Pietro Andrea Canonieri (1582–1639) was an Italian writer of

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

treatises on morality, politics and poetry.

Life

Canonieri was born at

Rossiglione Rossiglione ( , locally /) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about northwest of Genoa. It has a population of 2 558 people. Rossiglione borders the following municipalities: ...

(

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

) in the second half of the 16th century, the son of a doctor. He studied medicine in Genoa and law in Parma, began his literary career in Florence, and then studied theology in Rome. He left Rome for

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, perhaps in order to enrol in the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

for a short period. By December 1611, he was living in the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

, practicing medicine in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. He died there in 1639. He is the author of a large number of political tracts, the best known of which are ''Il perfetto cortegiano et dell'uffizio del prencipe verso il cortegiano'' and commentaries on

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

(both 1609), and ''Dell'introduzione alla politica, alla ragion di stato e alla pratica del buon governo'' (1614). Canonieri drew on the work of

Tommaso Campanella Tommaso Campanella (; 5 September 1568 – 21 May 1639), baptized Giovanni Domenico Campanella, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet. Campanella was prosecuted by the Roman Inquisition for he ...

Works

* ''Epistolarum laconicarum libri quattuor'' (Florence, 1607) * ''De curiosa doctrina'' (Florence, 1607) * ''Le lodi e i biasimi del vino'' (Viterbo, 1608) * ''Il perfetto Cortegiano et dell'Uffizio del Prencipe verso il Cortegiano'' (Rome, 1609) * ''Quaestiones ac Discursus in duos primos libros C. Cornelii Taciti'' (Rome, 1609) ** Reprinted as ''Dissertationes politicae ac Discursus varii in C. Taciti Annalium'' (Frankfurt, 1610) * ''Delle Cause dell'infelicità e disgrazie de gli huomini letterati e guerrieri'' (Antwerp, 1612) * ''Flores illustrium epitaphiorium ex praeclarissimarum totius Europae civitatum et praestantissimorum poetarum monumentis excerpti'' (Antwerp, Joachim Trognaesius, 1613) * ''Dell'introduzione alla politica, alla ragion di stato et alla pratica del buon governo'' (Antwerp, 1614; reprinted 1627) * ''Flores illustrium axiomatum, sententiarum ac similitudinum politicarum'' (Antwerp, 1615) * ''In septem Aphorismorum Hippocratis libros, Medicae, Politicae, Morales ac Theologicae, interpretationes'' (Antwerp, 1617-1618).Volume 1
an
volume 2
on Google Books)

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canonieri, Pietro Andrea 1582 births 1639 deaths Writers from the Republic of Genoa 17th-century Italian physicians Italian Baroque writers Italian political scientists