Benzo d'Alessandria, who ended his career as head of the chancery of Cangrande Della Scala

Cangrande I della Scala

Cangrande della Scala was an Italian nobleman, the most celebrated of the della Scala family which ruled Verona from 1277 until 1387. Now perhaps best known as the leading patron of the poet Dante Alighieri, Cangrande was in his own day chiefly acclaimed as a successful warrior and autocrat...

, 1325–1333, was among the earliest Italian humanists. He explored the rich library of the cathedral canons of Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

, where he found manuscripts of Catullus

Catullus

Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.-Biography:...

 and the Historia Augusta, and journeyed to Ravenna

Ravenna

Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...

 in search of Roman texts.

He poured his widespread eclectic knowledge into an encyclopedic work, begun while he was a notary for Bishop Roberto Lambertenghi at Como

Como

Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....

, 1312–20 and completed in Verona.