Filippo Diversi, in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Philippus de Diversis de Quartigianis (fl. 1434–1444), was a

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

n scholar and writer. His life is known mostly from his own writings, the most important of which is his ''Descriptio'' of the city of

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

(Ragusa). Filippo was born in Lucca in imperial Italy in the 1390s to Giovanni of the Quartigiani family. With the fall of the

Republic of Lucca The Republic of Lucca () was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Lucca in Tuscany, which lasted from 1160 to 1805. Its territory extended beyond the city of Lucca, reaching the surrounding countryside in th ...

and the rise of

Paolo Guinigi Paolo Guinigi (1432) was the lord of Lucca from 1400 until 1430. Biography Paolo was born in Lucca in 1372.. He was the youngest son of Francesco Guinigi, member of one of the most outstanding families of Lucca. He was sent to London in 1389 ...

, his family was forced into exile. They went to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, where there was a large community of expatriate Luccans supported by organs like the Scuola dei Santo Volto. According to an appeal he lodged on 8 December 1444, his grandfather Nicolò and his great-grandfather Giovanni had also suffered exile for the sake of Luccan liberty. In 1434, Filippo was invited by the

Republic of Ragusa The Republic of Ragusa, or the Republic of Dubrovnik, was an maritime republics, aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' in Italian and Latin; ''Raguxa'' in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost ...

to teach grammar. He took up his post in the

Sponza Palace The Sponza Palace (; ), also called Divona (from ''dogana'', customs), is a 16th-century palace in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Its name is derived from the Latin word "", the spot where rainwater was collected. The rectangular building with an inner cou ...

, but he did not receive the promised remuneration. In Ragusa he wrote his most famous work, ''Situs aedificiorum, politiae et laudabilium consuetudinum inclytae civitatis Ragusii ad ipsius Senatum descriptio'', a description of the city in fifty chapters dedicated to the senate, which probably commissioned it. He describes the city's geography and climate in Part I, architecture in Part II, church and constitution in Part III and customs in Part IV. He completely ignores the city's history. Filippo was still in Ragusa in 1440 and thereafter his movements are hard to trace. Although elected on 22 October 1441 to a teaching position in Lucca, he does not seem to have taken it up. He would have taught grammar, rhetoric and moral philosophy for 100

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

s. It is uncertain, therefore, if he ever returned to Lucca. He was in Venice when he lodged his appeal ''ad Lucenses'' ("to the Luccans") in 1444. Besides his ''Descriptio'' of Ragusa, three speeches by Filippo have survived. Like the ''Descriptio'' they are rather flat and far from the tendencies and lexicon of the new

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

: *''Pro funere Serenissimi olim Romanorum Imperatoris semper Augusti ac Regis Illustrissimi Regnorum Unghariae et Bohemiae Sigismundi'' (eulogy of

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1437. He was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in 1410, and was also King of Bohemia from 1419, as well as prince-elect ...

, delivered 20 January 1438) *''In laudem Serenissimi Unghariae et Bohemiae Regis electi, et coronati, ac Ducis Austriae inclyti, et Moraniae Marchionis Domini Alberti oratio'' (congratulations on Duke Albert of Austria's election and coronation as king of Hungary and Bohemia, delivered 26 February 1438) *''Pro morte Illustrissimi Regis Alberti Romanorum et Unghariae et Bohemiae et Ducis Austriae defuncti'' (eulogy of Albert, who died 27 October 1439)

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