World Beyond Europe in the Romance Epics of Boiardo and Ariosto

Jo Ann Cavallo is a professor in the Department of Italian at Columbia University.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart One: Asia1. Angelica of Cathay2. Gradasso of Sericana3. Agricane of Tartary4. Mandricardo, Son of Agricane5. Marphisa, Eastern QueenPart Two: Out of Africa6. Agramante of Biserta (Tunisia)7. Rugiero (Atlas Mountains, northern Africa)8. Rodamonte of Sarza (Algeria)9. Saracen SpainPart Three: The Middle East10. Boiardo’s Noradino in Cyprus11. Egypt: from Damietta to Cairo12. Jerusalem13. Ariosto’s Norandino in DamascusPart Four: Back to Africa14. From Ethiopia to the Moon15. The Destruction of BisertaPart Five: From Cosmopolitanism to Isolationism16. Boiardo’s Brandimarte across the Continents17. Ariosto’s Rinaldo along the Po RiverConclusionNotesNames and origins of fictional charactersWorks CitedIndex

‘Cavallo offers a thoroughly researched examination of the literary sources that shaped Boiardo’s narrative and Ariosto’s interpretation of the material… This is an incredibly rich and rigorous study of Boiardo’s literary world.’- Andrea Rizzi (Parergon vol 32:01:2015) ‘This is an excellent study with well-crafted narratives, replete with insights and detailed analysis… This book should appeal not only to Italianists but also to scholars interested in the debate on late medieval and early modern cultural encounters.’- Giorgos Plakotos (Sixteenth Century Journal vol 46:03:2015) ‘The World beyond Europe invites scholars of Italian literature to expand our spatial and cultural horizons by offering a model of original thinking and syncretic knowledge.’- Maria Galli Stampino (Italica vol 92:04:2015) ‘Cavallo provides a detailed and fascinating account of how a non-Christian space was represented both in the romance epic tradition and more generally in early modern Italian culture.’- Juliann Vitullo (Annali D’Italianistica vol 35:2016) ‘This engagingly written book is indispensable not only for Italianists but for students and scholars of romance and epic and any other literature of the European West.’- Goran Stanivukovic (Renaissance & Reformation, vol 40:01:2017)