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Gian Giorgio Trissino (8 July 1478 – 8 December 1550), also called Giovan Giorgio Trissino and self-styled as Giovan Giωrgio Trissino, was a Venetian
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
, poet,
dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
, diplomat, grammarian,
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, and philosopher.


Biography

Trissino was born of a patrician family in
Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...
. He sided with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian whose army entered Vicenza in June 1509, accompanied by members of Vicentine nobility including the
Thiene Thiene () is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, in northern Italy, located approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. __NOTOC__ The city has an active and lively industrial sector, composed mainly of small to medium-sized comp ...
, Chiericati, and Porto families. When Venice reconquered Vicenza on 12 November 1509, Trissino was punished for his betrayal and sent into exile. He then traveled to Germany and
Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
and was pardoned by Venice in 1516. He eventually came under the protection of
Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...
,
Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...
, and
Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...
. He had the advantages of a good humanistic training, studying
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
under
Demetrios Chalkokondyles Demetrios Chalkokondyles ( el, Δημήτριος Χαλκοκονδύλης ), Latinized as Demetrius Chalcocondyles and found variously as Demetricocondyles, Chalcocondylas or Chalcondyles (14239 January 1511) was one of the most eminent Gree ...
at
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and philosophy under
Niccolò Leoniceno Niccolò Leoniceno (1428–1524) was an Italian physician and humanist. Biography Leoniceno was born in Lonigo, Veneto, the son of a doctor. He studied Greek in Vicenza under Ognibene da Lonigo (in Latin: ''Omnibonus Leonicenus'') (Lonigo, 1 ...
at
Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...
. His culture recommended him to the humanist Pope Leo X, who in 1515 sent him to Germany as his
nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international or ...
; later on Pope Clement VII showed him special favour, and employed him as ambassador. In 1532, the
Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...
made Trissino a
count palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an ord ...
. In spite of the banishment from Vicenza pronounced upon him in 1509 because his family had favoured the plans of
Maximilian Maximilian, Maximillian or Maximiliaan (Maximilien in French) is a male given name. The name " Max" is considered a shortening of "Maximilian" as well as of several other names. List of people Monarchs *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459 ...
, he was held in high esteem throughout Italy. Wherever he made his home, it was a center for gatherings of scholars, littérateurs, and the most cultured men of the time. His family life was far from happy, apparently through little fault of his own. From 1538 to 1540, Trissino returned to his studies at the University of Padua with an abiding interest in
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
and the question of free will. In the history of modern European literature Trissino occupies a prominent place because of his
tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
''Sophonisba'' (c. 1515; published 1524).Giovanni Giorgio Trissino (1524) ''La Sophonisba del Trissino''. Roma: per Lodovico de' gli Arrighi vicentino scrittore, nel MDXXIIII di settembre. Based on the life of the Carthaginian lady
Sophonisba Sophonisba (in Punic, 𐤑𐤐𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋 Ṣap̄anbaʿal) (fl. 203 BC) was a Carthaginian noblewoman who lived during the Second Punic War, and the daughter of Hasdrubal Gisco. She held influence over the Numidian political landscape, conv ...
and inspired by ancient tragedies, it was perhaps the first tragedy in early modern times to show deference to the classic rules. It served as an example for European tragedies throughout the 16th century. It was translated into French by
Mellin de Saint-Gelais Mellin de Saint-Gelais (or ''Melin de Saint-Gelays'' or ''Sainct-Gelais''; c. 1491 – October, 1558) was a French poet of the Renaissance and Poet Laureate of Francis I of France. Life He was born at Angoulême, most likely the natural ...
, and was performed with great acclaim in 1556 at the
Château de Blois A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...
. A partisan of Aristotelean regularity, Trissino disapproved of the freedom of the chivalrous epic, as written by
Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic ''Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describes the ...
. In his own composition, ''l'Italia liberata dai Goti'' (1547–1548), dealing with the campaigns of
Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terri ...
in Italy, he sought to show that it was possible to write in the vernacular an epic in accordance with the classic precepts. The result is a cold and colorless composition. Moreover, as
Nicholas Birns Nicholas Birns is a scholar of literature, including fantasy and Australian literature. As a Tolkien scholar he has written on a variety of topics including The Scouring of the Shire and Tolkien's biblical sources. His analysis of the writings of A ...
points out, the very choice of the Byzantine-Ostrogothic wars of the sixth century as a subject committed Trissino to dealing with barbarian subjects with which, as an extreme classicist, he felt little affinity. In addition, Trissino played a prominent role in the early career of
Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...
, which developed into a long and close friendship between the two men. Trissino first took Palladio under his wing after becoming acquainted with him while building his villa in Cricoli. The Center for Palladian Studies in America, Inc.
Palladio's Life and World.
/ref> Trissino died in Rome in December 1550. An edition of his collected works was published at
Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
in 1729.


Linguistics

His endeavors in the field of
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
received lively reactions in the literary world of the time. Following the lead of
Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
, he advocated the enrichment of the Italian language, and espoused in his ''Castellano'' (1529) the theory that the language is a courtly one made up of contributions from the refined centers in Italy; instead of being fundamentally of Tuscan origin. His theory was supported by the publication, also in 1529, of his translation of Dante's ''
De vulgari eloquentia ''De vulgari eloquentia'' (; "On eloquence in the vernacular") is the title of a Latin essay by Dante Alighieri. Although meant to consist of four books, it abruptly terminates in the middle of the second book. It was probably composed shortly aft ...
'', which Trissino had saved from oblivion. Heated discussions followed his 1524 essay titled '' Ɛpistola del Trissino de le lettere nuωvamente aggiunte ne la lingua Italiana'', in which he proposed to reform
Italian orthography Italian orthography (writing) uses a variant of the Latin alphabet consisting of 21 letters to write the Italian language. This article focuses on the writing of Standard Italian, based historically on the Florentine dialect. Italian orthography ...
by adding the following letters to distinguish sounds of the spoken language: The idea was taken up for "j" and "v", which brought to the modern distinction ''U'' vs. ''V'' and ''I'' vs. ''J'', which eventually caught up also for other European languages before being largely abandoned in contemporary Italian, which generally spells the sound with an ''I''. Later proposals reversed the ω/o assignations. Following
Claudio Tolomei Claudio Tolomei (1492 in Asciano – 1556 in Rome) was an Italian philologist. His name in Italian is identical to that of Claudius Ptolemaeus, the 2nd-century Greek astronomer. He belonged to the prominent Tolomei family of Siena, and became a bi ...
, he used for the voiced (), instead of as in , instead of as in and for as in . Because he applied his system to his publications of the ''Ɛpistola'', the ''Sofonisba'' and ''Il Castellano'', his research also serves as a valuable source for the differences between the Tuscan pronunciation and that of the courtly language, which he advocated as an enrichment of the Italian language. Trissino's ideas about a synthetic Italian standard were opposed by two major factions. On the one side were those, like Machiavelli, who supported the spoken version of the Tuscan dialect. On the other,
Pietro Bembo Pietro Bembo, ( la, Petrus Bembus; 20 May 1470 – 18 January 1547) was an Italian scholar, poet, and literary theorist who also was a member of the Knights Hospitaller, and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. As an intellectual of the It ...
argued that the Italian standard should be based on the language of the Florentine classics of the 14th century, especially
Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
and
Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so we ...
(Dante's language was considered too unpolished). By the end of the century, Bembo's position prevailed and Trissino's ideas were rejected.


Other literary works

''I Simillimi'' (1548) which is a version of the ''Menæchmi'' of
Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...
, ''I Ritratti'' (1524) which is a composite portrait of feminine beauty, and the ''Poetica'', which contains his summing up of the Aristotelean principles of literary composition, comprise the rest of his important writings.


References

*


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trissino, Gian Giorgio 1478 births 1550 deaths Italian Renaissance humanists People from Vicenza Italian poets Italian male poets Italian dramatists and playwrights Italian male dramatists and playwrights Orthographers