The authority file of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek ventures that V. was a jurist and notary, perhaps born in Napoli, and gives bracketing floruit dates of 1435 X 1454. Italian edit16, s.n. Cambanis, Vitale, is even more cautious: ‘Del sec. XV. Non si hanno notizie sicure. È comunemente ritenuto napoletano, fu giureconsulto e protonotaro di Sicilia, fu al seguito di Renato d’Angiò.’ The floruit dates are, however, quite secure. As Feodale shows, V. is found in documents associated with René d’Anjou from 1435 to 1454, and seems to have been one of his most important councillors in that period. The only reason to doubt that he is the original author of the De clausulis (TUI 1584 t. 18) is that all the printed editions, beginning with the incunabulum edition of 1478, spell his name ‘Cambanis’, whereas he himself seems to have spelled it without the ‘m’. Considering the vagaries of spelling in this period, that does not seem to be enough to raise serious doubts. Whether the item printed in TUI 1584 is entirely the work of V. is a more difficult question. The original work is known to have been reworked by Paris de Puteo. Some of the printed editions prior to TUI 1584 describe the work as jointly authored by V. and Celsus Hugo Dissutus, whose work on the same topic also appears in TUI 1584 t. 18. That some of what is in TUI 1584 t. 18 under V’s name is his work seems reasonably clear. How much of it is requires more investigation.

Source: S. Feodale, in DBI s.n. Cabanis, Vitale de (15 [1972]).

Entry by: CD 1.vi.2019

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