Flavio Biondo

Flavio Biondo (b. 1392–d. 1463) was born in Forlì in the Romagna region of Italy. After obtaining a law degree in 1427, Biondo was hired by the local ecclesiastical governor, Domenico Capranica. At the end of 1432, Biondo was called to Rome and nominated notary of the Camera Apostolica; early in 1434 he was made a pontifical secretary, combining the two positions and becoming close to the cardinal camerlengo. The papacy of Eugene IV (r. 1431–1447) marked the most intense and rewarding period of Biondo’s career in the Curia. In 1447, Nicholas V was elected pope, and, in late 1449, Biondo vacated the office of pontifical secretary, which he was not to hold again until 1453. His last years spent in relative poverty, he wrote more commercially viable works in an attempt to earn money while at the same time trying to complete the edition of the Decades. He died in Rome while still working on the Decades on 4 June 1463.