Prosdocimus de Beldemandis (or Prosdocimo de' Beldomandi) (died 1428) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...

, and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. He studied at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

and the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...

. The earliest works by him date from the early 15th century. He took the doctorate in arts at Padua on 15 May 1409, and received a physician's license on 15 April 1411. In 1412 he stayed in

Montagnana Montagnana is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Padova, in Veneto (northern Italy). Neighbouring communes are Borgo Veneto, Casale di Scodosia, Urbana, Bevilacqua, Pojana Maggiore, Pressana, Minerbe and Roveredo di Guà. , the popula ...

, where he wrote a number of treatises. From c. 1420/22 to 1428, the year of his death, Prosdocimus taught a wide variety of subjects at Padua. His was interested in, among other things, arithmetic, music,

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, and

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

; this range of interests, however, was common for a Paduan doctor of his day. He wrote the last significant treatise on the art of musical notation as practiced by the Italians. He was held in high regard long after his death: some of the non-musical treatises were reprinted in the 16th century, and Luca Pacioli ranked him alongside

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...

and

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...

Selected writings

On Music

* ''Expositiones tractatus pratice cantus mensurabilis Johannis de Muris'' (c. 1404) * ''Tractatus pratice cantus mensurabilis'' (1408) * ''Brevis summula proportionum quantum ad musicam pertinet'' (1409) * ''Contrapunctus'' (1412), edited by Jan Herlinger, 1984 * ''Tractatus pratice cantus mensurabilis ad modum Ytalicorum'' (1412) * ''Tractatus plane musice'' (1412), edited by Jan Herlinger, 2008 * ''Parvus tractatulus de modo monacordum dividendi'' (1413), edited by Jan Herlinger * ''Tractatus musice speculative'' (1425), edited by Jan Herlinger, 2008

Other Treatises

* ''Algorismus de integris sive pratica arismetrice de integris'' (1410), reprinted Federicus Delphinus ed. (Venice, 1483 and 1540).Th
1540 edition
is online at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

References

Literature

* Černušák Gracián: Dějiny evropské hudby; Panteon, Prag, 35-305-64; s. 60 Italian music theorists 1428 deaths Year of birth unknown 15th-century Italian mathematicians 15th-century Italian writers 15th-century Latin writers {{musicologist-stub