Bernardino Corio (born 1459 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

; died ca.1519) was an Italian humanist and historian of the Renaissance. He wrote ''Historia di Milano'' circa 1500.

Biography

Bernardino Corio came from a renowned Milanese family that had served the Sforza for over 250 years. He began his career as

chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

of Galeazzo Maria in 1474, and was a witness to the latter's murder on 26 December 1476. He subsequently held various offices at the Sforza Court before entering into the circle of Duke Ludovico Sforza, an endorsement that led him to assume first the office of regional ''

podestà Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...

'' in the 1490s, then the appointment as ''Giudice delle Strade'' (in charge of road maintenance). The latter office constituted Ludovico il Moro's sign of gratitude for the ''Historia Patria'', the first chronicle of the city of Milan written in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. Corio's ''Historia'' traces the

history of Milan Milan, Italy is an ancient city in northern Italy first settled in about 400 BC by Celtic Insubres. The settlement was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC and renamed it Mediolanum. Diocletian divided the Roman Empire, choosing the eastern half for ...

from its origins until 1499, when Ludovico il Moro was forced out by the French. Corio began his history around 1485, initially with the support of Ludovico Sforza, who actively desired the

Sforza The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. They acquired the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti family in the mid-15th century, Sforza rule ending in Milan with the death of the last me ...

claim to Milan to be justified and its deeds embellished. The Duke strove to facilitate Corio's work. In 1497 he ordered the civil and religious authorities in

Valtellina Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; rm, Vuclina (); lmo, Valtelina or ; german: Veltlin; it, Valtellina) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Toda ...

and in

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

to permit the writer access to their

archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

and

libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

. Part of the documents were moved to a comfortable lodging house, while those volumes in need of more in-depth consultation were carried to Milan. Ludovico also placed an assistant, Francesco Bianchi, at Corio's disposal and supported the challenge with the amount of 50 lire. By the time the history was completed, however, the Sforza had been overthrown and Ludovico had been captured by the French. Following Ludovico's downfall, Corio left Milan. In 1503 the ''Historia'' was finally concluded and printed under the supervision of the author. Nothing is known about his fate thereafter.

Works

* ''Historia continente da l'origine di Milano tutti li gesti, fatti, e detti preclari''. Milan: Alessandro Minuziano, for the Legnano brothers, 1503.

References

Literature

*Stefano Meschini: Uno storico umanista alla corte sforzesca. Biografia di Bernardino Corio (= Biblioteca di storia moderna e contemporanea 8 = Pubblicazioni della Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. Scienze storiche 58). Vita e Pensiero, Milano 1995, . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Corio, Bernardino 16th-century Italian historians 15th-century Italian historians 1459 births Writers from Milan