Joseph Allegranza (; 16 October 1715 in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...

– 18 December 1785 in Milan),

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

sometimes Rosario Maria Eulabio, was a Dominican historian, archaeologist and antiquary known for cataloguing the collection of Count Carlo Pertusati, now the

Biblioteca di Brera The or Braidense National Library, usually known as the Biblioteca di Brera, is a public library in Milan, in northern Italy. It is one of the largest libraries in Italy. Initially, it contained large historical and scientific collections before ...

Biography

Joseph Allegranza belonged to the monastery at the

Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio The Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio is a church in Milan in northern Italy, which is in the Basilicas Park city park. It was for many years an important stop for pilgrims on their journey to Rome or to the Holy Land, because it was said to contain th ...

and taught theology at

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

and

Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around 600 BC. ...

in the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

before earning his doctorate in theology in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1746. He then travelled across

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

and southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and reached

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

by 1750. There, he and Constantino Grimaldi considered a Pansophic library to "administer the most certain and adequate idea of the character, genius, rites and customs of the ancient Nations". He then visited

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. ...

and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, where he wrote the ''

Philological Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

Letters'' (''Lettere filologiche sopra il Regno di Sicilia e sopra Malta)'' and then to

Chieti Chieti (, ; , , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Southern Italy, east of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti, in the Abruzzo, Abruzzo region. In Italian, the adjectival form is ''teatino'' and inhabitants of Chieti ar ...

, where he taught at the seminary for two years, and Rome for some months between 1754 and 1755, and relocated permanently to Milan in 1755. In 1770, the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

sovereign

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

, who controlled Milan as part of the

Archduchy of Austria The Archduchy of Austria (; ) was a major Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empire's southeastern periph ...

, assigned the literary collection, earlier donated by the State Congregation of

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

to her son Archduke Ferdinand Karl, for public use. Likely after this dedication, Allegranza was tasked with cataloguing the collection, for which he received a medal from the Empress; the library would open to the public in 1786. In 1773 his most famous work ''De sepulcris christianis in aedibus sacris: accedunt inscriptiones sepulcrales christianae saeculo septimo antiquiores in Insubria Austriaca repertae'' was published, ably depicting early tombstones and epitaphs from across Italy.

Selected works

*''Spiegazioni e riflessioni sopra alcuni sacri monumenti antichi di Milano'' (Milan, 1757) *''De sepulcris christianis in aedibus sacris. — Accedunt inscriptiones sepulcrales christianae saeculo septimo antiquiores in Insubria Austriaca repertae: item Inscriptiones sepulcrales ecclesiarum atque aedium PP. Ord. Praed. Mediolani'' (Milan, 1773) *''De Monogrammate D. N. Jesu Christi et usitatis ejus effingendi modis'' (Milan, 1773) *''Opuscoli eruditi latini ed italiani'' (

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

, 1781) *''Osservazioni antiquarie critiche e fisiche fatte nel regno di Sicilia'' (Milan, 1781)

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allegranza, Joseph 1715 births 1785 deaths Italian Dominicans Writers from Milan Archaeologists from Milan