Radivilias, The Epic of the Lithuanian People
By Simone Carboni, Independent Scholar
The Latin poem Radivilias (1592) by Jonas Radvanas is the best poetic fruit of the Neo-latin epic genre, flowered within the boarder of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, at the end of the 16th century. The poem in four books, following the classical epic lectio (the Virgilian and Homeric ones), represents some very little-known war events in Eastern Europe which go under the name of ‘Livonian war’ (1558-1583): a series of campaigns conducted by the Russian czar Ivan ‘the Terrible' looking for the access to the Baltic Sea.
Plenam potestatem et auctoritatem: The Commissions of Henry VIII in the correspondence of Sir Thomas More
By David White, Baylor University
In the collected correspondence of Sir Thomas More are found several letters of commission in Latin from Henry VIII to More and other officials granting them plenipotentiary powers to deal with various issues (More, 1947, 16, 14). Two of them in particular, dated 1515, are directed to More, Cuthbert Tunstall, and other officials, giving them full powers to travel to Flanders—which at the time was under Spanish rule—to negotiate, or rather re-establish, an alliance or amity and commercial relations with Charles of Castile, which had apparently fallen into abeyance.
What (is) the best condition of a state?” (QUIS OPTIMUS REIPUB. STATUS, CW 3.2, no. 198): Thomas More’s Epigrammata as political discourse
By Bradley Ritter, Ave Maria University
In this paper, I will discuss the political epigrams of Thomas More, with attention given to the main themes, how he tries to influence political behavior amongst kings and courtiers, the sorts of political regime he discusses, and some suggestions about his plausible goals. Over thirty of the 260 epigrams from Thomas More’s Epigrammata (1518) have political themes.
Human and divine statecraft in the manifesto Universis orbis Christiani principibus and in the Confessio peccatoris of Francis II Rákóczi
By Dániel Kiss, Universitat de Barcelona
In June 1703, a small band of armed men crossed the Carpathian Mountains from Poland into the Kingdom of Hungary. Their leader was Prince Francis II Rákóczi (1676–1735), a young aristocrat who took the lead of the simmering resistance against the oppressive rule of the Habsburg kings. The uprising spread quickly; within a year, its forces seized control of most of Hungary. Noble parliaments elected Rákóczi Prince of Transylvania and Commanding Prince of Hungary, and he allied with Louis XIV of France during the War of the Spanish Succession.
In the Mirror and on the Stage: the Perfect Prince According to Jesuits
By Mirella Saulini, Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University
Political Drama is a theatrical genre intending to criticize governments or to convince people to accept a political idea. The purpose of this paper is to compare a political treatise and a work of Political Drama. Both of them, Speculum Principis Christiani by the Jesuit Pedro Ribadeneira (1526-1611) and Flavia Tragoedia by Jesuit Bernardino Stefonio (1560-1620) propose the Christianus Princeps as a model for rulers.
Why is Milton ‘Milto’? Giovanni Salzilli, John Milton and Aelian
By Michele Ronnick, Wayne State University
John Milton arrived in Rome in October 1638 as part of his tour of France and Italy. He was 29 years old and expanding the nexus of his “multiple cultural connections with Italy” managed to meet many persons of importance including Antonio Malatesti, Benedetto Buonmattei, Galileo Galilei, Lucas Holstenius, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, Giovanni Battista Manso and Giovanni Salzilli. Salzilli, senior to Milton in age, was a learned member of the Fantastici, a distinguished academy patterned after Cosimo de Medici’s Platonic Academy.