nacular poetry is only middling and popular ballads are
lowest in rank). Despite this judgment, his own most
memorable verses are short lyrics belonging to the popu-
lar troubadour tradition, especially 10 serranillas, poems
similar to the pastourelle, in which a knight encounters a
mountain girl (a serrana). His 42 less successful Sonetos
fechos al itálico modo (1438–58) are the first Petrarchan
sonnets in Spanish. He also wrote a number of longer al-
legorical, dream-vision, and didactic poems, mainly in oc-
tosyllabic verse.
Saragossa See ZARAGOZA
Saravia, Hadrian à (1531–1613) Protestant theologian
Born in Hesdin, Artois, of Hispano-Flemish parentage,
Saravia came to England as a religious refugee in 1559. He
interspersed periods serving as a minister in the Nether-
lands with 10 years as a schoolmaster in Guernsey and
Southampton (1563–66, 1571–78). He settled in England
permanently in 1587, and wrote a number of important
tracts defending episcopacy and the ELIZABETHAN SETTLE-
MENT. His De diversis ministrorum evangelii gradibus
(1590) provoked a Calvinist response from BEZA, to which
Saravia in turn replied (Defensio, 1594). A further treatise
of 1593 (De imperandi authoritate) was an early exposition
of the divine right of kings. Saravia also contributed to the
new translation of the Bible which became the Authorized
Version of 1611.
Sarpi, Fra Paolo (1552–1623) Italian philosopher,
historian, and theologian
Sarpi, who was born at Venice, entered the Servite order
around 1565, was elected provincial in 1579, and later
held the office of procurator-general (1585–88). His
friendly relations with Protestants, including the British
ambassador to the Venetian republic, Sir Henry Wotton
(1568–1639), made him suspect in Rome. He also main-
tained an extensive international circle of correspondents.
In 1606 he became theological counsellor to the republic
during its dispute with Pope Paul V concerning secular
controls over ecclesiastical buildings and the donation of
property to the Church; he helped to render the papal in-
terdict on the Venetians ineffective, though at the cost of
his own excommunication (1607). His History of the
Council of Trent was published in Latin and English in
1619 under the pseudonym Pietro Soave Polano (an ana-
gram of Paolo Sarpi Veneto), strongly influencing north-
ern views on papal machinations at the council. His letters
indicate sympathy with some forms of Protestantism, but
his secret Pensieri filosofici suggest an altogether more
skeptical outlook on Christianity. He had a genuine inter-
est in contemporary science, especially optics.
Further reading: David Wootton, Paolo Sarpi: Be-
tween Renaissance and Enlightenment (Cambridge, U.K.:
Cambridge University Press, 1983).
Sarto, Andrea del See ANDREA DEL SARTOSassetta, Stefano di Giovanni (1392–c. 1450) Italian
painter
Probably trained in his native Siena, Sassetta was influ-
enced by the International Gothic style of MASOLINOand
GENTILEda Fabriano, which he combined with Florentine
realism. His first work was an altarpiece for the Arte della
Lana chapel in Siena (1423–26), which was followed by
another altarpiece, the Madonna of the Snow (1423–26;
Contini Bonacossi Collection, Florence), painted for Siena
cathedral. His masterpiece was the double-sided altarpiece
(1437–44) executed for San Francesco, Borgo San Sepol-
cro, which includes panels illustrating the legend of St.
Francis (National Gallery, London and Musée Condé,
Chantilly) and fuses religious sincerity with naturalistic
observation. Other works include a polyptych painted for
San Domenico at Cortona (c. 1437) and scenes illustrating
the legend of St. Anthony Abbot (Yale University Art
Gallery, New Haven). Noted for his mystical imagination,
Sassetta bridged the gap between the traditional Gothic
style and the humanism of the High Renaissance. He died
in Siena.Sassetti, Filippo (1540–1588) Italian merchant and
humanist
Sassetti was born into a noble Florentine family, studied
philosophy at the university of Pisa (1568–73), and be-
came a member of the Accademia Fiorentina. In 1577 his
trade took him to Spain and Portugal, and in 1582, as su-
perintendent of pepper supplies, to the Portuguese colony
of Goa. Here he studied Indian customs, history, religions,
and languages, about which he wrote letters home that he
probably intended to revise for publication. However, he
died in Goa before he could return to Europe, and the let-
ters were not published collectively until 1855. His Indian
letters reveal he was the first European to discover a com-
mon link between Sanskrit and the Germanic languages
and Latin.Satire Ménippée A satirical pamphlet in prose and verse
published in 1594 by opponents of the French Catholic
League. A parody of the league’s États géneraux, convoked
(1593) to elect a king other than the Protestant Henry of
Navarre, the Satire Ménippée was compiled by Jean Leroy,
a canon of Rouen, in collaboration with a number of
scholars, lawyers, ecclesiastics, and others, notably Pierre
Pithou, Jacques Gillot, Nicolas Rapin, Florent Chrestien,
and Jean PASSERAT. The most important and influential el-
ement of the work, a solemn and eloquent harangue by a
representative of the Third Estate, is preceded by a bur-
lesque introduction, satirical attacks on prominent mem-
bers of the league, and a series of comic speeches; the final
part of the composition takes the form of a collection of
satires and epigrams. The immense success of the Satire44228 8 SSaarraaggoossssaa