La poesia encomiastica latina per Carlo di Borbone

Abstract

This paper has two main purposes: providing a general overview of the
eulogistic production for Charles of Bourbon, highlighting its literary
genres and authors, the most frequently used topics, the models of reference
and, furthermore, the public use of rethoric, the restoration of Classicism,
and the influence of Vico and Gravina’s theories in eloquence. In the second
part the study focuses on some carmina composed for Charles of Bourbon
by Alessio Simmaco Mazzocchi, the most distinguished Neapolitan
intellectual of the first half of the XVIII century. The study analizes their
content, the occasion on which they were composed, and their quotations
of ancient authors. Mazzocchi constantly promoted Charles of Bourbon’s
reforms. Nevertheless, this aspect of his production and his role as a poet
laureate has never been adequately considered yet.