I Notai poeti salentini: Giovanni Grasso e Giorgio di Gallipoli.

Abstract

Giovanni Grasso, imperial notary, βασιλικὸς γραμματικός and μαΐστωρ ἐπὶ τῶν δεήσων at the court of Frederick II, and Giorgio di Gallipoli, archivist (χαρτοφύλαξ) of the Church of Gallipoli, are best known as poets. They both came from a land, the Salento, which in the mid-12th and later in the 13th centuries was the last Hellenic-speaking cultural "frontier" for the Byzantine imperial tradition in the Mezzogiorno. The article aims to prove, on the "Greek" side, the link between poetry and the notarial function, which was a prominent feature at the court of Frederick II.