Bonvesin de la Riva
Encyclopedia
Bonvesin da la Riva (c.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...

 1240 – c. 1313) was a well-to-do Milanese
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 lay member of the Ordine degli Umiliati
Humiliati
The Humiliati were an Italian religious order of men formed probably in the 12th century. It was suppressed by a Papal bull in 1571 though an associated order of women continued into the 20th century.-Origin:Its origin is obscure...

 (literally, "Order of the Humble Ones"), a teacher of (Latin) grammar and a notable Lombard
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

 poet and writer of the 13th century.

His De magnalibus urbis Mediolani ("On the Marvels of Milan"), written in the late spring of 1288, languished unknown in a single manuscript in the Biblioteca Nacional de España
Biblioteca Nacional de España
The Biblioteca Nacional de España is a major public library, the largest in Spain.It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos.-History:...

, Madrid, until 1894. Its eight chapters form a monument of civic pride typical of the Italian communes, written by a man in a position to offer unrivalled statistical report of the city that he felt was exalted above all others, like the eagle among birds. In Milan he counted the belltowers (120) and the portoni, massive front doors of houses (12,500), the city's lawyers (120), physicians (28), ordinary surgeons (at least 150), butchers (440) and communal trumpeters (6). His order, the Umiliati, served as a kind of civil service in Milan, collecting taxes and controlling the communal treasury, so he was in a position to know. His long inventory of the fruits and vegetables that Milanesi were eating serve as a rare source of ordinary fare for the historian of cuisine, as his verses De quinquaginta curialitatibus ad mensam ("Fifty courtesies at Table"), written in the Western Lombard language for the instruction of those not proficient in Latin, serve the historian of table manners
Table manners
Table manners are the rules of etiquette used while eating, which may also include the appropriate use of utensils. Different cultures observe different rules for table manners...

.

Other works

In Latin except where noted.
  • Libro de le tre scritture (in Milanese)
  • Disputatio musce cum formica
  • Disputatio rosae cum viola
  • De vulgare de elymosinis
  • Laudes de Virgine Maria
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