4 h 14 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 14 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if every reason to resist a forbidden love only gives you more to say in secret?
The emperor’s visiting court brings Euryalus to Siena, where one look at Lucretia sets desire in motion. He is a clever young courtier; she is an intelligent married woman. They cannot court openly, so letters become their meeting place, and longing begins to challenge duty.
In The Tale of Two Lovers, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, later Pope Pius II, mixes narration with the lovers’ letters. Pandalus carries messages and helps them plan, while Achates urges caution. Lucretia’s husband, Menelaus, stands between them. Both lovers understand the reasons to stop, yet desire presses them toward greater risks.
What you’ll discover
- Letters full of longing Enter the private exchanges that carry the feeling these lovers cannot safely share aloud.
- A woman divided Follow Lucretia as her own feelings draw her between marital duty and forbidden love.
- Friends drawn into danger Watch Pandalus help the lovers scheme while Achates sees reasons for his friend to pause.
- Siena under the court’s gaze Step into a Renaissance city where an imperial visit frames a deeply private affair.
- Sympathy with a sharp edge Encounter a storyteller who understands desire while showing how it overrides good sense.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy secret romances, quick escapes and clever heroines will love this Renaissance love story. It also suits those drawn to passion, humor and tales of Troy, Rome and Greek myth.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A public welcome awakens private desire
- Desire finds reasons to excuse itself
- Letters turn resistance into consent
- A disguise opens the guarded house
- Each escape brings another barrier
- Ambition makes a cousin useful
- Love unsettles claims about honor
- The narrator asks readers to judge
- Desire keeps finding another route
Who’s who
- LucretiaA beautiful young wife in Siena, clever and eloquent, who wants the love and attention her husband never gives her.
- EurialusA rich, courteous favorite of the emperor who wants to win Lucretia and will risk disguise and danger to do it.
- MenelausLucretia's wealthy, jealous husband, who wants to guard his wife and his property and bricks up the ways in.
- SoziasAn old, loyal servant who first begs Lucretia to stop, then helps the lovers so that the scandal stays hidden.
- PandalusMenelaus's cousin, who hopes to be made a count palatine and opens the household to Eurialus.
- PacorusA knight from Pannonia who wrongly believes Lucretia loves him and sends her letters hidden in a flower and a snowball.
- Emperor SigismundThe aging ruler who enters Siena in triumph, loves beauty and teases Eurialus about his secret.
- Nisus and AchatesEurialus's loyal companions, who find go-betweens, spot the tavern and listen to his stories of danger and joy.
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The Tale of Two Lovers
by Pope Pius II · 1444
Disguised as a porter with a sack of wheat, a courtier slips into a married woman's bedroom in Siena.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What happens when a married woman and a favorite of the emperor catch each other's eye in the street? In Siena, Emperor Sigismund rides in with his court, four noble ladies greet him, and one of them, Lucretia, outshines the rest.
The Tale of Two Lovers at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 40 min2 h 10 min fast, 3 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 38,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1444by Pope Pius II
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A parade in Siena sets the story going
The story opens when Emperor Sigismund enters Siena in triumph. On a platform stand four noble married women, so alike in dress, age and grace that the emperor laughs and asks his barons if they have ever seen their like. He leaps down from his horse to greet them.
Yet one of the four shines above the others. She is Lucretia, not yet twenty, with tall figure, abundant hair, coral lips and a gift for speech. Her husband, Menelaus, is rich and noble, but he knows nothing about love, and the narrator says plainly that he does not deserve her.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1444
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 2 h 45 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Pius II. The Tale of Two Lovers. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-tale-of-two-lovers.
Pius II. (2026). The tale of two lovers. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-tale-of-two-lovers (Original work published ca. 1444)
Pius II. The Tale of Two Lovers. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-tale-of-two-lovers.
@book{piusii2026tale,
author = {Pius II},
title = {The Tale of Two Lovers},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-tale-of-two-lovers},
note = {First published ca. 1444}
}
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What is The Tale of Two Lovers about?
It tells of a secret love affair in Siena between Lucretia, the young wife of a rich man, and Eurialus, a favorite of Emperor Sigismund. It follows their letters, disguises, go-betweens and narrow escapes.
Who wrote The Tale of Two Lovers and when?
Enea Silvio Piccolomini, later Pope Pius II, wrote it as a young man in the fifteenth century while serving at the imperial court. He dedicates it at the end to a friend named Marianus.
Is The Tale of Two Lovers a true story?
It is a work of fiction, though set against a real event, the emperor's visit to Siena. Readers have long guessed that it draws on the author's world, but the story itself is a crafted romance with classical comparisons.
The author
Pope Pius II
1405–1464 · Italian pope and humanist writer
Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini, lived from 1405 to 1464. He was born in Corsignano, Italy, and died in Ancona. He wrote The Tale of Two Lovers in Latin in 1444. He served as pope from 1458 until his death and wrote an autobiography during his papacy.
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