Home > Cultural And Religious Perspectives In Italian Literature From The 13Th To The 15Th Centuries With Special Attention To Important Sienese Writers (St. Catherine, Bernardino, Pius Ii) (Italian-Taught)
Cultural And Religious Perspectives In Italian Literature From The 13Th To The 15Th Centuries With Special Attention To Important Sienese Writers (St. Catherine, Bernardino, Pius Ii) (Italian-Taught)
Fourteenth and fifteenth-century Tuscany gave birth to, and solidified, Italian literary vernacular, and many of this period’s greatest writers, orators, and religious figures received their formal training in Siena. This course studies works by St. Catherine, St. Bernardino, Pius II, and other Sienese authors who had significant influence over religious and political thought in the region and throughout Italy at this important juncture in history. Furthermore, the course connects these authors with influential figures, starting with St. Francis, Dante and Boccaccio, as well as with significant questions such as the relationship between historical dimension and religious perspective, the importance of inner knowledge, the kind of public concerned, and the differences between the Middle Ages and Humanism.
Attendance policy:
Successful progress of the program depends on the full cooperation of both students and faculty members: regular attendance and active participation in class are essential parts of the learning process. Attendance at and participation in all class meetings and field-studies are required. More than TWO unjustified absences (that are not medically excused with a written certificate of the doctor or caused by serious sudden family and/or personal occurrences, as for example death of a family member) will result in a lowering of your grade.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course, students are able to:
Identify the main themes of important Italian literary works of the Middle Ages and Humanism
Analyze the relationship between historical dimension and religious perspective, the importance of inner knowledge, the kind of public, and the differences between the Middle Ages and Humanism.
Develop skills to critically evaluate Italian literature in the historical and cultural context
Method of presentation:
Lectures, discussions, textual analysis. Lectures will be supported withfield studies during the course of the semester.
Required work and form of assessment:
Active class participation and class discussions (15%); written midterm exam in the form of essay-style answers (25%); final 5-7 page research paper in Italian on a topic chosen by student (contingent on professor authorization) (25%); final written exam in the form of essay-style answers (35%).
content:
The page numbers refer to the course packet
Week 1: Religious Literature in Italy
A general consideration of religious movements in the thirteenth century allows the class to confront the need of a deep renewal of the Church, references to the Gospel and Christ figure, and a circulation of ideas and culture able to promote direct interest in religion. In addition, the difference of role and perspective between Dominicans and Franciscans isemphasized.
Reading:
Lino Leonardi and Francesco Santi. “La letteratura religiosa,” 1995 (criticalessay, pp. 2-3, 8-21).
Week 2: St. Francis and the Laud
The figure of St. Francis (1182-1226) is considered, concentrating on his perspective in relation to the Church’s role as a universal institution able to mediate between the believer and God. The question of the division of St. Francis’ followers in spirituali and conventualifactions is examined. Furthermore,this lectureexamines the anti-intellectualism of St. Francis’ works.
Readings:
Francis of Assisi, “Cantico di frate sole” (poem, pp. 33-34).
Daniele Solvi. Commentary on “Cantico di frate sole” by St. Francis, 2004, pp. 35-40.
Week 3: Guittone d’Arezzo and Iacopone da Todi
The development of the ‘lauda’ genre is considered.
Readings:
Guittone d’Arezzo, “Vegna, – vegna – chi volegiocundare” (poem, pp. 41-42).
Iacopone da Todi, “Donna de Paradiso” (poem, pp. 43-46).
Week 4: the Apocalyptical Literature
The apocalyptical reflection proposed by Gioacchino da Fiore (c. 1130-c. 1202) is discussed in order to show a religious thought which, linking strictly human dimension and transcendent perspective, implicates a vision of history (Father’s time, Son’s time and Holy Spirit’s time) able to represent an anticipation of the modern idea of progress.
Reading:
Lino Leonardi and Francesco Santi. “La letteratura religiosa,” 1995 (criticalessay, pp. 24-28).
Weeks 5-6: Dante
The figural conception of Christian religion is considered through Auerbach’s interpretation of Inferno X by Dante (1265-1321); the decisive canto of Farinata and Cavalcante. The relationship between politics and religion are confronted by examining Dante’s ideas regarding Church and Empire.
Readings:
Dante Alighieri, “Inferno” X (poem,lines1-136).
Erich Auerbach. “Farinata e Cavalcante,” 2000 (criticalessay, pp. 60-64). Midterm Exam (week 6)
Weeks 7-8: St. Catherine and the Prohibition of Writing
The figure of St. Catherine (1347-1380) is considered, concentrating on the question of forbidden writing concerning women in the Middle Ages. The specific structure and rhetoric of St. Catherine’s letters, as well as the recurrent mystical themes and imagery (the incidence of sources with respect to the importance of the relation between the mystic and Christ, the decisive meaning of blood, the maternal role of divinity, the concreteness of allegory, and an interest in the historical dimension that includes the idea of a new crusade)are all examined.
Readings:
Catherine of Siena, “Letters” (texts, selected pages: letter to fraRaimondo da Capua about a capital execution, pp. 65-68; letter to Urban VI about the reformation of the Church and a new crusade, pp. 69-71; letter to Stefano di Corrado about self-knowledge, pp. 72-73).
Marina Zancan. “Santa Caterina. Le lettere,” 1992 (criticalessay, pp. 89-92).
FederigoTozzi. Introduction, in Catherine of Siena. Le cose più belle, 1918, pp. 93-95.
Field-study: visit to St. Catherine’s Sanctuary (week 8)
Weeks 9-10: St. Bernardino and the Rhetoric of Evocation
First the genre of sermon is examined, referring to the Dominican Passavanti (c. 1302-1357), whose exemplum about an allegorical hunt offers a scene that is similar to one found in the Decameron by Boccaccio (1313-1375). In addition, one thinks of the Commedia by Dante (1265-1321), and precisely of the infernal hunt that the squanderers must endure. The figure of St. Bernardino (1380-1444) is considered, concentrating on the rhetorical techniques used in his sermons, which present a different perspective from Passavanti and Cavalca(c. 1270-1342), also Dominican, whose techniques containgreater linguistic transparency. At the same time, the new traits of St. Bernardino’s sermons— referring to his ability of using the exemplum and linguistic sensibility—indicate an eloquence that suits a public marked by religious restlessness and humanistic concentration on the individual, as in his masterful sermons in Siena of 1427.
Readings:
Dante Alighieri, “Inferno” XIII (poem, lines 109-129, p. 97).
Giovanni Boccaccio, “Decameron” (fiction: tale V, 8, pp. 98-102).
Jacopo Passavanti, “Lo specchio di vera penitenza” (fiction: the vision of the charcoalburner of Niversa, pp. 103-104).
Bernardino of Siena, “Prediche volgari sul Campo di Siena. 1427” (fiction; selections: sermon III about quibbling preachers, pp. 106-107; sermon pronounced on August 22 about detractors, pp.122-124; sermon pronounced on September 10 about prayer, p. 135).
Weeks 11-12: Pius II and the Order of Narration
The figure of Pius II (1405-1464) is considered, concentrating on the individualistic perspective of Humanism: a perspective closely connected with the development of an autobiographical genre; for example, his Commentarii, in which he uses the third person (as did GiulioCesare in his De bellogallico). If Pius II highlights in his many works the importance of narration as an act of writing that is able to give order to experience, in the Commentarii this act has a center of unity in self-narration. In a strict combination of religious ideals and historical concreteness, one finds in particular the perspective of a pope concentrated on the realization of a new crusade – a theme present in the vision promoted by St. Catherine (1347-1380), who is canonized during this complex figure’s papacy. Furthermore, it is possible to reflect on the relationship between Latin and vernacular, considering that Sienese environment and literature are strongly linked. The founding of Pienzais also considered.
Readings:
Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pius II), “I ‘commentari’” (fiction; selections: II, 32 on SigismondoMalatesta, pp. 145-146; IV, 15 on the landscape round Siena, pp. 147-148; IV, 32 on a Sienese matron, pp.149-150).
Remo Ceserani, “Note sull’attività di scrittore di Pio II,” 1968 (criticalessay, pp. 156, 159).
Giovanni Boccaccio, “Decameron” (fiction: tale III, 3, pp. 168-175).
Week 13: Final Exam
Required readings:
A course packet will be prepared and include many of the following required readings:
Alighieri, Dante. “Inferno” X, XIII.
Auerbach, Erich. “Farinata e Cavalcante,” in Mimesis. Il realismo nella letteratura occidentale. Torino: Einaudi, 2000, selectedpages.
Bernardino of Siena. “Prediche volgari sul Campo di Siena. 1427,” selections: sermon III about quibbling preachers; sermon pronounced on August 22 about detractors; sermon pronounced on September 10 about prayer.
Boccaccio, Giovanni. “Decameron,” tale V, p. 8; tale III, 3.
Catherine of Siena. “Letters” (selections: letter to fraRaimondo da Capua about a capital execution; letter to Urban VI about the reformation of the Church and a new crusade; letter to Stefano di Corrado about self-knowledge).
Ceserani, Remo. “Note sull’attività di scrittore di Pio II,” in Enea Silvio Piccolomini papa Pio II, Atti del Convegno per il quinto centenario della morte e altri scritti. Ed. Domenico Maffei. Siena: Accademia senese degli Intronati, 1968, pp. 99-115.
D’Arezzo, Guittone. “Vegna, – vegna – chi volegiocundare.” Da Todi, Iacopone. “Donna de Paradiso.”
Francis of Assisi, “Cantico di frate sole.”
Leonardi, Lino and Francesco Santi. “La letteratura religiosa,” in Storia della letteratura italiana. Ed. Enrico Malato, Vol. 1. Roma: Salerno, 1995, selected pages.
Passavanti, Jacopo. “Lo specchio di vera penitenza,”selectedpages: the vision of the charcoalburner of Niversa.
Piccolomini, Enea Silvio (Pius II). “I ‘commentari’,” selections: II, 32 on SigismondoMalatesta; IV, 15 on the landscape round Siena; IV, 32 on a Sienese matron.
Solvi, Daniele. Commentary on “Cantico di frate sole” by St. Francis, in La letteratura francescana. Ed. Claudio Leonardi, Vol. 1. Milano: Mondadori (Fondazione Lorenzo Valla ), 2004,pp. 451-60.
Tozzi, Federigo. Introduction, in Catherine of Siena. Le cose più belle. Lanciano: Carabba, 1918.
Zancan, Marina. “Santa Caterina. Le lettere,” in Letteratura italiana. Le opere. Ed. Alberto Asor Rosa, Vol. 1. Torino: Einaudi, 1992,pp. 593-633.
Recommended readings:
Alighieri, Dante. La Commedia secondo l’antica vulgata. Ed. Giorgio Petrocchi. Milano: Mondadori, 1966-67.
---. The Divine Comedy, translated, with a commentary, by Charles S. Singleton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989.
Auzzas, Ginetta, Giovanni Baffetti and Carlo Delcorno (eds.). Letteratura in forma di sermone. I rapporti tra predicazione e letteratura nei secoli XIII-XVI, Atti del Seminario di studi (Bologna, November 15-17, 2001). Firenze: Olschki, 2003.
Bernardino predicatore nella società del suo tempo, Convegni del Centro di studi sulla spiritualità medievale, XVI (October 9-12, 1975). Todi: Accademia Tudertina, 1976.
Bernardino of Siena. Prediche volgari sul Campo di Siena. 1427. Ed. Carlo Delcorno. Milano: Rusconi, 1989.
Brand, Peter andLino Pertile (eds.). The Cambridge History of Italian Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Catherine of Siena. Epistolario. Ed. Umberto Meattini. Roma: Edizioni Paoline, 1979.
---. Io, serva e schiava. Ed. Sara Cabibbo. Palermo: Sellerio, 1991.
---. Vestitevi di sangue. Lettere ai fedeli. Ed. Manuela Colombo. Milano: R. Archinto, 1991.
---. Dialogo della Divina Provvidenza. Ed. Giuliana Cavallini. Siena: Cantagalli, 1995.
Dupré Theseider, Eugenio. Epistolario di Santa Caterina da Siena. Roma: Tip. del Senato, 1940.
---. “Il problemacritico delle lettere di santa Caterina da Siena,” in Bullettinodell’Istitutostoricoitaliano per il Medio Evo e ArchivioMuratoriano. No. 49 (1933).
---. “Caterina da Siena, Santa,” in Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, XXII. Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1979.
Fawtier, Robert. Sainte Catherine de Sienne. Essai de critique de sources, Vol 1. Paris: E. De Boccard, 1921; Vol. 2. Paris: E. De Boccard, 1930.
--- and Louis Canet. La double expérience de Catherine Benincasa (Sainte Catherine de Sienne). Paris: Librairie Gallimard, 1948.
Leonardi, Claudio. “La santità delle donne,” in Scrittricimisticheitaliane. Ed. Giovanni Pozzi, Claudio Leonardi. Genova: Marietti, 1998.
---.La letteraturafrancescana, Vol. 1. Milano: Mondadori (Fondazione Lorenzo Valla), 2004.
Maffei, Domenico (ed.). Enea Silvio Piccolomini papa Pio II, Atti del Convegno per il quinto centenario della morte e altri scritti. Siena: Accademia senese degli Intronati, 1968.
--- and Paolo Nardi (eds.). Atti del simposio internazionale cateriniano-bernardiniano (Siena, April 17-20, 1980). Siena: Accademia senese degli Intronati, 1982.
Ponte, Giovanni (ed.). Il Quattrocento. Bologna: Zanichelli, 1966.
Pozzi, Giovanni and Claudio Leonardi (eds.). Scrittricimisticheitaliane. Genova: Marietti, 1998.
---. “L’alfabeto delle sante,” in Scrittricimisticheitaliane. Ed. Giovanni Pozzi, Claudio Leonardi. Genova: Marietti, 1998.
Varanini, Giorgio. “AmbrogioSansedonifondatore dei laudesi a Siena,” in Lingua e letteratura dei primisecoli, Vol. 1. Pisa: Giardini, 1994.
---.Laudedugentesche. Padova: Antenore, 1972.
Zancan, Marina. “La donna,” in Letteraturaitaliana. Le questioni. Ed. Alberto Asor Rosa, Vol. 5. Torino: Einaudi, 1986.
Zanini, Lina and Marie Carlotta Paterna (eds.). Bibliografia analitica di S. Caterina da Siena. Roma: Edizioni cateriniane, 1971-2003.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Daniele Lo Cascio received an Art sdegree in Modern Literature from the University of Bologna in 2000. In 2003 he received a Dottorato di ricerca (Ph.D.) in Italianistica from the University of Perugia. Since 2002 he has been holding temporary posts in some Licei and Istituti of Tuscany teaching Italian, Latin and History. He received the teaching diplomas in 2005 and in 2006. In 2005 he also became cultoredella Materia at the Dipartimento di Filologia e Criticadella Letteratura of the University of Siena. In 2004-2005 he taught for the Siena Program, State University of New York College at Buffalo, as well as since 2006 he has been teaching Italian literature for IES. He was the co-organizer of the Congress on “I sogni e la scienza”, Siena, November 2006, furthermore presenting a communication about Tommaso Landolfi. His main research interests include Landolfi, Massimo Bontempelli, Alberto Savinio, and in general the narration of oneiric dimensions in twentieth-century Italian literature.
Cultural And Religious Perspectives In Italian Literature From The 13Th To The 15Th Centuries With Special Attention To Important Sienese Writers (St. Catherine, Bernardino, Pius Ii) (Italian-Taught)
Fourteenth and fifteenth-century Tuscany gave birth to, and solidified, Italian literary vernacular, and many of this period’s greatest writers, orators, and religious figures received their formal training in Siena. This course studies works by St. Catherine, St. Bernardino, Pius II, and other Sienese authors who had significant influence over religious and political thought in the region and throughout Italy at this important juncture in history. Furthermore, the course connects these authors with influential figures, starting with St. Francis, Dante and Boccaccio, as well as with significant questions such as the relationship between historical dimension and religious perspective, the importance of inner knowledge, the kind of public concerned, and the differences between the Middle Ages and Humanism.
Successful progress of the program depends on the full cooperation of both students and faculty members: regular attendance and active participation in class are essential parts of the learning process. Attendance at and participation in all class meetings and field-studies are required. More than TWO unjustified absences (that are not medically excused with a written certificate of the doctor or caused by serious sudden family and/or personal occurrences, as for example death of a family member) will result in a lowering of your grade.
By the end of the course, students are able to:
Lectures, discussions, textual analysis. Lectures will be supported withfield studies during the course of the semester.
Active class participation and class discussions (15%); written midterm exam in the form of essay-style answers (25%); final 5-7 page research paper in Italian on a topic chosen by student (contingent on professor authorization) (25%); final written exam in the form of essay-style answers (35%).
The page numbers refer to the course packet
Week 1: Religious Literature in Italy
A general consideration of religious movements in the thirteenth century allows the class to confront the need of a deep renewal of the Church, references to the Gospel and Christ figure, and a circulation of ideas and culture able to promote direct interest in religion. In addition, the difference of role and perspective between Dominicans and Franciscans isemphasized.
Reading:
Week 2: St. Francis and the Laud
The figure of St. Francis (1182-1226) is considered, concentrating on his perspective in relation to the Church’s role as a universal institution able to mediate between the believer and God. The question of the division of St. Francis’ followers in spirituali and conventualifactions is examined. Furthermore,this lectureexamines the anti-intellectualism of St. Francis’ works.
Readings:
Week 3: Guittone d’Arezzo and Iacopone da Todi
The development of the ‘lauda’ genre is considered.
Readings:
Week 4: the Apocalyptical Literature
The apocalyptical reflection proposed by Gioacchino da Fiore (c. 1130-c. 1202) is discussed in order to show a religious thought which, linking strictly human dimension and transcendent perspective, implicates a vision of history (Father’s time, Son’s time and Holy Spirit’s time) able to represent an anticipation of the modern idea of progress.
Reading:
Weeks 5-6: Dante
The figural conception of Christian religion is considered through Auerbach’s interpretation of Inferno X by Dante (1265-1321); the decisive canto of Farinata and Cavalcante. The relationship between politics and religion are confronted by examining Dante’s ideas regarding Church and Empire.
Readings:
Weeks 7-8: St. Catherine and the Prohibition of Writing
The figure of St. Catherine (1347-1380) is considered, concentrating on the question of forbidden writing concerning women in the Middle Ages. The specific structure and rhetoric of St. Catherine’s letters, as well as the recurrent mystical themes and imagery (the incidence of sources with respect to the importance of the relation between the mystic and Christ, the decisive meaning of blood, the maternal role of divinity, the concreteness of allegory, and an interest in the historical dimension that includes the idea of a new crusade)are all examined.
Readings:
Field-study: visit to St. Catherine’s Sanctuary (week 8)
Weeks 9-10: St. Bernardino and the Rhetoric of Evocation
First the genre of sermon is examined, referring to the Dominican Passavanti (c. 1302-1357), whose exemplum about an allegorical hunt offers a scene that is similar to one found in the Decameron by Boccaccio (1313-1375). In addition, one thinks of the Commedia by Dante (1265-1321), and precisely of the infernal hunt that the squanderers must endure. The figure of St. Bernardino (1380-1444) is considered, concentrating on the rhetorical techniques used in his sermons, which present a different perspective from Passavanti and Cavalca(c. 1270-1342), also Dominican, whose techniques containgreater linguistic transparency. At the same time, the new traits of St. Bernardino’s sermons— referring to his ability of using the exemplum and linguistic sensibility—indicate an eloquence that suits a public marked by religious restlessness and humanistic concentration on the individual, as in his masterful sermons in Siena of 1427.
Readings:
Weeks 11-12: Pius II and the Order of Narration
The figure of Pius II (1405-1464) is considered, concentrating on the individualistic perspective of Humanism: a perspective closely connected with the development of an autobiographical genre; for example, his Commentarii, in which he uses the third person (as did GiulioCesare in his De bellogallico). If Pius II highlights in his many works the importance of narration as an act of writing that is able to give order to experience, in the Commentarii this act has a center of unity in self-narration. In a strict combination of religious ideals and historical concreteness, one finds in particular the perspective of a pope concentrated on the realization of a new crusade – a theme present in the vision promoted by St. Catherine (1347-1380), who is canonized during this complex figure’s papacy. Furthermore, it is possible to reflect on the relationship between Latin and vernacular, considering that Sienese environment and literature are strongly linked. The founding of Pienzais also considered.
Readings:
Week 13: Final Exam
A course packet will be prepared and include many of the following required readings:
Alighieri, Dante. “Inferno” X, XIII.
Auerbach, Erich. “Farinata e Cavalcante,” in Mimesis. Il realismo nella letteratura occidentale. Torino: Einaudi, 2000, selectedpages.
Bernardino of Siena. “Prediche volgari sul Campo di Siena. 1427,” selections: sermon III about quibbling preachers; sermon pronounced on August 22 about detractors; sermon pronounced on September 10 about prayer.
Boccaccio, Giovanni. “Decameron,” tale V, p. 8; tale III, 3.
Catherine of Siena. “Letters” (selections: letter to fraRaimondo da Capua about a capital execution; letter to Urban VI about the reformation of the Church and a new crusade; letter to Stefano di Corrado about self-knowledge).
Ceserani, Remo. “Note sull’attività di scrittore di Pio II,” in Enea Silvio Piccolomini papa Pio II, Atti del Convegno per il quinto centenario della morte e altri scritti. Ed. Domenico Maffei. Siena: Accademia senese degli Intronati, 1968, pp. 99-115.
D’Arezzo, Guittone. “Vegna, – vegna – chi volegiocundare.” Da Todi, Iacopone. “Donna de Paradiso.”
Francis of Assisi, “Cantico di frate sole.”
Leonardi, Lino and Francesco Santi. “La letteratura religiosa,” in Storia della letteratura italiana. Ed. Enrico Malato, Vol. 1. Roma: Salerno, 1995, selected pages.
Passavanti, Jacopo. “Lo specchio di vera penitenza,”selectedpages: the vision of the charcoalburner of Niversa.
Piccolomini, Enea Silvio (Pius II). “I ‘commentari’,” selections: II, 32 on SigismondoMalatesta; IV, 15 on the landscape round Siena; IV, 32 on a Sienese matron.
Solvi, Daniele. Commentary on “Cantico di frate sole” by St. Francis, in La letteratura francescana. Ed. Claudio Leonardi, Vol. 1. Milano: Mondadori (Fondazione Lorenzo Valla ), 2004,pp. 451-60.
Tozzi, Federigo. Introduction, in Catherine of Siena. Le cose più belle. Lanciano: Carabba, 1918.
Zancan, Marina. “Santa Caterina. Le lettere,” in Letteratura italiana. Le opere. Ed. Alberto Asor Rosa, Vol. 1. Torino: Einaudi, 1992,pp. 593-633.
Alighieri, Dante. La Commedia secondo l’antica vulgata. Ed. Giorgio Petrocchi. Milano: Mondadori, 1966-67.
---. The Divine Comedy, translated, with a commentary, by Charles S. Singleton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989.
Auzzas, Ginetta, Giovanni Baffetti and Carlo Delcorno (eds.). Letteratura in forma di sermone. I rapporti tra predicazione e letteratura nei secoli XIII-XVI, Atti del Seminario di studi (Bologna, November 15-17, 2001). Firenze: Olschki, 2003.
Bernardino predicatore nella società del suo tempo, Convegni del Centro di studi sulla spiritualità medievale, XVI (October 9-12, 1975). Todi: Accademia Tudertina, 1976.
Bernardino of Siena. Prediche volgari sul Campo di Siena. 1427. Ed. Carlo Delcorno. Milano: Rusconi, 1989.
Boccaccio, Giovanni. Decameron. Ed. Vittore Branca. Torino: Einaudi, 1992.
Brand, Peter andLino Pertile (eds.). The Cambridge History of Italian Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Catherine of Siena. Epistolario. Ed. Umberto Meattini. Roma: Edizioni Paoline, 1979.
---. Io, serva e schiava. Ed. Sara Cabibbo. Palermo: Sellerio, 1991.
---. Vestitevi di sangue. Lettere ai fedeli. Ed. Manuela Colombo. Milano: R. Archinto, 1991.
---. Dialogo della Divina Provvidenza. Ed. Giuliana Cavallini. Siena: Cantagalli, 1995.
Dupré Theseider, Eugenio. Epistolario di Santa Caterina da Siena. Roma: Tip. del Senato, 1940.
---. “Il problemacritico delle lettere di santa Caterina da Siena,” in Bullettinodell’Istitutostoricoitaliano per il Medio Evo e ArchivioMuratoriano. No. 49 (1933).
---. “Caterina da Siena, Santa,” in Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, XXII. Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1979.
Fawtier, Robert. Sainte Catherine de Sienne. Essai de critique de sources, Vol 1. Paris: E. De Boccard, 1921; Vol. 2. Paris: E. De Boccard, 1930.
--- and Louis Canet. La double expérience de Catherine Benincasa (Sainte Catherine de Sienne). Paris: Librairie Gallimard, 1948.
Garin, Eugenio (ed.). Prosatorilatinidel Quattrocento. Milano-Napoli: Ricciardi, 1952.
Leonardi, Claudio. “La santità delle donne,” in Scrittricimisticheitaliane. Ed. Giovanni Pozzi, Claudio Leonardi. Genova: Marietti, 1998.
---.La letteraturafrancescana, Vol. 1. Milano: Mondadori (Fondazione Lorenzo Valla), 2004.
Maffei, Domenico (ed.). Enea Silvio Piccolomini papa Pio II, Atti del Convegno per il quinto centenario della morte e altri scritti. Siena: Accademia senese degli Intronati, 1968.
--- and Paolo Nardi (eds.). Atti del simposio internazionale cateriniano-bernardiniano (Siena, April 17-20, 1980). Siena: Accademia senese degli Intronati, 1982.
Paparelli, Gioacchino. Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pio II). Bari: G. Laterza & Figli, 1950.
Passavanti, Jacopo. Lo specchio di verapenitenza. Ed. Maria Lenardon. Firenze: Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, 1925.
Petrocchi, Giorgio. “Santa Caterina da Siena,” in Storiadellaletteraturaitaliana. Ed. Emilio Cecchi, NatalinoSapegno, Vol. 2. Milano: Garzanti, 1965.
---. “La religiosità,” in Letteraturaitaliana. Le questioni. Ed. Alberto Asor Rosa, Vol. 5. Torino: Einaudi, 1986.
Piccolomini, Enea Silvio (Pius II). I «commentari». Ed. Mino Marchetti. Siena: Cantagalli, 1997.
Ponte, Giovanni (ed.). Il Quattrocento. Bologna: Zanichelli, 1966.
Pozzi, Giovanni and Claudio Leonardi (eds.). Scrittricimisticheitaliane. Genova: Marietti, 1998.
---. “L’alfabeto delle sante,” in Scrittricimisticheitaliane. Ed. Giovanni Pozzi, Claudio Leonardi. Genova: Marietti, 1998.
Varanini, Giorgio. “AmbrogioSansedonifondatore dei laudesi a Siena,” in Lingua e letteratura dei primisecoli, Vol. 1. Pisa: Giardini, 1994.
---.Laudedugentesche. Padova: Antenore, 1972.
Varese, Claudio (ed.). Prosatorivolgaridel Quattrocento. Milano-Napoli: Ricciardi, 1955.
Zancan, Marina. “La donna,” in Letteraturaitaliana. Le questioni. Ed. Alberto Asor Rosa, Vol. 5. Torino: Einaudi, 1986.
Zanini, Lina and Marie Carlotta Paterna (eds.). Bibliografia analitica di S. Caterina da Siena. Roma: Edizioni cateriniane, 1971-2003.
Daniele Lo Cascio received an Art sdegree in Modern Literature from the University of Bologna in 2000. In 2003 he received a Dottorato di ricerca (Ph.D.) in Italianistica from the University of Perugia. Since 2002 he has been holding temporary posts in some Licei and Istituti of Tuscany teaching Italian, Latin and History. He received the teaching diplomas in 2005 and in 2006. In 2005 he also became cultoredella Materia at the Dipartimento di Filologia e Criticadella Letteratura of the University of Siena. In 2004-2005 he taught for the Siena Program, State University of New York College at Buffalo, as well as since 2006 he has been teaching Italian literature for IES. He was the co-organizer of the Congress on “I sogni e la scienza”, Siena, November 2006, furthermore presenting a communication about Tommaso Landolfi. His main research interests include Landolfi, Massimo Bontempelli, Alberto Savinio, and in general the narration of oneiric dimensions in twentieth-century Italian literature.