Ludovico Ariosto Italian poet and playwright of the Renaissance. Date of Birth: 08.09.1474 Country: Italy

Biography of Ludovico Ariosto

Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet and playwright of the Renaissance era. He was born on September 8, 1474, in Reggio Emilia, and later moved to Ferrara with his parents. Ariosto spent his entire life in the service of the d'Este family, and it is believed that his epic poem "Orlando Furioso" was written in their honor.

At the age of fifteen, Ariosto enrolled at the University of Ferrara, where he studied law. He also studied Latin under the guidance of the humanist scholar Gregorio da Spoleto, during which time he wrote his earliest poems in both Latin and Italian. His Latin ode "A Filiroe," written around 1494, expressed his contempt for the actions of the powerful in the world.

In 1500, Ariosto's father, who held a prominent position in the Duchy of Ferrara, passed away. The responsibility of supporting the family fell on Ariosto's shoulders as the eldest son. By this time, he had been serving at the court of the d'Este family for several years, and in 1503, he began working for the influential Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. Ariosto had hoped for a position as the court poet, but his duties turned out to be more mundane. In the following years, he was assigned diplomatic missions, some of which carried significant risks. The papal court, under Pope Julius II, was Ferrara's greatest enemy at the time. Ariosto traveled to Rome multiple times to explain and defend Ferrara's policies. His most perilous journey was in 1510, undertaken in the interest of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, who had incurred the pope's displeasure. Julius ordered Ariosto to be thrown into the Tiber River, but fortunately, the poet managed to escape from Rome.

In 1513, during the celebration of St. John the Baptist in Florence, Ariosto met a woman named Alessandra Benuchi, whom he would love for the rest of his life and immortalize in his poems. She was the wife of Tito Strozzi, and their relationship remained secret due to Ariosto's church benefices, which would be lost if he were to marry. Sometime between 1526 and 1530, Alessandra and Ludovico secretly married. In October 1515, Ariosto completed his epic poem "Orlando Furioso," and it was published in April of the following year. However, Cardinal Ippolito, to whom the poem was dedicated, received it coldly. In 1517, Ariosto switched his service to Ippolito's brother, Alfonso d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara. Here, he was able to devote more time to his creative work. In 1521, a slightly revised edition of "Orlando Furioso" was published. Around the same period, between 1517 and 1525, Ariosto wrote seven satires, which were poetic letters written in the style of Horace. Although they cannot be considered as autobiography, they shed light on the poet's personality.

For the court theater of Ferrara, Ariosto wrote several comedies, closely following the Roman models. The most successful of these was "La Lena," first performed in 1528, where Ariosto portrayed colorful depictions of Ferrara's life at the time.

By 1522, Ariosto's financial situation became unstable. Ferrara was at war with the Pope again, and his salary was irregularly paid. Ariosto was sent as a commissioner to the Garfagnana region in western Tuscany, which had recently come under the rule of Ferrara and needed someone capable of restoring order. He arrived there in February 1522 and spent three challenging years of his life. In 1525, upon returning to Ferrara, Ariosto entered the last and most favorable period of his life. He was recognized as the greatest Italian poet of his time, and the money he had accumulated in Garfagnana was enough to purchase a house. After revising his poem to conform to the literary language norms of the time and adding six new songs (bringing the total to 46, which is the third and final edition of the poem), he published it in 1532. Ludovico Ariosto passed away on July 6, 1533.

"Orlando Furioso" may appear fragmented and chaotic, as Ariosto weaves multiple plotlines together. He abandons one storyline at an exciting or intriguing moment to start a new one, and then may return to the previous one, further developing it or introducing new characters into the situation. It is believed that three central themes unite this significant poem (which consists of around 39,000 lines): the madness of Orlando (a hero from French epic poetry), the legendary war of Christians led by Charlemagne against the Saracens, and the love story of the Saracen knight Ruggiero and the warrior maiden Bradamante, who are considered the mythical founders of the d'Este family. However, it is more accurate to consider the madness of Orlando as the central theme, with which all other events in the poem are connected in some way. Ariosto introduces countless characters rushing through the forest, where most of the action takes place, in search of someone or something desired or lost. These quests can be comical, whimsical, or follow the conventions of a knightly romance. Gradually, their connection to Orlando's central quest becomes clearer: his fervent, selfless, all-consuming pursuit of the one whom he has elevated so high that she has lost her reality, transcending human nature. No woman or anything in the world can be compared to the colossal power of his illusion, let alone the frivolous beauty he placed at the center of the universe. When he learns of her betrayal, he descends into madness. This episode (Canto XXIII-XXIV) has been translated by Alexander Pushkin in his own poetic style.

Although the themes Ariosto explores are profound, such as the power of illusion, which drives a person endlessly after something they can never fully possess, and the tests of fidelity in an ever-changing world, the poem sparkles with wit in its language and style. The plot of "Orlando Furioso" is carefully structured yet remarkably diverse. The story unfolds in almost the entire known world at the time, and the countless male and female characters that populate its pages possess the same vivacity as those found in Elizabethan drama. The combination of variety, lively storytelling, and harmonic construction makes "Orlando Furioso" a work that fully reflects the spirit of the Italian High Renaissance.