One of the literary activities practiced in the courts of the Angevin kings and their noble supporters was the translation of Latin texts into French. Of particular interest in the history of Amatus of Montecassino, whose work survives only in the French translation from the court of the Angevin noble who comissioned it. Given the wealth of the patrons, many of these works were presented in deluxe, illuminated manuscripts. Evidence from some manuscripts suggest that artists were imported from northern France to complete the works, and that they formed a workshop to service the textual needs of the French aristocrats.

These works include an Illustrated Bible, the Histoire Universelle, the Epistole a Lucilio, the Ystoire de li Normant, A translation of the Chronicle of Isidore, the Roman History of Eutropius, Letters of Paul the Deacon, a bilingual New Testament, and a French version of De Balneis Puteolanis, and a translation of the Consolation of Philosophy. They are listed chronologically according to the succession of Angevin rulers, which may in turn suggest how literary needs and political circumstances were connected.

Background Bibilography:

Avril, François. “Un atelier ‘picard’ à la Cour des Angevins de Naples.” In Zeitschrift für Schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte 43 (1986), 76-85.

Degenhart, Bernard and Annegrit Schmitt. “Frühe angiovinische Buchkunst in Neapel: Die Illustrierung französicher Unterhaltungsprosa in neapolitanischen Scriptorien zwischen 1290 und 1320.” In Festschrift Wolfgang Bruanfels: Wolfgang Braunfels zum 65. Geburtstag, 71-92. Edited by Friedrich Piel and Jörg Traeger. Tübungen: Ernst Wasmuth, 1977.

Perriccioli Saggese, A. I romanzi cavallereschi miniati a Napoli. Napoli: Società Editrice Napoletana, 1979.

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