Salvino Armati Florentine, supposed inventor of glasses Country: Italy

1. Salvino degli Armati: The Alleged Inventor of Glasses
2. The Claimed Invention of Glasses
3. The Skepticism and Disproof of Salvino's Invention

Salvino degli Armati: The Alleged Inventor of Glasses

Salvino degli Armati was a Florentine who was long believed to be the inventor of glasses, although it was later discovered that this attribution was entirely unfounded. The authorship of many significant inventions has been the subject of heated debates, sometimes even leading to historical or legal battles. Salvino degli Armati, in a sense, was fortunate in that no one doubted for a long time that he was the one who invented the first glasses. It was only in the 20th century that historians began to question Salvino's story.

The Claimed Invention of Glasses

The first mention of the purportedly invented glasses by degli Armati dates back to 1684 when a Florentine named Ferdinando Leopoldo del Migliore published the book 'Firenze citta' noblissima illustrata'. In this book, Ferdinando referred to a supposed registry of burial records from the Santa Maria Maggiore church. According to the registry, there was an entry that read, "Here lies Salvino, son of Armati degli Armati from Florence, inventor of glasses. May the Lord forgive his sins. 1317 AD." However, Ferdinando never presented this registry to anyone, and it never fell into the hands of any scholars. Ferdinando claimed that Salvino degli Armati had a tomb in the church adorned with a statue, but during a subsequent restoration, both the statue and the epitaph were allegedly destroyed.

The Skepticism and Disproof of Salvino's Invention

Despite the lack of evidence, many people found Salvino degli Armati's story appealing, and his authorship of glasses was attributed to him by other authors as well. In 1738, Domenico Maria Manni published a work titled 'Degli occhiali naso inventati da Salvino Armati, gentiluomo fiorentino. Trattato istorico'. In 1855, historian Pasquale Villari even erected a memorial plaque to the inventor in Florence, although it was later removed.

However, not everyone believed in Salvino's story. Many critics pointed out that no known genealogical tree of the Armati family had any records of a "Salvino Armati" around 1286, the presumed period of the invention of glasses. In 1920, Italian scholar Isidoro del Lungo found several inaccuracies in Migliore's original account. Firstly, the Italian text of the epitaph contained a suspicious grammatical error. Secondly, no other contemporary sources mentioned Salvino in connection with glasses. Thirdly, the term "inventor" itself did not appear in Florence until much later. Del Lungo also demonstrated that a certain Salvino degli Armati did die in 1340, but he was a humble craftsman with no relation to glasses.

In conclusion, while Salvino degli Armati was once widely believed to have invented glasses, further scrutiny and research have cast doubt on his alleged authorship. The story surrounding Salvino's invention of glasses remains an intriguing historical mystery.