Lauro Quirini (1420–1474/1481) was a

Cretan Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

-born Venetian patrician and humanist scholar. He studied arts and law at the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

, and was skilled in both Latin and Ancient Greek. He returned to Crete in 1452, where his father and Lauro himself held a concession for the mining and export of

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , such that is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium ...

. He remained in Crete for the remainder of his life, which precluded his active participation in Venetian politics, unlike most of his contemporary humanist colleagues. He is notable for the series of letters exhorting the Pope and Venice to take action against the advancing

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, especially after the

Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

in 1453.

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* * * ** ** ** ** * * * {{authority control 1420 births 1470s deaths 15th-century Venetian writers People from Heraklion Venetian Renaissance humanists University of Padua alumni Querini family