Born in Padua, Angelo Beolco was the illegitimate (
natural, in one term of the time) son of a doctor connected with the University of Padua. His father, in turn, was a member of a wealthy and noble Milanese merchant-banking family who developed a trade in cloth and printing in Venice, Vicenza, and Padua in the latter half of the fifteenth century. The identity of Beolco’s mother is unknown, but she is likely to have been a family servant of humble, possibly peasant, origin. While Beolco grew up in the family home and was entrusted by his father with considerable responsibility, he was never legitimized. He was thus not entitled to an equal share of the patrimony with his three half-brothers; instead, his father bequeathed him twenty-four ducats, a sum often given to servants because of…
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Citation: Carroll, Linda. "Angelo Beolco, Il Ruzante". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 June 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12855, accessed 19 December 2024.]