Francis Robortello
Encyclopedia
Francesco Robortello was a Renaissance humanist
, nicknamed Canis grammaticus ("the grammatical dog") for his confrontational and demanding manner.
, who taught philosophy and rhetoric, as well as ethics (following Aristotle
), and Latin and Greek, roving from Padua through universities at Lucca
, Pisa
, Venice
, Padua
, and Bologna
before finally returning to Padua in 1560.
Robortello's scientific approach to textual emendations laid the groundwork for modern Hermeneutics. His commentary on Aristotle's Poetics formed the basis for Renaissance and 17th century theories of comedy
, influential in writing for the theatre
everywhere save in England. At the same time he was the conservative Aristotelian philosopher who urged woman to submit her will to that of her husband on the basis of her moral weakness, in his libro politicos: Aristotelis disputatio (Venice, 1552, p. 175, quoted Comensoli 1989).
He followed his In librum Aristotelis de arte poetica explicationes (1548), in which he emended the Latin version of Alessandro de’ Pazzi (published 1536) with a paraphrase of Horace
's Ars poetica
and with explications of genre
s missing in the surviving text of Aristotle: De Satyra, De Epigrammate, De Comoedia, De Salibus, De Elegia.
In the fields of philology
and history he sustained controversies in print with Carlo Sigonio and Vincenzo Maggi in the form of essay
-like orations, correcting the editions published in Venice by Aldus Manutius
, and even philological missteps of Erasmus. These brief essays were collected and published at intervals. A convention of surveys of Italian liguistics (Gensini 1993) is to start with Robortello.
At Padua in the 1550s one of his pupils was Giacomo Zabarella. Another pupil was Jan Kochanowski
, a poet who wrote both in Polish and Latin and introduced the ideas, forms and spirit of the Renaissance into Polish literature.
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
, nicknamed Canis grammaticus ("the grammatical dog") for his confrontational and demanding manner.
As scholar
Robortello was an editor of rediscovered works of AntiquityClassical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, who taught philosophy and rhetoric, as well as ethics (following Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
), and Latin and Greek, roving from Padua through universities at Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
, 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...
, 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...
, Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, and 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,...
before finally returning to Padua in 1560.
Robortello's scientific approach to textual emendations laid the groundwork for modern Hermeneutics. His commentary on Aristotle's Poetics formed the basis for Renaissance and 17th century theories of comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, influential in writing for the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
everywhere save in England. At the same time he was the conservative Aristotelian philosopher who urged woman to submit her will to that of her husband on the basis of her moral weakness, in his libro politicos: Aristotelis disputatio (Venice, 1552, p. 175, quoted Comensoli 1989).
He followed his In librum Aristotelis de arte poetica explicationes (1548), in which he emended the Latin version of Alessandro de’ Pazzi (published 1536) with a paraphrase of Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
's Ars poetica
Ars Poetica
Ars Poetica is a term meaning "The Art of Poetry" or "On the Nature of Poetry". Early examples of Ars Poetica by Aristotle and Horace have survived and have since spawned many other poems that bear the same name...
and with explications of genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s missing in the surviving text of Aristotle: De Satyra, De Epigrammate, De Comoedia, De Salibus, De Elegia.
In the fields of philology
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...
and history he sustained controversies in print with Carlo Sigonio and Vincenzo Maggi in the form of essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
-like orations, correcting the editions published in Venice by Aldus Manutius
Aldus Manutius
Aldus Pius Manutius , the Latinised name of Aldo Manuzio —sometimes called Aldus Manutius, the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson, Aldus Manutius, the Younger—was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher when he founded the Aldine Press at Venice.His publishing legacy includes...
, and even philological missteps of Erasmus. These brief essays were collected and published at intervals. A convention of surveys of Italian liguistics (Gensini 1993) is to start with Robortello.
At Padua in the 1550s one of his pupils was Giacomo Zabarella. Another pupil was Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language.He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz, and the greatest Slavic poet, prior to the 19th century.-Life:Kochanowski was born at...
, a poet who wrote both in Polish and Latin and introduced the ideas, forms and spirit of the Renaissance into Polish literature.
Main works
- De historica facultate disputatio (alternatively as De arte historica), 1548; 1567. An incunable of historiographyHistoriographyHistoriography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
. - De rhetorica facultate, 1548
- In Aristotelis poeticam explicationes, Florence 1548, 2nd edition 1555. Reinterpreting Aristotle's Poetics for the humanist.
- Dionysi Longini rhetoris praestantissimi liber de grandi sive sublimiorationis genere ... cum adnotationibus, Basel 1554. Recovering the lost literary criticismLiterary criticismLiterary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
of LonginusLonginus (literature)Longinus is the conventional name of the author of the treatise, On the Sublime , a work which focuses on the effect of good writing. Longinus, sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Longinus because his real name is unknown, was a Greek teacher of rhetoric or a literary critic who may have lived in the...
, On the Sublime. - Thesaurus criticus, 1557, second edition, 1604
- De arte, sive ratione corrigendi antiquorum libros disputatio, Florence 1548; 2nd edition 1562 This "Lecture on the art and method of correcting the books of the old writers" was one of the first critical discussions of the methodologies to apply in correcting texts of Antiquity.
- De artificio dicendi 1567. A textbook of rhetoric.
External links
- Franciscus Robortellus (Francesco Robortello)
- Italica: Rinascimento" Francesco Robortello
- Viviana Comensoli, "Gender and Eloquence in Dekker's The Honest Whore, Part II," note.
- Theaterbase: Barret H. Clark, Italian Dramatic Criticism of the Renaissance. Context of Robortello's works.
Further reading
- María José Vega, La formación de la teoría de la comedia: Francesco Robortello.
- Edward John Kenney, 1974 The Classical Text: Aspects of Editing in the Age of the Printed Book (University of California), 1974), especially pp 29-36.