Transylvania as it Appears in the Printed Editions of Giovanni Botero’s Relazioni Universali

Authors
Ileana Stănculescu
Pages
3-39
Abstract

The Italian scholar Giovanni Botero published the first edition of his famous geography Le relationi universali in Rome in 1591. His description of the different countries of the world, which clearly differs from the mediaeval cosmographies, also includes Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania. In the 1591 edition, the information about Transylvania is sparse and at times inaccurate. From my study of the different texts mentioning Transylvania found in the various editions of Relationi Universali, I was able to observe how, with each republication of the book (i.e. in 1592, 1593, 1596 and 1597), the chapter on Transylvania is more extensive and edited.

Keywords
Giovanni Botero, Transylvania, Romanian Principalities, Moldavia, Walla-chia.