Luigi Pulci

Luigi Pulci (Florence, 1432 - Padua, 1484) was a fifteenth-century Italian poet, remembered above all for Morgante, a parody of chivalric epic that turned the Carolingian legends into comic entertainment. He wrote in Italian, the living speech of Florence rather than the Latin preferred by many humanists, and his work sits at the crossroads of court culture and the street storytellers of the city.

Born into a noble family that had become poor and heavily indebted, Pulci had to combine letters with practical work and service to powerful patrons. The Medici were his main support. Lorenzo sent him on diplomatic errands, while Lucrezia Tornabuoni, Lorenzo's mother, commissioned the poem that made his name. The Morgante grew from 23 cantos in 1478 to 28 in its definitive 1483 edition; the last five, which recount Orlando's death at Roncesvalles, read quite differently. Its humour draws on Florentine speech, mixing street slang with scholarly Latin, and its giant, who gives the poem its title, becomes a constant source of comedy.

Around 1470 he lost the favour of the Medici, perhaps through friction with the circle of Marsilio Ficino. He then entered the service of Roberto Sanseverino, a northern condottiere, and followed him between Milan, Pisa and Venice. He fell ill on one of these journeys and died in Padua in 1484. According to tradition, he was buried in unconsecrated ground because his writings were judged irreligious. His legacy lies in paving the way for Boiardo and Ariosto, who later returned to chivalric epic with a more unified design.