Brunetto Latini
Florentine philosopher and statesman, born at Florence, c. 1210;
the son of Buonaccorso Latini, died 1294.
A notary by profession. Brunetto shared in the revolution of 1250,
by which the Ghibelline power in Florence was overthrown, and a
Guelph democratic government established In 1260, he was sent by
the Commune as ambassador to Alfonso X of Castile, to implore his
aid against King Manfred and the Ghibellines, and he has left us
in his "Tesoretto", (II, 27-50), a dramatic account of how, on his
return journey, he met a scholar from Bologna who told him that
the Guelphs had been defeated at Montaperti and expelled from
Florence. Brunetto took refuge at Paris, where a generous fellow-
countryman enabled him to pursue his studies while carrying on his
pro-fession of notary. To this unnamed friend he now dedicated his
"Tresor". After the Guelph triumph of 1266 and the establishment
of a new democratic constitution, Brunetto returned to Florence,
where he held various offices, including that of secretary to the
Commune, took an active and honoured part in Flor-entine politics,
and was influential in the counsels of the Republic. Himself a man
of great eloquence, he introduced the art of oratory and the
systematic study of political science into Florentine public life.
He was buried in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Among the
individuals who had come under his influence was the young Dante
Alighieri, and, in one of the most pathetic episodes of the
"Inferno" (canto XV) Dante finds the sage, who had taught him "how
man makes himself eternal", among the sinners against nature.
Brunetto's chief work, "Li Livres dou Tresor" is a kind of
encyclopedia in which he "treats of all things that pertain to
mortals". It was written in French prose during his exile, and
translated into Italian by a contemporary, Bono Giamboni. Mainly a
compilation from St. Isidore of Seville and other writers, it
includes compendiums of Aristotle's "Ethics" and Cicero's treatise
on rhetoric. The most interesting portion is the last, "On the
Government of Cities ", in which the author deals with the
political life of his own times. The "Tesoretto", written before
the "Tresor", is an allegorical didactic poem in Italian, which
undoubtedly influenced Dante. Brunetto finds him- self astray in a
wood, speaks with Nature in her secret places, reaches the realm
of the Virtues, wanders into the flowery meadow of Love, from
which he is deliv-ered by Ovid. He confesses his sins to a friar
and resolves to amend his life, after which he ascends Olym-pus
and begins to hold converse with Ptolemy. It has recently been
shown that the "Tesoretto" was probably dedicated to Guido Guerra,
the Florentine sol- dier and politician who shares Brunetto's
terrible fate in Dante's Inferno. Brunetto also wrote the "Fa-
volello", a pleasant letter in Italian verse to Rustico di Filippo
on friends and friendship. The other poems ascribed to him, with
the possible exception of one canzone, are spurious.
EDMUND G. GARDNER
Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
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editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
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