Rinaldo Cavalchini lived in Villafranca di Verona

Villafranca di Verona

Villafranca di Verona is a town and comune in the province of Verona in the Veneto, Northern Italy.-History:The position on the ancient via Postumia and the perpendicular intersection structure of its roads suggests that the city had Roman origins....

 near 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...

 and was better known as Rinaldo from Villafranca.

Life

He was the son of the notary Oliviero and employed in 1332 by della Scala of Verona as preceptor

Preceptor

A preceptor is a teacher responsible to uphold a certain law or tradition, a precept.-Christian military orders:A preceptor was historically in charge of a preceptory, the headquarters of certain orders of monastic Knights, such as the Knights Hospitaller and Knights Templar, within a given...

 to the Court Scaligera. He was a poet as well as a humanist

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...

. He was a close friend of Petrarch

Petrarch

Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...

, as well as a personal tutor to his son Giovanni in 1345. Petrarch communicated with him and he is mentioned in Petrarch's sine nomine

Sine nomine

"Sine nomine" is a Latin expression, meaning "without a name". It is most commonly used in the contexts of publishing and bibliographical listings such as library catalogs, to signify that the publisher of a listed work is unknown, or not printed or specified on the work...

in letter eleven asking for Petrarch's help in getting employed in the papal curia at Avignon.

He is famous for the epitaphs he wrote for Cangrande I 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...

 and Mastino II della Scala

Mastino II della Scala

Mastino II della Scala was lord of Verona. He was a member of the famous Scaliger family of northern Italy.He was the son of Alboino I della Scala and Beatrice da Correggio. At the death of Cangrande I, he and his brother Alberto II were associated in the rule of Verona. Soon, however, Mastino's...

. He gave all his possessions to St. Peter's Church in Zevio

Zevio

Zevio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 14 km southeast of Verona...

, San Fermo Friary, and to St. Peter's Church of Villafranca in his Will. The lineage of Cavalchini died at the end of 1400.

See also

• House of Scaliger
• Book Without A Name
• A short biography of Rinaldo Cavalchini on the Comune di Villafranca
  Villafranca di Verona
  Villafranca di Verona is a town and comune in the province of Verona in the Veneto, Northern Italy.-History:The position on the ancient via Postumia and the perpendicular intersection structure of its roads suggests that the city had Roman origins....
  
  website