Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro OESA (Roberti of Roberti, Dennis) ( 1300 – 31 March 1342) was an Augustinian monk who was at one time

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...

confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was some ...

at the beginning of his education in the humanities. He was

Bishop of Monopoli The Italian Catholic diocese of Monopoli, in the province of Bari, existed from the eleventh century to 1986. In that year it was united into the diocese of Conversano-Monopoli.Wikipedia:Verifiability#Self-published sources, Wikipedia:Verifiability ...

in Apulia. He was surnamed, not uncommonly for the trecento, for the town in which he was born, now Sansepolcro in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

. His family name was de' Roberti, which no longer exists. Dionigi is the Italian form of Dennis, Latin Dionysius.Biographical Dictionary of Italian - Volume 40 (1991)
/ref>

Life

Dionigi joined the Order of Hermits at the Augustinian monastery in Borgo San Sepolcro at an early age. The

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

had been founded in 1281 and was located in the valley of

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

. He was sent to study theology at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and graduated ''baccalaureus sententiarius'' during the academic year 1317-18. About 1324 he obtained a doctorate in theology and taught at the Sorbonne through 1328. While in Paris, he practised

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 ...

, and predicted the unexpected death of Castruccio Castracani.

Giovanni Villani Giovanni Villani (; 1276 or 1280 – 1348)Bartlett (1992), 35. was an Italian banker, official, diplomat and chronicler from Florence who wrote the ''Nuova Cronica'' (''New Chronicles'') on the history of Florence. He was a leading statesman of ...

wrote him with the latest news from Italy, deeply concerned about what Castracani and Emperor Louis the Bavarian were about to do; Dionigi wrote back, saying that none of those things would happen, because Castracani was about to die — and he did. He acquired the ranks of ''diffinitor'' and ''magister sacrae paginae'', although these are rarely attested because he may have left the University of Paris. He travelled widely: in 1329 he went on an unspecified diplomatic mission for Cardinal Napoleone Orsini, in 1332 he was in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, in 1333 he spent much time in Avignon where he met Petrarch. There he taught at the College which the Augustinians ran, and in 1335 he was in

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region on the French Riviera. In 2017, the c ...

. In 1337 he went to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

; in October 1338 he went to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, and he remained in that kingdom the rest of his life. At Naples, he lived in the Augustinian convent, and was witness to a deed gift of land made by the Neapolitan nobleman Walter to build a church in honor of S. Giovanni Battista, executed 11 October 1339. Other intellectuals in Naples at the time include Andalò del Negro, Paolo Minorita,

Niccolò Acciaioli Niccolò Acciaioli or Acciaiuoli (1310 – 8 November 1365) was an Italian noble, a member of the Florentine banking family of the Acciaioli. He was the grand seneschal of the Kingdom of Naples and count of Melfi, Malta, and Gozo in the mid- ...

, Paolo dell'Abbaco, Paolo da Perugia, Graziolo de' Bambaglioli, and Cino da Pistoia. He won the favor of King

Robert of Naples Robert of Anjou ( it, Roberto d'Angiò), known as Robert the Wise ( it, Roberto il Saggio; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of I ...

for his astrology and his classical Latin; as early as the winter of 1338, King Robert appointed him to settle a quarrel among the factions of the citizenry of l'Aquila. On 17 March 1340, he was consecrated bishop of Monopoli, at the King's request. A dispensation for a marriage from him survives dated 5 June 1340 among the correspondence of Pope Benedict XII. He died on 31 March 1342 and was buried in the local church yard of Agostino alla Zecca. Petrarch wrote his epitaph.''DBI'', p.196, col. 1; Branca implies that Dionigi died the previous year, since he dates Boccaccio's letter about his death August 28, 1341. Epitaph: ''Flere Libet, sed fairs Vetor ...'', Epistolae Metricae, I, 13

Petrarch

Dionigi had been Petrarch's confessor during his stay in Avignon, and Petrarch wrote three letters to him. Much of what we know about Dionigi is inferred from this correspondence; and is correspondingly uncertain. Moschella holds, for example that he was introduced to Petrarch in 1333, by Giacomo Colonna; but there has been other speculation that Petrarch met Dionigi in Paris. Dionigi recommended

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...

's '' Confessions'' to Petrarch, who had never read it; Dionigi gave him a pocket copy, which Petrarch says he carried around with him everywhere. Moschella asserts that Dionigi's influence on Petrarch in his moral crisis over Laura amounted to a conversion. Petrarch addressed his long account of his ascent of Mont Ventoux to Dionigi. Dionigi was also instrumental in persuading King

to present Petrarch with his crown of laurel: Petrarch had invited Dionigi to visit

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.verse letter filled with flattery of the King. When Dionigi arrived in Naples, he did persuade King Robert to write Petrarch, and Petrarch responded to both of them, congratulating Dionigi on having the favor of so famous a king, and reminding him in a postscript: "You know what I think about the laurel." Dionigi also arranged Petrarch's visit to Naples in February 1341, when King Robert examined him for his fitness for the laurel.

Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio had lived in Naples, and been welcome in the court of King Robert, since 1327, when he was fourteen. He returned to Florence, probably at the end of 1340, and wrote a letter there, bemoaning the death of his "reverend father and teacher", Dionigi; whose death "left nothing for him in the world." Dionigi had introduced him to the works of Augustine, Seneca, and Petrarch; Branca presumes that he had also taught him vernacular poetry and rhymed prose.

Works

Most of Dionigi's writings are lost; but we have *A commentary on the first book of

Peter Lombard Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096, Novara – 21/22 July 1160, Paris), was a scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of '' Four Books of Sentences'' which became the standard textbook of ...

's ''Sententiae'' (on which, as was common, he had given his baccalaureate lecture) *a treatise on logic (''Compendiuni logicae juxta Doctrinam em ac funds''), *a commentary on

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

's ''

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

'', *a commentary on

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' ...

(printed in Strasbourg in the 1470s). Some other commentaries have been attributed to Dionigi.''DBI'' p.196, col. 2

Bibliography

Footnotes

Endnotes

References

* Maurizio Moschella
"Dionigi da Borgo Sansepolcro"
''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' (DBI), Vol. 40, pp. 194–197. *Morris Bishop, ''Petrarch and his World'', Indiana University Press, 1963. *Vittore Branca, ''Boccaccio : the man and his works'', translated by Richard Monges ; cotranslator and editor Dennis J. McAuliffe; New York University 1976. (A collected and revised version of Branca's ''Boccaccio Medievale'', of 1956)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borgo San Sepolcro, Dionigi di 1300 births 1342 deaths Augustinian friars 14th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Italian Christian monks Petrarch 14th-century Latin writers