Matteo di Marco Palmieri (1406–1475) was a Florentine humanist and historian who is best known for his work ''Della vita civile'' ("On Civic Life"; printed 1528) which advocated

civic humanism Classical republicanism, also known as civic republicanism or civic humanism, is a form of republicanism developed in the Renaissance inspired by the governmental forms and writings of classical antiquity, especially such classical writers as Ar ...

, and his influence in refining the Tuscan vernacular to the same level as Latin.Giuseppe Flavo, Paul Grendler (ed.). "Palmieri, Matteo" in ''Encyclopedia of the Renaissance'', 1999, volume 3, pp. 376-377. He was sent as Florentine ambassador to the court of Alfonso of Naples. Vespasiano da Bisticci included him among the illustrious men of his generation whose careers deserved an article in his ''Vite di uomini illustri del secolo XV'' ''

vita Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vita ...

''.

Biography

Palmieri was born to a middle-class family who held prominent positions in the city. He was educated in Florence and ran a profitable

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...

shop; like his father he pursued a career in civil service, becoming a well known and respected public official between 1432 and 1475 holding many posts and titles. At the end of his life, he commissioned from the Florentine painter Francesco Botticini (1446–1498) a monumental ''

Assumption of the Virgin The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

'' for the church of the Benedictine nunnery of San Pier Maggiore in Florence, where the Palmieri had their chapel; in the painting are the kneeling

donor portrait A donor portrait or votive portrait is a portrait in a larger painting or other work showing the person who commissioned and paid for the image, or a member of his, or (much more rarely) her, family. ''Donor portrait'' usually refers to the portr ...

s of Matteo and his wife Niccolosa de' Serragli. Francesco Botticini - The Assumption of the Virgin

Works

Palmieri firmly believed in the humanist ideal that ''

virtù Virtù is a concept theorized by Niccolò Machiavelli, centered on the martial spirit and ability of a population or leader, but also encompassing a broader collection of traits necessary for maintenance of the state and "the achievement of great ...

'' was a combination of both learning and political action, and so in concordance with his political life, he was also an author. He wrote in both Latin and Italian. Among his Latin works are ''Liber de temporibus'' (Book of Epochs), a

universal chronicle A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of mankind as a whole, coherent unit. A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to t ...

of the world from the time of creation to his present day; the ''De captivitate liber'' (The Capture of Pisa), an account of the Florentine capture of

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...

in 1406; and a biography of Niccolò Acciaioli, translated into Italian by Donato Acciaioli. In Italian Palmieri wrote a three-book poem '' La città di vita'' ("The City of Life") in 1465, which is an imitation of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

''. The poem was unpublished in his lifetime, and upon its appearance in print was condemned by the Church as heretical, thus after his death Palmieri's body was removed from the Church of San Pier Maggiore and an effigy of him was burned. Palmieri's best-known work as a humanist is ''Della vita civile'' ("On Civic Life"; printed 1528), composed in 1429 and circulated between 1435 and 1440. It is a treatise discussing the qualities of the ideal citizen. It is written as series of dialogs in four books, set in a country house in

Mugello The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of ...

during the plague of 1430, with

Agnolo Pandolfini Agnolo Pandolfini (1360-1446) was a Florentine statesman, merchant and Renaissance humanist. He was considered a highly learned man, erudite in Latin and a friend to most of the learned Florentines of his era. Leonardo Bruni was said to have pub ...

, a rich Florentine merchant, as the main speaker. Depending for the first dialogue upon

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilia ...

's ''Institutio oratoria'' and for the last three on

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

's ''

De officiis ''De Officiis'' (''On Duties'' or ''On Obligations'') is a political and ethical treatise by the Roman orator, philosopher, and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero written in 44 BC. The treatise is divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds h ...

'',Specifics are discussed in Claudio Finzi, ''Matteo Palmieri: dalla 'Vita Civile' alla 'Cittàdi Vita' ''(Rome) 1984. it discusses the physical and intellectual development of children, the moral life of a citizen, and the contrasting tensions between what is useful and what is honest. As well as classic writers such as

and

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

, it draws on Palmieri's own personal experiences as a civil servant. His primary emphasis and advocacy is on the need for a good education and taking an active part in the life of the city. Education at an early age he considered crucial to improve the human capacity to do good for others and the community.

Notes

External links

''De temporibus''
by Matteo Palmieri (1459), digitized codex, a
Somni
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmieri, Matteo 1406 births 1475 deaths Writers from Florence Italian Renaissance humanists 15th-century Latin writers 15th-century people of the Republic of Florence Diplomats from Florence