Baudolino

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Baudolino is a 2000 novel by Italian novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco about the life and adventures of Baudolino in the known and mythical Christian world of the 12th century.

• "A sack," Baudolino explained, like a man who knows a trade well, "is like a grape harvest: you have to divide the tasks. There are those who press the grapes, those who carry off the must in the tuns, those who cook for others, others who go to fetch the good wine from last year.... a sack is a serious job,"
  • Chapter 2, "Baudolino meets Niketas Choniates"

• "The emperor of the Latins -- who hasn't been a Latin himself since the days of Charlemagne -- is the successor of the Roman emperors -- the ones of Rome, I mean, not those of Constantinople. But to make sure he's emperor, he has to be crowned by the pope, because the law of Christ has swept away the false law, the law of liars. To be crowned by the pope, the emperor also has to be recognized by the cities of Italy, and each of them kind of goes his own way, so he has to be crowned king of Italy -- provided, naturally, that the Teutonic princes have elected him. Is that clear?"
  • Chapter 3, "Baudolino explains to Niketas what he wrote as a boy"

• The Poet had, who had made a show of attaching no importance to this literary game (though it gnawed at his heart that he himself had not written such beautiful letters, provoking replies even more beautiful), and having no one with whom to fall in love, had fallen in love with the letters themselves -- which, as Niketas remarked with a smile -- was not surprising, since in youth we are prone to fall in love with love.
  • Chapter 7, "Baudolino makes the Poet write love letters and poems to Beatrice"