CIAMPOLI, GIOVANNI. - Man of letters, born in Firenze in 1589, died at Iesi on 8 September 1643. He began his studies with the Jesuits and the Dominicans. Under the patronage of G. B. Strozzi, he was introduced to the court of Grand Duke Ferdinando and sent to complete his studies at Padova and Pisa, where he received his doctorate. Having come to Roma and taken ecclesiastical dress, he was favourably received at the papal court.
Appointed secretary of Briefs by Gregorio XV, he was confirmed in office by the new pontiff Urbano VIII, under whom he also enjoyed a canonry at S. Pietro. Having fallen into disgrace, in 1632 he was removed from Roma and sent successively as governor to Montalto, Norcia, S. Severino, Fabriano, and Iesi (cf. his Lettere, [Venezia 1661], passim).
He achieved wide renown in his day both through his activity at the papal court and through his work as a man of letters. A friend and supporter of Galilei, he was anti-Aristotelian; he set forth his ideas in Filosofia naturale. A poet, he sought in his Rime (Roma 1648), in contrast to the production of the time, to give poetry a moral-religious content.