Polydore Vergil

Polydore Vergil
Polydore Vergil
Born	c.1470 Urbino
Died	18 April 1555 Urbino
Resting place	Duomo di Urbino (cathedral)
Nationality	Italian; naturalised English 1510
Other names	Polidoro Virgili
Known for	Historian

Polidoro Virgili, commonly Latinised as Polydorus Vergilius, or anglicised as Polydore Vergil (or Virgil), and often known as Polydore Vergil of Urbino (c. 1470 – 18 April 1555) was an Italian humanist scholar, historian, priest and diplomat who spent most of his life in England. He is particularly remembered for his works the Proverbiorum libellus (1498), a collection of Latin proverbs; De inventoribus rerum (1499), a history of discoveries and origins; and the Anglica Historia (drafted by 1513; printed 1534), an influential history of England. He has been dubbed the "Father of English History".

Vergil is sometimes referred to in contemporary documents as Polydore Vergil Castellensis or Castellen, and it has sometimes been assumed that he was a kinsman of his patron, Cardinal Adriano Castellesi. However, it is more likely that the alias simply indicates that he was in Castellesi's service.

Vergil was born at Urbino, or more probably at Fermignano, within the Duchy of Urbino. His father, Giorgio di Antonio, owned a dispensary. His grandfather, Antonio Virgili, "a man well skilled in medicine and astrology", had taught philosophy at the University of Paris; as did Polydore's own brother, Giovanni-Matteo Virgili, at Ferrara and Padua. Another brother, Girolamo, was a merchant trading with England. The niece of Polydore Vergil, Faustina, married Lorenzo Borgogelli, count of Fano, from whom descend the family of Borgogelli Virgili.

Polydore was educated at the University of Padua, and possibly at Bologna. He was ordained by 1496. He was probably in the service of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, before 1498, as in the dedication of his Proverbiorum Libellus (April 1498) he styles himself Guido's client. His second book, De Inventoribus Rerum, was dedicated to Guido's tutor, Lodovico Odassio, in August 1499.

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