The ' (''The Book without a Name'') is a collection of nineteen personal letters written in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

by the fourteenth century Italian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

. The letters being harshly critical of the

Avignon papacy The Avignon Papacy (; ) was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon (at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire, now part of France) rather than in Rome (now the capital of ...

, they were withheld from the larger collection of his '' Epistolae familiares'' (''Letters to Friends'') and assembled in a separate book. In this fashion, Petrarch reasoned, a reader could throw away this collection, and the other letters to friends could be preserved for posterity.

Correspondents

These letters were sent to his closest friends, who many times were well known figures to the public. So that he would not divulge their identities, he withheld these particular 19 letters and published this book "without a name" on any letter. Among these public figures were Philippe de Cabassoles, bishop of Cavaillon; Cola di Rienzo, a political leader; Francesco Nelli, secretary to the bishop Angelo Acciaioli I; Niccola di Capoccia, a cardinal; Lapo da Castiglionchio of Florence; Rinaldo Cavalchini, the son of the notary Oliviero; Stefano Colonna the Elder, the son of Giovanni Colonna who was one of the most important political figures in Rome; and Ildebrandino Conti, a bishop of Padua. The final letter also included an appendix, addressed to

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

.Zacour, p. 96

Cultural references

Several other works have used the title ''Book without a name'' including those by * Lady Morgan and Thomas Charles Morgan (1841) * Theodore Annemann (1931) * Kit Williams (1984)

Bibliography

* Norman P. Zacour's trans. ''Liber Sine Nomine'' titled: ''Petrarch's Book Without A Name'', Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, Canada (1973); * Kirkham, Victoria, ''Petrarch: a critical guide to the complete works'', University of Chicago Press, 2009, * M.E. Cosenza, ''Francesco Petrarca and the Revolution of Coli di Rienzo'', (Chicago University Press 1913) * Paul Piur, ''Petrarca 'Buch ohne Namen' und die papstliche Kuri'' (Halle/Saale: Max Niemeyer, 1925). * John E. Wrigley ''A Papal Secret known to Petrarch'', Speculum, XXXIX (1964), pp. 613 – 634. * E. H. Wilkins, ''Petrarch's Correspondence'', (Padue: Editrice Antenore, 1960). * E. H. Wilkins, ''Petrarch at Vaucluse'', (University of Chicago Press 1958). * J.H. Robinson, ''Petrarch, First Modern Scholar'', (New York 1898). * V. Rossi, ''Epistolae Familiares'', volume 4, (Florence 1926) * Francesco Petrarca: Cím nélküli könyv - Liber sine nomine, Hungarian translation by Péter Ertl, Lazi Könyvkiadó, 2018, Szeged.

References

External links

''Liber Sine Nomine'' in Latin
*

{{Authority control Collections of letters 14th-century books in Latin Books critical of Christianity Works by Petrarch Avignon Papacy 14th-century Christian texts