favor traditional vestments and did their best to suppress
them; in 1566 Archbishop Matthew PARKER’s Advertise-
ments ruled that clergy should wear copes on some occa-
sions but that surplices (white, loose-fitting linen tunics)
were obligatory at services.
See also: LITURGY
Vettori, Piero (Petrus Victorius) (1499–1585) Italian
humanist scholar
Vettori was born in Florence and attended Pisa university.
He then spent some time in Rome before returning to Flo-
rence, where he held the university chairs in Greek, Latin,
and moral philosophy. A dominant figure in European
classical studies of his time, Vettori conducted an exten-
sive correspondence; Pope Julius III, Henry III of France,
and Grand Duke Cosimo of Florence were among his ad-
mirers. His letters were collected and published in 1577
and 1597.
Vettori’s editions and commentaries show the aston-
ishing scope of his Greek scholarship: editions of Euri-
pides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles; commentaries on
Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Poetics, Politics, and Nicomachean
Ethics; editions of Porphyry, Dionysius of Halicarnassus,
and Clement of Alexandria. Among the Latin authors who
attracted his attention were CICERO(his annotations on
Cicero’s letters (1587) are particularly important), Cato,
Varro, and Columella. His other observations on classical
writers were collected in 25 books of Variae lectiones
(1553; subsequently enlarged to 38 books, 1569, 1582).
Vicente, Gil (c. 1465–c. 1537) Portuguese playwright and
poet
Biographical details are few concerning the dramatist
sometimes called the father of the Portuguese theater and
perhaps the country’s greatest poet after CAMÕES. He may
have been born at Guimarães and educated at Coimbra. It
has also been suggested that he started life as a goldsmith
and in this role created the fantastically elaborate gold and
enamel Belém monstrance (1506; Lisbon museum) in the
Manueline style. He married in 1500 and his two children
edited his works (1562). Attached to the courts of Manuel
I and John III, he supervised dramatic productions at
court. His works, particularly his religious autos, were in-
fluenced by Juan del ENCINA; they were also indebted to
ERASMUS, who compared him to the Roman playwright
PLAUTUS.
Virtually all of Vicente’s lyric poetry, which draws on
the traditional and folk verse of medieval Portugal and
Spain, is contained in his plays and reflects the fact that he
was a musician as well as a poet. His 44 plays consist of
autos, tragicomedies for courtly audiences, and comedies
and farces for popular audiences. Sixteen of these are in
Portuguese, 11 (including many of his best non-religious
plays) in Spanish, and 17 in a mixture of the two lan-
guages. The tragicomedy Dom Duardos (1525) is some-
times considered his masterpiece; other examples of his
work are Comédia del Viudo (1514), Comédia de Rubena
(1521), Auto da Feira (1528), and Amadís de Gaula
(1533). The opposition of the Inquisition, introduced in
Portugal in 1536, the fashion for Italianate verse, and the
popularity of Lope de VEGAchecked the growth of a Por-
tuguese national theater, which Vicente’s work seemed to
herald.Vicentino, Nicola (1511–1576) Italian composer and
theorist
Born in Vicenza, Vicentino studied in Venice under Adrian
WILLAERTand took holy orders. He later moved to Ferrara,
where he was employed by Cardinal Ippolito d’Este and
taught music to the ducal family. Vicentino traveled
throughout Italy with his patron, but by 1563 he had be-
come maestro at Vicenza cathedral. The following year he
left and went to Milan, where he died of the plague. Vi-
centino wrote motets and madrigals but is principally
noted for his theoretical works. In L’antica musica ridotta
alla moderna prattica (1555) he advances modal theories
which encouraged composers towards equal temperament
and describes the arcicembalo, an instrument with a 31
note octave.Vicenza A city in the Veneto region of northern Italy, and
the heart of a rich agricultural region. During the period
of the Renaissance Vicenza prospered from its woolen
cloth industry. The city was ruled by Romans, Lombards,
by the DELLA SCALA FAMILYof Verona (1311–87), by the
VISCONTI FAMILYof Milan (1387–1405), and by Venice
from 1405. Vicenza’s most famous citizen was the archi-
tect PALLADIO, whose work in the city was continued by
Vincenzo SCAMOZZI. Palladian structures that survive in-
clude the Basilica (1549–1614), the Villa ROTONDA
(1553–89), the Loggia del Capitaniato (1571), and the
Teatro Olimpico (1580–84). Among other well-known Vi-
centines are the poet TRISSINO and the navigator PI-
GAFETTA; the painter Bartolommeo MONTAGNAalso spent
much of his working life in the city.Victoria, Tomás Luis de (1548–1611) Spanish composer
Victoria sang as a boy at the cathedral of his native Ávila,
but by 1565 he was enrolled as a singer at the German
College, Rome. From 1569 he was employed at the Roman
church of Sta. Maria di Monserrato and in 1571 taught
music at the German College, being appointed maestro in- After taking holy orders (1575) he became chaplain
at the church of San Girolamo della Carità in 1578. From
1587 Victoria served Empress Maria, widow of Maximil-
ian II, as chaplain at the monastery of Las Descalzas de
Sta. Clara in Madrid, a post he held until his death, al-
though he continued to visit Rome frequently. Victoria is
generally regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the
Renaissance. All his compositions are sacred, and they
44992 2 VVeettttoorrii,, PPiieerroo