Born in Sorrento on March 11, 1544, Torquato Tasso was the third child of Porzia de' Rossi and Bernardo Tasso, after a first son who died in infancy, and a daughter Cornelia. Both his parents belonged to the aristocratic class and had roots in Northern Italy: his Neapolitan mother was of Pistoian origin and his father was from Bergamo. A poet and a man of letters, Bernardo was principally occupied as secretary to the Prince of Salerno, Ferrante Sanseverino, one of the foremost figures in the Kingdom of Naples, at the time under the rule of the Spanish empire.
When in 1547 Spain attempted to introduce the Inquisition in Naples, provoking widespread resistance, the Prince of Salerno agreed to expound the objections of the Neapolitan population to King Charles V. As a result of his perceived
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Citation: Cavallo, Jo Ann. "Torquato Tasso". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 September 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4315, accessed 23 November 2024.]
