Brunetto Latini

Brunetto Latini (who signed his name Burnectus Latinus in Latin and Burnecto Latino in Italian; c. 1220–1294) was an Italian philosopher, scholar, notary, politician and statesman. He was a teacher and friend of Dante Alighieri.

Life

Brunetto Latini was born in Florence in 1220 to a Tuscan noble family, the son of Buonaccorso Latini. He belonged to the Guelph party. He was a notary and a man of learning, much respected by his fellow citizens and famed for his skill as an orator. He expounded the writings of Cicero as guidance in public affairs.

He was of sufficient stature to be sent to Seville on an embassy to Alfonso X of Castile to seek help for Florence against the Sienese; the mission was unsuccessful. On his return from Spain, travelling along the Pass of Roncesvalles, he describes meeting a student from Bologna astride a bay mule, who told him of the defeat of the Guelphs at the Battle of Montaperti. As a result, Latini was exiled from his native city. He took refuge in France from 1261 to 1268 while working as a notary in Montpellier, Arras, Bar-sur-Aube, and Paris.

In 1269, when the political situation allowed, he returned to Tuscany and for some twenty years held successive high offices. In 1273, he was appointed as Secretary to the Council of the Republic of Florence. In 1280, he contributed to the temporary reconciliation between the Guelph and Ghibelline parties, and in 1284 presided over the conference in which an attack on Pisa was agreed. Finally, in 1287, he was elevated to the dignity of "prior" as one of 12 magistrates established through the constitution of 1282.