Alberti, Leandro
ALBERTI, LEANDRO
Italian Dominican, historian and inquisitor; b. Bologna, 1479; d. Bologna, 1552? As a young religious at Forlì and then at Bologna, he studied under the humanist G. Garzoni and the theologian S. Mazzolini of Priero. In 1514–15 and in 1525 as socius to two masters general, the celebrated Cajetan and the noted theologian Francesco Silvestri of Ferrara, called "Ferrariensis," he traveled through Italy, France, and Germany. After 1532, apart from a brief period as vicar of Santa Sabina in Rome, he was involved almost exclusively with duties of the office of the Inquisition at Bologna. Among Alberti's literary productions, several works have merited distinction: De viris illustribus Ordinis Praedicatorum (Bologna 1517), still profitably consulted; Descrittione di tutta Italia (Bologna 1550), his principal work, published in 12 editions; and the Historie di Bologna (Bologna and Vicenza 1541–91).
Bibliography: j. quÉtif and j. Échard, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum (New York 1959) 2.1:137–139. g. m. mazzuchelli, Gli scrittori d'Italia, v.1 (Brescia 1753) 306–310.
[a. l. redigonda]