Trajano Boccalini (155616 November 1613) was an Italian
satirist
This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires.
Early satirical authors
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Biography
Boccalini was born in
Loreto, the son of an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
; he himself adopted that profession, and it appears that he commenced late in life to apply to literary pursuits. Pursuing his studies at
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, ...
, he had the honor of teaching future Cardinal
Guido Bentivoglio, and acquired the friendship of the cardinals Gaetano and Borghesi, as well as of other distinguished personages. By their influence he obtained posts, and was appointed (by
Gregory XIII) governor of
Benevento in the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
. Here, however, he seems to have acted imprudently, and he was soon recalled to Rome, where he shortly afterwards composed his most important work, the ''Ragguagli di Parnaso'' (''News-sheet from Parnassus''), in which
Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
is represented as receiving the complaints of all who present themselves, and distributing justice according to the merits of each particular case. The book is light and fantastic
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
on the actions and writings of his eminent contemporaries, and some of its happier hits are among the hackneyed felicities of literature.
To escape, it is said, from the hostility of those whom his shafts had wounded, he returned to
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, and there, according to the register in the parochial church of
Santa Maria Formosa, died of
colic accompanied with fever on 16 November 1613. It was asserted by contemporary writers that he was beaten to death with sandbags by a band of
Spanish bravadoes, but the story seems without foundation. At the same time, it is evident from the ''Pietra del Paragone'', which appeared in 1615 after his death, that whatever the Spaniards felt towards him, he cherished against them the bitterest hostility. The only government which was exempt from his attacks is that of Venice, a city for which he seems to have had a special affection.
The ''Ragguagli'', first printed in 1612, has frequently been republished. It was inserted in the first publication of the Rosicrucians, as a preface to their ''Fama Fraternitatis'' (1614). The ''Pietra'' has been translated into French, German, English and Latin; the English translator was
Henry, Earl of Monmouth, his version being entitled ''The Politicke Touchstone'' (London, 1674). Boccalini died in Venice on 16 November 1613. Another posthumous publication of Boccalini was his ''Commentarii sopra Cornelio Tacito'' (Geneva, 1669). Many of his manuscripts are preserved still unprinted.
Works
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Further reading
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boccalini, Trajano
1556 births
1613 deaths
Italian satirists
Italian satirical novelists
People from the Province of Ancona
17th-century Italian writers
Writers from the Papal States