Honouring Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in Poetry – Jacob Masen and His Collection of Poems for the Nuncio Fabius Chigi
Honouring Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in Poetry – Jacob Masen and His Collection of Poems for the Nuncio Fabius Chigi

Summary/Abstract: The German Jesuit Jacob Masen published a treatise in 1650, “The Mirror of Images of Secret Truth” (Speculum imaginum veritatis occultae), to which he appended a collection of panegyric poems with the common title Jubilee Year of Symbols (Jubilaeus symbolicus). The poet dedicated 50 works to the Apostolic Nuncio Fabius Chigi, later Pope Alexander VII. The paper presents this particular collection of poems, which bear witness to the ancient custom of honouring ecclesiastical dignitaries in poetry to commemorate them. The paper discusses the circumstances in which the poems were written and the method used by the author to highlight the personal qualities and achievements of the nuncio, taking into account the formal and content means used by the writer.

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