gious wars, and Casaubon was born in Geneva. He was
taught by his father until at age 20 he began intensive
Greek studies in Geneva. His second wife was one of
the printer Henry ESTIENNE’s daughters. After lecturing
in Geneva and Montpellier he was invited (1599) by
HENRY IVto Paris, where his first official position was sub-
librarian in the royal library. After Henry’s murder (1610)
Casaubon, declining to become a Catholic, came to Eng-
land at the invitation of Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of
Canterbury. He was enthusiastically received and at his
death was buried in Westminster Abbey. Casaubon lacked
extraordinary critical insight or linguistic knowledge but
he had an enormous capacity for work and a desire to gain
exhaustive understanding of the ancient world. The clas-
sical texts on which he wrote commentaries were well off
the beaten track of scholarship, for example, Athenaeus
(1600) and Strabo (1587). His massive commentary on
Persius’s Satires (1605) was prefaced by a study of Greek
and Roman satirical poetry which was the first specialized
work on a problem of ancient literary history.
Cassander, Georg (1513–1566) Netherlands theologian
and humanist
After early study in his native Bruges and at Ghent, Cas-
sander went to Cologne with the intention of finding
some means of reconciling the orthodox Catholic and re-
forming positions. In 1561 he published anonymously De
officio pii ac publicae tranquillitatis...in hoc religionis dis-
sidio (On the duty of pious and public peace...in the pre-
sent dispute of religion). This volume involved him in
fierce controversy; he found his moderate line attacked by
the extremists on both sides, but he gained support from
those who saw the importance of compromise as a means
to unity. As well as his voluminous theological writings
Cassander produced treatises on antiquarian subjects. His
eagerness for unity sometimes led him to adopt views that
were doctrinally suspect but he remained faithful to the
authority of the Church. He died at Cologne.
cassoni Wooden chests used in Italy in the Renaissance
period for domestic storage of garments, documents, and
valuables. Pairs of cassoni were made for bridal
trousseaux, with one bearing the husband’s armorial and
the other that of the bride. Early examples have painted
panels depicting Roman triumphs and battles, and, in
northern Italy, religious subjects. Others had gilded carv-
ing and intarsia decoration. Mannerist influences later in-
troduced carved and polished wood versions of antique
sarcophagi on lion-paw supports. A variant on the cassone
was the casapanca, to which a back and arms were added,
enabling the piece to double as a storage chest and a seat.
Being heirlooms, many cassoni survive.
Castagno, Andrea del See ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO
Castellio, Sebastian (Sebastien Châteillon) (1515–
1563) Savoyard teacher and translator
Born at St.-Martin de Fresne, near Nantua, Castellio was
educated at Lyons and kept a school for young gentlemen
there. After reading CALVIN’s Institutio he went to Stras-
bourg in 1540, met the author, and was converted to the
reformed religion. He was appointed rector of the college
at Geneva, but his humanism later brought him into con-
flict with Calvin. In 1552 he was appointed professor of
Greek at Basle. He deplored Calvin’s execution of SERVETUS
for heresy (1553) and broke entirely with Calvin and BEZA
after the publication of his tolerant tract concerning
heretics in 1554. Castellio’s Latin Bible, a version noted for
its classical elegance, appeared between 1546 and 1551,
and a French version came out in 1555. He was also a
translator of Greek and Latin classics. His work on PRE-
DESTINATIONwas not published until 1578 and his answer
to Calvin’s criticisms only appeared in 1612.Castelvetro, Lodovico (1505–1571) Italian scholar and
critic
Born in Modena, Castelvetro became one of the leading
linguists of his day. His grasp of the historical evolution of
Italian is demonstrated in his Giunta fatta al Ragionamento
di Messer Pietro Bembo (1563) and in his commentaries on
Petrarch’s Rime and on the first part of Dante’s Inferno. He
also translated and wrote an influential commentary
(1570) on Aristotle’s Poetics. From 1560 he spent some
years in exile after the Inquisition had condemned him for
doctrinal irregularities, and he died at Chiavenna, north of
Lake Como.Castiglione, Baldassare (1478–1529) Italian writer and
courtier
Born at Casatico, near Mantua, to minor landed gentry
traditionally serving the dukes of Mantua, Castiglione was
sent to Milan, where he acquired a fundamental education
in the skills of a courtier under Duke Lodovico Sforza, “il
Moro.” After a brief stay at Mantua (1500–04), he entered
the service of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of
Urbino, and his successor Francesco Maria DELLA ROVERE.
Guidobaldo, a distinguished soldier and statesman,
scholar, patron of humanists and artists, collector, and
connoisseur, epitomized the ideal ruler, and Castiglione’s
years at Urbino, the setting of his major work THE
COURTIER, were the happiest of his life. As Urbino’s repre-
sentative in Rome, Castiglione met leading humanists and
formed a friendship with Raphael. After the fall of
Francesco della Rovere in 1515, Castiglione returned to
Mantua. Following the death of his wife in 1520 he was
ordained and in 1524 he was appointed papal nuncio to
the court of Charles V in Spain. His final years were ap-
parently lonely and especially troubled by the imperial
sack of Rome (1527). He was made bishop of Ávila inCCaassttiigglliioonnee,, BBaallddaassssaarree 9933