BOCCALINI, TRAIANO. — Born at Loreto in 1556 to Giovanni da Carpi, he studied at Perugia and Padua; he ultimately settled in Rome as a judge in the Campidoglio and a private tutor. Protected by Cardinals Scipione Borghese and Bonifacio Gaetani, he obtained from Gregorio XIII the government of Benevento and subsequently from Paolo V that of many other places. A friend of Sarpi, he moved to Venice around 1611, where he died in December 1613; it was suspected that the Spaniards, who greatly feared B.’s polemical genius, were not unconnected with his almost sudden death.
His letters were almost all gathered together after B.’s death and published in the Bilancia politica di tutte le opere di T. B. (Castellana 1678: the work was placed on the Index in the same year). The Commentari di Tacito too—in which, taking his cue from Tacitus’ most notable sayings, B. judged the actions and ideas of contemporary princes—were placed on the Index by decree of 19 September 1679. In the Ragguagli del Parnaso (Venice 1624), with the spirit of a publicist, he imagines himself ascending Parnassus, where he attends a gathering of virtuous men from every age and every nation who, under Apollo’s rule, discuss politics, economics, morality, religion, literature, and art. But B., who presents himself as a «menunte», that is, a newsmonger of this parliament, transports to Parnassus the society, customs, and passions of contemporary life, and makes himself their stern and not always benevolent judge, lashing the hypocrites, princes greedy for power, and religious reformers. An essentially critical and satirical, skeptical and at the same time serene intellect, B. displayed in this little work the greatest freedom of judgment, employing only the most transparent allegories. La Pietra del paragone politico (1st ed. 1614, though a manuscript copy from 1607 dedicated to the king of France is preserved) served B. to denounce, at the moment when the struggle between Spain and Savoy began and it was expected that Venice would side with Carlo Emanuele I, the Spaniards’ greed and subversive policy. In various editions (there were many editions: this pamphlet enjoyed great success because of its political acumen, patriotic feeling, and engaging satire), there is added a Discorso scritto da un gentiluomo italiano e cattolico all'Italia, composed as early as 1591, but of uncertain attribution. B. derived much from the works of Cesare Caporali and in a certain sense anticipated the English «essayists»; but his humor, concepts, and inventions make him one of the most significant political writers.