Liber sine nomine
Encyclopedia
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
by the fourteenth century Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
poet
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
humanist
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
. The letters being harshly critical of the Avignon papacy
Avignon Papacy
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon, in modern-day France. This arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown....
, they were withheld from the larger collection of his Epistolae familiares
Epistolae familiares
Epistolae familiares was originally called by Petrarch Epistolarum mearum ad diversos liber , which was shortened later to the current title....
(Letters to Friends) and assembled in a separate book. In this fashion, Petrarch reasoned, a reader could throw away this collection, and the other letters to friends could be preserved for posterity.
Correspondents
These letters were sent to his closest friends, which many times were well known figures to the public. So that he would not divulge their identities, he withheld these particular 19 letters and published this book "without a name" on any letter. Among these public figures were Philippe de CabassolesPhilippe de Cabassoles
Philippe de Cabassole or Philippe de Cabassoles , the Bishop of Cavaillon, Seigneur of Vaucluse, was the great protector of Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarch.- Early life:...
, bishop of Cavaillon; Cola di Rienzo
Cola di Rienzo
Cola di Rienzo was an Italian medieval politician and popular leader, tribune of the Roman people in the mid-14th century.-Early career:Cola was born in Rome of humble origins...
, a political leader; Francesco Nelli
Francesco Nelli
Francesco Nelli was the secretary of bishop Angelo Acciaioli I and a pastor at the Prior of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Florence. Nelli corresponded much with Francesco Petrarch as is evident by the fifty letters still existing of his to Petrarch, and the thirty-eight letters still existing...
, secretary to the bishop Angelo Acciaioli I
Angelo Acciaioli I
Angelo Acciaioli I was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop from Florence.- Biography :Angelo was born in Florence of the noble Acciaioli family, the son of Monte, the grandson of Tommaso Acciaiuoli, also known as Mannino Acciaiuoli....
; Niccola di Capoccia, a cardinal; Lapo da Castiglionchio
Lapo da Castiglionchio
Lapo da Castiglionchio was born in Rome and referred to as "Lepo the Elder."He was an acquaintance and friend with Petarch since 1350 and corresponded with him often in letters....
of Florence; Rinaldo Cavalchini
Rinaldo Cavalchini
Rinaldo Cavalchini lived in Villafranca di Verona near Verona and was better known as Rinaldo from Villafranca.- Life :He was the son of the notary Oliviero and employed in 1332 by della Scala of Verona as preceptor to the Court Scaligera. He was a poet as well as a humanist. He was a close friend...
, the son of the notary Oliviero; Stefano Colonna
Stefano Colonna
Stefano Sciarr-illo byname of Colonna was the name of several members of the Italian family of Colonna. The most important include:*Stefano Colonna the Elder was son of Giovanni Colonna and one of the most important political figures in Rome in the first half of the 14th century. He was heir of...
the Elder, the son of Giovanni Colonna
Giovanni Colonna
Giovanni Colonna is a contemporary Italian scholar of ancient Italy and, in particular, the Etruscan civilization.Colonna is a professor at the Sapienza University of Rome where he has taught since 1980. He took his first degree at Rome in 1957, studying under Massimo Pallottino...
who was one of the most important political figures in Rome; and Ildebrandino Conti
Ildebrandino Conti
Ildebrandino Conti was an Italian churchman, and a member of the Conti family, a noble Roman family.Ildebrandino Conti was made bishop of Padua in 1319, by Pope John XXII, but he left the administration of the diocese to a vicar, staying in Avignon until 1332...
, a bishop of Padua. In Letter 19, there was an appendix added addressed to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
as a final plea to move the papacy back to Rome.
Excerpt
Petrarch here writes of the wheel of Lady Fortune,Cultural references
Several other works have used the title "Book without a name" including those by- Lady MorganLady MorganSydney, Lady Morgan , was an Irish novelist, best known as the author of The Wild Irish Girl.-Early life:...
and Thomas Charles MorganThomas Charles MorganSir Thomas Charles Morgan was an English physician and writer with an interest in philosophical and miscellaneous subject matter. His wife was the famed novelist Lady Morgan....
(1841) - Theodore AnnemannTheodore AnnemannTheodore 'Theo' Annemann born Theodore John Squires was an American professional magician who specialized in the field of mentalism...
(1931) - Kit WilliamsKit WilliamsChristopher 'Kit' Williams is an English artist, illustrator and author best known for his book Masquerade, a pictorial storybook which contains clues to the location of a golden jewelled hare created by Williams and then buried "somewhere in Britain."Williams wrote another puzzle book with a bee...
(1984)
Variants include
- Novel without a Name (1995) by Duong Thu HuongDuong Thu HuongDương Thu Hương is a Vietnamese author and political dissident. Formerly a member of Vietnam's Communist party, she was expelled from the party in 1989, and has been denied the right to travel abroad, and was temporarily imprisoned for her writings and outspoken criticism of corruption in the...