Matteo Maria Boiardo

Matteo Maria Boiardo , born with Scandiano, close to Reggio of Emilie, in Emilie-Romagna, towards 1434 and dead the December 20th 1494 with Reggio of Emilie) is a Poète and Politician Italy N, which was with the service of the dukes of Ferrare.

Biography

August 1st

Matteo Maria Boiardo goes down from a noble family of Ferrare. It stuck to the dukes of Ferrare who entrusted to him the government of Reggio.

Works

Matteo Maria Boiardo composed for the duke Hercules II of Este several poems of which most famous is Orlando Inamorato , in French: Roland in love.

He wrote moreover Sonetti E Canzoni , Latin poetries, translations of the Ane of gold of Lucien de Samosate and that of Apulée.

Roland in love , Orlando inamorato

This romantic epopee is drawn from the chronicle of Turpin, and where one sees appearing the Agramant, the Astolphe, the Gradasse, the Rodomont which became immortal types.

Summary

Several topics intermingle, sometimes even inside the same chapter.

First topic: the war

Roland in love is a novel of chavalery, therefore one made there the war. Charlemagne must defend against the repeated and varied attacks African heretics: initially Gradasse invades Spain and threatens Marsile, the allied one of Charlemagne: it will be the long head office of Barcelona. Then after a lull Agricant comes from Bizerte to Italy initially then to France to sow desolation. There is also a long battle in front of the town of Standage where Angélique in China saw. Thus one fights much, with in background of the thousands of deaths, cut heads and detached arms.

Second topic: honor

One still fights because the heroes have all hot blood and the least delay in precedences is the reason with singular combat. Sometimes even one fights for nothing, simply to test the value of the knight met by chance, and if the weather appears a good comrade in arms one is friendly with him, even friendly for always. Because the knights always do not make watch of a great perspicacity: as soon as an obstacle meets “I fire my sword and I sink”. Fortunately for them he is often a woman in the parrages who brings a more considered approach to them.

Third topic: love

The account starts with the arrival at the court of Charlemagne d' Argail and its Angélique sister which is of such a beauty that all the knights are insane. Roland one of is reached by fires of the love and it subjects entirely to the wills Angelica which on its side sees only the Renaud knight after having drunk with the fountain of love at the same time as Renaud drank that of the désamour. From where cavalcades and combat in any kind.

Fourth topic: “adventures”

It is necessary to understand by “adventures” all the occasions where a knight can show his value by helping a éplorée young girl or an old man in tears. One still fights but there is not essence because the banal beginning of “the adventure” leads quickly to giants armed with bludgeon, dragons fire-eaters or worse still of assoiffées fairies of blood. And the imagination of Boiardo in this field is remarkable. An example:

The Brandimart knight and his partner walk on in the countryside when they see a splendid castle, they enter to admire it. But the grid of acccès is closed, a savage giant appears and attacks Brandimart with, as arms, a dragon which it holds with the hand. Brandimart kills it but the giant reappears in dragon whereas the dragon reappears as a giant. Brandimart kills the dragon then and puts an end to this enchantment. But when he wants to leave the castle with his partner, the door disappeared. They thus enter the castle and they are attacked by another invincible giant. Fortunately an unknown lady is there and gives the directions for use of the magic spell: it is necessary to leave this giant the living room where it is invincible and to kill it in the court, then to raise the heavy stone slab located in the living room and to give a kiss to the thing which will leave there. Brandimart is carried out, with a loathing however to kiss it with the horrible dragon which slept under the stone. But it does not have really the choice and it obtempère. All finishes well because the dragon under the stone is moulted in a very beautiful fairy locked up there by a malicious wizard. Brandimart and its partner set out again then and bring back to his/her father the lady which gave them good information so much. In way the lady tells her sad history of girl married against her will, that her husband sequestered in this magic castle. Hardly it finished its account that twenties to thirty brigands emerge and….

It is today the most interesting part of the account by the variety of the lived adventures: bridges kept by giants, enchanted castles, fairy-like gardens which one cannot leave, sphinx, nourished monsters of the flesh of the prisoners, furious bulls, fairy in love with human, magic boat who takes along Renaud to China, centaurs, anthrophages,….

This unfinished poem left by the author was supplemented by Nicolo degli Agostini and Lodovico Domenichi then redesigned by Francesco Berni (1541) which “translated it” into Italian of Tuscany. Arioste took an action pursuant later to him a few years, Roland Furieux , so famous continuation in its time that it eclipsed the Roland Amoureux with Boiardo.

The Orlando inamorato was translated several times into French. The most widespread translation is that of Alain-Rene Lesage (1717). To tell the truth it acts more than one adaptation that of a translation because Lesage modified certain characters and transformed the sometimes hard style of Boiardo into a gallant account worthy of the invaluable ones.

It is the only currently available version.

External bonds

the influence of Boiardo on the play of the Tarot

Partial source

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