Mariangelo Accorso

Mariangelo Accorso (Latin: Accursio or Accursius; 1489 or 1490 – 1544 or 1546) was an Italian writer and critic.

Biography

He was born at L'Aquila (Abruzzo), then part of the kingdom of Naples.

He was a great favourite with Charles V, at whose court he resided for thirty-three years, and by whom he was employed on various foreign missions. To a perfect knowledge of Greek and Latin he added an intimate acquaintance with several modern languages. In discovering and collating ancient manuscripts, for which his travels abroad gave him special opportunities, he displayed uncommon diligence. His work entitled Diatribae in Ausonium, Solinum et Ovidium (1524) is a monument of erudition and critical skill. He was the first editor of the Letters of Cassiodorus, with his Treatise on the Soul (1538); and his edition of Ammianus Marcellinus (1533) contains five books more than any former one. The affected use of antiquated terms, introduced by some of the Latin writers of that age, is humorously ridiculed by him, in a dialogue in which an Oscan, a Volscian and a Roman are introduced as interlocutors (1531). Accorso was accused of plagiarism in his notes on Ausonius, a charge which he most solemnly and energetically repudiated.

Works

Mariangeli Accursii Diatribae, Romae: Silvery in aedibus Marcelli, octauo Kalendas III Aprilis 25, 1524

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Accorso (Accursius), Mariangelo". Encyclopædia Britannica 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 122.