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

Cécile Caby

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.

Humanistic sacred oratory in mendicant chapters

[1] Two parallel phenomena have come into view from the increasingly rich stream of recent studies on the relationship between the religious orders and humanist culture: on the one hand, the ability of humanism to infiltrate a variety of contexts, even those foreign to its origins such as the religious orders; on the other, the various modalities, discursive genres, and actors in the permeation of the studia humanitatis specifically into the religious orders.¹ One of the most obvious and significant genres for an investigation of this infiltration, is that of the oratory. Briefly put – following the pioneering studies of John O'Malley and John MacManamon, revisited in recent years by various scholars – during the early fifteenth century in the cities and courts of northern Italy, a new genre of rhetoric became increasingly popular, especially for occasions of particular solemnity.² This rhetoric can be defined by the term "antique style", or that mode following the Latin antique model, disseminated by masters of rhetoric in northern Italy from the beginning of the fifteenth century.³

[2] This new form provided strong competition and challenges to the masters of the sermo modernus, who till then had largely dominated the field of public speaking in the genre of sacred oratory, as well as that of the university and, in general, of ceremonial rhetoric. During the fifteenth century, humanist models of rhetoric imposed themselves on several identifiable occasions in the life of religious orders, and of the mendicant orders in particular, that is, academic ceremonies, funerals of benefactors or friends, celebrations of saints, reception of prelates such as cardinal protectors, speeches in the Curia, and so forth.⁴ There is, however, one singular occasion that is linked to the common reflection at the heart of this special issue: the orations delivered at the general chapters and specifically, the public orations addressed to both the fathers attending the chapters and to a broader (and therefore predominantly lay) audience in the context of the general chapters of the mendicant orders, or even their provincial chapters.

Mendicant chapters and urban context: material and rhetorical issues

[3] Although the practice of public oration during chapters was not confined exclusively to the mendicant orders,⁵ I will limit my discussion here to this category of regulars. I will draw, in particular, on examples from the Dominicans, since it is precisely in Dominican orations that an aesthetic of the city was developed, both as a functioning whole and in its component parts, with particular emphasis on religious edifices: churches, oratories, and obviously mendicant houses.⁶ The first reason for this particular mendicant practice is likely obvious to most: while monastic orders tended to gather their general chapters in isolated monasteries or, at any rate, rarely in cities, the orders of the mendicants, who predominantly implanted themselves in urban environments, generally established their convents, and hence held their general chapters, within cities or in peri-urban locations.⁷

[4] When we consider the organisation of chapters, we often overlook or ignore the great expenses incurred in their organisation: costs linked to providing accommodation and meals for the many friars arriving from all parts of Christendom, as well as provisioning them with all that was needed for liturgy (candles, flowers, etc.), among other outlays.⁸ In surviving sources that attest to the financial burden of such gatherings (account registers, records of city council deliberations, and even chronicles), we see that the hosting of chapters involved high costs, which could not have been sustained by the ordinary budget of the hosting convent. To cope with these costs, the brothers would ask for exceptional funding from spiritual friends, for whose souls the brothers of the chapter of course never failed to pray (as mentioned at the end of surviving chapter records). Indeed, the entire host city and all its inhabitants were usually solicited, and these invitations to generosity were almost always supported by pontifical concessions of indulgences in exchange for such gifts.⁹

[5] Precisely because of the intense exchanges between host cities and the orders presiding over the organization of these meetings, it is not surprising that the orators who delivered the sermons as well as the speeches that opened and closed the chapter proceedings, took the opportunity to thank and praise those who had contributed to the success of the meeting. The presence of the authorities of the commune and city, and likely also those of numerous cives gathered for such festive occasions, merited such expressions of gratitude towards the city or the prince who ruled it. The sermonary of the Pisan Dominican Simone da Cascina († ca. 1418) provides a powerful example of this practice. In the first section dedicated to sermones ac colationes statuum diversorum, we find no less than seven sermons (including several models) for provincial chapters of the Roman province and three for general chapters.¹⁰ This group includes a number of sermons or collationes explicitly marked as ad regratiandum: acts of grace for the cardinal protector (Bologna, 1410),¹¹ the bishop of the city in which the chapter met,¹² or for the city itself and its rectors.¹³ The Collatio ad regratiandum pronounced in 1414 for the elective chapter in Florence, during which Leonardo Dati was elected General Master, is addressed to the friars as well as to the spectabiles domini and cives nobilissimi.¹⁴ Simone structured it on the sermo modernus, organised in a sequence of three segments reflecting the three ways to announce acts of grace, derived from the chosen thematic verse, Luke 14:10 (Erit tibi gloria).¹⁵ In the second part, the preacher presents his act of mercy to the city and the convent of Santa Maria Novella, while in the third and final part, he thanks the city government for contributing the substantial sum of one thousand gold ducats for the chapter (nam mille ducatos aureos presenti capitulo obtulerunt). In this sermon, references to the city of Florence are practically absent, while – perhaps in homage to Leonardo Dati's role in the matter¹⁶ – the renovated buildings of the convent of Santa Maria Novella are extolled. Four motifs are highlighted through a typical distinctio on the term mirificus: the beauty of the buildings (Dixi quod primo est mirificus iste conventus in edificiorum sumptuositate […]), the opulence of the ornamentation (Secundo conventus iste est mirificus in ornamentorum pretiositate), and lastly the quality and number of friars living in the convent (Tertio hic conventus est mirificus in indutorum generositate […]. Quarto hic conventus est mirificus in perfectorum numerositate). The first motif provides the occasion for a glorious, laudatory description of the convent and its wealth: the size of the church, the arrangement of the funerary chapels around the outside of the church, and the three cloisters of the convent. The second motif specifically praises the vaults and the elegance of the columns; the famous school for students and the guest accomodations; the dormitory accessed by three staircases, one of which was purpose-built for horses and other animals; the library (armarium plenum libris solempnibus); even the cellar under the church choir and other antechambers are lavished with praise.¹⁷ This list, apart from its topical character, steps through the highlights of the architectural restoration campaign initiated by the newly elected general Leonardo Dati, prior of Santa Maria Novella.¹⁸ The sermon may also have influenced Giovanni Caroli's description of the convent at the beginning of his Lives of the Friars of Santa Maria Novella (1460–1480).¹⁹

[6] Praising famous aspects of cities or convents, often extensively and with great descriptiveness, is therefore not unusual in sermons or solemn orations for chapters, but it does not necessarily follow that these accolades directly reflected physical and aesthetic realities. The grandeur of the city may be extolled in other ways, such as praising its history – in particular its real or mythic origins – or its illustrious men.²⁰ Returning to Simone da Cascina's collection, the sermon delivered to the provincial chapter of Lucca in 1402 is divided into three segments:²¹ the first in praise of the divine majesty (maiestatis supernalis conlaudationem), the second celebrating the earthly city (civitatis actualis exaltationem), and the third the power of the regular life (potestatis regularis demonstrationem). The second segment is dedicated to the city of Lucca but mainly concerns its lord, Paolo Guinigi, an important supporter of the convent of San Romano,²² as well as to the cives of Lucca. In other words, it is the illustrious men underwriting the Lucchese convent that capture the preacher's attention, while the physical city fades into the background. Fades, that is, except for a picturesque description of how the streets through which the brothers passed during their procession were covered with silk, flowers, and fragrant herbs.²³

Mendicants' urban panegyrics and the aesthetics of cities

[7] One particular element, however, appears to have contributed to a renewed sensitivity to the description of the city and its distinguishing landmarks in the laudationes urbis of these orations. I refer to the early adoption, on solemn occasions, of a humanistic style of epideictic rhetoric that gradually established itself in Italy from around the 1420s, and later in the rest of Europe, while the form sermo modernus tended to disappear (even if still used by Simone with a few modifications). Numerous reasons prompted some orators to adopt this new rhetorical approach for solemn occasions, an adoption that arose outside their studia, in lay scholarly circles. The particulars of this adoption process are not under discussion here, but it seems obvious to me that, in our specific case, the practice of addressing the host cities with expressions of gratitude through oratory may have led the authors to seek new models, particularly in humanistic oratory, which was notably rich in this respect. In addition to the taste for monumental ekphrasis evidenced in the numerous letters from humanists describing their travels,²⁴ this new oratory form even counted among its prestigious models the Laudatio Florentine urbis composed by Leonardo Bruni (1402–1404) as a weapon in the political context of the war against Milan and Visconti policy.²⁵ As has been aptly pointed out, Bruni (followed by others) drew inspiration from Aelius Aristides' Panathenaic Oration and more generally from elements stemming from the rediscovery of the Late Antique Second Sophistic, which from the 1420s on would have an important influence on Italian humanist rhetoric.²⁶ It is thus no coincidence that the three sections of Bruni's Laudatio (the site and situation of Florence and its contado; the origins of the Florentine people; the actions and virtues of Florence) correspond to the topoi of the Panathenaic Oration (also to those of the Laudatio of Rome) as well as to those theorised by Menander. More than any other form of rhetoric then in vogue, epideictic rhetoric was suitable for praise, in particular the praise of cities. The friars quickly understood this, and strove to employ it wherever they were required to praise a city, such as on the occasion of their chapter meetings.

[8] On 27 May 1455, in the cathedral of Ancona, a Dominican from Syracuse (Sicily) delivered an address at the provincial chapter of his order.²⁷ After a lengthy excusatio propter infirmitatem based on a famous ancient example (the relations between Cicero and Apollonios), the discourse shifts into a eulogy of the city of Ancona. The city's inhabitants and their virtues are set forth. The listing of virtues (faith, charity, concord, and justice) provides the orator with the opportunity to refer to several heroic episodes from Ancona's history, including its resistance against the Goths, against Barbarossa's arch-chancellor Christian of Mainz – who forced the city endure the famous siege of 1173 – and against Francesco Sforza. But even before lauding the virtue of the city's inhabitants, it is the antiquity and prestige of its distinguished relics which are praised, that is, those of its patron saint, Liberius, and of the saints Palatia, Marcellinus and Cyriac, as well as the temples that housed them. Also cited as praiseworthy are: the city's Greek foundation; the Emperor Trajan's constructions in the seaport; and the present-day beauty so well-expressed by the harbour, walls, houses and streets, and even by the vines that grow along the walls. The oration is thus an unabashed encomium of the city. This character was indeed already noticed by the author's contemporaries who compiled the codex that transmits the speech, an elegant anthology of medieval and humanistic prose and verse related to the history of the city of Ancona.²⁸ Despite its rather laboured composition, the speech is worthy of a friar with some epideictic training. As it turns out, the author, a certain Gregory of Syracuse, had studied in various studia in central and northern Italy and in particular in Venice and in Padua (like many of his brethren who came from Sicily), the latter an important centre for teaching the epideictic rhetoric that he employed in his oratory and that probably helped to propel his career.²⁹

[9] In this case, as in so many others, the praise of the city emphasises the history and virtues of its inhabitants, while the focus on physical sites does not go much beyond the topical enumeration frequently found in medieval texts.³⁰ In some cases, however, as in the Brunian model, a significant place is given to the description of the city, its squares, and its most prestigious sites, among which those mendicant convents whose construction had required (and sometimes continued to require) considerable private and public donations. The links and interactions between the revivals of the laudatio urbis genre and the taste for architectural and monumental ekphrasis has been highlighted, for example, in studies by Lucia Bertolini, who is careful to define "how and through what strategies the description of monumental buildings embeds itself into the description of the entire urban setting".³¹ This use of monumental ekphrasis in chapter oratory is attested by the anonymous speech delivered in Siena on 15 August 1462 for the Dominican general chapter. Among the various virtuoso descriptions of the second section, the final passage should be noted: the orator's discourse walks us through the streets of Siena, but subordinates topographical order to the imperatives of rhetoric dispositio, in search of a climax suited to the feast of the Assumption. At the end of the list of sacred sites, convents and monasteries, churches and temples, the description naturally arrives at the cathedral – topographically dominant – dedicated to the Virgin.³²

[10] What would have been the audience of such a performance (of which we only have the written version, though doubtless set down by the author himself)? This is certainly not a question specific only to this type of oratory, nor does it have a simple answer.³³ First of all, where it is possible to know how these performances took place, the festive character and broad public participation in the public moments associated with the chapter are evident. For instance, we have the precise account of the Dominican Felix Faber, who was a witness to, and actor in two successive chapters of the order held in 1486 and 1487 in Venice. According to Faber, the fame of Venice derives from thirteen elements, the twelfth of which was its capacity for hosting large events, such as the meetings of princes and religious chapters (capitula religiosorum). He then elaborates on the aforesaid Dominican chapters of 1486 and 1487, describing them as sumptuous urban feasts – equal to those held for the city's veneration of Saint Mark – attended by large crowds that included the urban elites (senators, patriarchs, abbots) and even the Doge himself, the latter arriving in the famous Bucintoro.³⁴

[11] We also know that a number of these orations enjoyed success that went beyond the original performance. In some cases, as we have seen, they were copied into humanistic rhetorical miscellanies, which spread the model beyond the realm of mendicant preaching. Moreover, as happened with other particularly solemn orations (such as those delivered before the Curia), the best of them (or those of the most influential orators) were printed in small incunabula to be presented as gifts. This is the case of the orations in laudem Neapolis and in laudem Urbis – recently and extensively studied³⁵ – composed by Zanobi Acciaiuoli (1461–1519) explicitly for the Dominican general chapters celebrated in Naples on 3 June 1515³⁶ and in Rome in May 1518³⁷, the former dedicated to Cardinal Louis of Aragon, the latter to Cardinal Giulio de' Medici.³⁸ These texts reflect great sophistication as embodied in their learned rhetoric and the close intertwining of geographical and antiquarian sources deployed in conjunction with the direct knowledge of the places, in the manner of Italia illustrata by Flavio Biondo. Indeed, in some cases they were actually too sophisticated and complex: Acciaiuoli's laudatio of Rome (1518) was never presented orally due to its excessive length!³⁹

[12] Also committed to print were two speeches delivered at the Dominican general chapter held in Venice at Pentecost 1487 (one of the two described by Felix Faber), less than a year after the death of the master general elected at another Venetian chapter at the end of June 1486:⁴⁰ the first, by Bartolomeo Sibilla, was addressed to the chapter's fathers to prepare them for the election of the new master general,⁴¹ while the second, by Lazzaro Gallineta, for the Doge, Senate and Venetian cives, was pronounced at the end of the chapter, after the election of the Venetian master Gioacchino Torriani.⁴² While Bartolomeo Sibilla's discourse concerns the organisation of the order of preachers and institutional aspects such as the election of the general master or the reform of the order ("de institutione nostre reipublice predicatorum, de novi principis nostri electione, de reformatione religionis"), Lazzaro Gallineta's is an action of grace perfectly in line with the humanistic rhetoric by then dominant in this type of ceremonial. This is evidenced by both the frequent references to ancient orators in his excusatio propter infirmitatem, as well as his comparisons between Venice and the cities of Antiquity. In fact, in order to thank the Venetians for having welcomed two general chapters in less than a year, the orator composed a eulogy of Venice in which he highlights the Venetians' special efforts in the defence of Christianity and the fact that Venice was founded for the welfare, utility, and prosperity of humanity.⁴³ The orator lists the manifestations of Venice's loyalty to Christianity. Firstly, its non-pagan, Christian foundation; its combat against Saracen pirates, in crusades, and against the Turks; its fidelity to the popes against the Empire (the famous Peace of Venice of 1177), and, of course, the veneration of the relics ofits famous protector-saint Mark. Also mentioned are the numerous churches, convents and monasteries wonderfully built by the Venetians in the middle of the sea within the limited confines of the city (in his mediis maris fluctibus et tam arto civitatis spacio), as well as the parish churches and the confraternities (the famous scuole), each adorned with marble sculptures and paintings. He then dwells on "the temple of the divine Mark of such magnitude, built with such admirable technique, covered with marbles so numerous, precious, and of every kind, and adorned with sacred figures and stories made by means of tesserae that are called mosaics".⁴⁴ Besides San Marco, the discourse devotes ample space to the convent of San Zanipolo,⁴⁵ the description of which is constructed as an ascent through a succession of rhetorical interrogations:

Who here in this temple commissioned the consecration and adornment of so many altars and chapels? The citizens of Venice! Who had so many sumptuous sacred garments woven with silk and byssus and embroidered with elaborate bands of gold? Who – say I – gifted so many gold and silver vessels for sacred celebrations? The citizens of Venice! Who covered this temple, among the largest, with white and red marble? The citizens of Venice! Who had these beautiful halls, corridors, and chambers built for the various activities of the friars? The citizens of Venice! Who established this library, filled with so many volumes from all disciplines, for the exercise of the intellect? The citizens of Venice! What richness of speech could possibly be worthy enough to convey the piety and the religious observance towards God of the Venetians?⁴⁶

[13] The orator, a certain Lazaro Gallineta (†1490), had a typically itinerant career in the order, moving from northern Italy to France and England, but he also followed a hybrid intellectual path between the scholastic culture well-anchored in the studia of his order and the humanistic skills cultivated both in his family and in the city of Padua. One thing is certain: friar Lazaro knew Leonardo Bruni's Laudatio well, having composed a volgarizzamento of it that is difficult to date but which must have been completed between the second half of the 1460s and the early 1470s while he was still in London, or recently arrived in Padua.⁴⁷ On the basis of his translation errors, it has recently been suggested that friar Lazaro was not well-versed in ancient Latin. In view of his training and his other works, however, it seems to me that this conclusion bears revisiting.⁴⁸ Regardless of the quality of his vernacular re-writing, it is nonetheless possible to affirm that our orator was influenced by many aspects of Bruni's Laudatio (as well as by numerous humanist descriptions of Venice),⁴⁹ and incorporated its main points into his own oration, a text emblematic of the cultural hybridisation that took place in, and was often promoted by Italian cities in the fifteenth century. In conclusion, there is indeed much to reconsider, since those cities that had housed mendicant convents for centuries had also recently become the birthplace of the new humanist culture.

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Jean-Paul Rehr for reading a version of this article.

Reviewers
Edoardo Rossetti, SUPSI / Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Anonymous

Handling Editor
Susanne Kubersky-Piredda, Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History, Rome

Citation
Cécile Caby, "Humanistic Rhetoric and the Aesthetics of Cities in the Chapter Preaching of Mendicant Orders (Italy, Late 14th–15th Centuries)", in: RIHA Journal 17, 2 (2026), DOI: https://doi.org/10.11588/riha.2026.2.107571.

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The text of this article is provided under the terms of the Creative Commons License CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0.