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Students are able to understand the content of a Neo-Latin text; they are able to analyse the structure of a Latin sentence and develop appropriate reading strategies; they are able to determine content-related and formal elements of letter literature, and to point out the particularities of Humanistic letter literature; they are able to recognise intertextual references; finally, they are able to formulate their insights in the coherence of a letter book.

The course is based on the letters of Marsilio Ficino, first published by the Florentine philosopher in 1495. For comparison, certain letters from other authors of that period are also considered. First we will get acquainted with the historical context of the letters and with Ficino's Latin idiom. In a second step we complement the basic understanding of the Latin letters with a focus on their intertextual allusions. Finally, we combine the results of the previous weeks to an overall interpretation.

Lecture (in English and German), but mainly joint reading and interpretation (in German) of text passages prepared at home

Collaboration (40%) and written examination (60%); international students can also take the examination in English, French or Dutch.

The literature will be discussed in the first course and made available by the lecturer.

- Ficino, Marsilio. Epistole. Venice, 1495.

- Hulstaert, Kristien. "Reading, Seeing and Understanding Latin." Journal of Latin Linguistics, vol. 18, no. 1-2, 2019, pp. 61-83.

- Tröger, Ursula. Ficino's self-portrayal. Studies on his epistolarium, De Gruyter, 2016.

- Ascoli, Albert Russell. "Epistolary Petrarch." The Cambridge Companion to Petrarch, edited by Albert Russell Ascoli and Unn Falkeid, Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 120-38.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

The lessons are held in German and in English