Baptista Mantuanus
Encyclopedia
Baptista Spagnuoli Mantuanus ' onMouseout='HidePop("62756")' href="/topics/English_language">English
: Mantua
n, also known as Johannes Baptista Spagnolo) (17 April 1447 – 20 March 1516) was an Italian Carmelite reformer, humanist
, and poet
.
, the northern Italian city that gave him his most commonly used English name. He studied there under the humanists Giorgio Merula and Gregorio Tifernate, and subsequently at Padua
under Paolo Bagelardi, who was famous for weaving the other liberal arts into his lectures on philosophy. A quarrel with his father and a mystically based sense of calling led Mantuan to enter a reformed branch of the Carmelite order in 1463. During the 1470s he studied theology and taught at the monastery of San Martino in Bologna
.
First elected vicar general of his congregation of reformed Carmelites in 1483, Mantuan spent most of the decade in Rome
. There he acquired the monastery of San Crisogono for his branch of the order, pled for Carmelite reforms before Pope Sixtus IV, and preached in a sermon before Pope Innocent VIII against corruption within the Papal Curia. In 1489 Mantuan traveled to Loreto
, a town on the Adriatic coast where a shrine with the reputed house of the Virgin Mary had been put under Carmelite governance.
In 1493 he was appointed director of studies at the reformed Carmelite monastery in Mantua. There he participated in an informal academy founded by Isabella d’ Este, Marchioness of Mantua, and overseen at times by Baldassare Castlglione and other famous humanist writers and philosophers.
In an election overseen in 1513 by Sigismondo Gonzaga
, Mantuan’s old pupil and subsequently Cardinal Protector of the Carmelites, he was chosen as general of the whole order. Ill health bedevlied him through much of his life, however, and he died at Mantua early in 1516.
that includes an early allusion to Columbus
’ discovery of America
, and De vita beata, a dialogue on the religious life that he wrote soon after entering the Carmelite order. He is also known for his Opus aureum in Thomistas, an early humanist critique of the late medieval philosophy and theology associated with Thomas Aquinas.
Mantuan wrote over 55,000 lines of verse, and it is largely through his poetry that he became famous and influential on the cultures of early modern Europe. De calamitatibus temporum was widely reprinted in the early sixteenth century. A three-book attack on the waywardness of the times, the poem includes a passage on Papal corruption that Martin Luther
used prominently in Against the Roman Papacy, An Institution of the Devil, his last great polemic directed against the Curia. Mantuan's Parthenice Mariana initiated a series of seven hagiographic epic
poems in which he celebrated in epic language the lives of Mary as well as Catherine of Alexandria and other Roman Catholic saints. The first successful humanist attempt to do so, these poems set a precedent for epic treatments of religious subjects as diverse as Jacopo Sannazaro
's De partu virginis and John Milton
's Paradise Lost. It is on the basis of Mantuan’s hagiographic epics that Desiderius Erasmus made his notorious pronouncement that as a “Christian Virgil" the Italian poet would eventually be seen as a greater writer than Virgil
.
Mantuan’s greatest success and most influential work was his Adulescentia. In this collection of ten Latin eclogues he brought together the characters, situations, and themes of Virgilian pastoral
with a strain of religious allegory rooted in Carmelite spirituality and a rustic realism compounded of personal observation and the conventions of medieval pastoral art. Schoolmasters commonly used the poems because of their relatively easy Latin and attractive subject matter (the opening eclogues deal with love, a topic one educator notes of interest to all young men). An attack on Papal corruption in one of the poems made Mantuan’s collection an especially popular text in Protestant England
.
Partly because of their use in the schools Mantuan’s eclogues had a profound effect on English literature
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The collection was twice translated into English, by George Turberville
in 1567 and Thomas Harvey in 1656. Early in the sixteenth century Alexander Barclay
made adaptations of Mantuan’s fifth and sixth eclogues, and a notorious attack on women in his fourth eclogue found numerous English translations and paraphrases during the seventeenth century. As “good old Mantuan” he was memorialized as the foolish Holofernes’ favorite author in William Shakespeare
's Love’s Labor’s Lost. A line from his sixth eclogue is echoed in Winter’s song at the end of the same play. And his rustic realism stands behind the world of Corin and William in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Unsurprisingly, Mantuan’s attack on corruption within the church reverberated through English literature. Eventually it shifted from being used to attack the Papal Curia to become in John Milton’s “Lycidas” a sanction for his indictment in pastoral poetry of “our corrupted” English clergy.
As a dominant model for the English eclogue Mantuan’s Adulescenta heavily influenced Edmund Spenser
’s Shepheardes Calender. Overall his rustic stylistic decorum sanctioned the English poet’s experiments with diction and rough rhythms. Spenser’s complaint about the neglect of poets and poetry in "October" draws thematically from Mantuan’s fifth eclogue. The Italian poet’s condemnation of Papal corruption is used in Spenser’s "September" to indict pillaging the wealth of the English Church by Elizabeth and her courtiers. The winter world of February, drawn from Mantuan’s sixth eclogue, has been seen to proclaim a harsh “Mantuanesque” world that Spenser set in his poems against the softer world of Arcadian pastoral.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
n, also known as Johannes Baptista Spagnolo) (17 April 1447 – 20 March 1516) was an Italian Carmelite reformer, humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
, and 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...
.
Biography
Mantuan was born of a Spanish family that had settled in MantuaMantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
, the northern Italian city that gave him his most commonly used English name. He studied there under the humanists Giorgio Merula and Gregorio Tifernate, and subsequently at 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...
under Paolo Bagelardi, who was famous for weaving the other liberal arts into his lectures on philosophy. A quarrel with his father and a mystically based sense of calling led Mantuan to enter a reformed branch of the Carmelite order in 1463. During the 1470s he studied theology and taught at the monastery of San Martino in 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,...
.
First elected vicar general of his congregation of reformed Carmelites in 1483, Mantuan spent most of the decade in 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...
. There he acquired the monastery of San Crisogono for his branch of the order, pled for Carmelite reforms before Pope Sixtus IV, and preached in a sermon before Pope Innocent VIII against corruption within the Papal Curia. In 1489 Mantuan traveled to Loreto
Loreto (AN)
Loreto is a hilltown and comune of the Italian province of Ancona, in the Marche. It is mostly famous as the seat of the Basilica della Santa Casa, a popular Catholic pilgrimage site.-Location:...
, a town on the Adriatic coast where a shrine with the reputed house of the Virgin Mary had been put under Carmelite governance.
In 1493 he was appointed director of studies at the reformed Carmelite monastery in Mantua. There he participated in an informal academy founded by Isabella d’ Este, Marchioness of Mantua, and overseen at times by Baldassare Castlglione and other famous humanist writers and philosophers.
In an election overseen in 1513 by Sigismondo Gonzaga
Sigismondo Gonzaga
Sigismondo Gonzaga was an Italian cardinal. He was the third son of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua....
, Mantuan’s old pupil and subsequently Cardinal Protector of the Carmelites, he was chosen as general of the whole order. Ill health bedevlied him through much of his life, however, and he died at Mantua early in 1516.
Works and Influence
Besides his sermon preached before Innocent VIII Mantuan’s most notable works in prose include De patientia, a rambling discourse on physical and spiritual illnessIllness
Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...
that includes an early allusion to Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
’ discovery of America
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, and De vita beata, a dialogue on the religious life that he wrote soon after entering the Carmelite order. He is also known for his Opus aureum in Thomistas, an early humanist critique of the late medieval philosophy and theology associated with Thomas Aquinas.
Mantuan wrote over 55,000 lines of verse, and it is largely through his poetry that he became famous and influential on the cultures of early modern Europe. De calamitatibus temporum was widely reprinted in the early sixteenth century. A three-book attack on the waywardness of the times, the poem includes a passage on Papal corruption that Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
used prominently in Against the Roman Papacy, An Institution of the Devil, his last great polemic directed against the Curia. Mantuan's Parthenice Mariana initiated a series of seven hagiographic epic
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
poems in which he celebrated in epic language the lives of Mary as well as Catherine of Alexandria and other Roman Catholic saints. The first successful humanist attempt to do so, these poems set a precedent for epic treatments of religious subjects as diverse as Jacopo Sannazaro
Jacopo Sannazaro
Jacopo Sannazaro was an Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples.He wrote easily in Latin, in Italian and in Neapolitan, but is best remembered for his humanist classic Arcadia, a masterwork that illustrated the possibilities of poetical prose in Italian, and instituted the theme of...
's De partu virginis and John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's Paradise Lost. It is on the basis of Mantuan’s hagiographic epics that Desiderius Erasmus made his notorious pronouncement that as a “Christian Virgil" the Italian poet would eventually be seen as a greater writer than Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
.
Mantuan’s greatest success and most influential work was his Adulescentia. In this collection of ten Latin eclogues he brought together the characters, situations, and themes of Virgilian pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
with a strain of religious allegory rooted in Carmelite spirituality and a rustic realism compounded of personal observation and the conventions of medieval pastoral art. Schoolmasters commonly used the poems because of their relatively easy Latin and attractive subject matter (the opening eclogues deal with love, a topic one educator notes of interest to all young men). An attack on Papal corruption in one of the poems made Mantuan’s collection an especially popular text in Protestant England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Partly because of their use in the schools Mantuan’s eclogues had a profound effect on English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The collection was twice translated into English, by George Turberville
George Turberville
George Turberville, or Turbervile was an English poet, second son of Henry Turberville of Winterborne Whitechurch, Dorset, and nephew of James Turberville, Bishop of Exeter...
in 1567 and Thomas Harvey in 1656. Early in the sixteenth century Alexander Barclay
Alexander Barclay
Dr Alexander Barclay was an English/Scottish poet.-Biography:Barclay was born in about 1476. His place of birth is matter of dispute, but William Bulleyn, who was a native of Ely, and probably knew him when he was in the monastery there, asserts that he was born "beyonde the cold river of Twede"...
made adaptations of Mantuan’s fifth and sixth eclogues, and a notorious attack on women in his fourth eclogue found numerous English translations and paraphrases during the seventeenth century. As “good old Mantuan” he was memorialized as the foolish Holofernes’ favorite author in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Love’s Labor’s Lost. A line from his sixth eclogue is echoed in Winter’s song at the end of the same play. And his rustic realism stands behind the world of Corin and William in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Unsurprisingly, Mantuan’s attack on corruption within the church reverberated through English literature. Eventually it shifted from being used to attack the Papal Curia to become in John Milton’s “Lycidas” a sanction for his indictment in pastoral poetry of “our corrupted” English clergy.
As a dominant model for the English eclogue Mantuan’s Adulescenta heavily influenced Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
’s Shepheardes Calender. Overall his rustic stylistic decorum sanctioned the English poet’s experiments with diction and rough rhythms. Spenser’s complaint about the neglect of poets and poetry in "October" draws thematically from Mantuan’s fifth eclogue. The Italian poet’s condemnation of Papal corruption is used in Spenser’s "September" to indict pillaging the wealth of the English Church by Elizabeth and her courtiers. The winter world of February, drawn from Mantuan’s sixth eclogue, has been seen to proclaim a harsh “Mantuanesque” world that Spenser set in his poems against the softer world of Arcadian pastoral.
External links
- Adulescentia Hypertext version of the Mantuan's eclogues containing Latin text with an English translation and notes by leading Mantuan scholar Lee Piepho
- Secundae Parthenices opus, printed in Cologne, 1500; full digital facsimile, CAMENA Project
- Bucolica, printed in Paris, 1528; full digital facsimile, CAMENA Project
- Monday Mantuan An ongoing translation of Mantuan's eclogues, updated every Monday.