[Henry, or Byzantium gained] is a twenty-seven-canto epic poem published in 1635 in Venice. Its author, Lucrezia Marinella, was one of three women writers in Early Modern Italy to take up this genre; because it was considered the peak of writing excellence at the time and due to its topics (public if not altogether political in nature), it did not attract many female authors. Marinella instead engaged the challenge set up by Torquato Tasso in both his epic poems (

of 1581 and the reworked

of 1593) and theoretical writings (

of 1587 and

of 1594): in so doing she chose a topic that was important in the history of her city, Venice, remote…

1290 words

Citation: Galli Stampino, Maria. "L'Enrico, overo Bisantio acquistato, poema eroico". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 September 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=29851, accessed 21 November 2024.]