1848
The most celebrated and widespread of the 19th-c. European revolutions proved also a crucial turning point in the Italian Risorgimento. Beginning with an insurrection in Palermo in January, ...
academies
Are societies or institutions for the cultivation and promotion of literature, the arts or science, or of some particular branch of science such as medicine, for example, the Académie de ...
Accademia Pontaniana
Originally an informal meeting of intellectuals and civil servants in the Naples of King Alfonso I of Aragon, organized by Panormita in the 1440s. The formal title of Accademia Pontaniana ...
Acciaiuoli
Leading Florentine mercantile and banking family during the 14th and 15th c., who assumed a major role in the republic's political life, beginning with the support of the signoria of ...
Acquaviva D'aragona
One of the most powerful baronial families in Naples. Andrea Matteo (1458–1529), Duke of Atri, and Belisario (1464–1528), Duke of Nardo, were warlords and writers (tutored by Pontano) who played ...
Adriano Tilgher
(1887–1941).Philosopher, moralist, and literary critic, originally from Naples. Influenced by contemporary vitalism and relativism, he proposed an influential aesthetics at odds with both Croce and ...
Afredo Oriani
(1852–1909).Novelist and essayist. Born in Faenza, he was educated in Bologna, where after further studies in Rome and Naples he worked briefly in the legal profession before withdrawing to ...
Agostino Nifo
(c.1469–c.1546),Italian Aristotelian philosopher, born in Sessa Aurunca (Calabria) and educated at the University of Padua; he embarked on an academic career during which he taught at Padua (1492–9), ...
Albania
One of the poorest of the former communist states, Albania is now moving towards the European UnionThough Albania is a coastal country, not much of its territory is at sea level. Mountains make up ...
Alexander legend
Medieval fascination with the figure of Alexander goes back to the 3rd-century Greek romance of Pseudo-Callisthenes, which became known to the west in large part, though not exclusively, through the ...
Alfonso Gatto
(1909–1976), renowned Italian poet who was also an editor, journalist, and cultural broadcaster. Gatto cofounded the influential literary journal Campo di Marte, was jailed due to his anti-Fascist ...
Alfonso V of Aragon
(1396–1458)Eldest son of Fernando de Antequera (Fernando I, 1414–16) and Leonor of Albuquerque, Alfonso was a Castilian prince of the Trastámara family who acceded to the Crown of Aragon ...
Alfredo Gargiulo
(1876–1949).Literary critic, originally from Naples, who contributed regularly to La Critica and La Ronda. Following Croce, he emphasized the lyricism of the work of art and held to the ...
Alonso Pecha
(1327/1329–1389)Born into a family in the service of the kings of Castile, he was the brother of Pedro Fernandez Pecha, founder of the Order of St Jerome (Hieronymites). Italian ...
Amalfi
A small Italian city in Campania, clinging to the rocky slopes of its peninsula dominating the bay of Salerno, Amalfi is mentioned as a bishopric in a letter of Pope ...
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome continued to be a major reference point for the culture of the Enlightenment, due notably to the central role played by Latin. There was a gradual decline in ...
Angelo Camillo De Meis
(1817–91).Quixotic polymath and writer. Born near Chieti, he studied medicine at Naples University, where he also followed the lectures of De Sanctis. He became a physiologist and historian of ...
Angevins of Hungary
The Angevins of Hungary were descended from the Angevins of Naples. In 1269 Charles I of Anjou concluded a double marriage treaty with the Árpáds (Charles II marrying Mary of ...
Angevins of Naples
The Angevins of Naples, princes of French royal blood, were two successive families from Anjou, who ruled the kingdom of Naples in the late Middle Ages. It officially kept the ...
Anjou
French dynasty implanted in Italy by Charles I (1227–85), youngest son of Louis VIII. Supporting papal claims against the Hohenstaufen [see frederick ii], Charles defeated Manfredi at Benevento ...
