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Agostino Dati

Orator, historian and philosopher

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 9, 2023
Entity authorityQ5659931
Source-derived summary

Agostino Dati, also known as Augustinus Datus or Dathus (1420 – 6 April 1478) was a fifteenth-century orator, historian and philosopher best known for his grammatical textbook Elegantiolae. In 1489 Erasmus praised Dati as one of the Italian masters of eloquence.

Life

Born in Siena, Agostino Dati spent most of his life there. He studied under Francesco Filelfo. After teaching in Urbino, he returned to Siena in 1444 and taught rhetoric and theology. In 1457 he was appointed Siena's secretarius. He died 6 April 1478. Much of his work was published posthumously by his son Niccolo.

The Elegantiolae

Isagogicus libellus pro conficiendis epistolis et orationibus was first printed at Ferrara by Andrea Belfortis in 1471. Reprinted over 100 times under various titles between 1470 and 1501, the Elegantiolae has been characterized as "the school book par excellence in the second half of the fifteenth century".

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Agostino Dati” as orator, historian and philosopher. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Agostino, Dati and Orator.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1420, 1478, 1489, 1444—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1420. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Agostino, Dati and Orator providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Agostino Dati”, the useful work is to connect “orator, historian and philosopher” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 9, 2023. The linked authority identifier is Q5659931. VIAF identifies the subject as 51842162. The Library of Congress control number is nr93002988. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1420, 1478, 1489 and 1444.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Agostino Dati”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Agostino Dati primary sources, Agostino Dati archive and Agostino research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Agostino Dati”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Agostino Dati” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.