''Laudatio florentinae urbis'' (

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 ...

for "Praise of the City of

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 ...

") is a

panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc, ...

delivered by

Leonardo Bruni Leonardo Bruni (or Leonardo Aretino; c. 1370 – March 9, 1444) was an Italian humanist, historian and statesman, often recognized as the most important humanist historian of the early Renaissance. He has been called the first modern historian. H ...

(c. 1403–4). The panegyric is modeled after

Aelius Aristides Publius Aelius Aristides Theodorus ( grc-gre, Πόπλιος Αἴλιος Ἀριστείδης Θεόδωρος; 117–181 AD) was a Greek orator and author considered to be a prime example as a member of the Second Sophistic, a group of celebra ...

' ''Panathenaic Oration'', particularly with references to Florence's values and external threats. It was first delivered immediately after Florence's victory over Milan. The panegyric contains chronological contradictions with Bruni's other oration, ''Dialogi''. The exact dating of the oration, as with other works of Bruni's dated by

Hans Baron Hans Baron (June 22, 1900 – November 26, 1988) was a German-American historian of political thought and literature. His main contribution to the historiography of the period was to introduce in 1928 the term ''civic humanism'' (denoting most if ...

, has been questioned by critics of Baron. Some portions of the panegyric employed in its dating include references to the "occupation" of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

(June 1402, or rumors of collusion between Milan and Bologna in 1399) and the fading of

Giangaleazzo Visconti Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Milan (1395) and ruled the late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò. He was the foundi ...

(d. September 2, 1402) from Milan's political scene. Bruni republished the panegyric in the 1430s at a time which the pope was contemplating transferring the

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...

to a different city; the republication was also contemporaneous with the Milanese panegyric of

Pietro Candido Decembrio Pietro (also known as Pier and Piero) Candido Decembrio (in Latin, Petrus Candidus Decembrius) (1399–1477) was an Italian humanist and author of the Renaissance, and one of those involved in the rediscovery of ancient literature. Life The son ...

, ''De Laudibus Mediolanesium Urbis Panegyricus'' (1436).

References

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Parts of the text translated to English
1403 in Europe 15th century in the Republic of Florence 15th-century speeches

See also

References

External links