Pier Paolo Vergerio and the Paulus: A Latin Comedy (Studies in the Humanities: Literature-Politics-Society)

Pier Paolo Vergerio (c. 1370-1444) was an important humanist of the early Italian Renaissance. His educational treatise, De ingenuis moribus, was the most influential Renaissance work on education before Erasmus. His comic play, the Paulus, written in the 1390s, is the earliest extant Latin humanist comedy, a genre that combined elements of Roman and contemporary comedy. It is a cautionary tale about the dangers of wild living for a student of the liberal arts. This book features the first English translation of the Paulus. Preceding the translation is a thorough biography of Vergerio. Background material on the play's date and on staging the play is also included.