«Historica sinceritas», mitopoiesi della figura protagonistica e tradizione classica nella storiografia dell’età aragonese. Appunti critici

The text offers a critical evaluation of the historiographical, biographical and laudatory accounts of the Aragonese age, in an attempt to enter into the quidditas of the individual works by examining the elements that contribute to the delineation of their physiognomy, from the rhetorical-typological to the philological, including their relationships with the classical and historical-cultural traditions. The pathway undertaken initially devotes ample space to the historiographical controversy between Valla and Facio, seeking out the points of view from which the choices made by these two humanists flowed in the fields of the classic auctoritates to be adopted, as well as the documentary, narrative and linguistic practices to be pursued. This section is followed by an examination of the works of Facio and Beccadelli (known as Panormita), which are dedicated to the legend of King Alphonso; while the sections focused upon Beccadelli himself, as well as the quintessential figure of Pontanus, are dedicated to the historical-political and cultural aspects. In order to shed some light upon the humus and the “horizon of expectation” with which these humanists were forced to confront themselves, a number of references are also made to the works of T. Chaula, A. de Grassis, N. Sagundino and G. Albino, not to mention Arcadia, by Sannazaro. The final section focuses upon the interactions between the establishment of the legend of King Alphonso and the protagonistic figures of other political and cultural ambits, such as Mohammed II and Nicholas V, in order to attempt to identify their relative contributions, which J. Lotman defined as «interdependent semiotic systems».