Coluccio+Salutati

Coluccio di Pierio di Salutati =( February 16, 1331 to May 4, 1406) =

Biography
Coluccio Salutati was born in Buggiano, near present day Pistoria, Tuscany. The Florentine conflict between the Guelfs and Ghibbilenes would prove to be an important factor in his future political life. His father's work for the Peploli family, leaders in Bologna, provided Salutati with the means for studying rhetoric and Roman Law in Bologna. After the death of Salutati's father, Giovani de Pepoli provided support for Salutati's family and encouraged him to continue his studies. Before Salutati was able to complete his certification as a notary, he and his family moved to Stignano due to the family patron's fall of power. Even though he never received notary certification, in 1351 Salutati was selected for notary work in Buggiano and joined the Florentine notary in 1366. (Witt, 24, 33) In 1368, Salutati went to Rome with Francesco Bruni, and he remained in Rome until 1370. During this period, he was an assistant to the Papal secretary. Salutati was called to become the chancellor for Florence in 1375, which was the highest level one could reach, and he remained chancellor until death. (Thompson, 173) Throughout his life as a chancellor, he was critical of the Holy Roman Empire, yet was still a supporter of the church, and was able to maintain relative peace through the Florentine war as well as the Ciompi uprising. In his later years of life, he immersed himself in the translation of classical texts, with the discovery of Cicero's //Letters to his Friends//. Through teaching, he influenced other Florentine humanists Leonardo Bruni and Poggio Bracciolini.

**Works**
Salutati was a prolific writer and poet. Scholars have even called Salutati 'the Defender of Poetry' (Cinquino 131). In 1381-82, Salutati wrote //De seculo et religion,// which discusses the "condemnation of the world and the sever criticism of pagan 'wisdom'." (Witt, Hercules, 194). His next work was //De fato et fortuna,// written in 1396-1399. With Dante in mind, he supported Brutus' intention of killing Caesar (Witt, Reaissance 180). //De tyranno,// written in 1400 and inspired by Dante's [|Divina commedia], supported some of Caesar's political ideals. One of Salutati's most well-known incomplete works was //De laboribus Herculis. Additionally, Salutati composed a number of minor works. His Studies in Italian Renaissance// was twenty eight lines long and dedicated to Pietro da Moglio, one of his most influential teachers. Soon afterward he published //Conquestio Phyllidis,// his most popular Latin poetic poems inspired by [|Petrarch], called //The Metra Colutii Pyerii ad Petrarcham incitatoria ad Africe editionem,// which led Petrarch to publish //Africa.// After Petrarch's death in 1374, Salutati wrote //De Petrarche interitu.// This project grew larger than he originally intended and was never completed.

**Major Works Include:**
//De seculo et religione// (1381-82) //De fato et fortune// (1396-1399) //De ennobled legum et medicinae// (1399) //De tyranno// (1400) //De laboribus Herculis// (unfinished)

**Minor Works Include:**
//Studies in the Italian Renaissance Conquestio Phyllidis Fabula de vulpe en cancro De Petrarche interitu Bucolics//

Significance
A notable Civic Humanist, Salutati influenced uses of rhetoric, ideas on citizenship and politics, and promoted humanist ideas. Training in Bologna had given Salutati an education in Roman legal rhetoric. This education, coupled with humanist passions would become central to his writing style: eloquently structured, yet also expressive and dramatic. Humanist ideals were primarily incorporated into his political service. Contrary to previous chancellors and notaries of the time, Salutati insisted on ethical and intellectual leadership in public office. His ethics marked an important shift from factionalism to patriotism to the Florentine Republic. As a practitioner of the Vita Attiva, Salutati firmly believed that law was the utmost expression human morality, an idea which can be expressed by his assertion that, "Origin [of the laws] is from the seat of divinity [which] come forth with the aid of natural reason and human promulgation" (Witt 334). This statement reflects Salutati's belief in the value of civic responsibility. He insisted that Christians, instilled with the love of God, bore the greatest responsibility to be citizens of the state. Thus his writing largely influenced the reconciliation of Christianity and citizenship. In addition to political and civic arguments, Salutati also wrote on poetry, claiming that the study of classic literature could help lead one towards God's truth, or "omnis veritas" (Cinquino 133). Like other humanists of his time, Salutati admired classical thinkers. However, Salutati stood apart by leaving a remarkable legacy of Civic Humanism and skillful rhetoric to both his students and Renaissance thinkers in years to come.

**Image Source**
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Salutati.jpg (Accessed February 21, 2010) [] (Bologna map, Accesses February 22, 2010)