Barberino, Francis

, an old Italian poet, was born in 1264, in the chateau of Barberino in Tuscany, and having gone to Florence, became one of the scholars of Brunetto Latin i. He afterwards studied law with great reputation at Bologna, Padua, and Florence, and was a celebrated practitioner. But these graver studies did not check his inclination for poetry, as we may conjecture from his principal work, “I Documenti d'Amore,” written in verse of various measures. This is not, as the title seems to imply, a poem on the subject of love, but of morality and philosophy. Although Ihe style is often deficient in ease and elegance, and is often mixed with Provencal turns and expressions, the academicians of de la Crusca rank Barberino among their classics. It remained long in manuscript, but was printed at Rome in 1640, with beautiful engravings, a life of the author by Ubaldini, and a glossary. He died at Florence of the plague, in 1348. ²