Giovan Battista Boccabadati was born in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

in February 1635 and died there on October 17 1696. As well as practising and teaching law, he was a mathematician, an engineer and a writer, especially of plays.

Life and works

Giovan Battista was born to Adonio Boccabadati and Laura Gadaldini but was left an orphan as a young man. Later he lived for a short time in

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Latin Catholic titular bishopric People * Carpi (people), an ancie ...

with his relative, Canon Raineri Boccabadati, returning on his death in 1649 to Modena. We know nothing of the studies that were to give him a wide literary, legal and scientific knowledge, nor where he gained his degree in civil and canon law. He was also to gain a reputation as a writer, beginning with poetry on political subjects in the 1650s and then from 1664 turning to drama. As well as practising law, Boccabadati was also involved in mathematical and scientific studies. It was this versatility that led the

Duke of Modena Emperor Frederick III conferred Borso d'Este, Lord of Ferrara, with the Duchy of Modena and Reggio in 1452, while Pope Paul II formally elevated him in 1471 as Duke of Ferrara, over which the family had in fact long presided. This latter territo ...

to make him his librarian in 1671 and promote him to a readership in law at the new university college in 1678. In 1681 the Duke appointed him general engineer with a special allowance for the trips that he had to make to

Brescello Brescello (; in the local dialect, in the Reggio Emilia dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northwest of Reggio Emilia. A ...

, which suggests that he was engaged in the work of widening and strengthening the fortress there, so that it became the best equipped and strongest in the Duchy. Afterwards he succeeded to new university positions teaching mathematics and physics. During this time too, Boccabadati was commissioned to make the first complete topographical map of Modena, a work in which he was employed for about six months; others by him are also known. His writing for the theatre also continued and in 1693 he wrote his prose drama ''Scipione'' for the celebration of the marriage between Francesco d'Este and Margherita Farnese. This later formed the basis for

Apostolo Zeno Apostolo Zeno (11 December 1668 in Venice – 11 November 1750 in Venice) was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Early life Apostolo Zeno was born in Venice to a colonial branch of the Zeno family, an ancient Venet ...

's libretto, ''Scipione nelle Spagne'' (1710), an opera set by various composers inside and outside Italy throughout the 18th century. Among other literary works by Boccabadati, there was a verse

epithalamium An epithalamium (; Latin form of Greek ἐπιθαλάμιον ''epithalamion'' from ἐπί ''epi'' "upon," and θάλαμος ''thalamos'' nuptial chamber) is a poem written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber. This form ...

for the wedding of the Marchese Filippo Rangoni (1760), later a great patron of opera, and two sonnets contributed to a publication celebrating the liberation of Vienna from Turkish attack in 1683.

References

The information here is adapted from the biographical article by Tiziano Ascari in th
''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' - Volume 10 (1968)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boccabadati, Giovanni Battista 1635 births 1696 deaths Italian dramatists and playwrights 17th-century Italian lawyers 17th-century Italian cartographers Scientists from Modena 17th-century Italian writers 17th-century Italian male writers 17th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights Engineers from Modena Writers from Modena