Alberto Castaldini, Attualità transilvana di Antonio Possevino
Transilvanian Actuality of Antonio Possevino
The study departs from the obvious assessment that, despite the great significance of the life and work of Antonio Possevino (Mantova 1533-Ferrara 1611) for the political and cultural life of its time, there is no articulate and comprehensive biography of this Jesuit diplomate and writer. At least no one up-to-date – as the last one was that of Jean Dorigny, published as early as 1759. Nevertheless, there is a strong academic movement interested in the retrieval of his spiritual legacy – international conferences are organized on a yearly basis in several important European universities. The interest of the present paper is represented by the legacy of the traveler and diplomate Antonio Possevino, who strongly believed in the virturs of acculturation (such as his Commentaries clearly show), on the Romanian (i.e., Transylvanian) milieu of his time.
Keywords: history of Transylvania, acculturation in medieval Transylvania, Antonio Passevino, diplomacy and culture
in medieval Europe
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