This modern English translation of all the surviving literary
compositions ascribed to Liudprand, the bishop of Cremona from 962 to
972, offers unrivaled insight into society and culture in western Europe
during the "iron century." Since Liudprand enjoyed the favor of the
Saxon Roman emperor Otto the Great, and traveled to Constantinople more
than once on official business, his narratives also reveal European
attitudes toward the Byzantine Empire and the culture of its refined
capital city. No other tenth-century writer had such privileged access
to the high spheres of power, or such acerbic wit and willingness to
articulate critiques of the doings of powerful people.
Liudprand's historical texts (the Antapodosis on European events in
the first half of the 900s, and his Historia Ottonis on the rise to
power of Otto the Great) provide a unique view of the recent past
against a genuinely European backdrop, unusual in a time of localized
cultural horizons. Liudprand's famous satirical description of his
misadventures as Ottonian legate at the Byzantine court in 968 is a
vital source of information on Byzantine ritual and diplomatic process,
as well as a classic of medieval intercultural encounter. This
collection of Liudprand's works also includes his recently discovered
Easter sermon, a rare early document of Jewish-Christian intellectual
polemic.
Readers interested in medieval European culture, the history of
diplomacy, Italian and German medieval history, and the history of
Byzantium will find this collection of translated texts rewarding. A
full introduction and extensive notes help readers to place Liudprand's
writings in context.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:
Paolo Squatriti, associate professor of history and Romance languages
and literatures at the University of Michigan, is author of Water and
Society in Early Medieval Italy AD 400-1000 and editor of Natures
Past: The Environment and Human History.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
"Few medieval chroniclers are more enjoyable to read than Liudprand of
Cremona, the well-traveled Italian courtier, ecclesiastic, and
ambassador. . . . Paolo Squatriti has done scholars and students an
important service by offering fresh translations . . . plus the first
rendering in English of a homily written by Liudprand. . . . The
translator has carefully combed the scholarly literature on Liudprand in
English, Italian, and German, with emphasis on work done in the last
twenty years. A synthesis of sorts appears in a substantial
introduction. . . . There follow four texts, in more or less
chronological order, with extremely helpful explanatory and
bibliographic notes aimed 'to ease the task of students in unraveling
Liudprand's culture' (viii). The translation is accurate and faithful,
navigating with considerable success the often choppy structure and
precious style of Liudprand. . . . Writer and translator seem to come
fully into their own with 'Embassy, ' a total treat to read here. . . .
Students will find much to learn about and chew over in each of these
texts and by looking at them as a group. . . . Squatriti has given
students and scholars an English Liudprand for the twenty-first century
that is an important resource for extending our understanding of the
tenth." -- Bruce Venarde, The Medieval Review
"At last--a new, up-to-date translation of the Works of Liudprand (or
Liutprand) of Cremona. Paolo Squatriti's version has much to commend it.
It moves away from the "forsooth language" of the old translation by
F.A. Wright and builds on the more recent work of Brian Scott; it
captures Liudprand's chameleon-like changes of style in an eminently
readable version, and it provides a useful introduction to recent
scholarly work on the author and his times. . . . As befits a translator
who is both historian and literary scholar, Squatriti's introduction has
much of interest to say. . . . A vivi
