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

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.
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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.
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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.