IL “CANTARE DI GIUSTO PALADINO”. STUDIO DELL’OPERA ED EDIZIONE SECONDO LA VERSIONE DEL MS. B (BOLOGNA, BUB 2721).

This PhD thesis is a study, and a critical edition, of the Cantare di Giusto Paladino, a religious cantare composed in the first half of the 15th century by an anonymous author around the Po valley. The work is structured as follows: Introduction: it reconstructs chronologically the studies about the cantare, addressing some crucial questions that are dealt with in greater detail in the following chapters (author’s identity, dating, sources). Section one (chapters 1-3). Analytical examination of the sources as well as of the narrative material used in the cantare. The identification of the material is also pivotal in the identification of the anonymous canterino. From such material one can namely infer the author’s education, working environment, abilities and intentions. Section two (chapters 4-8). Chronological reconstruction of the text’s transmission (examination of the transmission as well as of the manuscripts, analysis of the valuable manuscript B, on which the edition is based, followed by a thorough study concerning its copyist; linguistic analysis). Wide chapter concerning the textual criticism (methodological issues; manuscripts classification; stemma codicum). Section three. Edition of the original version (based on manuscript B). Appendix: Other versions (manuscripts Ph and Y).