erties of various minerals, and the history
of Roman art—the only ancient book to
treat this particular subject. The collection
was copied extensively in the Middle Ages
and was an essential volume in the few li-
braries of ancient manuscripts that then
existed. Rather than undertake scientific
investigations of his own, Pliny simply re-
ported on the writings of authorities of
his own time and of the past—473 au-
thorities in all. Although it served for cen-
turies as an authoritative collection of sci-
entific knowledge, it also contains many
errors of fact and misinterpretations of
the author’s sources. Pliny’s works began
to go out of style during the later Renais-
sance, as new philosophies and scientific
theories came into vogue and a new age of
scientific investigation began in the experi-
ments of Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei,
and others.
Poliziano, Angelo ............................
(1454–1494)
Italian scholar, humanist, and poet. Born
as Angelo Ambrogini in Montepulciano,
he was nicknamed “Poliziano” after the
name of this town. His father, Benedetto
Ambrogini, was assassinated for support-
ing the cause of the Medici clan in his
town; after this event the ten-year-old An-
gelo was brought to Florence and schooled
at the Studium Academy, a school estab-
lished by the Medici dynasty. He was a stu-
dent of Marsilio Ficino, a leading human-
ist and scholar, and learned to write in the
classical Latin of ancient Rome. He trans-
lated a part of theIliad, the epic poem of
the ancient Greek writer Homer, into Latin
for the use of Lorenzo de’ Medici. He be-
came a close friend of the Florentine ruler
and served as tutor to the sons of Lorenzo
and as chancellor (manager) of a Medici
estate. After a falling out with Lorenzo he
lived for a short time in Mantua, but re-
turned to Florence at Lorenzo’s invitation
and became a lecturer in Greek and Latin
rhetoric at the Studium, where students
from all over the European continent at-
tended.
In addition to notes on the classical
authors, Poliziano published epigrams,
odes, and elegies in Latin and also wrote a
scholarly work, thePraelectiones, on the
history of poetry. He wrote theNutricia,
didactic (teaching) poems on the works of
Virgil and other classical authors, and his
bookCenturia Prima Miscellaneorumana-
lyzed classical texts. Poliziano’s Latin and
Greek poetry includesManto,anodeto
the works of Virgil.
Poliziano also wrote important works
in Italian, including theStanze per la Gios-
tra, a series of poems dedicated to the
glory of Lorenzo’s brother, Giuliano de’
Medici. He wrote in different poetic forms,
favoring serene, natural worlds and sim-
pler, shorter forms such as the rispetto and
the ballata. His playLa Favola di Orfeode-
scribes the ancient Greek myth of Or-
pheus, the first poet.Orfeo, written for the
court of Mantua, was one of the first plays
to be written in vernacular (everyday) Ital-
ian.
A noteworthy scholar of ancient books,
he translated the works of Galen, Hippo-
crates, and Callimachus in Italian. He also
served Lorenzo as a book scout, roaming
libraries and monasteries in Italy in search
of worthy manuscripts for the Medici li-
brary in Florence. For his dedicated ser-
vice he was rewarded by the Medici with a
villa in the town of Fiesole.SEEALSO: humanism; Medici, Lorenzo de’Portugal ...........................................
Kingdom located on the Iberian Peninsula
that led the European exploration of Af-
rica, Asia, and the Americas beginning inPoliziano, Angelo