Between Rhetoric and Literature: The Dictamina of Pietro da Prezza

Abstract

This paper focuses on the figure of Pietro da Prezza, a rhetorician and dictator active in the second half of the thirteenth century within the chanceries of the last representatives of the Hohenstaufen, in particular Conradin. Traditionally regarded as an expression of “practical” knowledge, chancery texts have long suffered from limited editorial and critical attention; nonetheless, they constituted the principal vehicle of cultural expression throughout the thirteenth century. After Pier della Vigna, the foremost representative of the stilus supremus, Pietro da Prezza inherited this legacy, producing works of remarkable rhetorical sophistication, among them the Adhortatio and a rich corpus of letters. In all these texts, one finds the use of elaborate rhetorical strategies and a rich substratum of biblical, medieval, and classical sources. Particularly significant is the use of the antiqui auctores, not as mere scholastic reminiscences but as instruments serving argumentation and stylistic effectiveness. This attests not only to the literary vocation of the dictamen, but also to the possibility of connecting it with certain aspects of the subsequent period known as Pre-Humanism.