Life
He was born in Imola, into a family of legal officers. In 1361–2 he was working for Gómez Albornoz, governor of Bologna and nephew of Cardinal Egidio Albornoz.
In 1365 he went on a diplomatic mission on behalf of the city, to Avignon and Pope Urban V. At the time members of the Alidosi family dominated Imola, and other citizens looked to the papacy for a change. The petition brought by Benvenuto and others failed; the local political situation at home caused him to move on without returning, going to Bologna, where he made a living as a teacher. He was made the subject of accusations there of indecency, which may have been connected to lectures on the Inferno; on the other hand Benvenuto himself had made accusations to the papal legate in Bologna of improper teacher-student relationships of others. While previously in Bologna he may have lectured officially, and did teach some classical authors, his later lectures were in a private house, that of the grammarian Giovanni de Soncino.
In 1373 he visited Florence and there heard Boccaccio lecture on Dante. From 1375 he was based in Ferrara. There he had the protection of Niccolò II d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara, whom he had met in Avignon.
Read more about this topic: Benvenuto Rambaldi Da Imola
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