Renaissance and Reformation Filippo Beroaldo the Elder
by
Craig Kallendorf
  • LAST REVIEWED: 06 May 2021
  • LAST MODIFIED: 24 May 2017
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399301-0331

Introduction

Filippo Beroaldo (b. 1453–d. 1505) was one of the most famous humanists of his day, but although he has attracted the interest of two well-known modern scholars, Eugenio Garin and Julia Haig Gaisser, his reputation has declined through the centuries. He was one of the most renowned teachers of the Renaissance, attracting as many as three hundred students to his lectures at the University of Bologna, and his commentaries on classical texts, unlike those of many of his contemporaries, were published regularly during his lifetime. He became a leading figure in the life of Renaissance Bologna, from which his influence spread throughout Europe. However, he could be quirky, as in his decision to cultivate a deliberately archaizing style instead of the Ciceronian one favored in his day, and his role in developing the scholarly miscellany has been overshadowed by that of Angelo Poliziano, who developed the genre with greater brilliance. As a result, his star slowly faded after his untimely death at the age of fifty-two. An unusual number of fundamental works about Beroaldo are buried in obscure local journals and conference proceedings or written in languages that are not read regularly by scholars in Europe and the United States, but this article is designed to facilitate access to an unduly neglected figure who calls for greater scholarly study today.

Life and Works

Unfortunately, Beroaldo has not received the modern book-length biography he deserves. Several early biographies exist, while modern scholars have explored various aspects of his life and works, often in brief overviews but occasionally extending into more-substantive treatments.

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