Benvenuto Campesani (c. 1250 – 1323) was a
Vicentine poet and notary.
He composed in particular a short poem in
elegiac couplets "on the resurrection of Catullus, Veronese poet"; that is, on some event related to a manuscript of
Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...
. The poem is apparently written as a sort of a riddle, and its precise meaning is unclear. It tells of some compatriot of Catullus, probably named Franciscus (Francesco), who presumably either found the manuscript, or brought it to Verona from some other place, or made a new copy of it.
Campesani was a supporter of
Cangrande della Scala
Cangrande (christened Can Francesco) della Scala (9 March 1291 – 22 July 1329) was an Italian nobleman, belonging to the della Scala family which ruled Verona from 1308 until 1387. Now perhaps best known as the leading patron of the poet Dante ...
,
[R.Witt, Petrarch and Pre-Petrarchan Humanism, in: Humanity and Divinity in Renaissance and Reformation, p. 87, Leiden, 1993.] whose Christian name also happens to be Francesco.
References
Italian poets
Italian male poets
Italian notaries
People from Vicenza
1250s births
1323 deaths
Medieval Latin poets
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