Rustichello da Pisa, also known as Rusticiano (fl. late 13th century), was an Italian

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

writer in Franco-Italian language. He is best known for co-writing

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

's autobiography, ''

The Travels of Marco Polo ''Book of the Marvels of the World'' ( Italian: , lit. 'The Million', deriving from Polo's nickname "Emilione"), in English commonly called ''The Travels of Marco Polo'', is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from st ...

'', while they were in prison together in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of G ...

. Earlier, he wrote the ''Roman de Roi Artus'' (''Romance of

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...

''), also known as the ''Compilation'', the earliest known Arthurian romance by an Italian author.

Life and work

Rustichello appears to have been a native of

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the c ...

. His first known work, the French text known as the ''Roman de Roi Artus'' or, simply, the ''Compilation'', appears to derive from a particular book in the possession of

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

when he passed through Italy on his way to fighting in the

Eighth Crusade The Eighth Crusade was the second Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, this one against the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia in 1270. It is also known as the Crusade of Louis IX against Tunis or the Second Crusade of Louis. The Crusade did not see a ...

in 1270 to 1274. While written in French, it is the first known romance by an Italian author to address the Arthurian legend.Hoffman, "Rusticiano Pisa", p. 392. The ''Compilation'' contains an interpolation of the '' Palamedes'', a now-fragmentary prose account of Arthur's

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

knight Palamedes, and a history of the

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that ...

. It was later divided into two sections, named after their principal protagonists, ''

Meliadus Meliodas is a figure in Arthurian legend in the 12th-century Prose ''Tristan'' and subsequent accounts. In Thomas Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', he is the second king of Lyonesse, son of Felec of Cornwall and vassal of King Mark. Meliodas' firs ...

'' (

Tristan Tristan (Latin/ Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; cy, Trystan), also known as Tristram or Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. In the legend, he is tasked with escorting the Irish princess Iseult to wed ...

's father) and '' Guiron le Courtois''. Both remained popular for hundreds of years, and influenced many later works written in French as well as in Spanish, Italian, and even Greek. Rustichello may have been captured by the Genoese at the

Battle of Meloria The Battle of Meloria was fought near the islet of Meloria in the Ligurian Sea on 5 and 6 August 1284 between the fleets of the Republics of Genoa and Pisa as part of the Genoese-Pisan War. The victory of Genoa and the destruction of the Pis ...

in 1284, amid a conflict between the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...

and the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa ( it, Repubblica di Pisa) was an independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa, which existed from the 11th to the 15th century. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated ...

. When Polo was imprisoned around 1298, possibly after a clash between Genoa and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isl ...

(according to tradition the Battle of Curzola''The Travels of Marco Polo'', p. 16.), he told his tales of travel to Rustichello. Together they created the book known as ''

''.

Notes

References

* * * Polo, Marco; Latham, Ronald (translator) (1958). ''The Travels of Marco Polo''. New York: Penguin Books. *Cigni, Fabrizio. (1994). '' Il romanzo arturiano di Rustichello da Pisa'', Edizione critica, traduzione e note, Pisa: Pacini, 1996.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pisa, Rustichello da 13th-century births 14th-century deaths Writers of Arthurian literature Italian writers in French Italian male writers People from Pisa 13th-century Italian writers Marco Polo