Galateo, the humanist who saved the Church's alibi

Antonio De Ferrariis, known as Galateo, is certainly the most illustrious humanist from Salento and one of the greatest in southern Italy.

He was born in Galatone, in the province of Lecce. His ancestors were priests of the Greek rite. He received his first education in the Basilian monastery of S. Nicola di Pergoleto, on the outskirts of Galatone, under the guidance of his maternal uncle, abbot of the monastery for over thirty years. His uncle also financed his nephew's studies at the famous Gymnasium of Nardò, a renowned center of theological culture.

The need to provide for his four sisters pushes him to seek his fortune in Naples, where he arrives around 1470. In Naples, De Ferrariis frequents the most illustrious exponents of Neapolitan and southern culture. In 1478, in Terra d’Otranto, he marries Maria Lubelli, daughter of the Prince of Sanarica, with whom he will have five children. In 1489 he is called to be part of the court physicians of King Ferdinand I of Aragon.

Nel 1510 si reca a Roma dove consegna nelle mani del pontefice Giulio II una copia manoscritta della donazione di Costantino, sottratta al saccheggio turco della biblioteca del monastero basiliano di Casole, a Otranto.

He died on November 12, 1517, in his home in Lecce, at the age of 73. His mortal remains were buried in the temple of S. Giovanni, now dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario, in Lecce. On his sepulchral monument is engraved the epigraph that Galateo himself had requested for himself and which reads:

Colui che studiò la Medicina e le stelle del cielo,

il Galateo giace chiuso in questo posto.

Colui che capì il cielo la terra il paradiso,

guardate, o mortali, qual piccola urna lo accoglie.

Of the long list of Latin writings that Galateo has left us, the best known and most widespread writings are:

• il De Heremita (1496), a lively, honest and severe criticism of Christian tradition and ecclesiastical decay. (1496), una vivace, onesta e severa critica della tradizione cristiana e dello sfacelo ecclesiastico.

• il De Educatione the De Educatione (1504), summa ordinata of the educational systems of various peoples.

• the Exposition of the Pater Noster (1507), his only work in the vernacular, in which he comments on the Our Father and at the same time harshly criticizes the corrupt clergy. (1507), his only work in the vernacular, in which he comments on the Our Father and at the same time harshly criticizes the corrupt clergy.

• the Vituperio delle Lettere (1513), an anti-humanistic outburst against hacks.

• the Description of Gallipoli (1513), which tells the history and characteristics of the city and its inhabitants.

• De Situ Iapygiae, probably his best-known and most translated work, written in 1511, was for centuries the most authoritative historical-geographical treatise on Salento, the oldest guide to the peninsula.