FAVA (FABA), GUIDO. - Born before 1190, died around 1250. Along with Buoncompagno he was the most authoritative voice of the grammar school of the first half of the 13th century in Bologna.

In 1229 he composed the Summa dictaminis and between 1239 and '50 the Gemma purpurea, of which the Doctrina ad inteniendas, incipiendas et formandas materiae et ad eu quae circa huiusmodi requiruntur forms a part, wrongly judged by Röckinger to be a separate work. In the first chapters there are lists of adjectives to be used in letters to the pope and to prelates, and the nouns appropriate to them. Probably his — Torraca thought of Guido da Siena — are the Parlamenta et epistulæ, in which « the practical form of epistolary and oratorical exemplification » is taught; of notable effectiveness is the example of the contrast between Carnival and Lent. F.'s work, especially the Gemma, represents « the oldest attempt at an artistic prose in the Italian vernacular » (A. Monteverdi).

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: F. Torraca, G. F., in Studi di st. lett., Florence 1923, p. 33 ff.; A. Monteverdi, Testi volgari italiani dei primi tempi, Modena 1941, p. 121 ff.; A. Schaffini, L'ori di statuisti e la prosa di G. F., in Tradizione e poesia, Rome 1943, pp. 25-26; A. Monteverdi, Le formule volgari di G. F., in Saggi neddetini, ibid. 1945, pp. 75-103.

Giovanni Fallani

@incollection{ec5_fava_faba_guido, author = {Fallani, Giovanni}, title = {Fava (Faba), guido}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {1066}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/fava-faba-guido} }

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Fava (Faba), Guido

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