Florence's Embassy to the Sultan of Egypt, 1st ed. 2018 An English Translation of Felice Brancacci's Diary

This book is the first English translation of Felice di Michele Brancacci?s diary of his 1422 mission to the court of Sultan Al-Ashraf Seyf-ad-Din Barsbay of Egypt. Following the purchase of Port of Pisa in 1421, and the building of a galley system, Florence went on to assume a more active role in Levant trade, and this rich text recounts the maiden voyage of the Florentine galleys to Egypt. The text portrays the transnational experiences of Brancacci including those between the East and West, Christians and Muslims, and the ancient and modern worlds.  The accompanying critical introduction discusses the unexpected motifs in Brancacci?s voyage, as well as tracing the aftershocks of what was a traumatic Egyptian experience for him.  It shows that this aftershock was then measured, captured, and memorialized in the iconic image of Tribute Money, the fresco he commissioned from Masaccio, on his return to his own world in Florence. 

1. Faith and Finance: Felice Brancacci’s Visit to the Sultan and Masaccio’s Tribute Money.- 2. On Translation of Felice Brancacci’s Diario.- 3. Chronicle of Felice Brancaccci Ambassador with Carlo Federighi to Cairo For the Commune of Florence 1422.- Appendix 1: Instructions of City of Florence.- Appendix 2. Sultan Barsbay to City of Florence.- Appendix 3. Sultan Barsbay to City of Florence.

Mahnaz Yousefzadeh is Professor of Global Liberal Studies at New York University, USA.  She is the author of City and Nation in Italian Unification (2011) and numerous articles on the history of the Early Modern Mediterranean. Her most recent articles are interdisciplinary case studies of Italy’s encounters with Persico-Islamic world during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

First English translation of Felice Brancacci's Diary of his ambassadorial mission to the Sultan of Egypt

Places the diary in the wider context of the history of the Mediterranean and its role as a site of cross-cultural encounters

Contributes to the discussion on the role of translators and merchants as diplomatic intermediaries in cross-confessional diplomacy and trade