''The Tale of Two Lovers'' ( la, Historia de duobus amantibus) (

1444 Year 1444 ( MCDXLIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It is one of eight years (CE) to contain each Roman numeral once (1000(M)+(-100(C)+500(D))+(-10(X)+50(L))+(-1(I)+5(V)) = 1444. ...

) is a novel by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, the future

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

. It is one of the earliest examples of an

epistolary novel An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...

, full of erotic imagery. The first printed edition was published by

Ulrich Zell Ulrich Zell (died c.1507) was an early printer in Cologne, Germany. Biography Zell was born at Hanau am Main, date unknown. He learned the art of printing before 1462 in the printing establishment of Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer, and seems ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

between 1467 and 1470. The novel is set in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

, Italy, and centres on the love story of Lucretia, a married woman, and Euryalus, one of the men waiting on the

Duke of Austria This is a list of people who have ruled either the Margraviate of Austria, the Duchy of Austria or the Archduchy of Austria. From 976 until 1246, the margraviate and its successor, the duchy, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, t ...

. After an uncertain beginning, in which each is in love but unaware that it is reciprocated, they begin a correspondence, which takes up much of the rest of the novel. Before writing his first love-letter, Euryalus quotes

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

in defence of his position, (translated: "Love conquers all; let us all yield to love!"). The lovers were identified by some with Kaspar Schlick, the chancellor of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor and a daughter of the elder Mariano Sozzini, Aeneas' law teacher at the

University of Siena The University of Siena ( it, Università degli Studi di Siena, abbreviation: UNISI) in Siena, Tuscany, is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called ''Studium Senese'', the institution was founded in 1240 ...

. In 1462, it was translated into German by Niklas van Wyle who dedicated it to his patron

Mechthild of the Palatinate Mechthild of the Palatinate (1418–1482) was a princess and major patroness of the literary arts in the 15th century. Born to Ludwig III, Elector Palatine, she was married by the age of 15 to Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg-Urach. Five children ...

. Translations have been made into several languages, including English.

Notes

References

External links

''The Tale of Two Lovers''
available a

Bibliotheca Augustana text. 15th-century novels Italian novels Erotic novels Epistolary novels 1444 works Siena Novels set in Tuscany 15th-century Latin books {{15thC-novel-stub