Literary descriptions of cities (also known as descriptiones urbium) form a literary genre that originated in Ancient Greek epideictic rhetoric. They can be prose or poetry. Many take the form of an urban eulogy (variously referred to as an encomium urbis, laudes urbium, encomium civis, laus civis, laudes civitatum; or in English: urban or city encomium, panegyric, laudation or praise poem) which praise their subject. Laments to a city's past glories are sometimes also included in the genre. Descriptiones often mix topographical information with abstract material on the spiritual and legal aspects of the town or city, and with social observations on its inhabitants. They generally give a more extended treatment of their urban subject than is found in an encyclopedia or general geographical work. Influential examples include Benedict's Mirabilia Urbis Romae of around 1143.

The earliest ancestor of the literary genre can be found in the New Kingdom Egyptian "praises of the cities", describing in poetic forms e.g. Thebes and Pi-Ramesses.

The Greek rhetorician Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in the first century AD, was the first to prescribe the form of a eulogy to a city in detail. Features he touches on include the city's location, size and beauty; the qualities of its river; its temples and secular buildings; its origin and founder, and the acts of its citizens. The Roman rhetorician Quintilian expounds on the form later in the first century, stressing praise of the city's founder and prominent citizens, as well as the city's site and location, fortifications and public works such as temples. The third-century rhetorician Menander expands on the guidelines further, including advice on how to turn a city's bad points into advantages. These works were probably not directly available to medieval writers, but the form is outlined in many later grammar primers, including those by Donatus and Priscian. Priscian's Praeexercitamina, a translation into Latin of a Greek work by Hermogenes, was a particular influence on medieval authors.

Surviving late Roman examples of descriptiones include Ausonius's Ordo Nobilium Urbium, a fourth-century Latin poem that briefly describes thirteen cities including Milan and Bordeaux. Rutilius Namatianus's De reditu suo is a longer poem dating from the early fifth century that includes a section praising Rome.

Numerous medieval examples have survived, mainly but not exclusively in Latin, the earliest dating from the eighth century. They adapt the classical form to Christian theology. The form was popularised by widely circulated guidebooks intended for pilgrims. Common topics include the city walls and gates, markets, churches and local saints; descriptiones were sometimes written as a preface to the biography of a saint. The earliest examples are in verse. The first known prose example was written in around the tenth century, and later medieval examples were more often written in prose. Milan and Rome are the most frequent subjects, and there are also examples describing many other Italian cities. Outside Italy, pre-1400 examples are known for Chester, Durham, London, York and perhaps Bath in England, Newborough in Wales, and Angers, Paris and Senlis in France. The form spread to Germany in the first half of the 15th century, with Nuremberg being the most commonly described city.

J. K. Hyde, who surveyed the genre in 1966, considers the evolution of descriptiones written before 1400 to reflect "the growth of cities and the rising culture and self-confidence of the citizens", rather than any literary progression. Later medieval examples tend to be more detailed and less generic than early ones, and to place an increasing emphasis on secular over religious aspects. For example, Bonvesin della Riva's 1288 description of Milan, De Magnalibus Urbis Mediolani, contains a wealth of detailed facts and statistics about such matters as local crops. These trends were continued in Renaissance descriptiones, which flourished from the early years of the 15th century, especially after the popularisation of the printing press from the middle of that century.

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.

Title Date Author City Country Format Language Notes Antiochicus Libanius Antioch Syria Prose Latin Also called Oration in Praise of Antioch, this is Libanius' Oration XI.. Ordo Nobilium Urbium Ausonius Various Poetry Latin De reditu suo Rutilius Namatianus Rome Italy Poetry Latin Laudes Mediolanensis civitatis Milan Italy Poetry Latin Or Versum de Mediolano civitate De laude Pampilone epistola Pamplona Spain Prose Latin The laudatio is known from a composite with an unrelated text dating from c. 410 Versiculi familiae Benchuir Bangor Ireland Poetry Latin The Versiculi form a "religios laus civitatis in praise of a monastic community.. Poema de Pontificibus et Sanctis Eboracensis Ecclesiae Alcuin York England Poetry Latin Versus de Destructione Aquileiae Paulinus of Aquileia or Paul the Deacon Aquileia Italy Poetry Latin Attribution disputed Laudes Veronensis Civitatis Verona Italy Poetry Latin Or Veronae rhythmica, Versus de Verona The Ruin 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 Aquileia Italy Poetry Latin De Situ Civitatis Mediolani Milan Italy Prose Latin Or De situ urbis Mediolanensis Opening of the Vita Theoderici Sigebert of Gembloux Metz Holy Roman Empire Prose Latin Found at the start of a biography of Bishop Dietrich I of Metz, written during the episcopate of Adalbero III.Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, The Idea of the City in Late Antiquity: A Study in Resilience (Cambridge University Press, 2025), ch. 2. Durham Durham England Poetry Old English Or De situ Dunelmi; date disputed Liber Pergaminus Moses de Brolo Bergamo Italy Poetry Latin Mirabilia Urbis Romae Benedict Rome Italy Prose Latin Descriptio Nobilissimae Civitatis Londoniae William Fitzstephen London England Prose Latin Or Descriptio Nobilissimi Civitatis Londoniae De mirabilibus urbis Romae Master Gregory Rome Italy Latin De laude Cestrie Lucian of Chester Chester England Prose Latin Or Liber Luciani de laude Cestrie In Ymagines historiarum Ralph de Diceto Angers Angevin Empire Prose Latin Graphia Aureae Urbis Romae Rome Italy Latin De Laude Civitatis Laude An unnamed Franciscan Lodi Italy Poetry Latin Liber de preconiis ciuitatis Numantine Juan Gil de Zamora Zamora Spain Prose Latin , p. 32n, also citing . De Magnalibus Urbis Mediolani Bonvesin della Riva Milan Italy Prose Latin De Mediolano Florentissima Civitate Benzo d'Alessandria Milan Italy Prose Latin Visio Egidii Regis Patavii Giovanni da Nono Padua Italy Prose Latin Byzantiospost 1312Theodore MetochitesConstantinopleByzantiumProseGreek Recommentatio Civitatis Parisiensis Paris France Prose Latin Tractatus de Laudibus Parisius Jean de Jandun Paris, Senlis France Prose Latin Written in response to Recommentatio Civitatis Parisiensis Libellus de Descriptione Papie Opicino de Canistris Pavia Italy Prose Latin Or Liber de laudibus civitatis Ticinensis Polistoria de virtutibus et dotibus Romanorum Giovanni Caballini Rome Italy Prose Latin Cronaca Extravagans Galvano Fiamma Milan Italy Prose Latin Contains material from Bonvesin della Riva's text Cronica Book XI Giovanni Villani Florence Italy Prose Italian Florentie Urbis et Reipublice Descriptio Florence Italy Prose Latin Manuscript is untitled Cywydd Rhosyr Dafydd ap Gwilym Newborough Wales Poetry Welsh Date and attribution uncertain Laudatio florentinae urbis Leonardo Bruni Florence Italy Prose Latin Laudatio Urbis Romae et Constantinopolis Manuel Chrysoloras Rome Italy Prose Greek "O wunnikliches Paradis" Oswald von Wolkenstein Konstanz Holy Roman Empire Poetry German Von Wolkenstein also wrote poems on other cities, including Nuremberg and Augsburg Descriptio urbis Romae eiusque excellentiae Niccolò Signorili Rome Italy Prose Latin Roma instaurata Flavio Biondo Rome Italy Prose Latin Lobspruch auf Nürnberg Nuremberg Germany Poetry German Ye Solace of Pilgrimes John Capgrave Rome Italy Prose Middle English Canmol Croesoswallt Guto'r Glyn Oswestry England Poetry Welsh I Varedydd ab Hywel ab Morus, ac i Drev Croes Oswallt Lewys Glyn Cothi Oswestry England Poetry Welsh "Y ddewistref ddiestron" Ieuan ap Gruffudd Leiaf Conwy Wales Poetry Welsh Die Bamberger Traktate Albrecht von Eyb Bamberg Germany Latin "[What a splendid appearance this city presents!]" Enea Silvio Piccolomini Nuremberg Germany Prose Latin Lobspruch auf Bamberg Bamberg Germany Poetry German Brodyr aeth i Baradwys Brecon Wales Poetry Welsh "Cistiau da, 'n costio dierth" Tudur Aled Oswestry England Poetry Welsh Lobspruch auf Nürnberg Kunz Hass Nuremberg Germany Poetry German De Venetae urbis situ / Del sito di Vinegia Marcantonio Sabellico Venice Italy Prose Latin, Italian full Latin text at https://archive.org/details/ita-bnc-in2-00000924-001 De origine, situ, moribus et institutis Norimbergae Conrad Celtis Nuremberg Germany Prose Latin To the City of London Sometimes attributed to William Dunbar London England Poetry English Or In Honour of the City of LondonIt is the basis for the cantata In Honour of the City of London (1937).. Tractatus de civitate Ulmensi Felix Fabri Ulm Germany Latin Blyth Aberdeane William Dunbar Aberdeen Scotland Poetry Middle Scots Ein Lobspruch der statt Nürnberg 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 Wolfgang Schmeltzl Vienna Austria Poetry German

See also Guide book Travel literature

References