Francesc Vicent

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Francesc Vicent (* around 1450 in Segorbe , Alto Palancia, Spain , † around 1512 in Italy?) Was a Valencian author of the first known treatise on the modern game of chess, printed in 1495 . Francesc is the Catalan spelling of the first name. In the literature you can also find the alternative spellings Francesch , Francesh and the Spanish form Francisco . The family "Vicent" is mentioned in the "Nobiliario español", where it is said to be of Catalan origin and a branch of the family later moved to Valencia.

In the honor of Francesc Vicent, Rafael Ferrando, director of the astronomical observatory Pla d'arguines de Segorbe , named the asteroid (78071) Vicent after him in 2002 .

life and work

Little is known about Francesc Vicent's life. According to his own information in his work title, he lived in Valencia. There he was probably in contact with the literary circle around Bernat Fenollar , Francí de Castellví and Narcís Vinyoles , who wrote the chess poem Scachs d'amor between 1470 and 1490 . In it, the new rules (modified platoons of the first time Lady and runners compared to the previous, "Arab" Chess) described. Garzón assumes that Francesc Vicent played a key role in this innovation, if not its actual initiator - and thus the "inventor" of modern chess.

In 1495 Francesch Vicent published a chess book with the extensive title "Libre dels jochs partits dels schacs en nombre de 100, ordenat e compost per mi Francesch Vicent nat en la ciutat de Segorb e criat e vehi de la insigne e valerosa ciutat de Valencia" . It is the first printed treatise on chess and was printed in Valencia on May 15, 1495 in the Valencian language by Lope de Roca Alemany and Pere Trincher. All copies of this book are now lost. The last known copies were in the Biblioteca Comunnale de Siena , Italy, and in the library of Santa Maria de Montserrat , where they were lost during the Spanish War of Independence in 1811 when French soldiers misused the manuscripts as cannon fodder. After long research in the Biblioteca Malatestiana in Cesena , Italy, the Spanish chess historian José Antonio Garzón found a manuscript which contained a compilation of Vicents book contents and described Valencia as the "cradle of modern chess". This transcript shows that it was a collection of modern chess problems.

Francesc Vicent fled the Spanish Inquisition to Italy, where he found protection under the authority of the Borgia . This should explain why there are copies of his book in Italy. The new rules of the game, invented in Valencia, quickly spread to Italy and from there to France and established the age of modern chess.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The only reference to the life data mentioned can be found on this NASA page about the asteroid Vicent , without further evidence. They cannot be confirmed from the historical-biographical sources mentioned below in the literature. In my opinion, these are estimates that were also rumored without criticism on the other wikis (English, Italian, French, Sp., Approx.).
  2. ↑ Julio de Atienza: De Aguilar. Madrid 1948, p. 1296f (Segorbe TV 2011).
  3. ↑ NASA website (accessed November 14, 2012).
  4. ↑ Garcon 2001; Garcon 2005.
  5. ^ Pastor 1827, p. 41.
  6. ↑ Segorbe TV 2011.
  7. ^ Bono 2005.
  8. ^ Bono 2005.
personal data
SURNAME Vicent, Francesc
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vicent, Francesch; Vicent, Francesh; Vicent, Francisco
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Valencian author
DATE OF BIRTH around 1450
PLACE OF BIRTH Segorbe , Alto Palancia, Spain
DATE OF DEATH around 1512
Place of death uncertain: Italy