A member of the Guelph party in 13th century Florence, Brunetto Latini served as a notary, a position of power and respect. After the defeat of the Guelph party by the Ghibellines in 1260, Latini was exiled to France where he wrote his most famous work, Li Livres dou Trésor.

Li Livres dou Trésor, or The Book of the Treasure, is an encyclopedic work in which the origins of all things mortal are described. In his Treasure, Latini discusses religion, politics, ethics, rhetoric, and government. In Part III of The Book of the Treasure, Latini palimpsests Cicero’s ideas of government and rhetoric. Latini’s translation of Cicero is written in a way that is clear and easily understood with examples and explanations of rhetorical devices.

In 1266, after the Guelphs defeated the Ghibellines, Latini returned to his beloved Florence where he took an active role in the city’s politics. He is credited with bringing understanding and application of government to the whole community. Latini was a proponent of making information available not only the privileged, but to the community as a whole and would write and teach in the vernacular.

Brunetto Latini was the teacher and friend of Dante Alighieri. In The Inferno, Dante places Brunetto in the seventh ring of hell with the sodomites. There is much speculation as to why he was placed there; it is possible the damnation was due to political differences or the fact that Latini wrote his greatest work, The Treasure, in French. (See Dante and Canto XV) But, regardless of his placement, when Dante meets Latini in The Inferno, he is held in great reverence and looked upon with pity.

For more information on Brunetto Latini, I would recommend visiting Julia Bolton Holloway’s web site. You can also go the "Latini Links" page within this site to start you on your way.