LIBER MAIOLICHINUS. - Epic poem written in the 12th century, whose full title is: L. m. de gestis Pisanorum illustribus. It celebrates the victorious war fought in 1114 and 1115, in the time of Pope Paschal II, chiefly by Pisa, in alliance with other Christian peoples, against the Saracen pirates of Majorca who infested the seas, hindering commerce and carrying off many Christians as slaves.

Poor in poetic inspiration and classicist in tendency, the poem is very faithful in its historical narrative. The exaltation of Pisa and of Rome that pervades it expresses the religious and patriotic character of the enterprise, which was almost a crusade. It is by now established that the author was the Pisan Henry, a descendant of Archbishop Peter II, a contemporary and perhaps a participant in the events. Among the editions of the L. m. (Ughelli, Muratori, Migne), the best is the one edited by C. Calisse, in Fonti per la storia d'Italia, XXIX, Rome 1904.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: In addition to the critical preface by C. Calisse to his edition, cf. G. Tiraboschi, Storia della letteratura italiana, III, Rome 1783, p. 310; P. Pecchiai, Notizie su l'autore del «L. m.», in Archivio muratoriano, 3 (1906), pp. 126-28; L. A. Botteghi, Del- l'autore del L. m., ibid., 19-20 (1917), pp. 513- 515; G. Volpe, Medioevo italiano, 2nd ed., Florence 1928, pp. 65-89.

Stanislao Majarelli

@incollection{ec7_liber_maiolichinus, author = {Majarelli, Stanislao}, title = {Liber Maiolichinus}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VII}, pages = {1276--1277}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/liber-maiolichinus} }

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