Francesco Barbaro (politician)
Francesco Barbaro (1390/1398–1454) was an important humanist in Venice of the noble Barbaro family.
History
He was the son of the noble Candiano Barbaro and a noted student at the University of Padua. Early in his career, Francesco wrote the highly influential De re uxoria, a treatise on marriage and the family which was inspirational to the writing of De legibus connubialibus by Andre Tiraqeau in 1513, a treatise that examined Francesco Barbaro's positions within De re uxoria. Barbaro's De re uxoria was the most important writing on marriage and the family unit during his era, and it was republished many times and translated into English, German, French and Italian from it's original Latin edition. It remains a pioneering philosophical work on the subject of love, marriage and the family, inspirational to Leon Alberti's Della Famiglia and Vegio's treatise on the education of children. [1]
Barbaro had and elder brother Zaccaria, also a humanist, and Francesco studied Latin literature and Rhetoric under Giovanni Conversini and Gasparino Barzizza, noted professors of the University of Padua, eventually earning a Doctorate in Arts in 1412. [2]
In Padua, Francesco also met the learned Venetian Zaccaria Trevisan who additionally schooled Francesco in ancient Greek and statesmanship. Barbaro honored Trevisan within De re uxoria. Francesco also had additional schooling under the accomplished humanist, Guardino da Verona.[3]
While Francesco Barbaro was in Florence, he became friends with Lorenzo de'Medici, and became part of the intellectual circle that included Leonardo Bruni, Poggio Bracciolini, Giovanni Campano and Ambrogio Traversai. [4]
Francesco Barbaro would marry Maria Loredan, of the Venetian Patrician family that would produce Doge Leonardo Loredan . Following his marriage, Francesco began a career as a statesman and military leader. He was elected to the Venetian Senate at the exceptionally early age of only 29, and Francesco became one of Venice's most accomplished diplomats, first as Ambassador of Milan and to Mantua, and eventually to Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor inducted Francesco into his personal kighthood, the Order of the Dragon, in 1432 while also bestowing the rights of the Double-headed eagle to become part of the official coat of arms of the noble Venetian Barbaro family. The eagle emblem was the very symbol of the Holy Roman Emperor. This emblem, as well as two dragon-headed snakes, were carved onto the pediment at Villa Barbaro, the family's villa in Maser. Villa Barbaro was dedicated to Francesco Barbaro by the family members Daniele Barbaro and Marcantonio Barbaro, noted by an inscription along the villa's entablature. Francesco Barbaro also served as governor of the city of Brescia, and he attained a great reputation in his defence of the city against the forces of the Duke of Milan. [5] [6]
He is interred in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari [7]
His son Zaccaria Barbaro, a senator, died in 1492 and is interred with epigraph in the church of San Francesco della Vigna.[8]. He was the father of the scholar Ermolao Barbaro and Alvise Barbaro, Cavalier, Procurator, and Provveditore al Sal[9].
References
- ^ Index of /gilburg/Bücher
- ^ Ibid
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Zorzi, Alvise, "Palazzo Barbaro at San Vidal: Barbaro Family Coat of Arms" in Venetian Palaces (New York, Rizzoli 1990) p.222 ISBN 0-8478-1200-6
- ^ Scorsa di un lombardo negli archivj di Venezia, Cesare Cantù, 1856, pg.127
- ^ Scorsa di un lombardo negli archivj di Venezia, Cesare Cantù, 1856, pg.128
- ^ Venice: A Documentary History, 1450-1630, Brian Pullan, 2001, University of Toronto Press, pg.201
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