ALAMANNI, or ALEMANNI, LUIGI (1495-1556)

This article appears in Volume V01, Page 468 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: AJA-ALL

ALAMANNI, or ALEMANNI, LUIGI (1495-1556) , Italian states-man and poet, was born at Florence. His father was a devoted adherent of the Medici party, but Luigi, smarting under a sup-posed injustice, joined with others in an unsuccessful conspiracy against Giulio de' Medici, afterwards

Pope

Clement VII. He was obliged in consequence to take

refuge

REFUGE

in Venice, and, on the accession of Clement, to flee to France. When Florence shook off the papal yoke in 1527, Alamanni returned, and took a prominent part in the management of the affairs of the republic. On the restoration of the Medici in 1530 he had again to take

refuge

REFUGE

in France, where he composed the greater part of his works. He was a favourite with Francis I., who sent him as

ambassador

AMBASSADOR (also EMBASSADOR, the form sometimes still used in America; from the Fr. ambassadeur, with which compare Ital. ambasciatore and Span. embajador, all variants of the Med. Lat. ambassiator, ambassiator, ambasator, &c., derived from Med. Lat. amba

to Charles V. after the peace of Crepy in 1544. As an instance of his tact in this capacity, it is related that, when Charles interrupted a complimentary address by quoting from a satirical poem of Alamanni's the words
" 1' aquila grifagna,
Che per piu devorar, duoi rostri porta "
(Two crooked bills the ravenous eagle bears,
The better to devour),
the latter at once replied that he spoke them as a poet, who was permitted to use fictions, but that he spoke now as an

ambassador

AMBASSADOR (also EMBASSADOR, the form sometimes still used in America; from the Fr. ambassadeur, with which compare Ital. ambasciatore and Span. embajador, all variants of the Med. Lat. ambassiator, ambassiator, ambasator, &c., derived from Med. Lat. amba

, who was obliged to tell the truth. The ready reply pleased Charles, who added some complimentary words. After the death of Francis, Alamanni enjoyed the confidence of his successor

Henry

II., and in 1551 was sent by him as his ambassador to Genoa. He died at Amboise on the 18th of April 1556. He wrote a large number of poems, distinguished by the purity and excellence of their style. The best is a didactic poem, La Coltivazione (Paris, 1546), written in imitation of Virgil's Georgics. His Opere Toscane (Lyons, 1532) consists of satirical pieces written in blank verse. An unfinished poem, Avarchide, in imitation of the Iliad, was the

work

WORK

of his old age and has little merit. It has been said by some that Alamanni was the first to use blank verse in Italian poetry, but the distinction belongs rather to his contemporary Giangiorgio Trissino. He also wrote a poetical romance, Girone it Cortese (Paris, 1548); a tragedy, Antigone; a comedy, Flora; and other poems. His works were published, with a biography by P. Raffaelli, as Versi e

prose

PROSE

di Luigi Alamanni (Florence, 1859).
See G. Nato, Luigi Alamanni e la coltivazione (Syracuse, 1897), and C. Corso, Un decennio di patriottismo di Luigi Alamanni (Palermo, 1898).

End of Article: ALAMANNI, or ALEMANNI, LUIGI (1495-1556)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/AJA_ALL/ALAMANNI_or_ALEMANNI_LUIGI_149.html">
ALAMANNI, or ALEMANNI, LUIGI (1495-1556)
</a>

(Previous)
ALAJUELA

(Next)
ALAMANNI, or ALLEMANNI

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email