Speakers in the Latin historical epics of twelfth-century Italy

This dissertation focuses on the creation of character through speech in the historical epics written in Latin in twelfth-century Italy.; In Chapter 1, I present a typology to describe the speeches of the twelfth-century historical epics according to genre. My typology expands on existing descriptions of the speeches of Latin epic by including pragmatic features. In this chapter I also describe the relation of these speeches to models provided by epic poems of antiquity. Unlike the ancient speeches, which frequently follow the schemas described in Roman rhetorical handbooks, the medieval speeches conform to the five-part letter format taught in the ars dictaminis of twelfth-century Bologna.; Chapter 2 investigates intertextuality as a means of creating character by comparing speakers in Lucan's Bellum civile with those of the Carmen de gestis Frederici I. imperatoris in Lombardia (the Gesta Frederici), an anonymous twelfth-century epic commemorating the deeds of Frederick Barbarossa. The medieval poet portrays Frederick as a new Julius Caesar, impressive in his power and rule, yet excessive in war.; In Chapter 3, I describe in greater detail how Medieval Latin epic poets create character through speech. Using a narratological approach I investigate the characterization effects created by the relation between narrator and speakers in the Gesta Frederici. The narrator's presentation of a character's words forms an explicit or implicit comment on the contents of the speech. By varying the speech modes of direct and indirect discourse the poem defines power relations among characters. Verba loquendi effect the emotional level of speeches. Characters differ in the range of speech genres they utter and the kinds of rhetorical figures they use.; Chapter 4 describes narrative techniques borrowed from Vergil's Aeneid to define the relations among voices in the Gesta Frederici. Free indirect discourse and focalization shifts grant authority to the voices of Frederick's enemies in the poem in addition to the normative voice in praise of Frederick.