, an eminent grammarian of Florence, in the thirteenth century, was
, an eminent grammarian of Florence, in the thirteenth century, was of a noble family in
that city, and during the party contests between the
Guelphs and Ghibelins, took part with the former. When
the Ghibelins had obtained assistance from Mainfroy, king
of-Sicily, the Guelphs sent Bninetto to obtain similar aid
from Alphonso king of Castillo; but on his return, hearing
that the Ghibelins had defeated his party and got possession of Florence, he fled to France, where he resided
several years. At length he was enabled to return to his
own country, in which he was appointed to some honourable offices. He died in 1294. The historian Villani attributes to him the merit of having first introduced a degree of refinement among his countrymen, and of having
reformed their language, and the general conduct of public
affairs. The work which has contributed most to his celebrity, was one which he entitled “Tresor,
” and wrote
when in France, and in the French language, which he
says he chose because it was the most agreeable language
and the most common in Europe. This work is a kind of
abridgment of the Bible, of Pliny the naturalist, Solinus,
and other writers who have treated on different sciences,
and may be called an Encyclopaedia of the knowledge of
his time. It was translated into Italian about the same
period, and this translation only was printed; but there
are about a dozen transcripts of the original in the royal
library at Paris, and there is a fine ms. of it in the Vatican, bound in crimson velvet, with manuscript notes, by
Petrarch. After his return to Florence, Latini wrote his
u Tesoretto,“or little treasure, which, however, is not
as some have reported, an abridgment of the
” Tresor,“but a collection of moral precepts in verse. He also
translated into the Italian language part of Cicero
” de Inventione.“His greatest honour seems to have been that
he was the tutor of Dante, not however in poetry, for his
” Tesoretto" affords no ground to consider him as a master
of that art.