Henry Of Settimello
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Henry of Settimello (; in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, ''Henricus Septimellensis'' or ''Henricus Pauper''; in
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 ...
, ''Arrigo'' or ''Arrighetto da Settimello'') was a late 12th-century Italian poet. Arrigo is considered Italy's leading Latin poet of what is called the twelfth-century Renaissance.. He was the author of ''De diversitate fortunæ et philosophiæ consolatione'' (“On varying fortune and the consolation of philosophy”), a
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
poem in
elegiac couplet The elegiac couplet or elegiac distich is a poetic form used by Greek lyric poets for a variety of themes usually of smaller scale than the epic. Roman poets, particularly Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid, adopted the same form in L ...
s. His Latin nickname (meaning “Henry the poor”) is linked with a story that he could not afford
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
and was forced to write his poems on old
parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...
.


Biography

Arrighetto or Arrigo da Settimello was born of humble parents in the village of Settimello near
Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...
, in the latter part of the twelfth century. He studied at
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, became a
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
, and obtained the rich
benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
of
Calenzano Calenzano () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 15,557 and an area of .All demographics and othe ...
in the Florentine territory. Afterwards, through some circumstance which is not clearly ascertained, he lost his benefice and became very poor.
Filippo Villani Filippo Villani (fl. end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century) was a chronicler of Florence. Son of the chronicler Matteo Villani, he extended the original '' Nuova Cronica'' of his uncle Giovanni Villani down to 1364. Career Fili ...
, in his “Lives of Illustrious Florentines,” says that the Bishop of Florence, a grasping, covetous man, instituted a
lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
against Arrighetto, in order to deprive him of his benefice, which he wished to bestow upon one of his own relatives. The lawsuit was protracted for years, during which Arrighetto spent his whole property, and finally lost his benefice. He is said to have been reduced to the greatest distress, even to
beggary Begging (also known in North America as panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars m ...
. He then composed an elegiac poem, entitled “De diversitate fortunæ et philosophiæ consolatione.” The beginning is an imitation of that of the
Book of Lamentations The Book of Lamentations (, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible, it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot ("Five Scroll ...
. The poem consists of about one thousand lines, and is divided into four books. The first two books are full of general complaints of his misfortunes, of his poverty, but especially of his being pointed at by the finger of scorn: But amidst the poet’s lamentations there is no clue as to the cause of his misfortunes—nothing to confirm Villani’s account. On the contrary, there is a passage in which the poet addresses the Bishop of Florence in terms of affectionate respect: And after saying that he had reached the utmost point of calamity, he thus concludes his address: Tiraboschi comments upon the discrepancy between these expressions of the poet and Villani’s statement of the injury done to him by the bishop, and he seems inclined to reject Villani’s account. It is rather singular that another solution of this apparent inconsistency did not suggest itself to Tiraboschi. We find one Bishop Bernardo registered as having administered the see of Florence from 1182 till about 1189, when he was succeeded by Bishop Pietro, who governed that see till 1205. Arrighetto was writing his poem about 1192, or soon after, for he alludes to two events which had happened in that year as facts of recent occurrence, namely, the assassination of the
King of Jerusalem The king or queen of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Church, Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was Siege of Jerusalem (1099), conquered in ...
Conrad of Montferrat Conrad of Montferrat (Italian language, Italian: ''Corrado del Monferrato''; Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''Conrà ëd Monfrà'') (c. 1146 – 28 April 1192) was a nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the '' ...
, and the imprisonment of
Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...
by Leopold of Austria. Arrighetto, therefore, in the lines above quoted, was addressing the new bishop Pietro, and appealing to his commiseration for the distress which he endured, in consequence, perhaps, of the vexations of the former bishop, Bernardo. The account of Filippo Villani, a countryman of Arrighetto, living at no very great distance of time, and a writer evidently well informed of the internal history of his country, need not be hastily rejected. In the third and fourth books of his poem, Arrighetto, in imitation of
Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...
, introduces Philosophy, suggesting to him the usual arguments of consolation, and reproving him for his want of resignation: Nothing further is known of Arrighetto. His poem is said to have been much esteemed and to have become a textbook and a model of poetical composition in the schools of Italy. Christian Daum first undertook to edit the text, at the solicitation of Magliabechi, but his death left the edition unfinished. The poem was afterwards printed and published by Polykarp Leyser, in 1721, in his “Historia poetarum Medii Ævi” (pp. 453-497). It was edited again by
Domenico Maria Manni Domenico Maria Manni (8 April 1690 – 30 November 1788) was an Italian polymath, Editing, editor, and Publishing, publisher. Biography Domenico Maria Manni was born in Florence in April 1690. His father was a typesetter at a printer's shop. Dom ...
at Florence, in 1730, with a translation in Italian prose made by an anonymous writer, who, by his style, is supposed to have lived in the fourteenth century. This Italian translation, which is entitled “Trattato contro l’avversità della Fortuna,” has been registered by the
Accademia della Crusca The (; ), generally abbreviated as La Crusca, is a Florence-based society of scholars of Italian linguistics and philology. It is one of the most important research institutions of the Italian language, as well as the oldest Academy#Linguisti ...
among the textbooks of the Italian language, and was reprinted in 1815 by the publisher Silvestri of Milan. Lorenzo Mehus, in his “Life of
Ambrose Traversari Ambrogio Traversari, also referred to as Ambrose of Camaldoli (138620 October 1439), was an Italian monk and theologian who was a prime supporter of the papal cause in the 15th century. He is honored as a saint by the Camaldolese Order. Biography ...
,” speaks of Arrighetto and his poem at some length. Several manuscript copies of the Latin text are scattered about the libraries of Italy and Germany, showing that the work had been in request during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. In some of the manuscripts the author is called Henricus Samariensis, or “the Samaritan,” probably in allusion to the abject state into which he tells us that he had fallen. He is also called “Henry the poor” (in Latin, Henricus pauper). In a manuscript in the
Biblioteca Ambrosiana The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose age ...
at Milan he is styled “Henricus Samariensis, Versilogus, Doctor Grammaticus.” Some biographers have confounded Arrighetto with Arrigo Simintendi of Prato who lived much later, and who translated
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
’s ''
Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...
'' into Italian.


Editions

* ''Arrighetto, ovvero Trattato contro all'avversità della fortuna di Arrigo da Settimello'', ed.
Domenico Maria Manni Domenico Maria Manni (8 April 1690 – 30 November 1788) was an Italian polymath, Editing, editor, and Publishing, publisher. Biography Domenico Maria Manni was born in Florence in April 1690. His father was a typesetter at a printer's shop. Dom ...
, Florence, 1730. atin with Italian prose translation * ''II Boezio e I'Arrighetto nelle versioni del trecento'', ed. Salvatore Battaglia. Turin: UTET, 1929. 4th-century Italian translation * Enrico da Settimello. ''Elegia'', ed. Giovanni Cremaschi. Bergamo: Istituto Italiano Edizioni Atlas, 1949. * Arrigo da Settimello, Elegia, ed. Clara Fossati, Florence, 2011. atin with Italian translation


References


Bibliography

* * * * Francesco Torraca, ''L'Elegia di Arrigo da Settimello,'' in ''Atti dell'Accademia di archeologia lettere e belle arti di Napoli'', n. s., X (1926), pp. 257-280. * * * * * * *


External links

* {{Authority control 12th-century writers in Latin Medieval Latin-language poets 12th-century Italian poets Italian male poets People from the Republic of Florence Catholic poets Italian Roman Catholic writers People from the Metropolitan City of Florence