Gregorio da Spoleto

Ludovico Ariosto came into contact with his master Gregorio Ellio da Spoleto circa 1494 when he began to dedicate himself to his literary training almost as if to regain the time lost studying law ( which he had been obliged to do by his father Niccolò). The nickname ‘Elladio’ derives from the affectation many humanists had of  Graecizing their surnames. Gregorio’s teachings were fundamental for the development of Ludovico’s poetry in Latin, which was to give its fruits with the Carmina. Little is know about  Gregorio’s life, including his relationship with his disciple. According to some scholars, Gregorio da Spoleto might be the Augustinian friar who in 1454 had been elected President of the Capitol of the Province of Spoleto and in 1459 had been appointed Prior of the Convent of Saint Augustine in Siena. But such a hypothesis would make Gregorio seventy or eighty in the years in which he was in Ferrara. It may be that Ludovico’s master was an Augustinian friar, but he certainly cannot be the elderly man who had held posts forty years before. Probably, Gregorio was born at Martignano in Valle San Pietro, near Spoleto, and took his orders in the church of San Niccolò. Here he became friends with the philosopher and doctor Pier Leoni who persuaded him to give up his vocation and take up teaching.  Perhaps he spent some time at the court of King Ferdinand of Naples. From 1485 till 1491 he was in Florence where he was the tutor of Giovanni de’ Medici, the future Pope Leo X. When he moved to Ferrara is uncertain, perhaps sometime between 1492 and 1493, but it is certain that in Ferrara he lived in a palace known as ‘Paradiso’ or Paradise. In 1497 he was called by Duchess Isabella d’Aragona as tutor for her son Francesco Sforza. His master’s departure obliged Ludovico to continue alone or with other teachers his Latin studies. As of 1498 the poet continued his studies in philosophy attending the lessons of Sebastiano dell’Aquila.