by Dante's version of the love story between Paolo and Francesca, which, although centred on the reading of the Lancelot, is actually based on that of Tristan and Iseult as told in the Tristan en prose. Having emphasised this, I will show how Dante's reflection on the Tristan matter, which leaves aside the exemplary aspects typical of the Italian reception in order to focus on the moral condemnation of Tristan's fol'amor, derives mainly from two factors: the return to an idea of righteous love, embodied by Beatrice, and the condemnation of the relationship between Tristan and Iseult that Dante could find in the Mort Artu, another text that enjoyed enormous success in Italy at the time.

L’espressione dantesca “Arturi regis ambages pulcerrime” è stata oggetto di un dibattito secolare... more L’espressione dantesca “Arturi regis ambages pulcerrime” è stata oggetto di un dibattito secolare. Mentre alcuni traduttori o studiosi di Dante – come Gian Giorgio Trissino, Pio Rajna e Michelangelo Picone – hanno interpretato la parola ambages come sinonimo di fabulae, cioè di storie fantastiche con un significato allegorico più profondo, altri – tra cui Celso Cittadini, Pier Vincenzo Mengaldo e Federico Rossi – l’hanno considerata una traduzione latina della parola francese aventures. Questo intervento si propone di fornire ulteriori prove a sostegno di questa seconda interpretazione, mostrando come il concetto medievale di fabula non sia compatibile con la ricezione italiana e dantesca dei romanzi arturiani. Nel Medioevo, la distinzione più comune nell’ambito dei generi narrativi era quella tra fabula e historia, cioè opere il cui senso letterale era rispettivamente fittizio o reale. Lo studio dei riferimenti alla Materia di Bretagna nella letteratura italiana del XIII secolo rivela come gli eroi arturiani spesso affianchino le figure dell’epica classica – e quindi della historia – in elenchi di personaggi esemplari. La stessa tendenza si riscontra nella tradizione manoscritta dell’Italia del Duecento, dove i romanzi arturiani furono spesso copiati insieme ai romans d’antiquité o a testi di tipo dottrinale. Queste tendenze sono evidenti anche nelle opere di Dante: nell’Inferno eroi arturiani come Tristano e Mordred sono affiancati da personaggi dell’antichità classica o della storia recente, mentre nel "De vulgari eloquentia", discutendo i generi del vulgare prosaicum, Dante cita le ambages arturiane insieme alla “Bibbia compilata con le storie di Troia e di Roma” e ad altre ystorie e doctrine.

Dante’s expression ‘Arturi regis ambages pulcerrime’ has long been debated. While some (Trissino,... more Dante’s expression ‘Arturi regis ambages pulcerrime’ has long been debated. While some (Trissino, Rajna, Picone) interpreted the word ambages as a synonym for fabulae, i.e. fantastic stories with a deeper allegorical meaning, others (Cittadini, Mengaldo, Rossi) considered it to be a Latin translation of the Old French word aventures. This paper provides further evidence in favour of this second interpretation, by showing that the concept of fabula is not compatible with Dante’s understanding of the Arthurian romances. In the Middle Ages, the most common distinction among narrative works was that between fabula and historia, i.e. texts whose literal sense was fictional or real, respectively. A study of references to the Matter of Britain in thirteenth-century Italian literature reveals how Arthurian heroes often flank figures from classical history – and thus from the historiae – in lists of exemplary characters. The same tendency can be seen in the manuscript tradition of thirteenth-century Italy: Arthurian romances were sometimes copied alongside, or together with, the romans d’antiquité. This tendency is also evident in Dante’s works: while in Inferno V Tristan is mentioned alongside the ladies and knights of antiquity, in the DVE, when discussing the genres of the vulgare prosaicum, Dante mentions the Arthurian ambages together with ‘the Bible compiled with the histories of Troy and Rome’ and other ‘ystorie’ and ‘doctrine’. The claim that Dante intended the Arthurian romances to be historiae also challenges the traditional idea that Inferno V expresses a moral condemnation of the Matter of Britain.

Les œuvres de Boccace connurent leur premier succès en Angleterre dans les années après son décès... more Les œuvres de Boccace connurent leur premier succès en Angleterre dans les années après son décès. Le Filostrato, la Teseida, le De mulieribus claris et le De casibus virorum illustrium figurent parmi les sources principales de certaines œuvres de Geoffrey Chaucer, qui les lut dans leur langue d’origine. Cependant, le succès des œuvres de Boccace en Angleterre fut principalement dû aux traductions françaises du XVe siècle, notamment Le Livre des Cent Nouvelles et Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes de Laurent de Premierfait. L’œuvre la plus influente en Angleterre fut sans aucun doute le De casibus qui, par la traduction de Premierfait et la libre réinterprétation contenue dans le Monk’s Tale de Chaucer, fut à l’origine d'une tradition littéraire anglaise centrée sur la chute d’hommes et de femmes illustres, qui perdura jusqu’à Marlowe et Shakespeare (de casibus tragedies). Après un bref aperçu de la circulation manuscrite des traductions françaises des œuvres de Boccace en Angleterre, cette communication montrera comment celles-ci, ainsi que le Monk’s Tale de Chaucer, jouèrent un rôle fondamental dans la naissance et le développement de la tradition littéraire anglaise des récits « de casibus ». Une attention particulière sera accordée au rôle du Fall of Princes de John Lydgate (1431-38), un long poème en moyen anglais basé sur le Des cas de Premierfait, qui connut un énorme succès en Angleterre entre le XVe et le XVIe siècle et qui façonna la tradition littéraire des récits « de casibus ».

Since the pontificate of Innocent III, crusade experience came to be increasingly interpreted as ... more Since the pontificate of Innocent III, crusade experience came to be increasingly interpreted as "imitatio Christi". Innocent III’s crusade theology was revived by later pontiffs and became ingrained in the collective imagination through preaching. This paper will show how Dante draws on thirteenth-century crusade theology in his depiction of the cross of Mars. Dante’s rendering of his inner sacrifice (Par. XIV. 88-93) foreshadows the apparition of the cross and would appear to have been influenced by the imagery of the crusader’s vow as found in contemporary ecclesiastical documents and crusade sermons. Here, the crusaders are frequently depicted as taking part in an inner holocaust prompted by the fire of caritas that is reminiscent of Christ’s own sacrifice. Reading Paradiso XIV in light of this historical and documentary context – and with an awareness of Cacciaguida’s meaningful placement in the same heaven – will allow us to explore Dante’s self-representation as a "miles Christi".

This paper aims to show how Dante reflects on the idea of crusade in the light of its theorisatio... more This paper aims to show how Dante reflects on the idea of crusade in the light of its theorisation during the XIII century, when the indulgence originally linked with the military expeditions to the Holy Land, after being extended to the anti-heretical wars, was finally granted to those who opposed the political enemies of the Papacy. In Inferno XXVII, Dante contrasts the political crusade against the Colonna, dictated exclusively by Boniface VIII’s lust for power, with a legitimate and necessary crusade, aimed at liberating the places of Christ’s life (crux transmarina). This does not mean that the Commedia condemns any kind of crusade within Christendom (crux cismarina): as the encounter with Maometto in Inferno XXVIII shows, the anti-heretical crusade is absolutely comparable to the crusade against the Muslims. After reflecting on these issues, I will show how Dante in the Commedia attempts to recover the authentic meaning and function of the crusade: preserving the religious unity of the Christian world, defending it against internal schisms and external offensives, and regaining control of the places where Christ lived.

A partire dal Concilio Lateranense IV (1215), l’esperienza crociata – fino ad allora intesa sopra... more A partire dal Concilio Lateranense IV (1215), l’esperienza crociata – fino ad allora intesa soprattutto come 'peregrinatio paenitentialis' – andò configurandosi sempre più come 'imitatio Christi patientis' e post-figurazione della Pasqua antico e neo-testamentaria. La teologia della crociata inaugurata da Innocenzo III fu rilanciata nel corso del secolo da vari pontefici, tra cui Innocenzo IV e Gregorio X, ed entrò nell’immaginario comune attraverso la predicazione. Questo intervento intende mostrare come Dante, nel rappresentare la sua ascesa al cielo di Marte e l’apparizione della croce degli spiriti militanti, abbia attinto alla teologia della crociata caratteristica del XIII secolo, insistendo in particolare sui concetti di 'imitatio' e 'sequela Christi'. La stessa descrizione del sacrifico interiore di Dante (Par. XIV. 88-93), che prelude all’apparizione della croce, sembra risentire dell’immaginario associato in alcuni documenti ecclesiastici ed 'excitatoria' al voto dei crociati, rappresentati come uomini che, infiammati dall’ardore o dal fuoco della caritas, si rendono protagonisti di un olocausto interiore che richiama il sacrificio di Cristo. L’analisi di Paradiso XIV-XV in rapporto a questi contesti consente di ipotizzare che Dante, anche attraverso la presenza nello stesso cielo del trisavolo Cacciaguida, morto durante la seconda crociata, intenda offrire una rappresentazione di se stesso come 'miles Christi'.

In the medieval theological tradition - from Isidore of Seville to Thomas Aquinas - the Garden of... more In the medieval theological tradition - from Isidore of Seville to Thomas Aquinas - the Garden of Eden is located in the far East, in an area that men cannot reach as it is completely separated from inhabited lands. This tendency to locate the Earthly Paradise in the East is also found in medieval cartography (mappae mundi), in the legends concerning Alexander the Great’s Asian campaigns, and in other Latin works about Biblical characters or monks who try to reach the Eden. By contrast, Dante imagines a different location for the Earthly Paradise, and places it in the southern hemisphere, at the antipodes of Jerusalem, and at an equal distance between the western and eastern limits of the inhabited world. Scholars have rightly emphasized how the geography of Dante’s Purgatory and Earthly Paradise is entirely original. However, it is possible to try to identify some literary precedents, especially for Dante’s choice to locate the Earthly Paradise beyond the Atlantic and to associate the theme of oceanic navigation with that of the otherworldly journey. The most interesting literary precedent is undoubtedly the Navigatio Sancti Brendani, where the protagonist - the Irish monk Brendan of Clonfert - reaches the terra repromissionis sanctorum, an earthly paradise located on an island in the middle of the ocean, after a long navigation. This paper aims to identify analogies and possible intertextual relationships between Dante’s Commedia and the Navigatio Sancti Brendani, a work that was widespread throughout medieval Europe, and is also widely attested in 13th century Tuscany. More specifically, I will try to show how Saint Brendan’s navigation through the Atlantic Ocean could have been a model for both the episode of Ulysses’s last journey (Inferno 26) and for that of the arrival of the “vasello snelletto e leggero” at the purgatorial shore (Purgatorio 2).

Il riferimento di Francesca al 'Libro Galeotto' in Inferno V è stato spesso interpretato come una... more Il riferimento di Francesca al 'Libro Galeotto' in Inferno V è stato spesso interpretato come una condanna inappellabile nei confronti della Materia di Bretagna. In alcuni casi è stata addirittura attribuita parte della responsabilità del peccato commesso da Paolo e Francesca al libro che stavano leggendo: il "Lancelot", terza parte del ciclo di romanzi in prosa noto come "Lancelot-Graal". Al fine di conciliare questa lettura di Inferno V con il giudizio positivo sulla letteratura arturiana che Dante esprime nel "De vulgari eloquentia" ('Arturi regis ambages pulcerrime'), alcuni studiosi hanno immaginato un totale cambio di prospettiva da parte dell’autore nel periodo compreso tra l’interruzione del trattato latino e l’inizio della composizione del poema sacro. Nel tentativo di mettere in discussione questa interpretazione e di argomentare a favore di una continuità nel giudizio dantesco sulla Materia di Bretagna, si cercherà di mostrare come il poeta in Inferno V intenda condannare non tanto la letteratura arturiana, quanto l’approccio alla lettura dei due amanti, che li ha portati a sottomettere la ragione al talento. A conferma di questo, si mostrerà come la relazione adulterina tra Lancillotto e Ginevra sia oggetto di condanna già nell’ultimo romanzo del ciclo francese, "La Mort le Roi Artu", che termina con la conversione a vita religiosa di Lancillotto – episodio non a caso ricordato da Dante nel "Convivio". L’Alighieri era dunque consapevole che la storia letta e imitata da Paolo e Francesca, se considerata nella sua interezza, avrebbe potuto offrire ai due amanti un modello positivo di redenzione.

Dante’s encounter with Paolo and Francesca in Inferno 5 has been widely interpreted as the poet’s... more Dante’s encounter with Paolo and Francesca in Inferno 5 has been widely interpreted as the poet’s moral condemnation of Arthurian literature. This paper aims to challenge this critical view by arguing that Inferno 5 provides a concrete example of how Arthurian romances should not be read. Paolo and Francesca discovered their mutual feelings and began their adulterous relationship while reading together the story of Lancelot and Guinevere’s first kiss as attested in the French prose romance "Lancelot", third part of a cycle of five romances known as "Lancelot-Graal". However, Lancelot and Guinevere’s adulterous relationship, which is apparently celebrated in the "Lancelot", is the object of moral and social condemnation in the subsequent romances of the cycle: "La Queste del Saint Graal", which focuses on the knight’s repentance for his sinful relationship with the queen, and "La Mort le Roi Artu", which ends with Lancelot’s conversion to religious life and death in bliss. Dante quotes the epilogue of "La Mort le Roi Artu" and celebrates Lancelot’s conversion in the "Convivio". This explains why Lancelot, unlike Tristan, who never repented for his adulterous relationship with Isolde, is not included among the Lustful of Inferno 5. Hence, Dante was certainly aware that the tale that Paolo and Francesca read and imitated, if considered in its entirety, would have offered them a positive model of redemption. It is therefore clear that the moral responsibility for sin does not lie with the book, but with the readers, who, as Francesca states, ‘did not read further on.’

Nel ventennio compreso tra la caduta di Acri e il concilio di Vienne, l’Europa visse un periodo d... more Nel ventennio compreso tra la caduta di Acri e il concilio di Vienne, l’Europa visse un periodo di profondo dibattito sul destino della Terra Santa, questione concepita come strettamente relata a quella della riforma della Chiesa e della pacificazione della Cristianità. Questo contesto è pienamente recepito nella Commedia, dove il problema della crociata è trattato in stretto rapporto con quello della temporalizzazione della Chiesa. Dante contrappone alle crociate politiche del suo tempo, dettate esclusivamente dalla brama di potere di pontefici come Bonifacio VIII (Inferno XXVII), una crociata legittima e necessaria, volta alla liberazione dei luoghi della vita di Cristo ("crux transmarina"). Questo non significa che la Commedia condanni ogni tipo di crociata interna alla cristianità ("crux cismarina"): come testimonia l’incontro con Maometto (Inferno XXVIII), la crociata antiereticale è assolutamente equiparabile a quella contro i musulmani. Quello che si intende dimostrare è che Dante, oltre a essere al corrente del dibattito contemporaneo, riflette sull’ideologia e sulle varie tipologie di crociata alla luce della teorizzazione di cui essa era stata oggetto nel corso del XIII secolo, quando l’indulgenza originariamente associata al "passagium", dopo essere stata estesa alla lotta antiereticale, finì per essere concessa a quanti si opponevano ai nemici politici del Papato.

Organizational by Gianluca Caccialupi

We are delighted to announce the launch of the second edition of the Dublin Dante Summer School... more We are delighted to announce the launch of the second edition of the Dublin Dante Summer School (DDSS), which started last year (June 2019) and will run for another year (June 2021). 2021 will then mark the anniversary of Dante’s death with a special edition of our School. The project has received collaboration and financial support from Dublin Unesco City of Literature, the Italian Institute of Culture and the Italian Embassy in Dublin, The National University of Ireland, TCD Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, TCD School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies, Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation, UCD College of Arts and Humanities, UCD School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, The UCD Foundation for Italian Studies.
The Dante Summer School based in Dublin is meant to attract national and international attention to the Italian language, literature and culture through the study and teaching of Dante’s Divine Comedy, one of the poetic masterworks of Western culture.
This year, due to the current circumstances, there will be a free online edition of the Dublin Dante Summer School. It will consist of four days with both recorded and live lectures, workshops, and events with internationally renowned scholars in the field of Dante studies, international writers, performers and artists, and IIC, TCD, UCD members of staff. Students and scholars from Ireland, the UK, Europe and the US will participate, too. The theme of this year is Journeying between Eternities: Dante’s Purgatorio.

The Summer School will consist of 4 days with morning lectures and afternoon workshops held by in... more The Summer School will consist of 4 days with morning lectures and afternoon workshops held by internationally renowned scholars in the field of Dante studies and IIC, TCD, UCD members of staff. Students and scholars from Ireland, the UK, Europe and the US will participate, too. The theme of this year is Dante’s Inferno: The Medieval Text and its Afterlife.

Thesis Chapters by Gianluca Caccialupi

Traduzione in italiano di alcuni passi arturiani del 'Roman de Brut' di Wace, con un'introduzione... more Traduzione in italiano di alcuni passi arturiani del 'Roman de Brut' di Wace, con un'introduzione di contestualizzazione dell'opera.

Italian Studies, 2024

L'Alighieri. Rassegna dantesca, 2022