Decembrio, Pier Candido (1399-1477)

Milanese humanist author and administrator. He entered the service of Filippo Maria Visconti in 1419, acting as his secretary and diplomat, but found time to produce Latin and Italian translations, as well as a large collection of humanist epistles. His original works included a life of Visconti, as well as a Panegyric of Milan (about 1436).

Self-taught in Greek, he translated works into Latin, most notably Plato's Republic (which his father had already translated - a factor which brought criticism on Pier Candido from his own brother, Angelo Decembrio); he presented this to Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester. He also, for Visconti's benefit, translated Latin texts into Italian, both classical (for example, Caesar) and humanist (Tito Livio Frulovisi's biography of Henry V).

After Visconti's death Decembrio was forced to wander Italy seeking a patron; he entered papal service, then the court of Alfonso V and ended his career in the service of the d'Este of Ferrara.

The Panegyric was written to rival Leonardo Bruni's praises of Florence. Indeed, much of Decembrio's early career was spent trying to present himself as the equal of Bruni. In part, this was a matter of personal ambition, but it was also a reflection of politics: Milan and Florence were rivals, sometimes foes; the literary quarrels between these humanists continued the conflict by other means.