Renaissance or the rebirth of Diophantos

Abstract

Regiomontanus’ discovery remained hidden for about half a century. There are but few indications that Diophantos was studied during the first half of the sixteenth century. Yet it was the sixteenth-century interest in ancient texts that led to his proverbial rebirth. It was, after all, a period when study groups on classical authors were established. One such group centred around Paolo Manuzio (1512-1574), the son of the printer Aldus Manutius, who specialized in Greek editions. In his circle, we find Gian-Vincenzo Pinelli, a bibliophile who owned at least one Diophantos manuscript, Nicaise van Ellebode¹ (ca. 1535-1577), a Flemish student at Padua University, and Andras Dudith (1533-1589), a Hungarian scholar who resided in Italy for the Council of Trent². Dudith left Italy in 1562, after having been appointed as Bishop of Csanàd. He later became Bishop of Pecs and Sziget, two cities that, like Csanàd, were located in Turkish-occupied territory. In 1565, he was sent by Maximilian II as an imperial envoy to Krakow. During this period, he maintained a lively correspondence with Manuzio’s study group. Two years later, however, it emerged that he had married, which shocked the Italians to the extent that they ceased all correspondence with him. In 1568, he was excommunicated³. Previously in Italy, Dudith had managed to locate many of Pinelli’s manuscripts –some of which he copied– but not the Arithmetika. Around 1570, however, he wanted to obtain a copy of the work. Apparently, his interest had been aroused by reading Regiomontanus (most probably the 1464 letter to Bianchini).