The re-reading of the documentary sources retrieved in the Spanish and Sicilian historical archives allows, here, to reflect on the figure and activity of Matthew da Agrigento. This Franciscan has been considered, for too long, a personality of secondary importance by historians who have dealt with questions related to the observance. A few years ago, only Paolo Evangelisti was able to place the contribution made by this friar to the construction of the political identity of the Trastámara in the right perspective. In this contribution, an attempt has been made to make his role more perceptible, highlighting, on the one hand, the initiatives pursued by the Franciscan within the city contexts and, on the other, emphasizing his ability to move dexterously between the crown and the papacy, at a time when the intentions of Martin V and Eugene IV often clashed with those of the Aragonese sovereign. Their different positions generated, in fact, tensions and clashes of a certain importance, that only Matthew was able to resolve, acting as an intermediary between the popes and the Trastámara.
La rilettura delle fonti documentarie conservate negli archivi storici spagnoli e siciliani ha permesso, in questa sede, di poter riflettere sulla figura e l’attività di Matthew da Agrigento. Su una personalità che, per troppo tempo, è stata considerata di secondaria importanza dagli storici che si sono occupati di questioni legate all’osservanza francescana. Solo Paolo Evangelisti, qualche anno fa, ha saputo collocare nella giusta prospettiva il contributo dato da questo francescano alla costruzione dell’identità politica dei regni Trastámara. È un ruolo che ora si è cercato di rendere più percepibile evidenziando, da un lato, le iniziative perseguite dal francescano all’interno dei contesti cittadini e, dall’altro, la sua capacità di muoversi con una certa destrezza tra la corona e il papato. In un momento in cui le intenzioni dei pontefici Martino V ed Eugenio IV si scontrarono spesso con quelle del sovrano aragonese, generando tensioni e scontri di un certo rilievo. Matthew, però, godendo della piena fiducia sia dei papi sia dei Trastámara, poté spesso fungere da intermediario per ricomporre i vari contrasti.
Matthew of Agrigento. The political and religious engagement of a franciscan in the Catalan-Aragonese Kingdoms (1425-1442) / Mursia, Antonio. - In: MEDITERRANEA. RICERCHE STORICHE. - ISSN 1828-230X. - 59:(2023), pp. 481-500. [10.19229/1828-230X/59022023]
Matthew of Agrigento. The political and religious engagement of a franciscan in the Catalan-Aragonese Kingdoms (1425-1442)
Antonio Mursia
2023
Abstract
The re-reading of the documentary sources retrieved in the Spanish and Sicilian historical archives allows, here, to reflect on the figure and activity of Matthew da Agrigento. This Franciscan has been considered, for too long, a personality of secondary importance by historians who have dealt with questions related to the observance. A few years ago, only Paolo Evangelisti was able to place the contribution made by this friar to the construction of the political identity of the Trastámara in the right perspective. In this contribution, an attempt has been made to make his role more perceptible, highlighting, on the one hand, the initiatives pursued by the Franciscan within the city contexts and, on the other, emphasizing his ability to move dexterously between the crown and the papacy, at a time when the intentions of Martin V and Eugene IV often clashed with those of the Aragonese sovereign. Their different positions generated, in fact, tensions and clashes of a certain importance, that only Matthew was able to resolve, acting as an intermediary between the popes and the Trastámara.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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