Biography

He was born at Torreglia

Torreglia

Torreglia is a comune in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about 45 km west of Venice and about 14 km southwest of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,978 and an area of 18.8 km²....

, in what is now the province of Padua

Province of Padua

The Province of Padua is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Padua.-History and territory:...

 (then in the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

), in 1682. He was admitted to the seminary

Seminary

A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

 of Padua thanks to Cardinal Barberigo, who had formed a high opinion of the boy's talents. As professor of logic

Logic

In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...

 and regent of the schools, Facciolati became the leading academic of Padua university during a period of forty-five years. He published improved editions of several philological

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...

 works, such as the Thesaurus Ciceronianus of Nizolius, and in 1719 he brought out a revised edition of the Lexicon Septem Linguarum, a Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 dictionary in seven languages, called the Calepinus, from the name of its author, the monk Ambrogio Calepino. The latter work, in which he was assisted by his pupil Egidio Forcellini

Egidio Forcellini

Egidio Forcellini , Italian philologist, was born at Fener in the district of Treviso and belonged to a very poor family.He went to the seminary at Padua in 1704, studied under Facciolati, and in due course attained the priesthood. From 1724 to 1730 he held the office of rector of the seminary at...

, he completed in four years, 1715 to 1719. It was written in seven languages, and suggested to the editor the idea of his opus magnum, the Totius Latinitatis Lexicon, which was ultimately published at Cardinal Priole's expense, 4 vols. fol., Padua, 1771 (revised ed. by de Vit, 1858-1887).

In the compilation of this work the chief burden seems to have been borne by Facciolati's pupil Forcellini, to whom, however, the lexicographer allows a very scanty measure of justice. Perhaps the best testimony to the learning and industry of the compiler is the well-known observation that the whole body of Latinity, if it were to perish, might be restored from this lexicon. Facciolati's mastery of Latin style, as displayed in his epistles, has been very much admired for its purity and grace.

In or about 1739 Facciolati undertook the continuation of Nicolò Comneno Papadopoli, who wrote a history of the University of Padua

University of Padua

The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...

, carrying it on to his own day. Parts claimed by Papadopoli concerning Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....

 were later exposed as fraudulent by Carlo Malagola

Carlo Malagola

Carlo Malagola was a 19th century Italian historian.Among others, he studied the archives of Bologna, and the life of Antonio Urceo , called Codro , who had taught Greek to Nicolaus Copernicus...

 and Leopold Prowe

Leopold Prowe

Leopold Friedrich Prowe was a German historian and gymnasium instructor, born as the son of a town councillor of Thorn in West Prussia, the town where in 1473 German astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born...

. Facciolati was known over all Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 as one of the most enlightened and zealous teachers of the time; and among the many flattering invitations which he received, but always declined, was one from the king of Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, to accept the directorship of a college at Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

for the young nobility. He died in 1769. His history of the university was published in 1757, under the name Fasti Gymnasii Patavini.

In 1808 a volume containing nine of his Epistles never before published was issued at Padua.