Modéliser la prise de Constantinople (1204) •

Abstract

The fictional letters on the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and its aftermath written by the professor of rhetoric Boncompagno da Signa for his treatise Boncompagnus (1215/1226) form a prime document for examining the relationship between real and fictional correspondence in the Middle Ages. By comparing their content, structure, and rhetorical devices with those of a set of documents written on the same theme, including the letter sent by Baldwin of Flanders to Pope Innocent III to report on the events of 1204, it is possible to identify the way in which Boncompagno drew inspiration from this official letter to compose his model letter, and what differentiates them. This comparative analysis allows us not only to deepen our knowledge of the processes of the fictionalisation of history at work in Italy in the thirteenth century, but also to take a different look at the rhetoric of official letters or other texts (poems, stories) relating the same events.