![Salimbene de adam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Salimbene_de_adam.JPG)
Salimbene di Adam,
O.F.M., (or Salimbene of Parma) (9 October 1221 – 1290) was an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
Franciscan
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
friar, theologian, and
chronicler
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
who is a source for
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
history of the 13th century.
Life
He was born in
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second m ...
, the son of Guido di Adam, a
crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
r. His father's first cousin, Berardo Oliverio di Adam, died in the
battle of San Cesario in 1229. Salimbene was a follower of
Joachim de Fiore
Joachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora and in Italian Gioacchino da Fiore (c. 1135 – 30 March 1202), was an Italian Christian theologian, Catholic abbot, and the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore. According to the ...
, and a believer in his apocalyptic teachings. Salimbene joined the Franciscan order in 1238 at the
friary
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
of
Fano
Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...
.
He then led a life of wandering, avoiding his father who did not wish him to join the Order, and visited Pisa and other Italian towns; then in 1247 he was sent to
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, and visited
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...
Cremona
Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...
,
Troyes
Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...
,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
,
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
,
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
,
Reggio and the
friary of Montefalcone (near
San Polo d'Enza
San Polo d'Enza ( Reggiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, located about west of Bologna and about southwest of Reggio Emilia.
San Polo d'Enza borders the following municipalities: Bibbiano, Ca ...
in the region of
Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
). The last was the probable site of his death.
Works
Salimbene's main work was his ''Cronica'' ("Chronicle"), covering the years 1167–1287. It was begun around 1282 and begins with the founding of
Alessandria
Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin.
Alessandria ...
. His extensive travels meant that he met many important people of the time including
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II (German language, German: ''Friedrich''; Italian language, Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Em ...
,
Louis IX of France
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
and
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...
. He was a friend of
Filippo da Pistoia Filippo da Pistoia, also called Filippo Fontana or anglicized Philip (died 18 September 1270), was an Italian prelate, military leader and diplomat. He was the bishop-elect of Ferrara from 1239 until 1252, bishop-elect of Florence from 1250 until ...
. He also describes everyday life vividly and gives numerous details of internal disputes in the Franciscan order at the time.
He also wrote ''The Twelve Calamities of Emperor Frederick II'' and several treatises now lost. "The Twelve Calamities" is set up as a kind of servant's narrative (Exempla, examples), made to demonstrate the faults of Frederick II - often with loosely fitted biblical quotations. One of the major themes of the work is Salimbene's emphasis on
numerology
Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...
. The chronicle itself is set up to demonstrate the parallel between the ten plagues and the ten calamities of Frederick II (conveniently he tacked on the last two after the parallel). Emphasizing the Christian nature of his narrative and the non-Christian nature of Frederick, Salimbene turns a phrase used during the crusades claiming that “if he had been a good Catholic and had loved God, the Church, and his own soul, he would scarcely have had an equal as an emperor in the world.”
[Di Adam, Salimbene. "The Chronicle of Salimbene de Adam". Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1986, p.351.]
Notes
Further reading
* ''Salimbene de Adam, Cronica, nuova ed. critica, a cura di Giuseppe Scalia'' (Bari: Laterza, 1966)
* ''The Chronicle of Salimbene de Adam'' ed. by J.L. Baird, G. Baglivi & J.R. Kane (Binghamton, N.Y.; Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1986)
*
External links
Excerpt from the Chronicle of Salimbene on Frederick II "as translated and paraphrased by G. Coulton"
* (Latin text)
* (Latin text)
Cronica Ferdinando Bernini, Bari, 1942; scan of the complete text.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Salimbene di
1221 births
1290 deaths
Writers from Parma
Italian Friars Minor
Franciscan scholars
Italian chroniclers
13th-century Italian historians
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor