Francesco Benci's Quinque Martyres

Paul Gwynne, PhD (1990), The Warburg Institute, University of London, is professor of Medieval and Renaissance Studies at The American University of Rome. He has published many articles and two monographs on Neo-Latin poetry: Poets and Princes: the Panegyric Poetry of Johannes Michael Nagonius, (Brepols, 2012); Patterns of Patronage in Renaissance Rome: Francesco Sperulo: Poet, Prelate, Soldier, Spy, 2 vols (Peter Lang, 2015).

“Paul Gwynne has produced a superb edition of the Quinque Martyres, the Latin with a fluent English translation on the opposite page and an abundance of footnotes catching every echo of classical precedent.” Alastair Hamilton, The Warburg Institute. In: The Heythrop Journal, Vol. 61, No. 3 (May 2020), p. 526.“Gwynne’s edition is multiple-user-friendly and may be profitably consulted by students of the classical tradition and neo-Latin literature […] as well as of early modern Catholicism and the Asian missions.”Yasmin Haskell, The University of Western Australia. In: Journal of Jesuit Studies Vol. 5, No. 4 (November 2018), pp. 696–698.“This edition of Quinque martyres will be a useful resource for literary scholars and historians of religion. Gwynne’s translation is elegant and highly readable. He has also done excellent editing work, which includes many pages of commentary on the Latin text and a comprehensive introduction that highlights the literary and rhetorical aspects of the poem.”Alejandro Cañeque, University of Maryland. In: Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, Vol. 87, Fasc. 174 (2018-II), pp. 536–539.“masterful presentation” “Situating a readable translation within a detailed network of classical and post-classical references seems to be an effective way of bringing nonspecialist readers as close to the original text as possible.”Markus Friedrich, Universität Hamburg. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 3 (Fall 2020), pp. 991–992. “The present text […] deserves to be better known, both as a record of early Jesuit missionary endeavour and as a poem in its own right.” Victor Houliston, University of the Witwatersrand. In: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 70, No. 3 (2019), p. 634.

• AcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsList of IllustrationsIntroductionThe Scope of this BookA Note on the Text and CommentaryA Note on the Vocabulary Part 1 Francesco Benci and the Heroic ImpulseFrancesco Benci, Professor of RhetoricThe Portuguese and Jesuits in Goa and SalceteThe Five Companions: Talis ab Vrlini coetus se fuderat urbe (QM. 5.606)Synopsis of the Quinque martyresThe Quinque martyres and the Epic TraditionBenci and VirgilAmplificatioBenci and Contemporary Neo-Latin Epic: Vida’s Christiad and Barga’s SyriasEkphrasis in the Quinque martyresThe Later Reception of the Quinque martyresPart 2 The Quinque martyresBook 1. Text and TranslationBook 2. Text and Translation Book 3. Text and Translation Book 4. Text and Translation Book 5. Text and Translation Book 6. Text and TranslationCommentaryAppendix 1. Prefatory Letter and Liminary VersesAppendix 2. A Poetic Altercation and ReconciliationAppendix 3. Report of the Massacre by Niccolò Orlandini (Latin)Appendix 4. Report of the Massacre by Alessandro Valignano (Italian)Appendix 5. Verses below the Five Engravings of English Martyrdom Prefaced to Ecclesiae militantis triumphi BibliographyIndex of Proper NamesIndex Locorum Citatorum