PRUDENZANI, SIMONE (SIMONE di GOLINO di PRUDENZANI). — Born in Prodo (Orvieto), he took part in the public life of Orvieto from around 1387 to 1440. He is known only for his literary activity.
*Il Sollazzo* (*Liber solatii*) is a collection of 18 ballads, which, along with short stories taken from fabliaux, lash out at the seven capital sins and eleven derived ones. Each vice, personified in a character, is punished by the scorn of men. Lively, witty, anticlerical, and at times coarse to the point of obscenity, they nonetheless have a moral intent, confirmed by the concluding acrostic. *Il Saporetto* (*Liber saporetti*) consists of 186 sonnets divided into four parts, in addition to the Introduction, which describes the six ages of man. The first and second parts (*Mundus placidus* and *Mundus blandus*) depict the gay life at the court of Pierbaldo, lord of Buongoverno, who asks his friend Bonare to send him his son Sollazzo to sing the ballads of the eponymous little book and enliven the company. The feasts and dinners, the songs and dances, the hunting parties of the merry court are described with such a display of detail and precision of language (Umbrian) as to make the little poem valuable for the history of customs, music, and language. In the third part (*Mundus tranquillus*), the author changes and from worldly becomes Catholic, and, with a series of sonnets arranged in question and answer, contrasts the superficial objections of the hedonist with the observations of the wise man who demonstrates the superiority of virtue. The fourth part (*Mundus meritorius*) is the apology of Christian asceticism, the path to paradise. In 44 sonnets, catechism and prayers alternate: many of them, not badly, versify liturgical prayers. In these last two “worlds,” themes of interest for the history of casuistry, piety, and the fortune of Dante abound. The organic unity of the work is, according to P., expressed by the title: “Sacci ch'ello se chiama Saporetto — D'erbette prima e puoi le spette metto”: thus a light dish at first, then seasoned with virtue. Its poetic value is almost nil; its cultural contribution considerable; its spiritual significance very great: a reasoned ascent from the hedonistic life, “though not exceeding measure,” to meritorious Christian life. Like Sacchetti (whom, however, he far surpasses), P. in his own way initiates humanistic balance.