Letentur et exultetur universa Panonia. An unknown gratulatory oration for King Matthias’s betrothal to Beatrice of Aragon

Abstract

This study offers a scholarly edition of the newly discovered oration by the Venetian ambassador, Sebastiano Badoer, delivered to King Matthias Corvinus during his proxy betrothal in Wrocław. Aside from a description of the manuscripts that contain this text, the study puts the speech into the diplomatic and historical context of the 1476 Hungarian royal wedding, using additional new evidence in the reconstruction of the engagement ceremonies that featured unusual rites of dressing the king in the garment sent by his future wife. Furthermore, the thematic analysis of the oration bears witness to Venice’s diplomatic endeavour, striving to use the wedding as a tool for strengthening the alliance with the Hungarian king, while the contextual stylistic comparison places the speech as the first scion of the emerging genre of Humanist wedding orations beyond the Alps.