The ''Liber ad honorem Augusti sive de rebus Siculis'' ("Book in honour of the Emperor, or on Sicilian affairs"; also called ''Carmen de motibus Siculis'', "Poem on the Sicilian revolt") is an illustrated narrative epic in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

elegiac couplets, written in Palermo in 1196 by Peter of Eboli (in Latin, Petrus de Ebulo). The presentation copy, ordered by chancellor

Conrad of Querfurt Conrad of Querfurt (c. 1160 – 3 December 1202) was a prince of the church in the Kingdom of Germany. He was the bishop of Hildesheim (1194–1199) and the bishop of Würzburg (1198–1202), served two kings as chancellor (1194–1201) and went o ...

, is now MS. 120 II of the

Berne Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale ...

Municipal Library. It tells the story of

Tancred of Lecce Tancred ( it, Tancredi; 113820 February 1194) was King of Sicily from 1189 to 1194. He was born in Lecce an illegitimate son of Roger III, Duke of Apulia (the eldest son of King Roger II) by his mistress Emma, a daughter of Achard II, Count of ...

's attempt to take control of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, an attempt thwarted by the successful military campaign of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. Composed in honour of Henry VI and intended for presentation to him, the poem, distributed into three books, the last one being an encomium of Henry VI, and 52 continuously numbered particulae, is written in a mannered and sophisticated style. It is often mocking and extremely biased (see for example part. 4; 7-9; 25f. and the illustrations), but, once allowance has been made for this, is a useful and detailed historical source. It contains much information about Constance of Sicily, the wife of Henry VI (part. 20ff.), and the birth of her son Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (part. 43). At every page opening a column of Latin text is faced by a full page illustration with brief captions. This beautiful volume gives a rich picture of 12th century life in Italy and Sicily; it may be compared with the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry. The fierce caricatures of Tancred, who is depicted as almost ape-like in stature and features, match the propagandistic bias of the text.

References

External links

Latin text of the ''Liber ad honorem Augusti''

Bibliography

* Theo Kölzer, Marlis Stähli, ''Petrus de Ebulo: Liber ad honorem Augusti sive de rebus Siculis'', text revised, translated and annotated by Gereon-Becht-Jördens, Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 1994 omplete facsimile with German translation and commentary* Petrus de Ebulo, ''Book in Honor of Augustus (''Liber ad honorem Augusti'')'', trans. Gwenyth Hood, Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies v.398 (Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2012), 560pp. nglish translation Epic poems in Latin 12th-century Latin books 12th-century history books 1196 books 12th-century illuminated manuscripts Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor {{latin-stub