Orazio Torsellino (; 15456 April 1599) was an Italian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

classical philologist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

and

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the world of culture, either ...

Biography

Born in Rome in 1545, Torsellino joined the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

order. He taught literature for twenty years at the

Roman College The Roman College (, ) was a school established by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1551, just 11 years after he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It quickly grew to include classes from elementary school through university level and moved to seve ...

. He was later entrusted with the direction of the Jesuit seminary thof Rome. Later in his life he was assigned to

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 ...

and Loreto, before returning to Rome, where he died on April 6, 1599.

Works

Torsellino wrote several historical works, including a life of the founder-member of the Society of Jesus,

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, Jesuits, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Kingdom of Navarre, Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus ...

. Among his best known works are: * * * ''Epitome historiarum a mundo condito ad ann. 1598'' (Rome, in quarto; best editions are those which have a continuation by

Philippus Brietius Philippus Brietius (in French, Philippe Briet) (1601–1668) was a seventeenth-century French Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), re ...

, 1618-61) Torsellino's ''Epitome Historiarum'' (1598) is considered the Catholic counterpart to Johann Carion's ''Chronicles''. It became the most widely-read Catholic history

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, but also of learners ( ...

of the 17th century, circulating in many European countries well into the 18th century, in some 135 editions and translations. His treatise on Latin particles ''De particulis Latinae orationis'', first published in Rome in 1598, is a landmark in the history of Latin scholarship and was reissued several times. Of particular iportance is the elaborate edition by

Ferdinand Gotthelf Hand Ferdinand Gotthelf Hand (15 February 1786 – 14 March 1851), Germany, German classical scholar, was born at Plauen in Saxony. He studied at Leipzig. In 1810 he became professor at the Weimar gymnasium, and in 1817 professor of philosophy and Gre ...

, published three centuries after the birth of the author (''Tursellinus, seu de particulis Latinis commentarii'', 1829–1845).

References

Bibliography

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External links

* 1545 births 1599 deaths Italian Renaissance humanists Jesuit historiography {{Italy-historian-stub