French Literature Reviews - 2026

T. di Carpegna Falconieri, Il se voyait déjà Empereur. Cola di Rienzo, un Romain au Moyen Âge
History, Politics and Society

Il se voyait déjà Empereur

Cola di Rienzo: A Roman in the Middle Ages

Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri

Translated from Italian by Michèle Grévin

UGA (Éditions de l’Université Grenoble Alpes)

Series: Italie Plurielle

ISBN: 978-2-37747-042-6

Pages: 330 — Price: 25 €

A learned and brilliant man, Cola di Rienzo captivated the crowds with his eloquent speeches and seized power in Rome in 1347 at the age of 34. A political visionary, humanist, and man of faith driven by revolutionary ideals, Cola di Rienzo emerges throughout this work as a romantic leader who anticipated Italian unification. Ambitious and full of contradictions, he readily staged elaborate ceremonies, already imagining himself emperor, yet ultimately met a pitiable end. This new biography sheds light on this extraordinary figure, who was above all an exceptional communicator with an innate gift for using words to seduce and persuade. Tommaso di Carpegna decodes the mechanisms of a propaganda machine that enabled this man of the people to rise to power, prompting us to reflect on the enduringly relevant theme of the dangerous power of propaganda and populist rhetoric.

Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri is a professor of medieval history at the University of Urbino (Italy) and president of the School of Literature, Art, and Philosophy. His research focuses primarily on the history of Rome, with a particular emphasis on historical testimony, especially in relation to forgery and imposture.

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For further information:

Biographies of medieval political figures often navigate the complex intersection between historical reality and the mythmaking that surrounds charismatic leaders. In this work, Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri examines the life of Cola di Rienzo, a fourteenth-century Roman whose political ambitions and rhetorical skills allowed him to seize power in Rome in 1347. The study places particular emphasis on the mechanisms of persuasion and public spectacle, tracing how an extraordinary communicator used eloquent speeches and elaborate ceremonies to captivate the populace and shape his own public image.

Readers interested in medieval history, political rhetoric, and the dynamics of power in fourteenth-century Italy may find this volume relevant. The text addresses the contradictions of a visionary leader whose rise and fall offer broader reflections on the mechanics of populist appeal. Through a careful analysis of historical testimony, the book sheds light on an exceptional figure whose political experiments anticipated later developments in the Italian peninsula, inviting ongoing consideration of the relationship between language, authority, and public perception.

https://www.uga-editions.com/il-se-voyait-deja-empereur-526654.kjsp?RH=12869425720219599