Una fonte italiana sulla morte di Bálint Balassi, insigne petrarchista ungherese

This study pertains to the Christian siege of Esztergom on May 1594, during which Balassi Bálint – the most famous Reinassance Hungarian poet – died. There are few Italian sources about this siege and Balassi is never mentioned in these documents. In spite of this, we have found a XVI century letter, kept in the Ambrosiana Library of Milan, in which a certain “Petrino ingegnero” reports about the poet wounding on May 30. Therefore the aim of this study is to publish this letter using the Italian philology criteria for single witness editions, in order to make this important text available to the readers. Firstly, Balassi cult and the already known historical sources about this battle are described; secondly, the edition is given, together with a philological introduction, a linguistic analysis of the text, and some useful biographical and prosopographical notes. In conclusion, this dispatch, together with the typical documentary sources, could really help historians to throw light upon Balassi death.