Thomas III (Saluzzo)

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Thomas III del Vasto (* 1356 ; † 1416 ), also called Thomas III. de Saluces or Tomas d'Alderan was Thomas III from 1396 to 1416 . Margrave of Saluzzo . He is the author of the allegorical novel Le chevalier errant , an important example of medieval courtly epic .

Life

family

Coat of arms of the Marquis of Saluzzo

The del Vasto, a sideline of the Aleramides , were of French origin. The family provided the Marquis of Saluzzo from the middle of the 12th century . Thomas was born the son of Federico del Vasto, Margrave of Saluzzo (1332-1396) and Beatrice de Genève. In 1403 he married Margherita di Roussy, who came from the French nobility. The marriage resulted in four daughters and two sons, of whom the firstborn died at the age of two. Thomas' successor as Margrave was son Ludovico (1406-1475), who succeeded his father at the age of nine as Ludovico I. Regents up to the age of majority were his mother and his older, illegitimate half-brother, Valerano Bastardo di Saluzzo.

politics

1394 was Thomas III. captured by Savoy troops and imprisoned in Savigliano and later in Turin. Only after paying a large ransom was he released and was able to succeed his late father as Margrave of Saluzzo. Thomas initially continued his father's pro-French politics. In France he hoped to find an ally against the threats posed by the aggressive expansionist policy of the Dukes of Savoy , who wanted to unite all of Piedmont under their rule.

Thomas was a Knight of the Order of Annunciations .

Le chevalier errant

Illustration from Le Chevalier errant , around 1400–1405. Paris, BnF

The encyclopedic proportions of the novel, composed in prose and verse , are written in French. He tells the adventurous journeys of an anonymous knight who, starting from the realm of Dieu d'Amours (the god of love), in which he received the accolade of Christ , via the realm of Lady Fortune and finally into the realm of Dame Cognoissance (des Knowledge), where he is informed about the meaning of his long journey.

Manuscripts

The novel is preserved in two illuminated manuscripts

Ms 12559, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

This manuscript is richly decorated with illuminations, which are attributed to the " Maître de la Cité des dames ", who from 1403 to 1404 at the court of Charles VI. worked in Paris.

Ms LV6, Biblioteca nazionale universitaria, Turin

The Turin manuscript is less luxurious and parts of it were destroyed in the library fire in 1904.

A third manuscript, which is still mentioned in the 18th century, is considered lost.

literature

  • Ernstpeter Ruhe: The Chevalier errant on an encyclopedic journey . Pp. 159-176. Opus library of the University of Würzburg. [1] (PDF; 952 kB)
  • Robert Fayen: The lance and the feather . 2003. ISBN 3-89500-303-4
  • Media of communication in the Middle Ages . Edited by Karl-Hein Spieß. Stuttgart: Steiner-Verl. 2003. (Contributions to the history of communication. Vol. 15.) [2]

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Pedigree of Tommaso III (Marchese) di Saluzzo , accessed on February 9, 2016.
  2. ↑ Arlima, medieval literature archive (French)
personal data
SURNAME Thomas III
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thomas III del Vasto; Thomas III de Saluces; Tomas D'Alderan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Margrave of Saluzzo (1396-1416)
DATE OF BIRTH 1356
DATE OF DEATH 1416