Antonio Beccadelli (poet)

Antonio Beccadelli (1394–1471), called Il Panormita (poetic form meaning "The Palermitan"), was an Italian poet, canon lawyer, scholar, diplomat, and chronicler. He generally wrote in Latin. Born at Palermo, he was the eldest son of the merchant Enrico di Vannino Beccadelli, who had played an active role in Sicilian politics, serving as Praetor of Palermo in 1393.

He helped his father with his business until he became consumed with enthusiasm for humanistic studies.

Beccadelli traveled to numerous Italian cities, and became a student of Gasparino da Barizizza in Padua. In 1419 he had stayed for a short time in Florence, and then he had travelled to Siena in order to study jurisprudence. He continued to Bologna and remained there until August 1427. He returned to Florence, and then left for Rome, where he stayed until 1428. In 1429, he journeyed to Genoa.

He became a guest of Filippo Maria Visconti family at Pavia (1430–1433), where he completed his studies and entered the court of the Visconti. He would dedicate himself to philological studies, in particular to the tradition of Plautus.

In 1434, he entered the service of Alfonso V of Aragon at Naples. Alfonso was a great patron of the arts, and in this city Beccadelli founded the academy Porticus Antoniana, later known as the Accademia Pontaniana, after Giovanni Pontano. At Naples, Beccadelli began a close friendship with Pontano, and introduced the young scholar to the royal chancery of King Alfonso.

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