Jacopo Aconcio
Jurist, theologian, philosopher, engineer (died 1566/67)
Jacopo Aconcio (c. 1520 – c. 1566) was an Italian jurist, theologian, philosopher and engineer. He is now known for his contribution to the history of religious toleration.
Life
Aconcio was born around 1520 in Trento, Italy, or possibly the nearby town of Ossana. He was the son of Gerolamo Aconcio and his wife, Oliana. He studied law and later became a notary in 1548 when he was admitted to the Collegio dei Notai of Trento. In 1549 he entered the service of Count Francesco Landriano, a courtier serving the emperor, Charles V in Vienna. Aconcio remained with Landriano for seven years and then around 1556 became secretary to Cardinal Madruzzo, the imperial governor in Milan.
Aconcio later wrote that he became attracted to the ideas of the Reformation while in service to Landriano. He knew that it was dangerous to express these beliefs openly while living in Italy and decided to pursue a career in military engineering that would allow him to live safely in exile. He taught himself the basics of engineering through conversations with military men like Landriano and Giovanni Maria Olgiati.
The public source identifies “Jacopo Aconcio” as jurist, theologian, philosopher, engineer (died 1566/67). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Jacopo, Aconcio and Jurist.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1245769. VIAF identifies the subject as 46840898. The Library of Congress control number is n85086651. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1520, 1566, 1548 and 1549.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jacopo Aconcio” 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.