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© 2015 Nigel A. Gillah ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2015 Nigel A. Gillah ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BUCCIO DI RANALLO AND HIS FOLLOWERS: CHRONICLERS OF L’AQUILA, 1254-1529 By NIGEL A. GILLAH A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History written under the direction of Samantha Kelly and approved by __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey October, 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Buccio di Ranallo and his Followers: Chroniclers of L’Aquila, 1254-1529 By NIGEL A. GILLAH Dissertation Director: Samantha Kelly This dissertation examines a series of seven chroniclers and a diarist of L’Aquila, who wrote about local events in verse and in prose between the early fourteenth and the early sixteenth centuries. The city is located in central Italy, but was at the northern end of the kingdom of Naples (the Regno). L’Aquila’s first chronicler, Buccio di Ranallo, began by going back to the city’s foundation in 1254 and then continued to 1362. Subsequent writers carried on the narration almost continuously until Vincenzo Basilii concluded with a description of L’Aquila being subjected to a penalty of one hundred thousand ducats in 1529. Like a biography, L’Aquila’s chronicle tradition covered the city’s life from its birth to its near extinction. I believe that the Aquilan chronicles can be compared with those in northern Italy. For a long time, however, the opposite view has been influential, though less so in recent years. This argument has held that a city in the Regno could not have civic consciousness by the very fact of it being part of a monarchical state. Rather than focusing on the court, the Aquilan writers primarily discussed events relating to the city. Buccio’s description of L’Aquila’s origins, which had value for subsequent writers, emphasized the inhabitants’ ii unity and examined the qualities of their leaders. He and the later chroniclers continued this internal political theme by assessing the effectiveness of the city’s local administration and its ability to cope with threats. They described complex forms of civic leadership, showing participation in decisions variously by the commune, signori, patrons, and royal captains. The narrations after the mid-1330s also revealed that local crises arose periodically, due to factionalism and the impact of uncertainty at the national level. Finally, just as chroniclers in northern Italy sometimes looked to their cities’ overriding powers, the Aquilan authors portrayed the city negotiating its relationship with the monarchy. While they found that the relationship was usually balanced during the Angevin era, the writers could be critical of the monarchs, especially later, and even depicted the citizens having recourse to the papacy for support. iii Acknowledgments and Dedication I should like to thank Prof. Samantha Kelly for her generosity, help, and support in enabling me to complete this project. The warmth and interest that she showed to me ten years ago made it an easy decision for me to choose Rutgers for my doctoral studies. I never expected that she would devote as much attention as she has to furthering my education. I also owe thanks to her and to Prof. Rudy Bell, Prof. James Masschaele, and Prof. Alessandro Vettori for agreeing to be members of my committee. Their suggestions have enriched the end product immeasurably. I am particularly grateful to the history department for its willingness to take on a mature student on a part-time basis. The highest praise is meant in saying that I have always felt that I have been treated in the same way as any other student. During my research I had access to L’Aquila’s civic archives (Archivio di Stato dell’Aquila). I want to thank its director, Dr Paolo Buonora, and his staff for their courtesy and assistance. This dissertation would have been impossible without the understanding of my family. To my wife, Meredith, and our sons, Roland and Alexander, I offer my deepest thanks and appreciation for the fine gift that they have given me. Their patient support has enabled me to pursue my dream. I dedicate my work to the memories of the three hundred and nine victims of the earthquake that struck L’Aquila on April 6, 2009. iv Table of Contents Abstract of the dissertation..................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments and Dedication ....................................................................................iv Maps and Illustrations.........................................................................................................vi Introduction........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE: The Forging of Civic Consciousness, 1254-1335............................36 CHAPTER TWO: A Crisis of Representation: Factionalism and Lalle’s Signoria, 1336-1354...........................................................................................102 a) Competition among the faction leaders, 1336-1342................................................... 105 b) Lalle’s establishment and consolidation of his signoria, 1342-1346..........................122 c) King Lewis of Hungary’s pursuit of his claim to the Neapolitan throne, 1346-1348........................................................................................................................128 d) Civic acceptance of Lalle, 1348-1354.........................................................................135 e) Restoration of communal governance in 1354............................................................146 CHAPTER THREE: A Crisis of Representation: the Monarchy, 1355-1424..........151 a) Collaboration with Joanna I, 1355-1381......................................................................155 b) Rivalry between the Durazzeschi and the Provencals, 1381-1423..............................176 c) Collaboration with Joanna II against Braccio, 1423-1424..........................................196 CHAPTER FOUR: Interference in Civic Affairs by the Aragonese Kings and their Successors, 1442-1529...................................................................................204 Conclusion......................................................................................................................221 BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................256 v Maps and Illustrations Map 1: Italy.........................................................................................................................vi Map 2: Italy in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries........................................................vi Map 3: La Via degli Abruzzi.............................................................................................vii Figure 1: View of L’Aquila..............................................................................................viii Figure 2: Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio...........................................................viii Figure 3: Earthquake damage.............................................................................................ix Figure 4: L’Aquila, Archivio di stato dell’Aquila, Archivio civico aquilano, Codice I dei privilegi Aquile, v.42, c.6............................................................................212 Figure 5: L’Aquila, Archivio di stato dell’Aquila, Archivio civico aquilano, Codice I dei privilegi Aquile, v.42, c.20..........................................................................213 Figure 6: L’Aquila, Archivio di stato dell’Aquila, Archivio civico aquilano, Codice II dei privilegi Aquile, v.35, c.6...........................................................................213 Figure 7: L’Aquila, Archivio di stato dell’Aquila, Archivio civico aquilano, Codice II dei privilegi Aquile, v.35, c.7...........................................................................214 vi Maps Map 1: Italy. L’Aquila is half the distance from Rome (73miles) as from Naples (146 miles), and 199 miles from Florence. Source: The New York Times. Italy Map. April 6, 2009. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06 /world/europe/06italy.html?_r=0> Map 2: Italy in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. The city of L’Aquila (called “Aquila”) lay thirty miles from the northern end of the Kingdom of Sicily, which from 1282, in effect, was the Kingdom of Naples. Source:“Italy in the XII & XIII Centuries” in Muir’s Historical Atlas, R.F. Treharne and H. Fullard, eds. (London: George Philip and Son Limited, 1976), 23. vii Map 3: La Via degli Abruzzi. The broken line represents the route that connected Florence to Naples via Perugia, L’Aquila, Sulmona, and Capua (the Via degli Abruzzi). In 1328 Balduccio Pegolotti, a Florentine representative, described doing the entire journey in twelve days (six to L’Aquila). Production and exchange in L’Aquila centered on raw wool, cloth, and saffron. The dotted lines show the major sheepwalks between Abruzzo and Apulia. Flocks from L’Aquila had the longest distance to travel, taking about three weeks to cover the one hundred and twenty-five miles, in late summer and returning in May. Source: Clementi, Alessandro and Piroddi, Elio. “Fig. 50. La Via degli Abruzzi.” L’Aquila. (Rome-Bari: Editori Laterza,
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