Girolamo Maggi
Encyclopedia
Girolamo Maggi or Hieronymus Magius, was an Italian scholar, jurist
, poet
, military engineer
, urban planner
, philologist
, archaeologist, mathematician
, and naturalist
who studied at Bologna
under Francis Robortello
. He authored several works, including a collection of poems on the Flemish
wars, (Cinque primi canti della guerra di Fiandra, 1551), one detailing military fortification
s (Della fortificatione delle città, by his friend Giacomo Fusto Castriotto, but edited, annotated, and published posthumously by Maggi in 1564), and several on the subject of philosophy
.
which, in 1563, he states was the most recent one to occur. This was most likely the black death
of 1527 spread by Charles V
's Protestant
mercenaries (Landsknechts) when they defeated the French and pillaged the Vatican
, but may have been one of the following year or of three years later. His parents were Paolo and Luisa, who quickly left him an orphan.
As a young man, Maggi studied oratory
with Pierantonio Ghezzi from Laterina
, a master of Latin. Afterwards, to proceed with the then popular studies, he went at first to the nearby University of Perugia
, then to that of Pisa
, and finally to that of Bologna
. In Pisa
, he attended the lectures of the famous professor of Latin and Greek
oratory, Francis Robortello
, who was a faculty member from 1543 to 1549.
, and Spanish
. Availing himself of such endowments, he went into jurisprudence
, more to examine its spirit than its profession. Initially, he studied the method of Andrea Alciato
, then that of Bartolo da Sassoferrato and the 14th and 15th century schools of thought.
He became interested in ancient history
, and quickly began studying epigraphy
and architectonics. As part of this interest, Maggi accumulated a large collection of ancient tombstones, including ones from Como
, Ravenna
, Rieti
, Foligno
, Perugia
and Rome
. In Pisa, where he was still engaged in formal studies, and in other Italian
cities, he visited and examined sepulchre
s and sarcophagi
, and used his growing knowledge to dispute a universally accepted belief of the time: the idea of the existence of giants
in ancient days. All of this work formed the bases for his tractatus on sepulchres. He worked diligently to provide correct interpretations of ancient works of Roman
law and, for his successful explanation of a section of the Pandects of Justinian
, as he himself tells the story, he was embraced and kissed by Robertello. In Pisa, he probably obtained his doctoral degree in 1546, and returned to his native land two years later.
In 1548, he was requested by his fellow citizens to visit Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
. He began this endeavor in Venice
, the city where in those times, the greatest Italian minds lived quietly and profited greatly from their studies, due to the vast commerce of books fueled by the carefulness and tolerance of the government; there he again saw Robortello, and started a friendship with the famous writer Pietro Aretino
. Maggi, who had nothing to offer, may have sought protection from Aretino, or hoped to avoid harsh criticism from him, when he sang the following hendecasyllabic
verses, published in his 1551 Guerro di Fiandro (Canto II, verse 56):
Pleased by the words, Aretino sent this poem on the Flemish wars to Chiapino Vitelli, the famous Spanish
mercenary
general
, in February 1551, along with a letter praising Maggi's talents. Vitelli's family owned much land around Anghiari, in an area only a few miles from the Maggi estate. So, Maggi endeavored to please Vitelli, a soldier of Cosimo, to obtain good entrance at the royal court in Florence
. He also praised Giovanni dalle Bande Nere
, father of Cosimo I, whose daring son's rise to the throne of Florence well represented Maggi's goal. In five canti
, Maggi often complained about his sad fate, showing himself unhappy with the legal profession exercised by him out of necessity.
on Cyprus
when the island was invaded by Ottoman Turks
in 1571. Besieged by the Turks
, he invented machines to defend Famagusta against their attacks. When the island was conquered, Maggi was sent to the dungeons at Istanbul
where, locked in chains, he wrote from memory two detailed treatises, De tintinnabulis, on bell
s and carillon
s, and the explicitly illustrated De equuleo, on torture devices.
In attempts to be freed, he dedicated the first treatise to Carolus Rym (Charles Ramire), ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II
, and the second treatise to François de Noailles
, bishop of Aire and ambassador to the King of France. They were pleased with his works, and endeavoured to obtain his release. Their efforts, however, were brought to light as he was being released to the Italian ambassador. The prison captain ordered him to be detained and executed by strangulation.
His two treatises were published posthumously in 1608 and 1609, respectively.
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, military engineer
Military engineer
In military science, engineering refers to the practice of designing, building, maintaining and dismantling military works, including offensive, defensive and logistical structures, to shape the physical operating environment in war...
, urban planner
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
, philologist
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, archaeologist, mathematician
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, and naturalist
Natural science
The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...
who studied at Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
under Francis Robortello
Francis Robortello
Francesco Robortello was a Renaissance humanist, nicknamed Canis grammaticus for his confrontational and demanding manner.-As scholar:...
. He authored several works, including a collection of poems on the Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
wars, (Cinque primi canti della guerra di Fiandra, 1551), one detailing military fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s (Della fortificatione delle città, by his friend Giacomo Fusto Castriotto, but edited, annotated, and published posthumously by Maggi in 1564), and several on the subject of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
.
Early life and education
Little is known about his youth, since neither he nor most biographers were concerned with recounting or researching it. His year of birth is unknown; several authors have speculated, based on varying access to information. Maggi specifically mentioned how, in infancy, he was attacked by the same pestilenceBubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
which, in 1563, he states was the most recent one to occur. This was most likely the black death
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
of 1527 spread by Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
's Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
mercenaries (Landsknechts) when they defeated the French and pillaged the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
, but may have been one of the following year or of three years later. His parents were Paolo and Luisa, who quickly left him an orphan.
As a young man, Maggi studied oratory
Oratory
Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
with Pierantonio Ghezzi from Laterina
Laterina
Laterina is a comune in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km southeast of Florence and about 14 km northwest of Arezzo...
, a master of Latin. Afterwards, to proceed with the then popular studies, he went at first to the nearby University of Perugia
University of Perugia
University of Perugia is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale....
, then to that of Pisa
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa , located in Pisa, Tuscany, is one of the oldest universities in Italy. It was formally founded on September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI, although there had been lectures on law in Pisa since the 11th century...
, and finally to that of Bologna
University of Bologna
The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...
. In Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, he attended the lectures of the famous professor of Latin and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
oratory, Francis Robortello
Francis Robortello
Francesco Robortello was a Renaissance humanist, nicknamed Canis grammaticus for his confrontational and demanding manner.-As scholar:...
, who was a faculty member from 1543 to 1549.
Professional life
Maggi, who beyond his native Tuscan, had mastered Latin and was erudite in Greek, HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. Availing himself of such endowments, he went into jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
, more to examine its spirit than its profession. Initially, he studied the method of Andrea Alciato
Andrea Alciato
Andrea Alciato , commonly known as Alciati , was an Italian jurist and writer. He is regarded as the founder of the French school of legal humanists.-Biography:...
, then that of Bartolo da Sassoferrato and the 14th and 15th century schools of thought.
He became interested in ancient history
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
, and quickly began studying epigraphy
Epigraphy
Epigraphy Epigraphy Epigraphy (from the , literally "on-writing", is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be...
and architectonics. As part of this interest, Maggi accumulated a large collection of ancient tombstones, including ones from Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
, 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...
, Rieti
Rieti
Rieti is a city and comune in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of c. 47,700. It is the capital of province of Rieti.The town centre rests on a small hilltop, commanding a wide plain at the southern edge of an ancient lake. The area is now the fertile basin of the Velino River...
, Foligno
Foligno
Foligno is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system...
, Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. In Pisa, where he was still engaged in formal studies, and in other Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
cities, he visited and examined sepulchre
Sepulchre
The rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel are a group of hundreds of rock-cut tombs constructed in Israel in ancient times. They were cut into the rock, sometimes with elaborate facades and multiple burial chambers. Some are free-standing, but most are caves. Each tomb typically belonged to a...
s and sarcophagi
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
, and used his growing knowledge to dispute a universally accepted belief of the time: the idea of the existence of giants
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
in ancient days. All of this work formed the bases for his tractatus on sepulchres. He worked diligently to provide correct interpretations of ancient works of Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
law and, for his successful explanation of a section of the Pandects of Justinian
Pandects
The Digest, also known as the Pandects , is a name given to a compendium or digest of Roman law compiled by order of the emperor Justinian I in the 6th century .The Digest was one part of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the body of civil law issued under Justinian I...
, as he himself tells the story, he was embraced and kissed by Robertello. In Pisa, he probably obtained his doctoral degree in 1546, and returned to his native land two years later.
In 1548, he was requested by his fellow citizens to visit Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo I de' Medici was Duke of Florence from 1537 to 1574, reigning as the first Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1569.-Biography:...
. He began this endeavor in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, the city where in those times, the greatest Italian minds lived quietly and profited greatly from their studies, due to the vast commerce of books fueled by the carefulness and tolerance of the government; there he again saw Robortello, and started a friendship with the famous writer Pietro Aretino
Pietro Aretino
Pietro Aretino was an Italian author, playwright, poet and satirist who wielded immense influence on contemporary art and politics and invented modern literate pornography.- Life :...
. Maggi, who had nothing to offer, may have sought protection from Aretino, or hoped to avoid harsh criticism from him, when he sang the following hendecasyllabic
Hendecasyllable
The hendecasyllable is a line of eleven syllables, used in Ancient Greek and Latin quantitative verse as well as in medieval and modern European poetry.-In quantitative verse:...
verses, published in his 1551 Guerro di Fiandro (Canto II, verse 56):
|
|
Pleased by the words, Aretino sent this poem on the Flemish wars to Chiapino Vitelli, the famous Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
, in February 1551, along with a letter praising Maggi's talents. Vitelli's family owned much land around Anghiari, in an area only a few miles from the Maggi estate. So, Maggi endeavored to please Vitelli, a soldier of Cosimo, to obtain good entrance at the royal court in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. He also praised Giovanni dalle Bande Nere
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere
Lodovico de Medici also known as Giovanni dalle Bande Nere was an Italian condottiero.-Biography:Giovanni was born in the Northern Italian town of Forlì to Giovanni de' Medici and Caterina Sforza, one of the most famous women of the Italian Renaissance.From an early age, he demonstrated great...
, father of Cosimo I, whose daring son's rise to the throne of Florence well represented Maggi's goal. In five canti
Canto
The canto is a principal form of division in a long poem, especially the epic. The word comes from Italian, meaning "song" or singing. Famous examples of epic poetry which employ the canto division are Lord Byron's Don Juan, Valmiki's Ramayana , Dante's The Divine Comedy , and Ezra Pound's The...
, Maggi often complained about his sad fate, showing himself unhappy with the legal profession exercised by him out of necessity.
|
Ulpian Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus , anglicized as Ulpian, was a Roman jurist of Tyrian ancestry.-Biography:The exact time and place of his birth are unknown, but the period of his literary activity was between AD 211 and 222... , Bartolo and Baldo Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I de' Medici was Duke of Florence from 1537 to 1574, reigning as the first Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1569.-Biography:... will behold that great work. |
Ottoman invasion
He was a judge and military defense engineer in FamagustaFamagusta
Famagusta is a city on the east coast of Cyprus and is capital of the Famagusta District. It is located east of Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island.-Name:...
on Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
when the island was invaded by Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1571. Besieged by the Turks
Cyprus under the Ottoman Empire
The Eyalet of Cyprus was created in 1571, and changed its status frequently. It was a sanjak of the Eyalet of the Archipelago from 1660 to 1703, and again from 1784 onwards; a fief of the Grand Vizier , and again an eyalet for the short period 1745-1748.- Ottoman raids and conquest :Throughout the...
, he invented machines to defend Famagusta against their attacks. When the island was conquered, Maggi was sent to the dungeons at Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
where, locked in chains, he wrote from memory two detailed treatises, De tintinnabulis, on bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
s and carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
s, and the explicitly illustrated De equuleo, on torture devices.
In attempts to be freed, he dedicated the first treatise to Carolus Rym (Charles Ramire), ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Maximilian II
Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...
, and the second treatise to François de Noailles
François de Noailles
François de Noailles, Papal Prothonotary, made Bishop of Dax in 1556, was French ambassador in Venice in the 1560s, and French ambassador of Charles IX to the Ottoman Empire from 1571 to 1575....
, bishop of Aire and ambassador to the King of France. They were pleased with his works, and endeavoured to obtain his release. Their efforts, however, were brought to light as he was being released to the Italian ambassador. The prison captain ordered him to be detained and executed by strangulation.
His two treatises were published posthumously in 1608 and 1609, respectively.
Other references
- Short biography. URL accessed 2006-03-06.
- Original documents at Digicoll.library.wisc.edu/.
- D'Israeli, Isaac. "Imprisonment of the Learned". Curiosities of Literature. George Routledge & Sons.
- Ditchfield, Peter Hampson. Books Fatal to Their Authors. URL accessed 2006-03-06.
Further reading
- Buratti, Alessandro. Elogio di Girolamo Magi celebre letterato di Anghiari... Perugia, Nella Stamperia Costantini, Santucci e Comp., 1809. pp 115.