Forms and Structure.

The ars dictaminis and the Rhetorical School of Southern Italy in the Thirteenth Century

Abstract

This article examines the rhetorical and epistolary culture of thirteenth-century southern Italy, with particular attention to the so-called “Capuan school”. It analyses the stylistic features shared by dictatores active in the imperial and papal chanceries, including syntactic complexity, metaphorical density and rhythmic prose shaped by the cursus. Through the examples of Tommaso Capua, Pier della Vigna, Nicola da Rocca and the Constitutions of Melfi, the study shows how the ars dictaminis combined formal refinement with political and ideological communication, becoming both a literary model and a powerful instrument of authority throughout medieval Europe.