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Salimbene di Adam

Italian Franciscan friar, theologian, and chronicler (1221-1288)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ799960 ↗
Source-derived summary

Salimbene di Adam (or Salimbene of Parma) (9 October 1221 – c. 1290) was an Italian Franciscan friar, theologian, and chronicler. Salimbene was one of the most celebrated Franciscan chroniclers of the High Middle Ages. His Cronica is a fundamental source for Italian history of the 13th century.

Life

Early years, 1221–1238

Salimbene was born in Parma, the son of Guido di Adam, a crusader, and Iumelda di Cassio. His parents' house was right next to the baptistery and the episcopal palace. His father's first cousin, Berardo Oliverio di Adam, died in the battle of San Cesario in 1229. His godfather was Balian Grenier, a French nobleman who had distinguished himself at the siege of Damietta during the Fifth Crusade. Salimbene attended the studies in liberal arts available to most boys of his status in the Italian city-states. There he had ample opportunity of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the work of Juvenal, Cato, Claudian, Prosper of Aquitaine and others.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Salimbene di Adam” is italian Franciscan friar, theologian, and chronicler (1221-1288). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Salimbene, Adam and Italian, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1221, 1290, 1238, 1229—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1221-10-09. For this dossier, Salimbene, Adam and Italian is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “italian Franciscan friar, theologian, and chronicler (1221-1288)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q799960. VIAF identifies the subject as 89136582. The Library of Congress control number is n50059900. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1221, 1290, 1238 and 1229.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

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  2. Expand the search: follow Salimbene di Adam primary sources, Salimbene di Adam archive and Salimbene research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Salimbene di Adam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.