Humanistic Rhetoric and the Aesthetics of Cities in the Chapter Preaching of Mendicant Orders (Italy, Late 14th–15th Centuries)

Cécile Caby

doi:10.11588/riha.2026.2.107571

Authors

Cécile Caby

Cécile Caby is a professor of Medieval History at Sorbonne University. Her main research fields are the social, monastic and cultural history of late medieval Italy. More recently, her studies are centred on humanistic practises in religious orders in Quattrocento Italy, with a special focus on the transition from the sermo modernus to the humanistic oratory. Her recent publications include: Autoportrait d’un moine en humaniste. Girolamo Aliotti (1412–1480), Rome 2018; Un éloge de Camaldoli pour Pierre le Goutteux. La Heremi descriptio de Ludovicus Camaldulensis monacus, Florence 2021.

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate, on the basis of oratory practices, how humanist characteristics penetrated the culture of the religious orders, particularly the mendicant orders. It focuses on occasions of particular solemnity, namely public orations delivered at the general chapters. In doing so, it offers some reflections on how these solemn occasions adopted a humanistic style of epideictic rhetoric and contributed to a renewed sensitivity to the architectural and monumental ekphrasis of the city.

Published in Vol. 17 No. 2 (2026): RIHA Journal

Date

2026-05-30

DOI

https://doi.org/10.11588/riha.2026.2.107571

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