Girolamo Maggi
(
c.
1523, in
Anghiari
? 27 March 1572 in
Constantinople
),
[1]
also known by his
Latin name
Hieronymus Magius
, was an Italian
scholar
,
jurist
,
poet
,
military engineer
,
urban planner
,
philologist
,
archaeologist
,
mathematician
, and
naturalist
who studied at
Bologna
under
Francis Robortello
. He authored several works, including a collection of poems on the
Flemish
wars, (
Cinque primi canti della guerra di Fiandra
, 1551), one detailing military
fortifications
(
Della fortificatione delle citta
, by his friend
Giacomo Fusto Castriotto
, but edited, annotated, and published posthumously by Maggi in 1564), and several on the subject of
philosophy
.
Early life and education
edit
Girolamo Maggi,
De tintinnabulis liber postumus
. Amsterdam: Henricus Wetstein, 1664.
Maggi was born in
Anghiari
,
Tuscany
. Little is known about his youth. His year of birth is unknown; several authors have speculated, based on varying access to information. Maggi specifically mentioned how, in infancy, he was attacked by the same
pestilence
which, in 1563, he states was the most recent one to occur. This was most likely the
black death
of 1527 spread by
Charles V
's
Protestant
mercenaries (
Landsknechts
) when they defeated the French and pillaged the
Vatican
, but may have been one of the following year or of three years later. His parents were Paolo and Luisa, who quickly left him an orphan.
[2]
As a young man, Maggi studied
oratory
with Pierantonio Ghezzi from
Laterina
, a master of
Latin
. Afterwards, to proceed with the then popular studies, he went at first to the nearby
University of Perugia
, then to that of
Pisa
, and finally to that of
Bologna
. In
Pisa
, he attended the lectures of the famous professor of Latin and
Greek
oratory,
Francis Robortello
, who was a faculty member from 1543 to 1549.
[2]
Maggi, who beyond his native
Tuscan
, had mastered Latin and was erudite in Greek,
Hebrew
, and
Spanish
. Availing himself of such endowments, he went into
jurisprudence
, more to examine its spirit than its profession. Initially, he studied the method of
Andrea Alciato
, then that of
Bartolo da Sassoferrato
and the 14th and 15th century schools of thought.
[2]
He became interested in
ancient history
, and quickly began studying
epigraphy
and
architectonics
. As part of this interest, Maggi accumulated a large collection of ancient
tombstones
, including ones from
Como
,
Ravenna
,
Rieti
,
Foligno
,
Perugia
and
Rome
. In Pisa, where he was still engaged in formal studies, and in other
Italian
cities, he visited and examined
sepulchres
and
sarcophagi
, and used his growing knowledge to dispute a universally accepted belief of the time: the idea of the existence of
giants
in ancient days. All of this work formed the bases for his tractatus on sepulchres. He worked diligently to provide correct interpretations of ancient works of
Roman
law and, for his successful explanation of a section of the
Pandects of Justinian
, as he himself tells the story, he was embraced and kissed by Robertello. In Pisa, he probably obtained his doctoral degree in 1546, and returned to his native land two years later.
[2]
In 1548, he was requested by his fellow citizens to visit
Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
. He began this endeavor in
Venice
, the city where in those times, the greatest Italian minds lived quietly and profited greatly from their studies, due to the vast commerce of books fueled by the carefulness and tolerance of the government; there he again saw Robortello, and started a friendship with the famous writer
Pietro Aretino
. Maggi, who had nothing to offer, may have sought protection from Aretino, or hoped to avoid harsh criticism from him, when he sang the following
hendecasyllabic
verses, published in his 1551
Guerro di Fiandro
(Canto II, verse 56):
[2]
- L'uom tre volte chiarissimo e divino
- Il famoso immortal Pietro Aretino.
|
- The man three times celebrated and divine
- The famous immortal Pietro Aretino.
|
Pleased by the words, Aretino sent this poem on the Flemish wars to
Chiapino Vitelli
, the famous
Spanish
mercenary
general
, in February 1551, along with a letter praising Maggi's talents. Vitelli's family owned much land around Anghiari, in an area only a few miles from the Maggi estate. So, Maggi endeavored to please Vitelli, a soldier of Cosimo, to obtain good entrance at the royal court in
Florence
. He also praised
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere
, father of Cosimo I, whose daring son's rise to the throne of Florence well represented Maggi's goal. In five
canti
, Maggi often complained about his sad fate, showing himself unhappy with the legal profession exercised by him out of necessity.
[2]
- Se il giovin quale Ulpian, Bartolo e Baldo
- Disturban spesso e l'aspra inopia e dura
- Non viene afforza al poetar men saldo,
- E a l'avvocar rivolti ogni sua cura;
- Io per certo infiammato esser e caldo
- A fare il veggio un'immortal scrittura,
- Gli dia la vita il Ciel, sostegno e 'l nido,
- E 'l gran Cosmo udira, d'altr'opra il grido.
|
- Although this young man by
Ulpian
,
Bartolo
and
Baldo
- Is often distracted, and severe hardship
- Does not assist him with writing verse,
- And he turns his attention to legal practice;
- Nonetheless I firmly believe that for his fiery temper
- I will see him write immortal verse,
- Aided by the might, support and protection of the Heavens
- And the noble
Cosimo
will behold that great work.
|
He was a judge and military defense engineer in
Famagusta
on
Cyprus
when the island was invaded by
Ottoman Turks
in 1571.
Besieged by the Turks
, he invented machines to defend Famagusta against their attacks. When the island was conquered, Maggi was sent to the dungeons at
Constantinople
where, locked in chains, he wrote from memory two detailed treatises,
De tintinnabulis
, on
bells
and
carillons
, and the explicitly illustrated
De equuleo
, on torture devices.
In attempts to be freed, he dedicated the first treatise to
Carolus Rym
(
Charles Ramire
), ambassador to the
Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II
, and the second treatise to
Francois de Noailles
,
bishop of Aire
and ambassador to the
King of France
. They were pleased with his works, and endeavoured to obtain his release. Their efforts, however, were brought to light as he was being released to the Italian ambassador. The prison captain ordered him to be detained and executed by
strangulation
.
His two treatises were published posthumously in 1608 and 1609, respectively.
Della fortificatione delle citta
, 1564
- Cinque primi canti della guerra di Fiandra
. 1551.
- De mundi exustione, et de die judicii
[
On the World's Consumption by Fire and the Day of Judgment
]
. 1562.
- Miscellanorum, seu Variarum Lectionum
. 1564.
- Della fortificatione delle citta
. with Giacomo Fusto Castriotto. 1564.
- Della fortificatione delle citta
(in Italian). Venezia: Rutilio Borgominieri. 1564.
- De tintinnabulis
. 1664.
- De equuleo
. 1689.