Tommaso Fazello (

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

''Fazellus'', 1498 – 8 April 1570) was an Italian Dominican

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

, historian and antiquarian. He is known as the father of Sicilian history. He is the author of the first printed history of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

: ''De Rebus Siculis Decades Duae'', published in Palermo in 1558 in Latin. He was born in

Sciacca Sciacca (; ; , , , or ) is a town and (municipality) in the province of Agrigento on the southwestern coast of Sicily, southern Italy. It has views of the Mediterranean Sea. History Thermae was founded in the 5th century BC by the Greeks, as ...

, Sicily and died in Palermo, Sicily. He rediscovered the ruins of the ancient Sicilian towns of Akrai (modern

Palazzolo Acreide Palazzolo Acreide ( Sicilian: ''Palazzolu'', in the local dialect: ''Palazzuolu'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily ( southern Italy). It is from the city of Syracuse in the Hyblean Mountains. It is one of I Borghi ...

), Selinus (modern

Selinunte Selinunte ( , ; ; ; ) was a rich and extensive Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia on the south-western coast of Sicily in Italy. It was situated between the valleys of the Cottone and Modione rivers. It now lies in the of C ...

) and

Heraclea Minoa Heraclea Minoa (, ''Hērákleia Minṓia''; ) was an ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia situated on the southern coast of Sicily near the mouth of the river Halycus (modern Platani), 25 km west of Agrigentum (''Acragas'', modern Agrigento ...

. He also rediscovered the Temple of Olympian Zeus at Akragas (modern

Agrigento Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading cities during the golden ...

). In 1555, he taught at the Convent of San Domenico, Palermo, which later became the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo () is a public university, public research university in Palermo, Italy. It was founded in 1806, and is currently organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although it ...

Biography

Born at Sciacca in Sicily, Fazello studied at Palermo and entered the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

. He next studied at Rome and at Padua, where he received his doctorate. At Rome, he became friends with the humanist scholar

Paolo Giovio Paolo Giovio (also spelled ''Paulo Jovio''; Latin: ''Paulus Jovius''; 19 April 1483 – 11 December 1552) was an Italian physician, historian, biographer, and prelate. Early life Little is known about Giovio's youth. He was a native of Co ...

, who encouraged him to write a history of Sicily. Returning to Palermo, Fazello undertook to teach

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and at the same time kept up his religious exercises. He so devoted himself to his studies that eventually he gave up all but one meal a day and reduced the number of hours he slept each night. His history of Sicily, ''De rebus siculis decades duae'' (Palermo, 1558), which was his only publication, included material on the ancient history and antiquities of Sicily, showing an immense personal knowledge of topography that allowed him to identify, on the basis of ancient authors, many of the major sites of Sicily. His work is still considered fundamental for the study of ancient Sicily.

Opere

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Bibliography

References

External links

Storia di Sicilia, Deche due
Tommaso Fazello, - Internet Archive
Storia di Sicilia, Deche due: Tradotte in Lingua Toscana (1830)
Tommaso Fazello, G. Bertini - Internet Archive
An online copy of "De Rebus Siculis (Historia di Sicilia)
with other ancient books, photographically scanned by The Freaknet Medialab. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fazello, Tommaso 1498 births 1570 deaths People from Sciacca Italian Dominicans Historians of Sicily 16th-century writers in Latin Academic staff of the University of Palermo 16th-century Italian historians 16th-century Italian male writers Italian male non-fiction writers