''Ettore Fieramosca'' is an 1833 historical novel by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

writer Massimo D'Azeglio. It is based on the life of the condottiero Ettore Fieramosca (1476-1515). During the era of Italian unification, Fieramosca was revived as a national hero, a trend which the novel contributed to. D'Azeglio was influenced by the writings of the Scottish author

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

. Along with other patriotic writers of the era, D'Azeglio tried to counter

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

of Italian cowardice by showing the courage of Fieramosca and others at the

Challenge of Barletta The Challenge of Barletta (Italian: ''Disfida di Barletta'') was a duel fought in the countryside of Trani, near Barletta, southern Italy, on 13 February 1503, during the Third Italian War, on the plains between Corato and Andria. Overview T ...

in 1503.

Film adaptations

The novel inspired three separate films, including two silent films released in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Jan ...

and

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". * January ...

. During the Fascist era, with Fieramosca being actively promoted by the state as hero, a fresh film version was made in 1938 by the leading filmmaker Alessandro Blasetti.Bondanella p.15

References

Bibliography

* Bondanella, Peter E. ''Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2001. * Casillo, Robert. ''The Empire of Stereotypes: Germaine de Staël and the Idea of Italy''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 1833 novels 19th-century Italian novels Novels set in the 16th century Novels by Massimo D'Azeglio Italian novels adapted into films Italian historical novels {{1830s-novel-stub