Boncompagno da Signa was a layman and an academic rhetorician who studied at the University of Bologna, Italy, late in the twelfth century. He became the first master in ars dictaminis at the University of Bologna. He subsequently taught at Venice and Padua. He died in Florence in the early 1240s. Boncompagno wrote a large number of works. Among his most important works is his Rhetorica antiqua. That work was read publicly in Bologna in 1215, and then, with some revisions, in Padua in 1226. Boncompagno’s importance to European culture has been greatly under-appreciated.
In robust medieval public discourse, Boncompagno harshly disparaged rivals as a monstrous beast and accused those excoriating him of plagiarizing his books. … Read the post Boncompagno da Signa against his rivals, critics, and plagiarists
Boncompagno in 13th-century Bologna wrote model love-letters that show effects of developing jurisprudence with study of the Corpus Juris Civilis. … Read the post wife calling husband home in the shadow of Corpus Juris Civilis
Boncompagno of Signa’s Rota veneris went beyond ars dictiminis to parody courtly love. Boncompagno affirmed the incarnated goodness of men’s sexuality. … Read the post Boncompagno of Signa used ars dictaminis to debunk courtly love