Jiri Spicka

After 1989, the reception of Dante in the Czech Republic was no longer determined by the ideological control of the regime and became part of an open cultural context, competing with other themes and authors. The milestones of this new era were a new complete translation of the Comedy and the first complete translation of the De vulgari eloquentia, accompanied by other occasional initiatives, the production or translation of texts for the study of Dante and partial translations of Dante's works. The weak point of reception remains the absence of Dante in school curricula.

The contribution investigates the relations between John of Neumarkt (Středa), chancellor of Emperor Charles IV, and Italy in the following lines: his acquaintance of the Italians at the court of Prague (including Cola di Rienzo and Petrarch), his correspondence with Italians, his participation in the coronation expeditions of Charles IV in Italy, and the contribution of these visits to John’s cultural and intellectual formation. In his view, Italy is a country of great wealth not only for the splendor of the places where he was welcomed but also for the high level of literary and artistic life, for theological, philosophical, legal and literary studies, and, above all, for the inspiring production of texts on spiritual topics.

Petrarch’s reception in Czech lands from the 14th century to nowdays: Petrarch’s contacts with Charles IV’s court in Prague, his reception in the age of Reformation and Humanism, Petrarch in historical libraries, Czech translations and criticism.

The dialogue treatise De remediis utriusque fortune is often considered a repetitive work of little literary value. A previously neglected dialogue, "De totius corporis dolore ac languore vario" (II, 114), deviates from the overall structure of this work, while it has surprising common points (in terms of themes, sources, dialogue structure and meta-dialogical reflection) with Secretum. The article brings the hypothesis that the Dialog II, 114 represents an initial idea of De remediis, based originally on the Ciceronian model and later abandoned in favour of a large moral encyclopedia of Pseudo-Senecan derivation.

The article deals with a short, almost unknown Latin poem by Albertino Mussato entitled Somnium, which relates the author's oniric journey into the afterlife. As has already been noted by critics, it is a scholarly exercise in controversy with Dante and linked to classical sources, especially Virgil. The present article defines the position of the text in the tradition of medieval visions of the afterlife: it classifies the descriptive and narrative motifs used by the author, compares them with medieval texts previous or contemporary to Mussato and underlines the hybrid and original solutions provided by the author to this tradition. Although the innovation of the canon of visions of the afterlife does not appear to be Mussato's priority, it nevertheless provides a curious example of the contamination of the genres and forms of medieval literature.

Petrarch in Provence. A Valley, a Town, a Mountain
Francesco Petrarch used to define himself as an eternal pilgrim having lived in numerous different places. He spent a significant part of his life in the Provence region in southern France, initially in Carpentras and later in Avignon and Vaucluse. This book is concerned with how Petrarch depicted these locales in Provence. The book asserts that although the poet was not attempting to describe Provence in a systematic manner as a region, one can nevertheless choose three locales which he depicted extremely impressively in his literary works, these being: Vaucluse, Avignon and Mont Ventoux.
Vaucluse is a valley not far from Avignon where Petrarch purchased a house closely adjacent to the source of the Sorgue river in the year 1337. Petrarch lived a simple country life here immersed in reading and writing. This space gradually became embodied with numerous meanings. Petrarch first and foremost placed this locale in polemic fashion against the busy and morally corrupt life of the town, concretely in Avignon. He takes pains to draw attention to his simple meals, clothes, contact with the surrounding nature and his isolation from people. His time spent in Vaucluse is also an attempt at emulating the lives of ancient Roman writers and statesmen who retired to their rural villas for study and repose. Since Petrarch did not have their financial resources, he opted for at least a truly remarkable locale, the valley and the source of the Sorgue, these being not only natural beauties but also having been referred to in classical sources. The valley also has a certain Christian genius loci, since the distinct spring has been from time immemorial (even during pagan times) a revered spot, with St. Veranus having even spent several years in the valley as a hermit. Petrarch’s life here undoubtedly also had spiritual and hermit-like features. Vaucluse has become celebrated by the fact that Petrarch set the plot of his lyrical collection Rerum vulgarium fragmenta and experienced primarily here his long and unfulfilled love for Laura. The nature around Vaucluse served as a means for evoking the fleeting visits by Laura to the valley. The continually changing natural backdrop serves to create the effect of an analogy or contrast to his spiritual states of mind.
Vaucluse is located in a strong polemical tension in relation to Avignon which was home to the Papal Curia in Petrarch’s day and which was a truly lively political and cultural centre at the time. Petrarch constantly attacked the French Papal Curia as a historical anomaly which had broken away from the apostolic beginnings, forsaken Holy Rome and was in his eyes living a life of debauchery. Petrarch’s descriptions of Avignon are extremely expressive and display his profound disgust with the situation. In the descriptions, Petrarch makes use of metaphorical images, comparisons with Babylon, Hell and a labyrinth. He employs almost apocalyptic rhetoric in long impassioned lines and metaphors focused on the sins, vices and debaucheries which reign in Avignon.
The third prominent locale in Provence is Mont Ventoux which Petrarch climbed on 26 April 1336 accompanied by his brother. This was only a short incident in his life and there are even doubts existing as to whether the climb actually even took place. Nevertheless, this letter, with its remarkable depiction of the mountain scenery and masterful transition between the description of the actual ascent and a description of his spiritual states of mind, has become one of Petrarch’s most celebrated texts. The present book is primarily concerned with the autobiographical features of the letter and the poet’s subjectivity linked with a feeling for the natural world. A detailed commentary has been written about the letter.
The book deals with the above-mentioned three locales with the use of all of the relevant criticism. It takes a stance on the various interpretative positions. It is actually the first book ever to place the three locales in Provence into mutual linkages and study their literary depictions in one piece. It focuses attention on the connections with literary tradition (in particular the typologies, locus amoenus, locus horridus, mountains as a point of contact with the deity), on the actual, allegorical and symbolic portrayal of space, the moral connotations of places, Petrarch’s autobiographical exhibitions, the innovative treatment of nature in love discourse and the depiction of literary space from the perspective of literary theory (first and foremost a phenomenological focus). The book also provides a complete translation of the relevant texts with a detailed commentary accompanying them. The majority of these texts have been translated into Czech for the first time.

The author emphasizes the importance of the Liber sine nomine as an outstanding text both in the controversial literature of the 14th century and in Petrarch’s works. The essay discusses the main aims of the Liber (a defence against those who blamed the too close ties between Petrarch and the Curia; the poet’s moral criticism of the Papal Court; the dislike for France), and analyzes the poetics of the monstrous and the complex metaphorical style used by Petrarch to carry out his polemical and aesthetic objects.

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) was not only an outstanding poet and scholar of his age, but also an interesting example of a public intellectual ante litteram, at least he appears to be so from the writings he left to posterity. His works in Latin, in particular,
provide a strong critical commentary on the political issues of his time and about civilisation and history in general. Petrarch loved to live close to the centers of power and to maintain good relationships with influential political personalities; nevertheless,
he managed to avoid getting involved in practical political activity or being recruited as a secretary or courtier. Despite not being of noble birth, he succeeded in being accepted into the most prestigious social circles and, at the same time, maintained sufficient independence and freedom to dedicate his time to literature. In his works he tried to impose ancient Rome as a social model and Roman heroes as exemplars of individual
qualities; he also tried to convince the political powers (especially the Italian maritime republics and the Roman Emperor) to re-establish Italian dominance, to as great an
extent as possible, within the borders of the Roman Empire. Petrarch sought to quell the violence of Italian political life and restore the papacy to Rome, with the aim of opposing French power in Europe.