Jacobus de Cessolis ( it, Jacopo da Cessole; c. 1250 – c. 1322) was an Italian author of the most famous morality book on
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
.
In the second half of the 13th century, Jacobus de Cessolis, a
Dominican friar in
Cessole
Cessole is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about south of Asti.
Cessole borders the following municipalities: Bubbio, Cossano Belbo, Loazzolo, Roccaverano, ...
(Asti district, Piemonte, Northern Italy) used chess as the basis for a series of sermons on morality. They later became ''Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium super ludo scacchorum'' ('Book of the customs of men and the duties of nobles or the Book of Chess'). The popular work was translated into many other languages and was first printed in Utrecht in 1473. Chess historian Harold Murray asserts that the popularity of the work rivaled "that of the Bible itself." The work was the basis for
William Caxton
William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books.
His parentage a ...
's ''
The Game and Playe of the Chesse'' (1474), one of the first books printed in English.
[Jacobus, d. Cessolis., Axon, W. E. A. (William Edward Armytage)., Caxton, W. (1883)]
Caxton's Game and playe of the chesse, 1474
London: E. Stock.
References
Further reading
*
* Oliver Plessow: ''Mittelalterliche Schachzabelbücher zwischen Spielsymbolik und Wertevermittlung – Der Schachtraktat des Jacobus de Cessolis im Kontext seiner spätmittelalterlichen Rezeption''. Rhema-Verlag, Münster 2007,
External links
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''A book of the chesse moralysed''From th
Rare Book and Special Collections Divisionat the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
De ludo scachorum.Augsburg, Günther Zainer 1477
Rare Book and Special Collections Divisionat the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
22 Jacobus de Cessolis: De ludo scacchorum, incomplete at OPenn
1250 births
1322 deaths
13th-century Latin writers
Italian chess players
Italian chess writers
Italian Dominicans
Cessolis, Jacobus, de
People from the Province of Asti
{{Christianity-bio-stub