Folengo, Teofilo (1491–1544)

Italian poet. His pseudonym was Merlin Cocaio and he wrote mainly in macaronic Latin, a mixture of normal Latin and Italian words with Latinized endings. His first publication was Il Baldus (1517), a humorous epic; this proved a success and was followed by Orlandino, and an account of his roamings called Caos del Triperuno.

Folengo was born at Cipada, near Mantua. He became a Benedictine monk, but in 1542 sought to be released from his vows, only to return again to the monastic life some years later.