Between rhetoric and history. The papal preambles of the Villarense code and some Petrine episodes from the 12th century artes dictandi

Abstract

This article is focused on the debated use of the historical information finded in the ars dictandi treatises and in the letter-collections composed by the masters for exempli purposes. To demonstrate the degree of reliability and the methods used by the masters re-elaboring historical events, this paper analyzes some pontifical preambles copied by a master of ars dictandi to set up a collection of exordia (preserved in the Villarense code) and some letter-models that speak of the events that involved the popes in the twelfth century.