Leonardo di Piero Dati (1360 – 16 March 1425) was an Italian friar and humanist. He was

Master of the Order of Preachers The Master of the Order of Preachers is the Superior General of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominican Order, Dominicans. The Master of the Order of Preachers is ''ex officio'' Chancellor (education), Grand Chancellor of the Pont ...

( The Dominicans) from 1414 to his death.

Life

He was a Prior of

Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The ch ...

from 1401, and took part in the

Council of Pisa The Council of Pisa (; , also nicknamed the , "secret meeting", by those who considered it illegitimate) was a controversial council held in 1409. It attempted to end the Western Schism by deposing both Benedict XIII (Avignon) and Gregory XII ...

of 1409. Dati was the head of the Dominicans belonging to the Roman obedience during the Great Schism. At the time of the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance (; ) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church that was held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance (Konstanz) in present-day Germany. This was the first time that an ecumenical council was convened in ...

, Dati became Master General of a reunited

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 ...

. Dati then focused on the internal reform of the order, authoring the tract ''Lamentationes de regularibus observantiis lapsis'', in which he expressed strong dissatisfaction with the laxity and confusion of the order. His sermons at

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

and

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

include references to literary texts, and he was well known as an author of commentaries on

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

. Leonardo also gave financial aid to his brother Gregorio, a Florentine merchant and diarist. Both Leonardo and Gregorio Dati are attributed authorship of '' La Sfera'' ("The Sphere"), an astronomical-geographic '' poemetto in ottave'', written in the second half of the 14th century, and a work much popular in its time. This work in verse gives information about the world, the marinaresche compass and other things, adding observations, notes about travel and designs. In some manuscripts of ''La Sfera'' there are designs representing ports, headlands, islands, linked by many lines. Dati's sermons on the feast of St. Francis (4 October 1416) and the feast of the

Circumcision of Jesus The circumcision of Jesus is an event from the life of Jesus, according to the Gospel of Luke Luke 2, chapter 2, which states: And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcision, circumcise the child, his name was called Jesus, the name called by ...

(3 January 1417) advocated respect for papal power and reform within the context of the established order. The earlier sermon touched off an exchange of polemical memoranda between Dati and supporters of conciliar supremacy. Dati then addressed issues raised in this exchange in the later sermon. Dati's discussion of

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

was traditional for his time, describing the Jewish rite as superseded by

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

. He is buried in the Cappella Rucellai at

. His tombstone is attributed to

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptister ...

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Works

* '' La Sfera'' * '' Trophaeum Anglaricum''

References

Sources

* Hillenbrand, Eugen. "Die Observantenbewegung in der deutschen Ordensprovinz der Dominikaner," in Elm, Kaspar, ed. Reformbemühungen und Observanzbestrebungen im spätmittelalterlichen Ordenswesen. Berliner Historische Studien, 14, Ordensstudien 6. Berlin, Duncker and Humblot, 1989: 232–233.

External links

The manuscript of ''La Sphera''
digital copy of the manuscript in the collections of The National Library of Finland
The text and commentary of ''Trophaeum Anglaricum''
(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dati, Leonardo 1360 births 1425 deaths Italian Dominicans Italian Renaissance humanists Masters of the Order of Preachers Dominican cardinals