Antonio Bonfini

Memorial stone for Antonio Bonfini in the Peter and Paul Church in the old town of Óbuda

Antonio Bonfini (* 1427 in Patrignone ; † 1505 in Buda ) was an Italian humanist and historian.

Bust of Antonio Bonfini in Budapest

Bust of Antonio Bonfini in Budapest

Page from Symposion sive de virginitate et pudicitia coniugali

His best known work is Rerum Ungaricarum decades . Mentioned as Bonfinius , de Bonfinis , Antonius Bonfinius Ascolanensis , Antonium de Asculo and Antonio Bonfine , he was known as the court historian of the King of Hungary and Bohemia, Matthias Corvinus . He distinguished himself among the great figures of the Hungarian Renaissance and as a forerunner of the literary movement of the Risorgimento of the Hungarian country.

Tommaso Bozio has described him as one of the most important Catholic historians.

The town of Ascoli Piceno has named a square in the historical center after him and in the garden of the Palazzo dell'Arengo you can find his bronze bust.

biography

There has long been controversy about the exact birthplace of the humanist. Some historians have identified it with the town of Ascoli Piceno and others, like Giulio Amadio, in the small village of Patrignone. István Dávid Lázár, lecturer at the University of Szeged in Hungary , thoroughly searched the archives and libraries of Ascoli and stated that the historian was certainly born in Patrignone and grew up in the city of Ascoli.

Little is known of his family of origin, his father Francesco di Achille Bonfini from the village of Patrignone moved to the town of Ascoli Piceno as a child. There is information on the life and work of his brother Matteo, also a humanist and grammarian who taught in Ascoli, Ancona and Rome , where he was also secretary to Cardinal Raffaele Riario .

Antonio Bonfini grew up in the city of Piceno, studied here and also obtained citizenship. In many of his writings he declared himself a citizen of Ascoli. He was a student of the philologist and humanist Enoch d'Ascoli and distinguished himself as an attentive and profound expert through studying the Latin and Greek scripts. He taught in the public schools of Ascoli from 1463 to 1472 and in those of Recanati between 1473 and 1478. He also worked as a private tutor for wealthy families. In 1456 he married his wife Spina, daughter of the Capitano and Gonfaloniere of the Ascolaner patrician Marino della Rocca. The following children emerged from this marriage: Francesco, Achille, Muzio, Giulio and his long-lived daughter Francesca Ventidia, who died as a Benedictine nun in the monastery of Sant'Egidio in the city of Ascoli at the age of 115 . The son Francesco followed his father during his stay in Hungary, was the chamber physician of Pope Clement VII and taught therapy at the universities of Bologna and Perugia .

Bonfini was called to Hungary by Queen Beatrix of Aragon. The Queen met him on a visit to the sanctuary of Loreto . After moving to what is now Budapest , he and other Italian writers present at court contributed to the development of the Hungarian Renaissance culture and took on the title of court historian to the king. Matthias Corvinus kept him with him as Queen Beatrix's teacher. The title of historian was also retained by Vladislav II of Bohemia, the successor to Corvinus, who confirmed to Bonfini the commission on the history of Hungary entrusted to him by his predecessor. The humanist completed his work, written in Latin, in 1495. On October 10, 1492, Ladislaus II also awarded him prizes and honors. He appointed him a noble paladin , bestowed on him the hereditary title of honor, awarded him the royal insignia and granted him the privilege of including the Bohemian lion in his coat of arms.

He died at the age of 75 from complications from a stroke in 1502 when he decided to return to Italy. His body was buried in the Santa Margherita Church in Buda. On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of his birth, the Hungarians erected a statue dedicated to him and placed it in the castle of Budapest.

Works

He was the author of prayers, translations into Latin and literary works. Above all, he distinguished himself as a historian.

Among his writings:

• Rerum Ungaricarum decades , subdivided in Latin and according to the Livian model. In this work Bonfini described the origins and history of the Hungarian people. ( Online version ).
• Symposion sive de virginitate et pudicitia coniugali , ( De virginitati et pudicitia coniugali ) Work from five books, dedicated to Queen Beatrix .
• Trattato di Architettura by Antonio Averlino called Filarete, translated from the local language into Latin.
• Historiae of Herodian , translation from Greek into Latin .
• Historia Asculana . He was the first historian to write a text devoted to deepening the memories of his homeland and the culture of the city of Ascoli, where he grew up. The book, which probably began before he left for Hungary, was dedicated to Beatrix of Aragon, but it was lost by the time of Sebastiano Andreantonelli in the 17th century and has not yet been found.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Antonius Bonfinius Ascolanensis Matthiae Regis Hungariae Historiographus Name on his portrait which is kept in the historical iconographic archive of the Pinacoteca civica di Ascoli Piceno .
2. ↑ G. Cantalamessa Carboni, p. 100
3. ^ T. Bozio, De signis ecclesia , Book VI, Signum XXX.
4. ↑ G. Cantalamessa Carboni, p. 96
5. ↑ S. Andreantonelli, p 57
6. ↑ ^{a b} Treccani
7. ↑ ^{a b c} G. Marinelli, p. 51
8. ↑ S. Andreantonelli, p 206
9. ↑ S. Andreantonelli, p 205
10. ↑ G. Cantalamessa Carboni, p. 102

literature

• Giacinto Cantalamessa Carboni: Memorie intorno ai letterati della città di Ascoli nel Piceno . Tipografia di Luigi Cardi, Ascoli 1830, p. 96-100 (Italian).
• Giambattista Carducci: Su le memorie ei monumenti di Ascoli nel Piceno . Saverio Del Monte, Fermo 1853, p. 45 (Italian).
• Sebastiano Andreantonelli: Storia di Ascoli . Ed .: G. e G. Gagliardi Editori. Centro Stampa Piceno, Ascoli Piceno June 2007, p. 29, 195, 201–203, 206 (Italian, translation by Paola Barbara Castelli and Alberto Cettoli; indexes and notes by Giannino Gagliardi).
• Giuseppe Marinelli: Dizionario Toponomastico Ascolano - La Storia, i Costumi, i Personaggi nelle Vie della Città . D'Auria Editrice, Ascoli Piceno March 2009, p. 50-51 (Italian).
• Antonio Bonfini. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI).

Web links

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