Luigi Pulci (1432 - 1484)

Luigi Pulci

Luigi Pulci was an Italian poet and humanist writer and diplomat.

For many years Pulci lived under the patronage of the Medici family and was a member of their circle of poets and artists, and later, after Lorenzo the Magnificent came to power, entrusted him with various embassies and diplomatic missions. At the age of about 40, Pulci entered the service of the northern condottiere Roberto Sanseverino and remained with him until his death.

Pulci wrote many different works, but is known primarily as the author of one of the outstanding epics of the Renaissance, the Morgante (Morgante or Morgante Maggiore). This chivalric-romantic parody and comic epic was first published in Italian in 1481. Its plot is based on the adventures of the knight Orlando and his squire, the giant Morgante. Pulci's unpretentious narrative and sharp satire immediately made "Morgante" very popular, but also aroused the anger of influential enemies like the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola, who called to burn copies of the book on the "bonfires of vanity".

Pulci's work influenced the French satirical writer François Rabelais (1494-1553).