Chronicon Faventinum

The Chronicon Faventinum^[1] is a Latin chronicle of the city of Faenza and the region of Emilia-Romagna from 20 BC until AD 1236.^[2] It was begun by a Faentine native, Tolosanus,^[3] a deacon, magister and later secular canon of Faenza Cathedral.^[4] He brought the record down to 1218.^[5] The chronicle was subsequently continued for a decade by at least two other anonymous writers, probably canons of the cathedral.^[6]

Tolosanus was born in the mid-12th century.^[2] He was a rhetorician active in municipal politics and in the local church.^[5] He had a biblical and classical education, an understanding of juridical procedure and good Latinity.^[7] He died on 5 April 1226.^[5]

The Chronicon is the earliest piece of urban historiography from Emilia-Romagna.^[7] it is divided into 153 chapters, each headed by a rubric.^[7] It begins with the mythical founding of the city by the Romans, which Tolosanus dates to 20 BC.^[2] Tolosanus quotes extensively from Virgil and the bible.^[7] His work is largely legendary until the period of the communes (11–12th century).^[7] While for the earlier period, his chronology is based on the succession of bishops of Faenza, for the communal period it is based on the succession of magistrates.^[2]

Ideologically, the Chronicon has Guelph (i.e., pro-papal) sympathies.^[8] The solidarity of the commune, the clergy and the bishop is stressed.^[9] Tolosanus was imbued with a crusading spirit and he glorifies the urban militia.^[10] Imola, Forlì and Ravenna are portrayed as Faenza's traditional enemies.^[10] Faenza was always a member of the Lombard League, and the Chronicon often rises above local history to cover the wider conflict between the league and the Holy Roman Empire.^[11] It records how the city sent 27 knights to fight for the pope against the emperor during the War of the Keys (1228–1230).^[12]

References

1. Tanzini 2016, p. 181: Cronaca di Faenza.
2. Vasina 2003, p. 330; Hartmann 2016.
3. Tanzini 2016, p. 181: Tolosano.
4. Vasina 2003, p. 330; Hartmann 2016; Tanzini 2016, p. 181.
5. Hartmann 2016.
6. Vasina 2003, p. 330; Raccagni 2016, p. 723.
7. Vasina 2003, p. 330.
8. Raccagni 2016, p. 723.
9. Vasina 2003, pp. 330–331.
10. Vasina 2003, p. 331.
11. Vasina 2003, p. 331; Hartmann 2016; Raccagni 2016, pp. 723–724.
12. Raccagni 2016, pp. 723–724.

Editions

• Rossini, G., ed. "Chronicon faventinum". Rerum italicarum scriptores (2nd ed.), Vol. 28, pt. 1.

Sources

• Hartmann, Florian (2016). "Tolosanus". In Graeme Dunphy; Cristian Bratu (eds.). Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle. Brill Online. doi:10.1163/2213-2139_emc_SIM_02440. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
• Mascanzoni, Leardo (1996). Il Tolosano e i suoi continuatori: nuovi elementi per uno studio della composizione del Chronicon faventinum. Rome.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Mascanzoni, Leardo (2019). "Tolosano". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 96: Toja–Trivelli (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
• Raccagni, Gianluca (2016). "The Crusade Against Frederick II: A Neglected Piece of Evidence" (PDF). The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 67 (4): 721–740. doi:10.1017/S002204691600066X.
• Tanzini, Lorenzo (2016). "De origine civitatis: The Building of Civic Identity in Italian Communal Chronicles (12th–14th Century)". Imago Temporis: Medium Aevum. 10: 171–189.
• Vasina, Augusto (2003). "Medieval Urban Historiography in Western Europe (1100–1500)". In Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis (ed.). Historiography in the Middle Ages. Brill. pp. 317–352.