A stage for the sovereignty. Culture and Power in Mediaeval Age, in The Routledge Handbook of the History of Naples since the Late Middle Ages

The article explores the history of culture in Naples in 4 moments: 1) the Ducal and Byzantine period, between the Late Antique and Early Medieval ages (VI-XI cent.); 2) the Norman-Swabian period (XII-XIII cent.), in which Naples becomes the first state university in history, founded by Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen; 3) the Angevin age (XIII-XV cent.), in which the city (especially with Charles II of Anjou) assumes the characters of the capital of the Kingdom of southern Italy and sees the development of literature in the Italian vernacular (with the presence of Giovanni Boccaccio); 4) the Aragonese age (second half of the XV cent.) in which the city becomes the capital of the “Catalan-Aragonese empire” and the propulsive center of an innovative monarchical and Mediterranean Renaissance.