Filippo Buonaccorsi, called Callimachus, Callimico, Bonacurarius, Caeculus, Geminianensis (Latin: ''Philippus Callimachus Experiens'', ''Bonacursius''; , 2 May 1437 – 1 November 1496) was an Italian

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

, writer and diplomat active in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Life

Filippo Buonaccorsi was born in San Gimignano, in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, in north-central Italy. He first appeared in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and Rome, where he was secretary to Bishop Bartolomeo Roverella. He moved to Rome in 1462 and became a member of the

Rome Academy Roman academies refers to associations of learned individuals and not institutes for instruction. Such Roman Academies were always connected to larger educational structures conceived during and following the Italian Renaissance, at the height of w ...

Julius Pomponius Laetus Julius Pomponius Laetus (1428 – 9 June 1498), also known as Giulio Pomponio Leto, was an Italian humanist. Background Laetus was born at Teggiano, near Salerno, the illegitimate scion of the princely house of Sanseverino, the German historian ...

. In 1468 he took part in a supposed assassination attempt upon

Pope Paul II Pope Paul II ( la, Paulus II; it, Paolo II; 23 February 1417 – 26 July 1471), born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 August 1464 to his death in July 1471. When his maternal uncle Eugene IV ...

and fled to

. In Poland he found work with the Bishop of Lwów,

Gregory of Sanok Gregory of Sanok ( pl, Grzegorz z Sanoka; Sanok, 1403 or 1407 – 29 January 1477, Rohatyn) was a Polish bishop, a professor at the Kraków Academy, metropolitan archbishop of Lwów, scholar, philosopher and a major figure of Polish humanism. L ...

Pomponius The gens Pomponia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members appear throughout the history of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Pomponius, tribune of the plebs in 449 BC ...

implied he was homosexual and referred to his "perverted habits". The homo-erotic verses (including one addressed to the then Bishop of

Segni Segni (, ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' located in Lazio. The city is situated on a hilltop in the Lepini Mountains, and overlooks the valley of the Sacco River. History Early history According to ancient Roman sources, Lucius Tarquiniu ...

, Lucio Fazini) which were found in his papers, while earning him a reputation as a

sodomite Sodomite may refer to: * A person who practices sodomy * A resident of Sodom and Gomorrah, Sodom * Sodomites (film), ''Sodomites'' (film), a 1998 short film by Gaspar Noé {{disambiguation ...

, seem to have been restricted to his youth. This seems to have reflected the aims of the Rome Academy to revive the concept of homosexual love as the ideal, drawing on the precedents set by antiquity. But Buonaccorsi seems to have been particularly active within the group in writing about sexual infatuation between men. However, once in Poland, he seemed to have turned his attention to heterosexual love instead; perhaps a cautious reaction to the violent events in Rome. Buonaccorsi later became tutor to the sons of Polish King

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the m ...

and took part in diplomatic missions. In 1474 he was named royal secretary, in 1476 he served as ambassador to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, and in 1486 he became the King's representative in Venice. With the accession to the Polish throne of Buonaccorsi's former pupil as

John I of Poland John I Albert ( pl, Jan I Olbracht; 27 December 1459 – 17 June 1501) was King of Poland from 1492 until his death in 1501 and Duke of Głogów (Glogau) from 1491 to 1498. He was the fourth Polish sovereign from the Jagiellonian dynasty, the s ...

, his influence peaked. He is credited with the first Western use of the word “Balkans, Balkan” (referring to the Bulgarian mountain range), in a 1490 letter to Pope Innocent VIII, writing as Buonaccorsi Callimaco. In his writings, Buonaccorsi argued for the strengthening of the king's power at the expense of the aristocracy. In Kraków he joined Conrad Celtis' Sodalitas Vistuliana. Callimachus wrote poems and prose in Latin, and is best remembered for his biographies of Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki (cardinal), Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Bishop

, and King Władysław III of Poland. His tomb in Kraków's Basilica of Holy Trinity, Kraków, Basilica of the Holy Trinity was created by Veit Stoss.

In popular culture

Callimaco Buonaccorsi is a recurring figure in Dorothy Dunnett's The House of Niccolò, ''House of Niccolo'' series of historical novels, particularly in volume seven, ''Caprice and Rondo''.

References

External links

Filippo Buonaccorsi, ''Repertorium Pomponianum''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buonaccorsi, Filip 1437 births 1496 deaths People from San Gimignano Italian Renaissance humanists Italian people of Polish descent LGBT writers from Poland Polish Renaissance humanists Polish male writers Medieval Latin poets Medieval LGBT people Gay writers 15th-century Latin writers Italy–Poland relations Italian emigrants to Poland Italian male poets 15th-century Polish writers 15th-century Italian writers

Life

In popular culture

See also

References

External links