Presents a collection of critical essays on the works of Dante Alighieri.

First published in 2004, Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia provides an introduction to the many and diverse facets of Italian civilization from the late Roman empire to the end of the fourteenth century. It presents in two volumes articles on a wide range of topics including history, literature, art, music, urban development, commerce and economics, social and political institutions, religion and hagiography, philosophy and science. This illustrated, A-Z reference is a cross-disciplinary resource and will be of key interest not only to students and scholars of history but also to those studying a range of subjects, as well as the general reader.

Distinguished scholars from both sides of the Atlantic make a major contribution to medieval literary studies in contributions ranging from early epic to Fernando de Rojas. Studies on cuaderna via' verse and the poets of the cancionero' figure prominently, as do the Libro de buen amor' and Celestina'; these are complemented by individual essays on texts outside the mainstream, on the language and versification of the period, on the prose writers of the fifteenth century, and on literary activity in Catalonia, Galicia and Portugal. The collection demonstrates the range of interest and approach characteristic of recent Hispanic scholarship, and provides new insights into the medieval mind at work in the Iberian peninsula. IAN MACPHERSON is former Professor of Spanish, University of Durham; RALPH PENNY is Professor of Romance Philology, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. Studies in Honour of Professor Alan Deyermond, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. Contributors: LOLA BADIA, RAFAEL BELTRAN, CHARLES BURNETT, LLUIS CABRE, ROSANNA CANTAVELLA, PEDRO CATEDRA, JUAN CARLOS CONDE LOPEZ, MARTIN DUFFELL, JOSE FRADEJAS LEBRERO, JOSE MANUEL FRADEJAS RUEDA, JOHN GORNALL, L.P. HARVEY, THOMAS R. HART, LOUISE M. HAYWOOD, DAVID HOOK, VICTOR INFANTES DE MIGUEL, JEREMY LAWRENCE, HELDER MACEDO, IAN MACPHERSON, IAN MICHAEL, ALBERTO MONTANER FRUTOS, D.G. PATTISON, RALPH PENNY, STEPHEN RECKERT, FRANCISCO RICO, REGULA ROHLAND DE LANGBEHN, NICHOLAS G. ROUND, PETER RUSSELL, DOROTHY S. SEVERIN, COLIN SMITH, BARRY TAYLOR, ARTHUR TERRY, J.E. VAREY, JULIAN WEISS, GEOFFREY WEST, JANE WHETNALL.

Although it was labeled an anti-epic for trumping the celebratory scope of the Roman national epos, Lucan’s Bellum Civile is a hymn to lost republican liberty composed under Nero’s tyrannical empire. Lucan lost his life in a foiled conspiracy to replace the emperor, but his poem survived the wreckage of antiquity and enjoyed uninterrupted readership. The present collection samples the most current approaches to Lucan’s poem, its themes, its dialogue with other texts, its reception in medieval and early modern literature, and its relevance to audiences of all times.

First published in 2006, Key Figures in Medieval Europe, brings together in one volume the most important people who lived in medieval Europe between 500 and 1500. Gathered from the biographical entries from the series, Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages, these A-Z biographical entries discuss the lives of over 575 individuals who have had a historical impact in such areas as politics, religion, and the arts. It includes individuals from places such as medieval England, France, Germany, Iberia, Italy, and Scandinavia, as well as those from the Jewish and Islamic worlds. In one convenient volume, students, scholars, and interested readers will find the biographies of the people whose actions, beliefs, creations, and writings shaped the Middle Ages, one of the most fascinating periods of world history.