Rustichello da Pisa, also known as Rusticiano (fl. late 13th century), was an Italian romance writer in Franco-Italian language. He is best known for co-writing

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

's autobiography, ''

The Travels of Marco Polo ''Book of the Marvels of the World'' ( Italian: , lit. 'The Million', possibly derived from Polo's nickname "Emilione"), in English commonly called ''The Travels of Marco Polo'', is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pis ...

'', while they were in prison together in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. Earlier, he wrote the ''Roman de Roi Artus'' (''Romance of King Arthur''), also known as the ''Compilation'', the earliest known Arthurian romance by an Italian author.

Life and work

Rustichello appears to have been a native of

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

. His first known work, the French text known as the ''Roman de Roi Artus'' or, simply, the ''Compilation'', appears to derive from a particular book in the possession of

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

when he passed through Italy on his way to fighting in the Eighth Crusade in 1270 to 1274. While written in French, it is the first known romance by an Italian author to address the Arthurian legend.Hoffman, "Rusticiano Pisa", p. 392. The ''Compilation'' contains an interpolation of the '' Palamedes'', a now-fragmentary prose account of Arthur's

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

knight Palamedes, and a history of the

Round Table The Round Table (; ; ; ) is King Arthur's famed table (furniture), table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status, unlike co ...

. It was later divided into two sections, named after their principal protagonists, '' Meliadus'' ( Tristan's father) and '' Guiron le Courtois''. Both remained popular for hundreds of years, and influenced many later works written in French as well as in Spanish, Italian, and even Greek. Rustichello may have been captured by the Genoese at the Battle of Meloria in 1284, amid a conflict between the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

and the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...

. When Polo was imprisoned around 1298, possibly after a clash between Genoa and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

(according to tradition the

Battle of Curzola The Battle of Curzola (today Korčula, southern Dalmatia, now in Croatia) was a naval battle fought on 9 September 1298 between the Genoese navy, Genoese and Venetian navy, Venetian navies. It was a disaster for Venice, a major setback among the ...

''The Travels of Marco Polo'', p. 16.), he told his tales of travel to Rustichello. Together they created the book known as ''

''.

Notes

References

* * * Polo, Marco; Latham, Ronald (translator) (1958). ''The Travels of Marco Polo''. New York: Penguin Books. *Cigni, Fabrizio. (1994). '' Il romanzo arturiano di Rustichello da Pisa'', Edizione critica, traduzione e note, Pisa: Pacini, 1996.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pisa, Rustichello da 13th-century births 14th-century deaths Writers of Arthurian literature Italian writers in French Italian male writers People from Pisa 13th-century Italian writers Marco Polo