Cahiers De Recherches Médiévales Et Humanistes, 12 | 2005 the Epic Tradition of Charlemagne in Italy 2
Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes Journal of medieval and humanistic studies 12 | 2005 La tradition épique, du Moyen Âge au XIXe siècle The epic tradition of Charlemagne in Italy Jane E. Everson Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/crm/2192 DOI: 10.4000/crm.2192 ISSN: 2273-0893 Publisher Classiques Garnier Printed version Date of publication: 30 December 2005 Number of pages: 45-81 ISSN: 2115-6360 Electronic reference Jane E. Everson, « The epic tradition of Charlemagne in Italy », Cahiers de recherches médiévales [Online], 12 | 2005, Online since 30 December 2008, connection on 13 October 2020. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/crm/2192 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/crm.2192 This text was automatically generated on 13 October 2020. © Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes The epic tradition of Charlemagne in Italy 1 The epic tradition of Charlemagne in Italy Jane E. Everson Introduction 1 From the late thirteenth century to the end of the Renaissance, Carolingian narratives centred on the deeds of Charlemagne, Roland and the peers of France enjoyed immense popularity in Italy at all levels of society. Some of the greatest writers of this period were attracted to the genre and produced in it their masterpieces. And if, for the early period, the most important compositions are often anonymous, for the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the names of Andrea da Barberino, Pulci, Boiardo, Ariosto and Tasso, to name only the best known and most influential, serve to underline the status of Carolingian narrative literature as the pre-eminent literary genre in the vernacular. As I have pointed out elsewhere, the sheer length of time during which the Carolingian narrative tradition flourished in Italy, the large number of writers involved with the genre, the wealth of material both in content and style, the range of developments and modifications, all pose major problems for the scholar aiming to produce a comprehensive historical and thematic survey of the genre.1 2 The magnitude of the task had already taxed E.
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