CAVALCA, DOMENICO. — Born at Vicopisano between 1260 and 1270 into a family of notaries. It is not known precisely what his early education was. It is certain, however, that after his initial literary studies, at about sixteen he entered the Dominicans at the convent of S. Caterina in Pisa, at a time when the convent was at the height of its splendor. In the Dominican studium, C. learned philosophy and theology and was able to complete his literary education.
He spent most of his life in Pisa, and the convent chronicle tells us that he was rightly considered a saint because he always observed the Rule in an exemplary manner. Around 1300 he was counselor to the vicar Bonagionta of Pisa and, in the same year, was appointed confessor to the Ladies of Mercy, an illustrious institution of the city. In 1342 he arranged for the foundation of the convent of S. Marta, so that converted prostitutes might be gathered there, and entrusted it to Dominican nuns.
The sick in the hospitals had him as their material and spiritual guardian: they called him Domenico l'ospedaliero.
During C.’s lifetime, his literary activity aroused little interest. The many pages that he wrote or dictated remained almost unknown for a long time. An intelligent and expressive writer, endowed with a very distinctive liveliness, he should be regarded as one of the most effective prose writers of the fourteenth century. Discussions and controversies arose concerning his work. Franceschini maintained that C. had rendered into the vernacular the works of b. Simone Fidati da Cascia. Mattioli, on the other hand, attributed C.’s disputed works to fra' Giovanni da Salerno. Significant is the critical study by C. Naselli, which vindicates C.’s works. He translated from Latin the Vite dei SS. Padri, the Dialogo di s. Gregorio, the Atti degli Apostoli, and the Epistola di s. Gerolamo ad Eustochio.
His original works are: Trattato della pazienza o medicina del cuore; Specchio della croce; Specchio dei peccati; Pungilingua; Frutti della lingua; Trenta stoltizia; Disciplina degli spirituali; Esposizione del simbolo degli Apostoli. An excellent edition of many of these works was produced by mons. Giovanni Bottari and published between 1738 and 1764.
The chronicle of the convent of S. Caterina in Pisa (Archivio storico Italiano, vol. VI [1845, II], pp. 508-509) states that C. fell asleep in peace in November 1342 and that the entire citizenry, especially the poor and afflicted, took part in his funeral.