On his return journey from the court of the Great Khan in Beijing, the Florentine Franciscan friar John of Marignolli (†1358/1359) also visited Ceylon, the land inhabited by humans closest to the Terrestrial Paradise and, hence, endowed with marvellous landscapes, flora, and fauna. This experience provided the friar with precious material for his commentary on the biblical passages contained in his Chronicon Bohemorum – from which the Relatio is taken, collecting the Chronicon’s passages concerning Asia – allowing him to confirm biblical auctoritas and classical and medieval auctoritates or to deny them on the basis of the empirical data he had collected. The result is a balanced perspective between the traditional Christian Wertstruktur and a sincere interest and admiration for the Other.
International Society for the Study of Medieval Latin Culture - SISMEL, Italy - ORCID: 0009-0009-0557-0428
Chapter Title
Paesaggi, flora e fauna “paradisiaci” dell’isola di Ceylon nella Relatio di Giovanni de’ Marignolli
Authors
Paola Mocella
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0602-0.15
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Hic abundant leones. Uomo e natura nei testi mediolatini e romanzi
Book Subtitle
Atti del Convegno dottorale, Università degli Studi di Siena (27-28 settembre 2023)
Editors
Caterina Bellenzier, Carolina Borrelli, Matteo Cesena, Giandomenico Tripodi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
244
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press, USiena Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0602-0
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0601-3
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0602-0
Series Title
Studi di letterature moderne e comparate
Series ISSN
2975-0377
Series E-ISSN
2975-0229