Geography in Galvaneus Flamma’s Cronica Universalis

Abstract

Galvaneus Flamma (or Galvaneus de la Flamma; it. Galvano Fiamma) was a Dominican friar who lived in Milan (northern Italy) in the first half of the fourteenth century; the date of his death is not certain, but can be placed around 1345. He was a teacher of theology and philosophy, trained in the schools of his religious order; in his later years, he established close relationships with the Visconti family – who held the lordship over Milan at the time – and was appointed secretary and counselor of them. He wrote several works, devoted to both the history of the Dominicans, and the history of Milan. The last of these works, called Cronica universalis, goes beyond the local dimension and aspires to encompass the history of the whole world and of all ages, from the Creation to his own time. But he failed to complete such an ambitious program: the work remained unfinished halfway through the fourth book out of the fifteen planned, reaching the time of the biblical