Leandro Alberti (1479–1552) was an Italian Dominican historian.

Life

Alberti was born and died at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. In his early youth he attracted the attention of the Bolognese rhetorician, Giovanni Garzoni, who volunteered to act as his tutor. He entered the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

in 1493, and after the completion of his philosophical and theological studies was called to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

by his friend, the Master General,

Francesco Silvestri Francesco Silvestri, O.P. (''ca''. 1474 – 19 September 1528) was an Italian people, Italian Dominican Order, Dominican theologian.) and Franciscus Sylvester de Sylvestris., group=note He wrote a notable commentary on Thomas of Aquinas's ''Summa c ...

of Ferrara, called "Ferrariensis". He served him as secretary and ''socius'' until the death of Silvestri in 1528.

Works

In 1517, Alberti published in six books a treatise on the famous men of his order (''De viris illustribus Ordinis Praedicatorum'', Bologna 1517), still profitably consulted.. This work has gone through numerous editions and been translated into many modern tongues. Besides several lives of the saints, some of which

Papebroch Daniel Papebroch, S.J., (17 March 1628 – 28 June 1714) was a Flemish Jesuit hagiographer, one of the Bollandists. He was a leading revisionist figure, bringing historical criticism to bear on traditions of saints of the Catholic Church. Life ...

embodied in the ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...

'', and a history of the Madonna di San Luca and the adjoining monastery, he published (Bologna, 1514, 1543) a chronicle of his native city (''Istoria di Bologna, etc.'') to 1273. It was continued by Lucio Caccianemici to 1279. The fame of Alberti rests chiefly on his ''Descrizione d'Italia'' (Bologna, 1550) a book in which are found many valuable topographical and archaeological observations. Many of the

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...

and historical facts are useless, however, since Alberti followed closely the uncritical work written by

Annius of Viterbo Annius of Viterbo ( la, Joannes Annius Viterb(i)ensis; 5 January 143713 November 1502) was an Italian Dominican friar, scholar, and historian, born Giovanni Nanni in Viterbo. He is now remembered for his fabrications. He entered the Dominican Or ...

on the same subject. The work was translated into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

in 1566, after having been three times enlarged in the Italian. He also wrote a chronicle of events from 1499 to 1552, and sketches of famous Venetians. His explanations of the prophecies of

Joachim of Fiore Joachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora and in Italian Gioacchino da Fiore (c. 1135 – 30 March 1202), was an Italian Christian theologian, Catholic abbot, and the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore. According to th ...

and his treatise on the beginnings of the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

indicate the current of historical criticism of his day. He was a close friend of most of the contemporary literati, who frequently consulted him. He is often mentioned in the letters of the poet Giovanni Antonio Flaminio, who dedicated the tenth book of his poems to the friar.

Notes

References

* * * * ;Attribution 16th-century Italian historians Italian Dominicans 1479 births 1552 deaths Writers from Bologna {{Italy-historian-stub