Orsola Pellino

Orsola Pellino is a doctoral student in the PhD program "Historical Studies: from the Middle Ages to the present day" at the University of Teramo and in cotutelle in ED 472 Mention "Histoire, Text, Documents" HTD at the École Pratique des Hautes Études EPHE-PSL, Paris.

The project

Title: The Vaticinia Pontificum: commentary, edition, catalog

"Starting from a Benevento manuscript (D.S.M. 9.II ms. 1, first quarter of the 15th century) analyzed during my Master's thesis, this research aims to analyze the great manuscript tradition of the mysterious Vaticinia Pontificum at codicological, paleographic and philological levels. The Vaticinia Pontificum date from the first quarter of the 15th century. They result from the union of two earlier series of pontifical prophecies, both illustrated: Genus Nequam and Ascende Calve. The former, comprising fifteen prophecies dedicated to popes, was written in the late 13th or early 14th century and placed under the authority of the Calabrian abbot Joachim de Flore († 1202). It originated in the Byzantine world. The second, dating from the first half of the 14th century, introduces other popes and has sometimes been attributed to Anselmo di Marsico († 1210). The context in which the Vaticinia were composed (particularly the section called Genus nequam) is strongly marked by the prestige of Joachim de Flore, arguably the most famous "prophet" of the late Middle Ages. At the time of the Great Western Schism (1378-1417), and in particular at the Council of Constance (1414-1417), the two prophetic series Genus nequam and Ascende Calve were brought together. The result was a relatively fixed cycle of thirty prophecies derived from the two original series, with a few minor changes. However, while each manuscript is unique and has its own particularities, there is a common layout to all the witnesses of the tradition: 1) image of a pope, with his name. 2) Legend called the "canon". 3) Motto (see appendix for an example of this image, with transcriptions and translations of the three text registers). The various witnesses can be classified into three families: 1) Arundel (from the British Library manuscript, Arundel 117); 2) Este (from the Modena manuscript, Biblioteca Estense 233); 3) Regina (from the Vatican Library manuscript, Reg. Lat. 580). Arundel and Este are similar, while Regina is more distinctive. Although manuscript lists exist and historians have made extensive use of the Vaticinia, no critical edition exists. It is this extensive philological work, backed by a rich existing bibliography, that we intend to bring to a successful conclusion."

Hosting institution: École Pratiques des Hautes Études (EPHE-PSL)

Selective Bibliography

I Vaticinia Pontificum nel codice viterbese in Biblioteca & societa, rivista della biblioteca consorziale di Viterbo n.9/10 2023, pp. 90-101.