Bosso, Matteo

BOSSO, MATTEO. - Theologian, sacred orator, humanist, of the Canons Regular of the Lateran, b. of a noble Veronese family in 1427 or 28, d. at Padua in 1502. He studied at Milan under Pierleoni da Rimini. Around 1450 he entered the Lateran Congregation, then in full development. He spent his prodigious activity first in teaching and in the formation of the young Canons; then in the successive governance of various canonries (Badia di Fiesole, 1489-92), and as procurator general of the Congregation. Throughout his life he cultivated sacred learning and the study of the ancient classics, as is evident from his writings. He enjoyed the favor of ecclesiastical and lay dignitaries (especially of the Medici of Florence), and the esteem and affection of men of letters, especially of Poliziano and Pico della Mirandola. He refused honors and bishoprics in order to live and die in his beloved Congregation.

Principal works: De veris ac salutiferis animi gaudiis, (Florence 1491 and 1492, Bologna 1495 Italian version by the Lateran canon Antonio Pallavicini, who prefaced it with the biography of B., Lugano 1755); Recuperationes Faesulanae (collection of 133 Latin letters ex Abbatia Faesulana, 1492; two other Bolognese editions of 1493); Familiares et secundae epistolae (222 letters, Mantua 1498); Tertia pars epistolarum (100 letters with 6 sermons, Venice 1502); De instituendo sapientia animo (Bologna 1495).