Rome Fellowships: Latin signori in a diverse land: del Balzo Orsini art and architecture in late medieval southern Italy (c. 1350–1450)

Abstract

number of relevant manuscripts at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana alone has now increased to nearly 30. This number increases further still when other Italian libraries and archives are added to the mix, as well as those manuscripts that have been identified recently as containing medical material and that were originally produced in Italian scriptoria (even if today they are located outside of Italy). As a result of this major growth in manuscript evidence, thanks in part to suggestions from researchers in the BSR community, my work has focused primarily on the identification, transcription, editing and initial (qualitative) analysis of recipes. This research lays the foundation for quantitative, digital analyses that I shall continue to pursue in my Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship at the University of Sheffield (2021–4). Given that the project is ongoing, I shall only offer a brief selection of my initial findings and conclusions. First, I have identified additional examples of newly recorded ingredients, such as various eastern resins and spices. Space does not permit me to review these findings in detail, but I intend that they will form the basis of a future publication. In addition to identifying new ingredients in the recipe literature, my research has focused on investigating how this knowledge (and the ingredients themselves) moved. At this stage, I have considered a number of possible networks that facilitated this movement, including Byzantine and Abbasid merchants and diplomats, as well as Radhanite traders, though more research must be pursued in each of these areas. That being said, different types of evidence (with varying strengths) have emerged in support of each of these networks. On this basis, I would suggest that (a) the entry of this pharmaceutical knowledge (and the substances themselves) into the Italian peninsula likely involved all of these groups to some extent, with certain links stronger at particular times and places than others; and (b) the Abbasid’s expansion of power and trading links in the east ultimately underpins any of the developments that can be traced in the west. Regarding sites of contact and exchange, it seems that centres in northern Italy, including Ravenna (waning yet still symbolically powerful and linked to the Greek east) and Venice (beginning to grow), likely played a central role, acting as gateways to both Rome and northern Italian scriptoria via ecclesiastical, intellectual, diplomatic and commercial networks. I look forward to pursuing this research further in Sheffield and hope to share more results in Papers of the British School at Rome before long.