List of literary descriptions of cities (before 1550)
Selected examples
The following chronological list presents urban descriptions and eulogies written before the end of the 14th century, based mainly on the reviews of Hyde and Margaret Schlauch, with a selection from the many examples written from 1400 to 1550.

List of literary descriptions of cities (before 1550)

Section Title: Selected examples
Table Section Text: The following chronological list presents urban descriptions and eulogies written before the end of the 14th century, based mainly on the reviews of Hyde and Margaret Schlauch, with a selection from the many examples written from 1400 to 1550.

Title	Date	Author	City	Country	Format	Language	Notes

Ordo Nobilium Urbium	4th century	Ausonius	Various	Poetry	Latin

De reditu suo	Early 5th century	Rutilius Namatianus	Rome	Italy	Poetry	Latin

Laudes Mediolanensis civitatis	~738	Milan	Italy	Poetry	Latin	Or Versum de Mediolano civitate

Poema de Pontificibus et Sanctis Eboracensis Ecclesiae	Early or mid-780s	Alcuin	York	England	Poetry	Latin

Versus de Destructione Aquileiae	Late 8th century	Paulinus of Aquileia or Paul the Deacon	Aquileia	Italy	Poetry	Latin	Attribution disputed

Laudes Veronensis Civitatis	796–806	Verona	Italy	Poetry	Latin	Or Veronae rhythmica, Versus de Verona

The Ruin	8th – late 9th century	An unnamed Roman spa, probably Bath	England	Poetry	Old English	Date uncertain; subject has also been suggested to be Chester or a town near Hadrian's Wall

Versus de Aquilegia	844–855	Aquileia	Italy	Poetry	Latin

De Situ Civitatis Mediolani	~780–1000	Milan	Italy	Prose	Latin	Or De situ urbis Mediolanensis

Durham	Mid-11th century to ~1107	Durham	England	Poetry	Old English	Or De situ Dunelmi; date disputed

Liber Pergaminus	1112–33	Moses de Brolo	Bergamo	Italy	Poetry	Latin

Mirabilia Urbis Romae	~1140–43	Benedict	Rome	Italy	Prose	Latin

Descriptio Nobilissimae Civitatis Londoniae	1173–74	William Fitzstephen	London	England	Prose	Latin	Or Descriptio Nobilissimi Civitatis Londoniae

De mirabilibus urbis Romae	1150–1200	Master Gregory	Rome	Italy	Latin

De laude Cestrie	~1195	Lucian of Chester	Chester	England	Prose	Latin	Or Liber Luciani de laude Cestrie

In Ymagines historiarum	~1180–1200	Ralph de Diceto	Angers	Angevin Empire	Prose	Latin

Graphia Aureae Urbis Romae	~1154–1280	Rome	Italy	Latin

De Laude Civitatis Laude	~1253–59	An unnamed Franciscan	Lodi	Italy	Poetry	Latin

De Magnalibus Urbis Mediolani	1288	Bonvesin della Riva	Milan	Italy	Prose	Latin

De Mediolano Florentissima Civitate	~1316	Benzo d'Alessandria	Milan	Italy	Prose	Latin

Visio Egidii Regis Patavii	~1318	Giovanni da Nono	Padua	Italy	Prose	Latin

Recommentatio Civitatis Parisiensis	1323	Paris	France	Prose	Latin

Tractatus de Laudibus Parisius	1323	Jean de Jandun	Paris, Senlis	France	Prose	Latin	Written in response to Recommentatio Civitatis Parisiensis

Libellus de Descriptione Papie	1330	Opicino de Canistris	Pavia	Italy	Prose	Latin	Or Liber de laudibus civitatis Ticinensis

Polistoria de virtutibus et dotibus Romanorum	1320–46	Giovanni Caballini	Rome	Italy	Prose	Latin

Cronaca Extravagans	1329–39	Galvano Fiamma	Milan	Italy	Prose	Latin	Contains material from Bonvesin della Riva's text

Cronica Book XI	1338	Giovanni Villani	Florence	Italy	Prose	Italian

Florentie Urbis et Reipublice Descriptio	1339	Florence	Italy	Prose	Latin	Manuscript is untitled

Cywydd Rhosyr	Mid 14th century	Dafydd ap Gwilym	Newborough	Wales	Poetry	Welsh	Date and attribution uncertain

Laudatio florentinae urbis	~1400	Leonardo Bruni	Florence	Italy	Prose	Latin

Laudatio Urbis Romae et Constantinopolis	~1411	Manuel Chrysoloras	Rome	Italy	Prose	Greek

"O wunnikliches Paradis"	1414–18 or after 1430	Oswald von Wolkenstein	Konstanz	Holy Roman Empire	Poetry	German	Von Wolkenstein also wrote poems on other cities, including Nuremberg and Augsberg

Descriptio urbis Romae eiusque excellentiae	~1430	Niccolò Signorili	Rome	Italy	Prose	Latin

Roma instaurata	1446	Flavio Biondo	Rome	Italy	Prose	Latin

Lobspruch auf Nürnberg	1447	Hans Rosenplüt (de)	Nuremberg	Germany	Poetry	German

Ye Solace of Pilgrimes	~1450	John Capgrave	Rome	Italy	Prose	Middle English

Canmol Croesoswallt	Mid 15th century	Guto'r Glyn	Oswestry	England	Poetry	Welsh

I Varedydd ab Hywel ab Morus, ac i Drev Croes Oswallt	Mid 15th century	Lewys Glyn Cothi	Oswestry	England	Poetry	Welsh

"Y ddewistref ddiestron"	Mid 15th century	Ieuan ap Gruffudd Leiaf	Conwy	Wales	Poetry	Welsh

Die Bamberger Traktate	1452	Albrecht von Eyb	Bamberg	Germany	Latin

"[What a splendid appearance this city presents!]"	Late 1450s	Enea Silvio Piccolomini	Nuremberg	Germany	Prose	Latin

Lobspruch auf Bamberg	~1459	Hans Rosenplüt (de)	Bamberg	Germany	Poetry	German

Brodyr aeth i Baradwys	Late 15th century	Ieuan ap Huw Cae Llwyd (cy)	Brecon	Wales	Poetry	Welsh

"Cistiau da, 'n costio dierth"	End of the 15th century	Tudur Aled	Oswestry	England	Poetry	Welsh

Lobspruch auf Nürnberg	~1490–92	Kunz Has	Nuremberg	Germany	Poetry	German

De origine, situ, moribus et institutis Norimbergae	~1492–96	Conrad Celtis	Nuremberg	Germany	Prose	Latin

To the City of London	~1501	Sometimes attributed to William Dunbar	London	England	Poetry	English	Or In Honour of the City of London

Tractatus de civitate Ulmensi	By 1502	Felix Fabri	Ulm	Germany	Latin

Blyth Aberdeane	~1511	William Dunbar	Aberdeen	Scotland	Poetry	Middle Scots

Ein Lobspruch der statt Nürnberg	~1530	Hans Sachs	Nuremberg	Germany	Poetry	German	Sachs also wrote praise poems to Salzburg (1549), Munich (1565), Frankfurt (1568) and Hamburg (1569)

Ein Lobspruch der Hochloeblichen weitberuembten Khuenigklichen Stat Wienn in Osterreich	1547	Wolfgang Schmeltzl (de)	Vienna	Austria	Poetry	German

Sentence(s)

Rutilius Namatianus's De reditu suo is a poem dating from the early fifth century.

final_sentence: Rutilius Namatianus's De reditu suo is a poem dating from the early fifth century.