This book is an annotated edition of the letters of Gomes Eanes, a Portuguese
who lived for three decades in Italy and was head of the Badia Fiorentina (Monastery
of Santa Maria of Florence) between 1419 and 1439. It includes a transcription of 550
missives that he received, of which the originals are currently kept in two Florentine
archives (Biblioteca Laurenziana, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale). The text provides a
detailed record of the abbot's activities and of his constant communication with men
and women living in Italy, Portugal, and other parts of Europe, revealing a multilingual
cultural world and a wide field of human relations. As well as an introductory study
of the abbot and his career, the history of the letter collection within the intellectual
and institutional context of the Benedictine abbey, and of letterwriting as a cultural
practice in Portuguese and Italian societies, are considered. A general index of the
letters closes the volume.
