L'exhortatio adversus Turcos ad Alphonsum Hispaniae et Italiae regem» di Andrea Contrario

The essay presents the oration that the humanist Andrea Contrario addressed, probably in 1456, to Alfonso the Magnanimous; it traces its plot characterized by high rhetorical formalization and a rich intertextuality, highlighting the topic of the opposition between Turks and Christians and bringing out reasons, expectations, ideological positions widespread in Naples, as in Italy and Europe. Particular attention is reserved for the motif of the laus of the sovereign (king, emperor, ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν, champion of all Christianity) that permeates the entire oration, and also constitutes the legitimacy for the author to speak on behalf of the Christian people, who expect from Alfonso the crusade against the wicked Turk to safeguard Christianity.