Giraldi - De annis et mensibus, caeterisque temporum partibus, 1541 - 119386

Giglio Gregorio Giraldi (Lilius Gregorius Gyraldus or Giraldus) (14 June 1479 – February 1552) was an Italian scholar and poet. He was born 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 ...

, where he early distinguished himself by his talents and acquirements. On the completion of his literary course, he removed to Naples, where he lived on familiar terms with

Jovianus Pontanus Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503), later known as Giovanni Gioviano ( la, Ioannes Iovianus Pontanus), was a humanist and poet from Cerreto di Spoleto, in central Italy. He was the leading figure of the Accademia Pontaniana after the death of Antonio ...

and Sannazaro; and subsequently to

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 ...

, where he enjoyed the favour of the Mirandola family. At Milan in 1507 he studied Greek under Chalcondylas; and shortly afterwards, at

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 ...

, he became tutor to Ercole (afterwards Cardinal) Rangone. About the year 1514, he removed to Rome, where, under Clement VII, he held the office of apostolic protonotary; but having in the sack of that city (1527), which almost coincided with the death of his patron Cardinal Rangone, lost all his property, he returned in poverty once more to Mirandola, whence again he was driven by the troubles consequent on the assassination of the reigning prince in 1533. The rest of his life was one long struggle with ill-health, poverty and neglect; and he is alluded to with sorrowful regret by

Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a liter ...

in one of his ''Essais'' (i.35), as having, like

Sebastian Castalio Sebastian Castellio (also Sébastien Châteillon, Châtaillon, Castellión, and Castello; 1515 – 29 December 1563) was a French preacher and theologian; and one of the first Reformed Christian proponents of religious toleration, freedom of co ...

, ended his days in utter destitution. He died at

in February 1552, and his epitaph makes touching and graceful allusion to the sadness of his end. Giraldi was a man of very extensive erudition, and numerous testimonies to his profundity and accuracy have been given both by contemporary and by later scholars. His ''Historia de deis gentium'' (1548) marked a distinctly forward step in the systematic study of classical mythology; and by his treatises ''De annis et mensibus'', and on the ''Calendarium Romanum et Graecum'', he contributed to bring about the reform of the calendar, which was ultimately effected by Pope Gregory XIII. His ''Progymnasma adversus literas et literatos'' deserves mention at least among the curiosities of literature, and among his other works to which reference is still occasionally made are ''Historiae poëtarum Graecorum ac Latinorum''; ''De poëtis suorum temporum''; and ''De sepultura ac vario sepeliendi ritu''. Giraldi was also an elegant Latin poet. His ''Opera omnia'' was published at Leiden in 1696.

Works

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References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giraldi, Giglio Gregorio 1479 births 1552 deaths Italian poets Italian male poets Writers from Ferrara