On this day in history, 18th April 1555, Polidoro Virgili (Polydore Vergil or Virgil), the Italian humanist scholar and historian, died at Urbino. He was buried in the Chapel of St Andrew in the Duomo in Urbino. Virgil has been called the “Father of English History”, and his famous works include De inventoribus rerum and the Anglica Historia.
His Anglica Historia is used as a primary source for English history and here are some links to read it:
- Polydore Vergil, Anglica Historia (1555 version), A hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton, The University of California, Irvine - http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/polverg/
- Polydore Vergil's English history, from an early translation preserved among the mss. of the old royal library in the British museum. Vol. I, containing the first eight books, ed. Sir Henry Ellis - https://archive.org/details/polydorevergilse01verguoft
- Three books of Polydore Vergil's English history, comprising the reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., and Richard III. from an early translation, preserved among the mss. of the old royal library in the British museum, ed. Sir Henry Ellis - https://archive.org/details/threebooksofpoly29verg
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