Julius Pomponius Laetus (1428 – 9 June 1498), also known as Giulio Pomponio Leto, was an Italian
humanist.
Background
Laetus was born at
Teggiano
Teggiano (formerly Diano; Teggianese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno. It is situated on an isolated eminence above the upper part of the valley to which it gives the name of Vallo di Diano.
Among t ...
, near
Salerno, the illegitimate scion of the princely house of
Sanseverino, the German historian
Ludwig von Pastor reported. He studied at
Rome under
Lorenzo Valla, whom he succeeded in 1457 as professor of eloquence in the
Gymnasium Romanum. About this time he founded an academy (''
Accademia Romana''), the members of which adopted
Greek and
Latin names, and met at the house of Laetus on the
Quirinal
The Quirinal Hill (; la, Collis Quirinalis; it, Quirinale ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Pala ...
, which was filled with fragments and inscriptions and Roman coins collected by this early
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic si ...
, to discuss classical questions; they celebrated the birthday of
Romulus. Its constitution resembled that of an ancient priestly college, and Laetus was styled ''
pontifex maximus''.
Bartolomeo Platina
Bartolomeo Sacchi (; 1421 – 21 September 1481), known as Platina (in Italian ''il Platina'' ) after his birthplace (Piadena), and commonly referred to in English as Bartolomeo Platina, was an Italian Renaissance humanist writer and gastro ...
and
Filippo Buonaccorsi were among the most distinguished members of the circle, which also included
Giovanni Sulpizio da Veroli, the editor of the first printed ''
De architectura'' of
Vitruvius and organizer of the first production of a
Senecan tragedy mounted since Antiquity.
Controversy surrounding his academy
In 1466, on his way to take up an appointment at the
University of Rome, Laetus stopped for a sojourn in Venice. Here he was brought under investigation by the
Council of Ten
The Council of Ten ( it, Consiglio dei Dieci; vec, Consejo de i Diexe), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to i ...
on suspicion of having seduced his students, whom he was said to have praised with excessive ardour in some Latin poems. Charged with
sodomy
Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sod ...
, he was imprisoned.
At the same time in Rome,
Pope Paul II
Pope Paul II ( la, Paulus II; it, Paolo II; 23 February 1417 – 26 July 1471), born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States
from 30 August 1464 to his death in July 1471. When his maternal uncle Eugene IV ...
began viewing Laetus's academy with suspicion, as savouring of
paganism,
heresy, and
republicanism. In 1468 twenty of the academicians were arrested during
Carnival on charges of conspiracy against the Pope. Laetus, who was still in
Venice at the time the supposed conspiracy was discovered, was sent back to Rome, imprisoned and put to the torture, but refused to plead guilty to the charges of infidelity and immorality. For want of evidence, he was acquitted and allowed to resume his professorial duties; but it was forbidden to utter the name of the academy even in jest. He also decided not to set foot in Venice again, and for greater security, soon married.
In the meantime, Laetus received from
Frederick III a dispensation to grant the laurel wreath: the young poet
Publio Fausto Andrelini from
Forlì
Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna.
The city is situated along the Via E ...
(Italy) was the first to receive it.
Laetus continued to teach at the University of Rome until his death in 1498.
Pope Sixtus IV permitted the resumption of the Academy meetings, which continued to be held until the
sack of Rome in 1527. Laetus's importance in cultural history lies mostly in his role as a teacher. On his death he was buried in the church of
San Salvatore in Lauro
San Salvatore in Lauro is a Catholic church in central Rome, Italy. It is located on a piazza of the same name in the rione Ponte. It stands on Via Vecchiarelli, just south of the Lungotevere Tor di Nona and north of via dei Coronari. Within Ro ...
in Rome.
Significance
Laetus, who has been called the first head of a
philological school, was extraordinarily successful as a teacher; he said that he expected, like
Socrates and
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
, to live on through his pupils, some of whom were many of the most famous scholars of the period. Among those put under his charge to be educated were
Alexander Farnese, later pope Paul III. His works, written in sophisticated classicizing Latin,
[Palmer, Ada. "The Use and Defense of the Classical Canon in Pomponio Leto's Biography of Lucretius." Renaessanceforum, 2015. http://www.renaessanceforum.dk/rf_9_2015.htm] were published in a collected form (''Opera Pomponii Laeti varia'', 1521). They contain treatises on the Roman magistrates, priests and lawyers, and a compendium of Roman history from the death of the younger Gordian to the time of Justin III. Laetus also wrote commentaries on classical authors, and promoted the publication of the ''
editio princeps'' of
Virgil at Rome in 1469.
Notes
References
*
Catholic Encyclopedia article*Pastor, Ludwig, ''The History of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages'' vol. IV (1894) p 41ff.
*For articles on Pomponius Laetus and his humanist circle, see
The Repertorium Pomponianum" with bibliographies including: Accame, Maria. ''Pomponio Leto: vita e insegnamento'' (Tivoli
oma Tored, 2008) and other recent publications.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pomponius Laetus, Julius
1425 births
1498 deaths
People from Teggiano
Italian Renaissance humanists
People prosecuted under anti-homosexuality laws
15th-century Latin writers