Camillus of Lellis, St. (1550–1614) Italian priest,
founder of the Servants of the Sick (Camillians)
Born in Abruzzi, he served in the Venetian army against
the Turks, lost his fortune by gambling, and was employed
(1574) as a laborer by the Capuchins. He tried to join
their order and the Franciscan Recollects, but was rejected
owing to ill health. He became bursar of a hospital in
Rome, and, under the spiritual guidance of St. PHILIP NERI,
became a priest in 1584 and established a congregation of
priests and lay brothers, dedicated to nursing. As superior-
general of this congregation until 1607, he did much to
improve hospital methods and hygiene and to provide
proper nursing and spiritual care for the dying. The
Camillians won papal approval in 1586, and Camillus
himself was canonized in 1746.
Caminha, Pero Vaz de (c. 1449–1500) Portuguese
traveler
Caminha was born and lived most of his life in Oporto,
where from 1476 he held the post of master of the mint.
In 1500 he sailed with CABRAL’s fleet for India in the ca-
pacity of a writer. His letter (Carta) reporting to King
Manuel I on the Tupinamba Indians of “Vera Cruz”
(Brazil) is an accomplished and classic piece of encounter
literature. The discovery was considered so significant
that Cabral dispatched a ship back to Portugal with it,
though it remained unpublished until 1817. Caminha
died at Calicut, on the Malabar coast of India, in Decem-
ber 1500.
Camões, Luís Vaz de (1524–1580) Portuguese poet
Many details of Camões’s life are based on guesswork.
Born in Lisbon, he appears to have been one of the old
Galician aristocracy, impoverished but with prominent
connections. He may have been educated at Coimbra: his
work indicates a thorough classical education. He was at
the court of John III in Lisbon in 1544. His love for a lady-
in-waiting, Caterina de Ataide (called “Natercia” in his
lyrics), was opposed by her family, who forced his with-
drawal from the court. About this time he was writing
lyrics and three plays, two in the native tradition of Gil
VICENTE(El Rei Seleuco, Filodemo) and a comedy in the
manner of the Roman playwright Plautus (Enfatriões).
After taking part in an expedition to Morocco, where he
lost an eye in battle, he returned to Lisbon in an unsuc-
cessful attempt to regain royal favor. In 1553 John III par-
doned him for being involved in a street brawl in which a
minor palace official died; the pardon contains hints that
Camões was to go to India in the service of the Crown. He
was in the East until 1570, where he experienced ship-
wreck and the other common dangers faced by Portuguese
adventurers of the time. He completed his masterpiece, Os
Lusíadas (THE LUSIAD; 1572), soon after returning to Lis-
bon and was granted a small pension by King Sebastian for
his services in India. He died in poverty in an epidemic in
Lisbon.
Although Camões was perhaps the greatest lyric poet
of the Iberian peninsula and a master of the main Renais-
sance lyric forms (sonnets, odes, canzone [canções],
eclogues, and elegies), virtually all of his non-epic poetry
was published posthumously (1595; an expanded edition,
Rimas, appeared in 1598). These early editions contained
a number of unauthentic poems and only since the 1930s
have there been attempts at critical editions of his com-
plete works.Campagnola, Giulio (c. 1482–c. 1518) Italian engraver
Born in Padua, Campagnola trained under Andrea MAN-
TEGNAand by 1499 was executing work for the Ferrarese
ducal court. His copies of works by DÜRERpopularized the
latter throughout Italy, while his own technique antici-
pated later schools of engraving. He was also much influ-
enced by GIORGIONEand engraved several prints after his
paintings. By 1509 Campagnola was working in Venice;
his pupils included his adopted son Domenico Campa-
gnola (c. 1484–c. 1563), also an engraver, who painted
frescoes in the Sinola del Carmine, Padua (1520) and pro-
duced fine drawings of landscapes.Campana, Pedro de (Pieter de Kempeneer) (1503–
1580) Flemish artist
Although he was born in Brussels, Campana spent con-
siderable time in Italy, where he worked at Bologna,
Venice, and elsewhere. By 1537 he had moved to Seville.
There he executed religious paintings for the cathedral,
notably the Descent from the Cross (1547) and the Group of
Donors (1555), which were typical of his many religious
works in a broadly mannerist style (see MANNERISM). Hav-
ing done much to popularize Italian ideals in Andalusia,
Campana returned to Brussels where he ran a tapestry fac-
tory and was also active as a tapestry designer.Campanella, Tommaso (1568–1639) Italian philosopher
Campanella was born at Silo, Calabria. Like BRUNO, he
began his career by joining the Dominican Order (1582).
After various quarrels with the authorities in Naples,
Padua, and Rome, Campanella returned to his native Cal-
abria to play a leading role in the revolt against Spanish
rule. The revolt quickly collapsed and in 1599 Campanella
found himself imprisoned in Naples. After undergoing re-
peated torture he was finally released in 1626. He spent
the rest of his life based in Rome and, from 1634, Paris.
During his prolonged imprisonment Campanella pro-
duced many books and poems. Best known is his utopian
fantasy, La città del sole (The City of the Sun), written
about 1602 but first published at Frankfurt in a Latin ver-
sion, Civitas solis, in 1623. In the City of the Sun the “So-
larians” regulate their lives by astrological principles;
hermetic influences are also identifiable among them, and8866 CCaammiilllluuss ooff LLeelllliiss,, SStt