Describing the Holy Roman Empire after the death of Frederick II as an empty formula in a changed world, historians have long obscured the impact of the imperial presence in late medieval Italy. However, orations, histories, treatises, and letters show that many Italian intellectuals, including important humanists, remained fascinated by the medieval continuation of the Roman empire. The contemporary Holy Roman Emperor was still generally considered as the lawful leader of the Christian world and the supreme defender of peace. Contrary to what is commonly thought, humanists added to the imperial myth by applying a classicizing vocabulary to the Holy Roman Emperor.

This conference sheds light on contemporary discourses on the imperial presence in Italy in a period that saw the breakthrough of the humanist movement: 1300-1500. It aims to increase our understanding of the perception of the contemporary Holy Roman Emperors in Italy and pays special attention to humanists who imitated a classical vocabulary. The imitation of Roman emperors is both a sign of the Renaissance and a central aspect in medieval political thought. The two came together when the German rex Romanorum descended into Italy for his imperial coronation. How is this described by contemporaries, especially by those with humanist tastes? To what extent did they break with medieval modes of imperial representation?

Programme :

Monday 5 november
17.00 – 20.00
Royal Dutch Institue in Rome
Via Omero, 12

Welcome – Arno Witte – KNIR
Introduction – Anne Huijbers – Radboud University

Nijmegen Opening lectures

Alexander Lee – University of Warwick – Humanism, republicanism, and empire: a reappraisal
Len Scales – Durham University – Emperors of Rome: Italy in imperial politics and imagination, 1308-1452
Reception

Tuesday 6 november

9.30 – 17.45
Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medioevo
Piazza dell’Orologio, 4

Welcome – Massimo Miglio – ISIME

Session 1: Imperium and Res publica: conflict or harmony?
Moderator: Daniela Rando – Università di Pavia

Carole Mabboux – EFR – Cicero and the use of the term res publica in fourteenth- century Italy
Anna Modigliani – Università della Tuscia – Imperium e res publica nelle lettere di Cola di Rienzo e nel racconto delle cronache
Juan Carlos d’Amico – Université de Caen – Fazio degli Uberti, il Dittamondo e l’ideologia imperiale
12.00 – 14.15 Lucnh Break

Session 2: Emperors, jurists and humanists
Moderator: Andreas RehbeRg – Deutsches Historisches Institut in Rom

Wolfgang Decker – Heinsberg – Der Rex Romanorum als Advocatus Ecclesiae: die Vorverhandlungen des Constantiense in Italien 1413-1414
Daniela Rando – Università di Pavia – La forza vitale di un’idea: l’impero insegnato all’università al tempo dei concili, 1414-1449
15.45 – 16.15 Coffee Pause

Veronika Proske – Corvinus University of Budapest – Rom 1433: Ein Papst-Kaiser-Treffen und seine humanistische Rezeption
Riccardo Pallotti – Archivio di Stato di Modena – Federico III in Italia tra politica e retorica

Wednesday 7 november
École française de Rome
Piazza Navona, 62

9.30 – 13.30

Welcome – Catherine Virlouvet – EFR

Session 3: Empire and historiography
Moderator: Dario inteRnullo – Università Roma Tre

Heike Johanna Mierau – Friedrich-Alexander- Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg – Emperor and empire in late-medieval universal chronicles
Anne Huijbers – Radboud University Nijmegen – The professionalisation of imperial history: Giovanni Mansionario’s Historie Imperiales and Benvenuto da Imola’s Augustalis Libellus
11.15 – 11.45 Coffee pause

Rino Modonutti – Università di Padova – SISMEL  – Gli imperatori di Albertino Mussato
Discussion and closing

Informations pratiques :

5-7 November 2018
Roma

École française de Rome Pierre Savy Directeur des études médiévales Grazia Perrino Assistante scientifique

Piazza Farnese, 67 – 000186 Roma – Italia T. +39 06 68 60 12 48 – secrma@efrome.it

Organisation : Anne Huijbers – Radboud University Nijmegen