Ultimo Libro
Parma, February 1248.
Thick columns of smoke blacken the sky of the city under siege. Fire roars in the royal camp: the Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick II’s soldiers lie on the ground, massacred without pity by the town’s people in revolt. While the fire destroys everything and the tents are ransacked, a manuscript on the art of falconry, written by Frederick II himself, disappears. Nine months later, Frederick entrusts his vicar, Ezzelino da Romano, with the task of finding it. He cannot allow it to be lost forever. Not only because it is a work of incalculable value, enriched with precious illuminations, but even more because on those pages are written things that, if made public at the wrong moment, could provoke a charge of heresy and break the already unstable equilibrium with the Church. This mission is assigned to Gualdo da Margnano, Ezzelino’s trustworthy lieutenant. Together with the young French illuminator Simone from Aix, he reaches the castle of San Martino where the manuscript could be hidden. None of those who live there seem to know of the existence of this mysterious document: neither the lord of the castle, nor the young niece, nor her tutor, Matthew from Willingtham. But they must be quick and explore every room, every crack and cranny. Because a new war has begun. News of the manuscript has reached the Pope’s ears. Innocenzo IV decides to entrust the investigation to an inquisitor with no scruples. And as an old mad woman wanders about on the castle walls, and a witch explores secret passages, Matthew finds himself involved in cruel power games, played out with ever more insoluble enigmas. Until fate decides the destiny of the manuscrip...
Valeria Montaldi’s latest novel, mixing a deep historical knowledge and a flawless narrative style, is not only a catching medieval adventure, but also a brilliant representation of the relationship between State and Church, between religious ethics and lay thought that, read beyond the lines, lends itself to inevitable discussions and comparisons with our days.
Valeria Montaldi, journalist and writer, lives and works in Milan. The Wool Merchant, her first novel, was published in 2001, followed by The Lord of the Hawk (2003) and The English Monk (2006), both short listed for the Bancarella Prize. All of her novels, widely successful in Italy, have been published abroad.
Thick columns of smoke blacken the sky of the city under siege. Fire roars in the royal camp: the Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick II’s soldiers lie on the ground, massacred without pity by the town’s people in revolt. While the fire destroys everything and the tents are ransacked, a manuscript on the art of falconry, written by Frederick II himself, disappears. Nine months later, Frederick entrusts his vicar, Ezzelino da Romano, with the task of finding it. He cannot allow it to be lost forever. Not only because it is a work of incalculable value, enriched with precious illuminations, but even more because on those pages are written things that, if made public at the wrong moment, could provoke a charge of heresy and break the already unstable equilibrium with the Church. This mission is assigned to Gualdo da Margnano, Ezzelino’s trustworthy lieutenant. Together with the young French illuminator Simone from Aix, he reaches the castle of San Martino where the manuscript could be hidden. None of those who live there seem to know of the existence of this mysterious document: neither the lord of the castle, nor the young niece, nor her tutor, Matthew from Willingtham. But they must be quick and explore every room, every crack and cranny. Because a new war has begun. News of the manuscript has reached the Pope’s ears. Innocenzo IV decides to entrust the investigation to an inquisitor with no scruples. And as an old mad woman wanders about on the castle walls, and a witch explores secret passages, Matthew finds himself involved in cruel power games, played out with ever more insoluble enigmas. Until fate decides the destiny of the manuscrip...
Valeria Montaldi’s latest novel, mixing a deep historical knowledge and a flawless narrative style, is not only a catching medieval adventure, but also a brilliant representation of the relationship between State and Church, between religious ethics and lay thought that, read beyond the lines, lends itself to inevitable discussions and comparisons with our days.
Valeria Montaldi, journalist and writer, lives and works in Milan. The Wool Merchant, her first novel, was published in 2001, followed by The Lord of the Hawk (2003) and The English Monk (2006), both short listed for the Bancarella Prize. All of her novels, widely successful in Italy, have been published abroad.
Related Links
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_arte_venandi_cum_avibus
www.italiamedievale.org
www.stupormundi.it
http://cronologia.leonardo.it/storia/biografie/ezzelino.htm
www.medioevo.org/artemedievale/Pages/Lombardia/Lodi.htm
http://cronologia.leonardo.it/biogra2/innoc4.htm
http://www.provincia.lodi.it/001_Not_marrone_sancristoforo.asp?IDNotizia=3026&IDCategoria=463
www.icastelli.it/regioni/valledaosta.htm
http://www.medioevo.com/index.php?option=com_medioevocontent&task=view&id=232&Itemid=33&lang=it
www.sansimpliciano.it
http://www.magicoveneto.it/Bassano/index.asp
www.alateus.it/streghe.htm
http://www.mondimedievali.net/Medioevoereticale/streghe.htm
http://itnetbsd.altervista.org/gizm0/torture/intro.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeria_Montaldi
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_arte_venandi_cum_avibus
www.italiamedievale.org
www.stupormundi.it
http://cronologia.leonardo.it/storia/biografie/ezzelino.htm
www.medioevo.org/artemedievale/Pages/Lombardia/Lodi.htm
http://cronologia.leonardo.it/biogra2/innoc4.htm
http://www.provincia.lodi.it/001_Not_marrone_sancristoforo.asp?IDNotizia=3026&IDCategoria=463
www.icastelli.it/regioni/valledaosta.htm
http://www.medioevo.com/index.php?option=com_medioevocontent&task=view&id=232&Itemid=33&lang=it
www.sansimpliciano.it
http://www.magicoveneto.it/Bassano/index.asp
www.alateus.it/streghe.htm
http://www.mondimedievali.net/Medioevoereticale/streghe.htm
http://itnetbsd.altervista.org/gizm0/torture/intro.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeria_Montaldi