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Document Details : Title: Sola placentini cunctorum causa malorum Subtitle: A New Interpretation of the 1447 Siege of Piacenza in Francesco Filelfo's Sphortias Author(s): VAN WATERSCHOOT, Bart Journal: Lias Volume: 50 Issue: 1 Date: 2023-2024 Pages: 41-77 DOI: 10.2143/LIAS.50.1.3293448 Abstract : The third book of Filelfo’s Sphortias is dedicated to the siege of Piacenza by Francesco Sforza, and does not remain silent on even the grimmer details of the sack. Taken at face value, the poet’s treatment of this inconvenient truth may seem at odds with the laudatory nature of the epic. The following article offers a close reading of this episode, exploring Filelfo’s use of both historical sources and literary models, and provides new interpretative keys for Filelfo’s epic technique in general and for the Piacenza episode in particular. It demonstrates how in this questionable passage the image of the poem’s hero is systematically embellished and how Filelfo’s patron is excused for the atrocities the capture of the city brought about. |
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