Francesco Berlinghieri (1440–1501) was a Florentine scholar and

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

who lived during the fifteenth century. He promoted the value of

classical Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archa ...

learning and was one of the first to print a text based on Ptolemy's ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

''. Berlinghieri studied poetry under the tutelage of Cristoforo Landino.

Career

Berlinghieri was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

into a family with over 200 years of involvement in Florentine politics. He served in a variety of governmental offices including as Prior of the Signoria and Conservator of Laws. In 1479 he was appointed Florentine ambassador at the Gonzaga court in

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

¹. He later found employment in

in the court of

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lore ...

and took part in the

Platonic Academy The Academy (), variously known as Plato's Academy, or the Platonic Academy, was founded in Classical Athens, Athens by Plato ''wikt:circa, circa'' 387 BC. The academy is regarded as the first institution of higher education in the west, where ...

, founded by

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neo ...

. Berlinghieri provided financial support to Ficino during the latter's translation of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

's works into Latin. In 1464 Berlinghieri started to work on a treatise based upon Ptolemy's ''

''. He updated its maps and included a commentary in verse form. It was printed in 1482 with copper engraved maps by the German printer Nicolaus Laurentii, also known as Niccolò Tedesco, under the title ''Septe Giornate della Geographia di Francesco Berlinghieri'' meaning "The Seven Days of Geography". It was one of the first printed works based on Ptolemy and also the first to be printed in vernacular

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

. Berlinghieri was also among the first to supplement the traditional maps contained in the ''Geographia'' with updated maps of France, Italy, Spain, British Isles and the Holy Land, based on the work of

Nicolaus Germanus Nicolaus Germanus () was a German cartographer who modernized Ptolemy's ''Geography'' by applying new projections, adding additional maps, and contributing other innovations that were influential in the development of Renaissance cartography. N ...

.² He painstakingly identified Ptolemy's place names with contemporary toponyms and, aside from Ptolemy, also sourced information from classical geographers

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

and

Diodorus of Sicily Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, bet ...

. Berlinghieri's work was originally to be dedicated to the Ottoman Sultan

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

. When the sultan died in 1481, Berlinghieri dedicated it to

Federico da Montefeltro Federico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro Order of the Garter, KG (7 June 1422 – 10 September 1482), was one of the most successful mercenary captains (''condottiero, condottieri'') of the Italian Renaissance, and Duk ...

, the Duke of

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

. Unfortunately, the duke died before the final edition was printed. Additionally, manuscript copies of the book were dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici and Federigo da Montefeltro and individual copies of the printed edition were dedicated to the Ottoman Sultan, at that time

Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...

and his half-brother Cem Sultan.³

References

¹ Assunto Mori, “Un geografo del Rinascimento (Francesco di Niccolò Berlinghieri),” ''Archivio storico italiano'', vol. 13, 1894, pp. 341–348 and Angela Codazzi, “Francesco Berlinghieri,” entry in ''Dizionario biografico degli italiani'', vol. 9 (Rome, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1967), pp. 121–124. ² R.A. Skelton, "Geographia: Florence, 1482" (Amsterdam, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1964), introduction to the facsimile edition. On Berlinghieri's text see Roberto Almagià, “Osservazioni sull’opera geografica di Francesco Berlinghieri,” ''Archivio della R. deputazione romana di storia patria'', vol. 68, 1945, pp. 211–255. ³ Skelton, ''Geographia: Florence, 1482", p. xii. See also Angela Dillon Bussi, “Aspetti della miniature ai tempi di Lorenzo il Magnifico,” in Anna Lenzuni ed., ''All’ombra del lauro. Documenti librari della cultura in età laurenziana'', exh. cat. Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Florence, Silvana Editoriale, 1992), pp. 149-160.

Career

References

Further reading