La Correspondance de Girolamo Zorzi: ambassadeur vénitien en France (1485–1488) par Joël Blanchard, Giovanni Ciappelli and Matthieu Scherman (review)

This meticulous edition of Girolamo Zorzi’s copialettere [collection of copied letters] represents a valuable source for scholars with an interest in diplomatic relations between France and Venice in the late Middle Ages. Not only is it the first edition of this recently rediscovered document (London, British Library, MS Add. 48067), but it also represents one of the earliest known copialettere of any Venetian ambassador (p. ix). Most of the eighty letters contained in this collection — all copied by a single hand, probably one of Zorzi’s secretaries (p. xviii) — are detailed missives to the Signoria di Venezia in which Zorzi describes the progress of his mission in France. Although his mission initially consisted in negotiating the restitution of four Venetian vessels which had been captured by French corsairs on their way to Flanders, Zorzi soon became involved in affairs of international importance. When the Pope and the King of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus, competed for the custody of Sultan Cem (1450–1495), who was held hostage in France, Zorzi followed Venice’s instructions and did his best to prevent this important political prisoner being delivered to Matthias Corvinus. As illustrated by Joël Blanchard, Giovanni Ciappelli, and Matthieu Scherman in their copious and interesting introduction, Zorzi’s correspondence offers far more than an intriguing insight into late medieval Venetian and international diplomacy. Due to the ambassador’s minute descriptions, his letters also provide an informative and engaging window into the ‘fonctionnement des institutions royales françaises’ (p. xxvii) as well as into the networks of Italian bankers and traders in fifteenth-century Europe. From a linguistic perspective, the copialettere is no less interesting. Across the letters we learn, for instance, which languages (of French, Latin, and Italian) could be used for which purposes at the French court (see, for example, pp. 26, 65, 111). But beyond these metalinguistic observations, Zorzi’s language itself deserves attention. It is well known that migrating individuals such as ambassadors and merchants were constantly exposed to language contact and therefore played a significant role in promoting loanwords. In fact, we find a few interesting Gallicisms in his letters, some of which — for example, appuntamento [Fr. appointement, deal, arrangement (pp. 177, 179, 191)] and balì [Fr. bailli, bailiff (pp. 77, 86, 110)] — are generally considered to have entered Italian only in the sixteenth century. Given these new first attestations, the ambassador’s use of Gallicisms would repay further exploration. The volume includes a useful bibliography, an index of names and places, and copious endnotes which provide historical background information and explain vocabulary unknown to modern readers. Since the copialettere has not yet been digitized, it might have been helpful to include photographs of some of the letters for an indication of the characteristics of the original manuscript. Overall, this edition is a welcome additional source not only for historians but also for historical linguists. In it, both will find ‘du grain à moudre’ (p. vii).

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