[1] Born around the mid-13th century in southern Italy,[2] he was from a "Roman family with a strong tradition of support for the papal cause" and was the deacon (later bishop) of the diocese of Mileto.
[5] The latest edition, titled Die Chronik des Saba Malaspina by its editors, came out in 1999.
[4][5] In 1295, Pope Boniface VIII formally named him as the "spiritual and temporal administrator of Larino".
[4][12][13] Although traditionally seen as an apologist and propagandist for the papacy, Clifford R. Backman argues that Malaspina was a "reluctantly charmed, enamored-yet-critical admirer of Charles of Anjou".
[14] Marc Laureys describes him as "the only important Roman historiographer from the 13th century",[15] while Backman writes that Malaspina was both a "professional scribe of such high standing" and a "literary artist of considerable ability".