Ritmo di Sant'Alessio
Encyclopedia
The Ritmo di Sant'Alessio or Ritmo marchigiano su Sant'Alessio is a late twelfth-century metrical vita
of the legendary saint Alexius of Rome
composed for public performance by an anonymous giullare. It is one of the earliest pieces of Italian literature
.
The cult of Alexius was mainly promoted by the Benedictines, starting in Italy. In the tenth century a Greek vita was adapted to Latin
prose. In the eleventh century his legend, based on the Latin version, was versified in Old French
as the Vie de Saint Alexis. Later, in the thirteenth century a second Italian version, De vita Beati Alexii, this time in the Lombard dialect, was composed by Bonvesin de la Riva
.
The Ritmo was conserved in a manuscript of the Benedictine convent of Santa Vittoria in Matenano
near Fermo
, a daughter house of the Abbey of Farfa
. The codex is now in the Biblioteca Comunale of Ascoli Piceno
, catalogued as XXV A. 51, c. 130 f. According to Bruno Migliorini, the poet also hailed from the Marche
, and according to its first editor, Gianfranco Contini, the Ritmo is composed in "a koiné of East Central Italy, whose cultural capital was undoubtedly Montecassino." It has thus many affinities with the Ritmo cassinese
: written about the same time (broadly) in the same region, metrically and linguistically similar, Benedictine in religion, and both monastic in provenance and giullaresco in style, designed for popular audience and public performance.
The Ritmo is divided into twenty-seven stanzas of varied length. Each stanza opens with four to thirteen monorhyming
octonaries
or novenaries and closes with a deca-
or hendecasyllabic couplet
of a different rhyme, often rich or homonymic. The discrepancies and irregularities in the prosody may be attributed to the copyist, but also to the numerous Latinisms and Gallicisms. As it stands the Ritmo is incomplete, stopping abruptly after 257 slow-paced lines, just before the arrival of Euphemian's servants at Edessa
. It does encompass Alexius' birth, marriage, exhortations to his wife, flight to Laodicea
, and the beginnings of his mendicancy.
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
of the legendary saint Alexius of Rome
Alexius of Rome
Saint Alexius or Alexis of Rome or Alexis von Edessa was an Eastern saint whose veneration was later transplanted to Rome, a process facilitated by the fact that, according to the earlier Syriac legend that a "Man of God" of Edessa, Mesopotamia who during the episcopate of Bishop Rabbula lived by...
composed for public performance by an anonymous giullare. It is one of the earliest pieces of Italian literature
Italian literature
Italian literature is literature written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian....
.
The cult of Alexius was mainly promoted by the Benedictines, starting in Italy. In the tenth century a Greek vita was adapted to Latin
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration. Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors,...
prose. In the eleventh century his legend, based on the Latin version, was versified in Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
as the Vie de Saint Alexis. Later, in the thirteenth century a second Italian version, De vita Beati Alexii, this time in the Lombard dialect, was composed by Bonvesin de la Riva
Bonvesin de la Riva
Bonvesin da la Riva was a well-to-do Milanese lay member of the Ordine degli Umiliati , a teacher of grammar and a notable Lombard poet and writer of the 13th century.His De magnalibus urbis Mediolani , written in the late spring of...
.
The Ritmo was conserved in a manuscript of the Benedictine convent of Santa Vittoria in Matenano
Santa Vittoria in Matenano
Santa Vittoria in Matenano is a comune in the Province of Fermo in the Italian region Marche, located about 70 km south of Ancona and about 20 km northwest of Ascoli Piceno....
near Fermo
Fermo
Fermo is a town and comune of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo.Fermo is located on a hill, the Sabulo with a fine view, on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway....
, a daughter house of the Abbey of Farfa
Abbey of Farfa
Farfa Abbey is a territorial abbey in northern Lazio, central Italy. It is one of the most famous abbeys of Europe. It belongs to the Benedictine Order and is located about 60 km from Rome, in the commune of Fara Sabina, not far from the Fara Sabina railway station.-History:A legend in the...
. The codex is now in the Biblioteca Comunale of Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno is a town and comune in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is c. 51,400.-Geography:...
, catalogued as XXV A. 51, c. 130 f. According to Bruno Migliorini, the poet also hailed from the Marche
Marche
The population density in the region is below the national average. In 2008, it was 161.5 inhabitants per km2, compared to the national figure of 198.8. It is highest in the province of Ancona , and lowest in the province of Macerata...
, and according to its first editor, Gianfranco Contini, the Ritmo is composed in "a koiné of East Central Italy, whose cultural capital was undoubtedly Montecassino." It has thus many affinities with the Ritmo cassinese
Ritmo cassinese
The Ritmo cassinese is a medieval Italian verse allegory of unresolved interpretation, told as a meeting between an Occidental and Oriental in ninety-six verses in twelve strophes of varying length...
: written about the same time (broadly) in the same region, metrically and linguistically similar, Benedictine in religion, and both monastic in provenance and giullaresco in style, designed for popular audience and public performance.
The Ritmo is divided into twenty-seven stanzas of varied length. Each stanza opens with four to thirteen monorhyming
Monorhyme
Monorhyme is a rhyme scheme in which each line has an identical rhyme. This is common in Arabic, Latin, and Welsh works, such as The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, e.g. Qasida and its derivative Kafi. Monorhyme is also used in the third verse of American rapper Jay-Z's song Already Home....
octonaries
Octosyllable
The octosyllable or octosyllabic verse is a line of verse with eight syllables. It is equivalent to tetrameter verse in iambs or trochees in languages with a stress accent. It is often used in French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese poetry...
or novenaries and closes with a deca-
Decasyllable
Decasyllable is a poetic meter of ten syllables used in poetic traditions of syllabic verse...
or hendecasyllabic couplet
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
of a different rhyme, often rich or homonymic. The discrepancies and irregularities in the prosody may be attributed to the copyist, but also to the numerous Latinisms and Gallicisms. As it stands the Ritmo is incomplete, stopping abruptly after 257 slow-paced lines, just before the arrival of Euphemian's servants at Edessa
Edessa
Edessa may refer to:*Edessa, Greece*Edessa, Mesopotamia, now Şanlıurfa, Turkey*County of Edessa, a crusader state*Osroene, an ancient kingdom and province of the Roman Empire...
. It does encompass Alexius' birth, marriage, exhortations to his wife, flight to Laodicea
Laodicea on the Lycus
Laodicea on the Lycus was the ancient metropolis of Phrygia Pacatiana , built on the river Lycus , in Anatolia near the modern village of Eskihisar , Denizli Province,...
, and the beginnings of his mendicancy.
Editions
- Poeti del Duecento, vol. 1. Gianfranco Contini, ed. Milan and Naples: Ricciardi, 1960, pp. 15–28.
- Early Italian Texts. Carlo Dionisotti and Cecil Grayson, edd. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1965 [1949], pp. 45–75.