Pietro Candido Decembrio on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Pietro (also known as Pier and Piero) Candido Decembrio (in Latin, Petrus Candidus Decembrius) (1399–1477) was an Italian humanist and author of the Renaissance, and one of those involved in the rediscovery of ancient literature.
A fragment of his continuation of the Aeneid
Italian Renaissance writers Italian Renaissance humanists 1399 births 1477 deaths Writers from Pavia 15th-century Italian poets 15th-century Italian writers 15th-century Latin writers {{italy-poet-stub
Pietro (also known as Pier and Piero) Candido Decembrio (in Latin, Petrus Candidus Decembrius) (1399–1477) was an Italian humanist and author of the Renaissance, and one of those involved in the rediscovery of ancient literature.
Life
The son of the humanist Uberto Decembrio, Piero Candido Decembrio was born inPavia
Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...
, and named after his father's employer Peter of Candia. He was a pupil of his father's friend and teacher Manuel Chrysoloras
Manuel (or Emmanuel) Chrysoloras ( el, Μανουὴλ Χρυσολωρᾶς; c. 1350 – 15 April 1415) was a Byzantine Greek classical scholar, humanist, philosopher, professor, and translator of ancient Greek texts during the Renaissance. Se ...
in Florence. In 1419 he became secretary to Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti (3 September 1392 – 13 August 1447)
, Duke of Milan, and served in this post for nearly thirty years, continuing as secretary of the Ambrosian Republic after the Duke's death. When Francesco Sforza came to power in the city, Decembrio lost his position. He then found work in the chancery of Pope Nicholas V, but with several other humanists, he left after the accession of Pope Callixtus III and travelled instead to the Neapolitan court of Alfonso the Great
Alfonso III (20 December 910), called the Great ( es, el Magno), was the king of León, Galicia and Asturias from 866 until his death. He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. In later sources he is the earliest to be called "Emperor of Spai ...
of Aragon.
After Alfonso's death in 1458 he returned to Rome as secretary to Pius II and then to Milan in 1460. In 1466 he was granted a pension by the Duke of Ferarra. In 1477 he died in Milan and is buried in the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio.
He produced a Latin version of Plato's ''Republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
'' and attempted a continuation of Virgil's ''Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...
''. His grave lists 127 works.
See also
*Decembrio - family of scholars Uberto Decembrio (- 1427), secretary to the Milanese duke Giangaleazzo Visconti (+ 1402) and to Peter of Candia (later counter Pope with the name Alexander V 1409/1410). Contact to Chrysoloras during his stay in Milan (1400-1403), engagement in the ...
References
External links
A fragment of his continuation of the Aeneid
Italian Renaissance writers Italian Renaissance humanists 1399 births 1477 deaths Writers from Pavia 15th-century Italian poets 15th-century Italian writers 15th-century Latin writers {{italy-poet-stub